theceomagazine.com | 91Larry is proud of how far Würth China has come
since he started it. “The bulk of my management
team were here when I arrived or were hired shortly
after,” he says. “We have a lot of good people who
started with us and have found a home with us.
I take a great deal of happiness in knowing that
I’ve been able to help them find something that’s
satisfying and that they can grow with.”
As he leads the business, Larry still incorporates
an element of humility. “I have to allow other people
to be successful. The key to success is to be humble;
to allow your ego to get out of the way, allow
yourself to make mistakes and allow others to make
mistakes,” he says. “I try never to walk into a room
where I’m the smartest individual. I try to hire
people who are smarter than me, better than me, have
more energy than I do and can make things happen.
I then allow them to do their own jobs so that
they’re satisfied and having fun.”
When challenges arise, Larry’s strategy for
handling them is to remove any type of emotion
from it, which is usually the hardest part. “Emotions
are very important, but they can sometimes cloud
your decisions and cause you to make decisions that
aren’t necessarily in the best interests of anybody.
For me, it is about first trying to understand the
situation and then seeing all possible opportunities
or solutions that are available.”
Larry goes on to share his advice for any
individuals looking to enter a leadership position
in the industrial sector. “Understand your own
weaknesses and turn those weaknesses into strengths,”
he says. “When you understand your strengths, don’t
overuse or abuse them.”LEADING IN CHINA
When comparing operating styles in China and
the US, Larry comments that almost all of Würth’s
customers’ factories in China are brand-new. “They’re
built with the latest concepts and technologies
available, whereas the factories in the US are older.
American factories are still using many of the ideas
or designs from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and so on,”
he explains. “In the US, they have had to adapt and
change but here, in China, many of the factories were
developed from scratch with all the new ideas and
concepts available today. In the US, you’re seldom
working with a brand-new white piece of paper.
You’re trying to figure things out within a system
that already exists.”
In 2016, Würth China selected Haiyan as the
location for its Greater China Central Distribution
Center (CDC). The facility was designed to support
the transportation of Würth products throughout
mainland China. In 2018, phase two of the CDC was
complete. This involved an additional 18 loading^“UNDERSTAND
YOUR OWN
WEAKNESSES AND
TURN THOSE
WEAKNESSES INTO
STRENGTHS.”