Paul Barbeau is the Senior Global Director at Dow, a material science company that provides innovative and sustainable solutions for consumer care, infrastructure, and packaging businesses. Paul collaborates with various business leaders to improve existing workplace strategies with employee experience, asset optimization, and sustainability in mind. He is also the Director at 1st State Bank, a banking company that focuses on helping businesses grow in the Great Lakes Bay area.
Paul joins me to explain the importance of establishing a company culture where every voice is represented. He shares his experience with being part of the family business and where his entrepreneurial passion started. He describes his love for baseball and what it was like to serve as the President of the Michigan Baseball Foundation. He discusses how Dow impressed him the most from a cultural perspective. Paul also explains how businesses will shift beyond the pandemic, especially regarding flexible work setups.
“When you’re starting, every voice has an impact on the culture.” – Paul Barbeau
This week on Executive Decisions:
- What Paul learned from the family business from an entrepreneurial perspective
- Why Paul avoided the traditional career route
- How vital the culture was in Paul’s career choices
- Paul’s passion for both baseball and business
- Navigating the risks of moving locations for your career
- Getting the team to be part of the culture you want to grow
- What Paul believes is a good sign to choose a new career
- Why Dow’s culture impressed Paul
- How our working environments will shift in the future
- The cultural bedrocks Dow cultivates
- Paul’s passion and hobbies outside of baseball
Resources Mentioned:
Our Favorite Quotes:
- “The freedom to learn and grow is important and formative.” – Paul Barbeau
- “Anytime you find a good culture, you just want to bottle it and never let it go.” – Sarah Delahanty
- “It’s exciting to have a blank slate and build something from the ground up.” – Sarah Delahanty
Connect with Paul Barbeau:
About SYM Financial and Executive Decisions Podcast
Executive Decisions is a show for business leaders. In each episode, host and financial advisor Sarah Delahanty sits down with executives and local experts who serve them. Together, they tackle some of the harder questions that business leaders face today. From inspiring creativity in the workplace, to managing company politics, to making the best choices with executive compensation, taxes, and lifestyle — our show delivers stories and lessons learned across many industries and lifetimes.
Email Sarah at sdelahanty@sym.com with questions, comments, and to schedule a one-on-one conversation.
Follow SYM Financial on Facebook
Subscribe here:
And, if you enjoy the show, please leave a review to help others discover the podcast.
Disclosure: The information contained in this message (including any attachments) is confidential and may be privileged. It is intended only for the recipient(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify SYM Financial Advisors (“SYM”) immediately and destroy the material in its entirety. All communications requiring immediate attention or action, such as trade requests or other time sensitive matters should not be sent to SYM via email. Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information may arrive later than intended, be intercepted, be corrupted, or contain viruses. This material is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any product. The opinions expressed herein are those of SYM and are subject to change without notice. To the extent that performance information is contained in this email, past performance is not indicative of future results. SYM is an independent registered investment adviser. More information about SYM including our investment strategies, fees and objectives can be found in our Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request.
