I just want to write a little bit about one of the best managers that have ever worked at the Torrance can plant.

First, in all the years that I was at the Torrance plant, almost every plant manager was a micromanager and a dictator; not a motivator or a manager that empowered their staff to run their departments. They did not let their staff of managers make their own decisions. They had a fit if a manager made his own policy for his department or if they make a decision without plant manager approval.

It still amazes me that a company as large as Ball continues to make managers out of people who have no clue as to how to manage a plant with a multi-million dollar monthly budget. Xerox used to have employees rate their managers. A manager with a lot of poor ratings didn’t last.

They all need to read Dwight Eisenhower’s thoughts on managing. He was one of the great leaders of the past century. He gave orders to his generals and let them decide as to how they were going to accomplish the tasks.

Recently, Sam Russell was pushed out as Administrative manager. He was truly a manager. He made sure that his staff had the training that was needed and then empowered them with the proper level of authority to do their job. When he attended a management seminar, he came back to the plant and applied the training that he had received. Most managers come back to work and forgot what they had just learned the instant that they were back on the job. A lot of people resented Sam because he was black, including some plant managers. His loss is Ball’s loss. Ball gave up a lot of years of valuable experience.