Ralph C. Stayer
Date Posted: 04/04/2007
In 1978, Ralph C. Stayer was named president of Johnsonville Sausage – the company his parents had founded 33 years earlier. Under Stayer’s leadership, the company known regionally for its high-quality bratwurst and other sausages has become renown as a Midwestern company that each and every day demonstrates that a family-owned company with small-town, honest values can succeed in the global marketplace.
Stayer has led the company to its current sales level of more than $200 million. In the last 10 years, Johnsonville has seen a 500 percent increase in productivity, established a national reputation for the quality of its products and tripled its return on sales and assets.
Johnsonville’s growth can be attributed to Stayer’s successful and unique approach to empowering employees. In 1993 Stayer co-authored “Flight of the Buffalo,” a book describing his management philosophy. The book discusses how an organization can become more focused, flexible and productive, and how a manager can create an atmosphere of quality, customer satisfaction and achievement.
AUTHOR
• "FLIGHT OF THE BUFFALO-Soaring to Excellence, Learning to Let Employees Lead" co-authored with James A. Belasco, Warner Books, May 1993.
• Harvard Business Review "How I Learned To Let My Workers Lead"
CONSULTANT
• Established Leadership Dynamics, an international coaching firm in 1989 that is now doing business in the United States, Canada, Western and Eastern Europe.
• Consults with leaders of organizations that range from small flower growers to international high technology giants as well as leaders in the federal, state and foreign governments and the U.S. Armed Forces. Some of them include McDonnell Douglas, Frito Lay, BMW, AT&T, and BP.
Stayer has led the company to its current sales level of more than $200 million. In the last 10 years, Johnsonville has seen a 500 percent increase in productivity, established a national reputation for the quality of its products and tripled its return on sales and assets.
Johnsonville’s growth can be attributed to Stayer’s successful and unique approach to empowering employees. In 1993 Stayer co-authored “Flight of the Buffalo,” a book describing his management philosophy. The book discusses how an organization can become more focused, flexible and productive, and how a manager can create an atmosphere of quality, customer satisfaction and achievement.
AUTHOR
• "FLIGHT OF THE BUFFALO-Soaring to Excellence, Learning to Let Employees Lead" co-authored with James A. Belasco, Warner Books, May 1993.
• Harvard Business Review "How I Learned To Let My Workers Lead"
CONSULTANT
• Established Leadership Dynamics, an international coaching firm in 1989 that is now doing business in the United States, Canada, Western and Eastern Europe.
• Consults with leaders of organizations that range from small flower growers to international high technology giants as well as leaders in the federal, state and foreign governments and the U.S. Armed Forces. Some of them include McDonnell Douglas, Frito Lay, BMW, AT&T, and BP.