There’s a large 10-by-20-foot sign on ShurTech Brands LLC’s factory floor in Avon that really says it all.
“If you’re not proud of it, don’t ship it,” the sign reads.
It puts a personal face on quality control for everyone from management down to entry-level workers. If they won’t ship a product to a friend or family member, it isn’t worth shipping at all. The sign was extremely vital to the success of Business Hall of Fame inductee Jack Kahl, his company Manco and its familiar Duck Tape brand.
“And the sign is still there,” says Kahl from his home in Avon Lake. “It empowers everyone to make decisions that are in the best interest of the company.”
It also speaks to a corporate culture imbued with a spirit of entrepreneurship and self-motivation, two traits that have propelled Kahl to the very pinnacle of business success. Recognized globally for his innovative approach to business, Kahl was named one of “America’s Most Admired CEOs” by IndustryWeek in the early ’90s, while Inc. Magazine recognized him as one of the three CEOs in America to benchmark leadership practices.
During his time at its helm, Manco was the first company to earn three Wal-Mart “Vendor of the Year” awards in the same year for different departments. It also won OfficeMax’s “Vendor of the Year/Supply Chain award. Kahl has been featured in numerous publications for his visionary, entrepreneurial approach to business, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Forbes.
In his book Leading from the Heart, written with Tom Donelan, Kahl postulates a unique perspective on business leadership: It all starts with a choice that comes from the heart. Leaders must serve and have strong character and integrity. Discipline, courage, passion and creativity are important, but leaders need to care about the people who help them succeed.
“If you want to succeed in this world, you better be willing to share the wealth with the people who are helping you make it,” says Kahl. “And you must communicate with them openly.”
Which is exactly how Kahl launched his business career: leading not only from the heart, but by example.
Kahl started his business career selling insurance during his senior year at John Carroll University. After graduating with a degree in business management in 1962, Kahl called on Melvin Anderson, a former employee of 3M, who was selling duct tape out of the back of his car.
Seeing Kahl’s natural aptitude for business, Anderson offered him a job. But Kahl was still committed to the insurance company for at least six more months and was intent on keeping his word — even though he knew the insurance business was not a good fit.
After those six months were up, Kahl revisited Anderson’s offer, this time accepting it for a mere $50 more than his draw from the insurance company. It wasn’t long before Kahl’s natural business acumen and leadership skills propelled the fledgling company to success.
Kahl built the company with an annual revenue of $83,000 in 1962 to a company with annual sales of more than $800,000 by 1971, a year that would prove pivotal in Kahl’s career.
After increasing the company’s fortunes by almost tenfold, Kahl and the Melvin Anderson Co., which it was called at the time, came to loggerheads over his compensation. With three children and a newly purchased home in North Olmsted, Kahl decided to resign. But he would give the company six weeks to find a replacement, so the company’s 14 employees wouldn’t suffer.
When the fateful morning came, Kahl had a hard time looking those employees in the face. Before he could tender his resignation, Anderson asked him to make an offer to buy the company. Taking the $10,000 he had saved for furniture and carpeting for his young family and newly purchased home, Kahl made a down payment and purchased the company for $192,000 in 1971.
And there was no looking back.
In 1976, at a trade show in Dallas, Kahl stayed in the company’s booth to the very end. With the show starting to shutter its doors a scant 20 minutes before its end, a buyer from Wal-Mart walked into the booth. He told Kahl he had to meet people but would return. The buyer showed up 20 minutes past closing, with Kahl still waiting, and placed a massive order that would lead to a long relationship with the buyer as well as the mass merchant chain’s founder, Sam Walton — a lifelong friend whom Kahl recognizes as one of his most important mentors.
In 1984, the company’s mascot Manco T. Duck showed up, hawking the company’s products at hardware stores and chains, major mass merchants, drug stores and other retail venues nationwide. In 1998, the St. Edward High School graduate sold Manco to the Henkel Group, a German company, for $116 million, sharing 30 percent of the wealth, an estimated $27 million with his partners — a title he gave every Manco employee.
“When you go into business, you have to be willing to take the risk,” says Kahl, “and stand behind your word.”
And those “partners” paid the CEO back not only with loyalty across the years, but also with ideas that added to the bottom line and operations.
“Manco was successful because we were open-minded and willing to listen to ideas, regardless of where they came from,” says Kahl. “We had success selling hardware and packaging tapes when we identified a need for mailing products, which opened up new avenues for us.”
By the time he retired in 2000, the company was selling its products to retailers across the globe, with revenues north of $300 million.
Throughout his career, Kahl has made a practice of not only giving back to his “partners” but also community.
He served on the board of trustees at John Carroll University and St. Edward High School. With Kahl’s help, John Carroll established the “Kahl Chair in Entrepreneurship” in 1998, while St. Ed’s dedicated its new student center, the “Jack Kahl Student Life & Leadership Center,” the year he retired. And that’s just the tip of the efforts championed by this true entrepreneur and philanthropist.
“It’s who I am,” says Kahl. “I grew up witnessing family members step in when the need came up, so it was natural for me to continue that model. Whenever I have been fortunate, I’ve always tried to share with other people.”