Board Chairman & CEO David S. Haffner
For four full decades—from the 1960’s through the 1990’s—Leggett & Platt achieved growth of 15% per year (on average) in earnings, dividends, and stock price, largely by pursuing a strategy that focused intently on revenue growth. Over those 40 years revenue ballooned from $7 million to $4.3 billion, earnings grew about 1000‐fold,and our stock split approximately every 5 years. But as we entered the new millennium, our strategy seemed to lose its effectiveness. For the five years ending December 2007, Leggett & Platt’s stock priced moved sideways while the S&P 500 index achieved an 80% return. The desire for topline growth had led us to make certain acquisitions for which it’s now clear we paid too much, given their failure to meet expected performance levels.
We needed to make a change in strategy.
Each week in “A Linking Mess” our copywriting team offers their thoughts on links and articles around the internet that have caught their attention.
10 Things Bosses Never Tell Employess — But Should – LinkedIn Pulse
Paul Johnson, Sr. Copywriter: This is an appropriate article to discuss as I am Shela “Mad Dog” Ward’s boss. I’m not comfortable with the term “boss,” by the way, but there’s not much way around it. “Supervisor” sounds too informal and “kingpin” is probably too much. “Manager,” isn’t bad, though. I’m Mad Dog’s manager.
Shela Ward, Copywriter: I’m not sure how I feel about the word “manager.” It kind of makes me sound like an actor or something. “All appearances should be scheduled through Mad Dog’s manager.” Ok, I guess I don’t mind it.
Paul: This goofy article lists 10 things that bosses should never tell employees, but should. Right out of the gate, it became ripe for ridicule: number one is “I really do care whether you like me.” Maybe the author is more insecure than me, or maybe my situation of being kingpin over just one Mad Dog lends itself to a less formal (see professional) relationship, but I don’t worry whether or not Shela likes me or not. I know she does. Continue reading
33 Things Everyone Should Stop Doing In Their 30s – Business Insider
Paul Johnson, Senior Copywriter: I’m looking down the barrel of my 45th birthday, and I’m still guilty of about 10 of these sins. Does that say something about me, or this list? I’m sure I’m below average when it comes to meeting the standards of full-blown adulthood, particularly when measured against my age, but what’s wrong with “seeking approval from other people”? If you spend a great deal of effort to gain that approval, I guess that could be considered immature. What would be the definition of “seek” in this context?
Continue reading
Our copywriters picked their favorite–or least favorite–articles of the week to share. Bonus: they weigh in with their own opinions through some back-and-forth conversation.
Shela Ward, Copywriter: I thought I was a super-organized person, until I read this list. Maybe I’m just super-organized compared to the chaos of the rest of the Copy Team…? Either way, I like most of the suggestions presented in this article to keep your mind organized.
Paul M. Johnson, Senior Copywriter: I’m not very organized, and my cluttered desk – which is a running joke in Creative Services – is proof. I’ve taken stabs at addressing this at different times over the years, but it just doesn’t take. Would I be a better employee if I were more organized? I don’t think so. My conceit is that I’m a messy genius. OK, I’m done thinking about that. Continue reading
We’re switching up the format for “A Linking Mess.” This week, Shela Ward and Paul Johnson (members of our Creative Services team) both weigh in on two articles that made the rounds in social media recently.
Shela: I write a lot of B2B copy on a daily basis, and I’m guilty of a lot of the “wrongs” mentioned in this article. Some of them are totally my bad – I have a soft spot for puns and I tend to struggle with “quick & dirty” brevity (my writing tends to get pretty verbose, from time to time, if you haven’t noticed – examples of my loquaciousness can be found in any of the guest blogs I’ve written here). Continue reading
