Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/61371
wright.edu/business Whose business students ranked nationally four years running? The Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. These students continued the college's tradition of excellence at the 2004 National Ethics Bowl. And who placed first in the nation at the 2004 American Express Financial Planning Competition? Wright State. And who won first in the 2004 Ohio Undergraduate Accounting Manuscript Competition? It all adds up toWSU. Through real-world learning, caring faculty and academic excellence,Wright State's business students are competing with the best . WSUHAS A mation and how to rationalize it in the decision-making process. This is so important. You can't use only one source of information. You have to be that "information hub." You have to listen to information from many different sources and make the right decisions from what you learn. Finally, leadership is about vision and how you plan to position the company—not just in the next few months, but in the next one year, five years, or ten years. In your first decade in the business world, you've already become a CEO, a goal many people spend most of their careers pursuing. What do you think are your most important contributions—to Seapower about understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your team members. It's about developing a sense of empathy, listening carefully to what people are trying to tell you. In my position, I listen to different sorts of information, gos- sip, and jokes from my team members every day. I'm like an information hub. Everybody tells me everything. Leadership is also about knowing how to digest this infor- one do you think is most true? Do you think you're a born leader? I would say I am a leader by training. Personally, I do not believe people are born leaders. I think you have to become a leader through experience. Leadership is not just about leading other people. It's THEANSWERS and to business—that you have yet to make? Well, people often laugh at me, but one of my goals is to bring a Chinese company to international standing. If you look at globally recognized companies, you don't see any Chinese companies. In fact, I don't think an American or a Briton could name a single Chinese-owned company. I'd never thought about that before. I can name sever- al Japanese and Korean companies, but not a single global Chinese company. You can't, because there aren't any! But then, our leader didn't start visiting other countries until the last three or four years. Even in the mid-1990s, you didn't hear in the news that the Chinese premier was visiting the United States or Latin America. And today, as I mentioned, 50 per- cent of the products you see in Wal-Mart are probably made in China—but no one knows the companies that manufacture them! What would you like to see happen to Seapower in the future? When people talk about Seapower, I want them to know this company is owned by a Chinese family and offers a dif- ferent product. I'd like the company to achieve internation- al recognition—to have a report on CNBC someday, just saying that our stock is doing well. s z BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004 25