Attitude, Leadership Keys To Success

Karen Olson Beenken, Executive Vice President of Blue Rock, delivered the key note address to the 2013 Leadership Class at their graduation in April.

As a former graduate who also was Sidney Chamber President, Karen praised the efforts of the program and encouraged the graduates to get out and make a difference in the community.

Karen also gave a brief history of Blue Rock Companies and spoke of some of the keys to their success. Following is an edited version of her address that day.

How does a company get to be 100 years old?

Corporate identity through management of culture; protect core strength by maintaining tradition and continuous improvement and innovation; strong relationships with business partners, customers and suppliers; make investments in people especially when it comes to leadership succession and form strong relationships with the local community.

Some trivia facts about us are:

We are 1 of 57 independent bottlers left in the country. My dad, John Olson, was the youngest president of the Pepsi-Cola Bottler’s Association and was instrumental in getting laws passed through President Jimmy Carter that would protect the independent franchise system. And I’ve always thought that was a pretty good proof of how a Republican and a Democrat can work together. We’re proud of the fact that Sidney, Montana was one of two test markets in the country back in 1984 for a product called Diet Mountain Dew. Because of the success we experienced here in Sidney, the Pepsi-Cola company decided to roll out nationally. Today it is the 3rd best selling diet soft drink on the market. My brother, Randy, had the idea a couple of years ago of celebrating the oil industry and our area by developing a beer that would reflect those two things. The beer had to be dark and had to be Bakken. With the help of Bayern Brewing they were able to develop Bakken Bock and it has been a wildly successful beer that helps capture the spirit of our area.

So we’re talking about leadership today. My leadership mentor has always been my dad, John Olson. He has a tendency to talk in bumper sticker; and I do too. I’ve grown to love some of his one-liners over the years, and I’d like to share a few of them with you, because it helps give a look at some core leadership values we have in our business. 5 key sayings of his are at the root of who we are.

1) A fish stinks from the head first.

2) Nothing ever happens without people and people are our greatest assets.

We’ve been the number one Pepsi bottler in the nation for two years in a row. We’ve received the President’s Award from the Miller Coors company for our business growth and customer service. That kind of recognition is nice and all but none of those opportunities would exist if it weren’t for the people we work with and the communities we serve. It’s important to us to develop our employees professionally. We’ve enrolled 11 people in this program over the years. Our company is passionate about supporting a lot of things, but some key areas are our youth, healthcare and education. My dad had the foresight years ago to recognize the importance of a quality education and developed a scholarship program for our company.

3) If you owe a nickel, you pay it.

4) Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you are. What I love about this statement is that you embrace people’s strengths and talents and encourage them. Don’t be intimidated by them.

5) If you derive a profit from a community, do business in a community, you have a moral obligation to give something back financially, and with your time and talents.

Blue Rock Products has produced 5 chamber presidents and we support over 500 nonprofit organizations. Celebrating our 100th anniversary is a fun time, but we wanted it to mean something. We are partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services to combat cell phone use while driving. We are providing texting rings to people, particularly youth, to remind them not to text while driving. And we always promote drinking responsibly.

We are passionate about our business and about the communities we serve. We love doing business in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota. People are hard-working, go getters who want to make this place better for future generations. We can’t lose sight of that as leaders in this community.

That brings me to looking ahead as a community, certainly as a business. What is the future going to bring?

I’m taken aback every now and then when I hear people get caught up in negativity. My dad used to say negativity breeds negativity. Or as the more common saying goes, misery loves company. We have to be very careful as leaders in our community to balance this. I have no problem if someone wants to be negative but has a positive solution for whatever problem they’re complaining about. The easiest solution is to quit. That will always be the easiest way out of any tough situation. But as leaders in this community we can’t quit. We have to embrace the change that’s around us without losing sight of the traditions that have made our community such a great place to live. Regardless of what you think of Jack Welch, I do love one of his quotes on leadership. :Leaders are people who think and talk about solutions, Followers are people who think and talk about problems.” Isn’t that true? How many times do you go to a meeting of whatever sort and you hear an Eeyore in the room who is complaining about what isn’t. The easy thing to do is to join Eeyore and say, Oh yeah, it’s really bad. The more challenging step is to say, “Wait a minute, Eeyore, the good thing in this is…”

I challenge all of us as leaders in the community to make a positive difference. To be examples for our children in making this a place to want to live not a place you want to leave. It is up to all of us to have a vision and to represent positively what possibilities there are. The easiest thing to do in life is to quit. The easiest thing to do is give in to negativity. I’d like to see us challenge each other in possibilities and solutions rather than pointing our problems.

Our company would like to thank you for 100 years of the privilege of serving this community.

Thank you.