May 13, 2009
"Clay Today, Fine Tableware
Tomorrow" with Dirck Schou
www.hfcoors.com
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Circles of Change: Conversations with Dr. Zara Larsen
on Change Leadership and Career Fulfillment
May 13, 2009
“Clay Today, Fine Dinnerware Tomorrow”
Guest: Dirck Schou, H F Coors China Company
Anchoring Points:
- Anyone can be an entrepreneur for a year or two, but to do it successfully for a long time is another matter. You may not need all of the following, but they really help: exposure to risk and overcoming fear, having a wealth of varied experience, a good education, discipline, talent and drive.
- I did not want to grow up to be like the men at the top who ran things in the Army and the Defense Department during the Vietnam War. Similarly, when I had my MBA in hand, I did not want to be a grey flannel suit. I saw them as one and the same and did not want a flat-line, boring life nor tied to someone else’s structure.
- I chose manufacturing - very consciously - as most of my classmates in business school avoided it like the draft. I saw myself as a tough infantryman who could take it....and love it!
- H F Coors offers a very high quality, robust, restaurant grade tableware –100% Made in the USA here in Tucson, from the four earthen ingredients to hand-painted and decaled appointments. We ship to distributors and have our own showroom on Cherrybell, plus eCommerce via www.hfcoors.com and www.hfcoorstableware.com
- Several people believed in me and were strong early supporters.
- Firstly, my Dad, who mortgaged his home to lend me money,
- My first - and only - boss, the owner of Susquehanna Broadcasting Company, who had enough trust in me after seven years to help me leverage a buy-out of his English china company.
- The old man of the accounting and finance world in the town where my company was, took me under his wing, joined my board and helped me navigate the shark infested waters of that town, the then capital of the ceramic world in England, if not Europe.
- You have to know there is always a way, then find it and follow it. Every year, if not every month, you will run into what could be considered company-breaking barriers. Maybe a fork in the path - rarely a 90 % fork or new way, a slight but critical bend or nuance in the path.
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