People and attitude, not necessarily credentials, are the key drivers of business success, says Bender Inc. CEO Steve Mason.
“It occurred to me early in my leadership journey that success in business is down to one thing: people,” he said. “Hiring people with the best attitude rather than qualifications, investing in them, giving them the freedom, trust and support to grow and flourish whilst providing feedback as necessary, has proven to be a successful formula time and time again. The role of a leader is akin to a farmer. Our role is to plant, nurture and manage the crop to allow it to grow successfully.”
Mason’s career began as an apprentice electrician in a shipyard. He joined Bender UK in 2000 as an applications engineer and learned about both the technology and the customers by interacting with them. In 2010, he became managing director of Bender UK. In 2016, he was asked to move to the United States with his family and join Bender Inc., and he was appointed CEO.
Bender is intent on rebuilding its brand both on a regional and a global scale, and it remains focused on its three largest business units: industrial, healthcare and electric vehicles. Its vision is for the company name to become synonymous with electrical safety as demand and use of electrical energy increases.
“We see expansion in renewable energies, energy storage, electric vehicles and the need for charging infrastructure,” the company said. “As technology booms, we want constant connectivity. Therefore, the internet, data centers and all cloud-based applications that rely on data centers require increasing electrical energy. As the demand increases, the opportunity for Bender as a renowned electrical safety expert has never been better.”
The company’s product portfolio is evolving around the changing automotive requirements and protecting people when the vehicle is traveling and when it is charging. The company has increased its level of service to meet what it says are changing customer expectations. The business has added live chat and more staff to provide answers via chatbot and realtime FAQs for mobile and tablet.
Mason has a knack for connecting with people at any level of the business because he started from humble beginnings on the shop floor, his team said. “From a technical perspective, he has an engineering degree and understands our products, but his career has been in different industries,” the company said. “He can advise and explain confidently why Bender products are essential in rail, oil platforms, ships, hospitals, etc. because he’s been on the ground in all of those industries.”