Want bottom-line proof that changing culture pays? How about nearly doubling the stock price in 12 months and a 387% return to shareholders over the past five years?

That’s what Dan DiMicco accomplished through hard work, including major cultural changes, at Nucor. He was cited in Business Week’s Best & Worst of 2006 – Leaders as quoted here,

“Good luck trying to give Dan DiMicco a compliment. True, the 56-year-old CEO of steel giant Nucor should have every reason to crow these days. Nucor’s stock is up 95% in the past 12 months thanks to hot steel demand, high-grade profitability, and well-performing acquisitions. In the first nine months of 2006 the company earned more–$1.35 billion on $11.3 billion of sales–than it did in all of 2005. And 2005 itself had been a record year. But steel is a cyclical business, and DiMicco is not interested in dwelling on past achievements. He would rather worry about the possible problems to come. “What I get paid for is not looking at yesterday, but looking at the future,” he says. DiMicco’s biggest concern: Beijing’s subsidizing of its own steel industry. The 23-year Nucor veteran, who has been boss for the past six, is more than happy, though, to dole out praise to all those he calls his teammates. Even as Nucor has grown to 11,600 employees (only 66 of them in the Charlotte headquarters), DiMicco has continued the practice of putting everyone’s name on the front and, now, the back covers of the company’s annual report.”

To learn more about Nucor’s enlightened approach to motivation, culture, and compensation be sure to read the profile written last May.

Awesome! Congratulations, Dan!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 13th, 2006 at 11:11 am and is filed under Business info, Communication, Compensation, Culture, Leadership, Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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