R.G. LeTourneau (part 2)

LeTourneau was at the head in nearly every group with which he was involved. Weather the group was his business, leader in his home church, President of the Christian Businessmen Association, President of the International Gideon Society or even Husband and father of four (www.letourneau-inc.com). He is what we all would consider a natural born leader. His passions were broad; from manufacturing large equipment to spreading the Gospel everywhere he went. In fact spreading the Gospel by some accounts forced him to sell his earthmoving company to Westinghouse (National Defense, 2001).

Chapter 9 Concept: Selective Perception

This selective perception may have been a major contributor to the Westinghouse sale of his earthmoving business. According to LeTourneau he was supporting a ministry of his church with but it was his opinion against the IRS. This was what appeared to be a huge setback. Westinghouse took over his debt to the government in exchange for removing LeTourneau from competition in the earthmoving business. However, with the profits he earned from the sale he devoted his attention to a new revolutionary propulsion system (LeTourneau, pg257).

Chapter 10 Concept: Charismatic Leadership

Robbins (pg166) describes the charismatic leader as one who “by force of their personal abilities they transform their followers by raising the sense of importance and value of their tasks.” LeTourneau had this ability. He could inspire everyone he met to “get on board” and accomplish the task, no matter how unrealistic is seemed at the start.

One of the unrealistic challenges LeTourneau commanded was the purchase of the steel mills near his facility and outright steel mill creation at other sites. The challenge for LeTourneau was getting the right materials for the demanding applications like building 150 ton loaders. When he was a consumer of materials, he was often at the whim of his suppliers getting the right size material and even the right formulation of steel (Casteel, 1998). Think of how much steel goes into building a machine capable of scooping 150 tons of dirt in a single scoop. 150 tons is 300,000 pounds, in a single scoop! What was LeTourneau's solution? Let us mill our own steel, then we can have what we need when we need it.

This was a hard plan to sell to the plant managers and finance guys who know nothing about making steel. But, because of LeTourneau's charisma he sold the idea to his team and made it a reality.

Chapter 11 Concept: Formal Power

As the natural leader, he was always at the top. This gave LeTourneau formal power. As the Owner of the company, Chief Designer and CEO, he got his way. This type of power was mostly displayed on the engineering and design side of the business. He was always thinking “outside the box”. In fact most of his competitors referred to his ideas as “crazy” (Casteel, 1998). The ideas were so far outside the box that his formal power was utilized to force his engineering staff to “just try it” (LeTourneau, pg257).


Sources Sited:



Casteel, Kyran. "Longview legend." World Mining Equipment 22.n8 (Oct 1998): 24(2). General OneFile. Gale. CORBAN COLLEGE. 21 Oct. 2009

LeTourneau, R.G.(1967) Mover of Men and Mountains, Autobiography. Prentice-Hall.

http://www.letourneau-inc.com/about/RG_bio.htm

National Defense 85.568 (March 2001): 7. General OneFile. Gale. CORBAN COLLEGE. 21 Oct. 2009

Robbins, S.P. (2005). Essentials of Organizational Behavior - 8th Edition. Pearson - Prentice Hall.