Friend Before Boss
In summarizing everything he felt about FTA to close his comments about the Association in that Golden Anniversary Commemorative Journal, Dave concluded by saying, “Thank you for creating an environment where we all can work together to improve our industry, support the development of education and technical standards, and provide a framework to continually advance the flexographic printing industry.”
In conversations with current and former APR employees, it became clear they felt those same sentiments about their leader.
“Well, now I have something to smile about for the rest of the day,” exclaimed Tim Reece, APR’s technical solutions group manager, when he heard the news about Dave’s induction (and it must have really made him smile, because he was heading back into a sales meeting).
Before joining Team Flexo, Reece worked at Jaite Packaging. “It was a job that I just absolutely loved,” he recalls. “The kind of job where I went in early, stayed late, made a good living. I was happy knowing I could be there forever.” His introduction to Dave came when Jaite Packaging became one of APR’s customers. After two years working together as client and supplier, Dave told Reece there was an opportunity for him if he was interested.
“If it had been anybody else, it wouldn’t even have been a consideration, but I had a high level of trust in Dave,” he says about the decision to join APR in 1998. “And from my perspective—I’m buying stuff from him! So I’m kind of, by nature, skeptical of what a salesperson would say to me—but Dave had me from the beginning.”
In the 21 years since, Reece surmises he told just about everyone he has run into—“coworkers, new hires and probably every person in my family”—about the level of trust he has in his boss. “Dave is the kind of guy where if he says it to you, it’s the truth. And truly, there’s not another person I know who I trust more than Dave Nieman. And to work for that person! That’s the highest compliment I can pay.”
It was in the same client/supplier relationship that Lancelle first met Dave, also in the mid-1990s. He got to know him during their time together on the FTA Board of Directors and FFTA Board of Trustees, navigating the turbulence of the early aughts. In both scenarios, Dave’s preferring to shine the spotlight on others rather than himself stood out, and it’s what led Lancelle to jump at the chance to work for him when the opportunity arose in 2013. Two and a half years later, he accepted a position at Kodak.
One or both of those transitions could have a major effect on the relationship two people share, but as Lancelle recalls the conversations they had before both his joining and leaving APR, Dave’s ability to rise above politics and pettiness shine through.
“I remember bringing up, ‘Would it be weird?’ when we were discussing my going to work for him. We’d formed such a tight friendship, the last thing I would have wanted to do is have a business relationship jeopardize that. His response, I remember: ‘I consider myself to be pretty good friends with the people I work with and no matter what happens, we’re going to remain friends.’ Fast forward to the time that I decided to rejoin Kodak, it was obviously very difficult to break the news to Dave. He handled it like the true professional he is, and said, ‘We were friends before and we’ll still be friends; the only difference is you won’t be working for me.’”
True to his word, that relationship has remained the same. “Dave’s the type of guy where I know I could call him any hour of the day, any day of the week and he’d be there. True friends like that are hard to find.”
Dave has demonstrated that level of professionalism to his current employees and his former employees. But what about an employee who was a former employee, then again an employee, then again a former employee and now not even a part of the industry?
“I just saw him two months ago,” says Mix, who hasn’t worked for Dave in more than a decade and who left the industry a year ago, but with whom the new Hall of Fame member still connects regularly. After scheduling a brief call under false pretenses, within 30 seconds he guessed correctly the real reason for the conversation and who specifically it was about.
For the next half hour, he recounted stories from the 40 years he has known Dave: being hired by him at Akron Printing Rubber shortly after he joined the company; staying for its transition to All Printing Resources, leaving to work at FTA for three years, coming back to APR, leaving again to work at Dantex Corp, Stork Prints America, Xeikon and Flint Group, to present day working outside the industry as global sales manager for Fluid Power Energy.
“He has always been a strong supporter of his people, all the way to the point where, in 2002 when I was getting somewhat burnt out at APR, he encouraged me to take the technical director job at FTA—he even offered me a desk at APR and said I could utilize the conference room whenever I needed it,” Mix says. “And after four years, after I was done with a lot of those projects, he offered me a job to come back to APR.”
Pressed to say something bad about either of his stints working for Dave, the best Mix could do was express frustration at comparing their time cards. “I really did try to stay later than the boss, and he always outdid me,” he admits. “But that was his work ethic—He has a great work ethic and absolutely leads by example.”
It isn’t only those being led who can learn from a leader. One such example, one Mix says comes into play daily if not weekly, is the realization that business competitors are also people, and should be respected and treated like people. “He would say that, in the basic sense, we’re all just doing a job. Those competitors who are out there, they’re not evil—They’re just competitors. It still makes sense to say hello and shake their hands,” Mix explains. “I carry that with me today. Dave had that influence on me even now.”
Cisternino echoes that sentiment: “Dave is a really personable, nice guy—Even his competition, he’s friendly with—and then you look at how many people in his organization respect him, too. Sometimes you have guys who run companies and their employees really don’t care for them. That’s not the case here. It’s obvious that his employees have a tremendous amount of respect for Dave.”
For those employees, the respect Dave commands comes from a feeling that, even as a boss or leader or coach, he is “in it” with them. As much as they would give to him, he would give that amount back.
“Dave doesn’t have to tell me to do things; I want to do things so I can please Dave. And if something goes wrong, he doesn’t have to say a word—It’s one of those, ‘You don’t want to disappoint Dave,’” Reece explains. “It makes me emotional talking about it. Dave’s the one guy I don’t want to let down because he wouldn’t let me down.”
It’s All About the Players
Vince Lombardi once said that “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.” Whether Dave has heard that quote before or not, it is clear in his daily actions that he lives by it.
“I think his method of leading is to make people the best they can be. I think he looks at success as how well his machine is performing and how his people are performing,” Cisternino posits. “Not only does Dave personally become involved in things himself and invest time and energy in FTA, in other associations, in the industry and in other things, he really encourages everyone on the APR team to do the same.”
Both the time and financial commitments that come with that involvement—going to Long Island, NY to judge the FTA Excellence in Flexography Awards, spending an hour of company time every few weeks planning a Forum or Fall Conference session—are not lost on his employees. “I felt I was pretty flexo savvy until I started to get a formal education, if you will, and that was from Dave sending me to every seminar under the sun.”
Mix describes company events where employees could bring their spouses and families, urging team members to speak at FTA events or join one of its committees, and encouraging their personal and professional growth. For some leaders those gestures could ring hollow, but for Dave, there is no question of their authenticity; they are every bit a reflection of his personality.
“The key point is he’s not faking it—He is interested in his people. That’s probably the most important part. He really is interested and that’s a hard thing to do. When I started there were only four or five of us, and when I left APR in 2008, he really had the same kind of personal connection and contact with the 25 or 30 people working there.
“He’s put trust and confidence in the right people,” Mix adds. “He’s not the kind of guy who is micromanaging everyone.” Allowing his people to do their jobs means allowing those people to have disagreements with their boss.
“We’ve had several disagreements, and one of the things I’ve always admired is that—particularly when I worked with him—Dave has always encouraged disagreement,” Lancelle recalls. “He would say, ‘I’d rather someone disagree with me and we resolve it in a professional manner than have a bunch of yes people working for me.’ His manner and his nature are to sit down and talk it out.”
There is one area where Dave does not accept disagreements, and that is in the acceptance of APR’s company culture. The initiative, which unsurprisingly is heavily team-based, involves football allusions and includes a company playbook, began a year and a half ago, according to Tim. At the start of every week, Dave sends a very detailed, company-wide email that elaborates on one of 24 bullet points in the playbook. “He’ll downplay it and say, ‘This is one I really have to work on’ and you’ll think, ‘Well if you have to work on it, boy do I have to work on it!” Reece jokes.
He believes Dave’s drawing a hard line in the sand and demanding 100 percent buy-in into the company culture initiative sent an important signal. “It’s like Mark Mazur told me: Mark lost a lot of weight and said, ‘It’s not a diet, this is your lifestyle.’ And that’s exactly the approach Dave has taken. He said, ‘This is not something we’re trying, this is something we’re living.’”
“He’s had employees who have worked for him for so long—people who have been here 20+ years,” Kristina remarks. “And I think that says a lot, especially in this day and age.” It does: While 20-year veterans might get complacent and their employers might look to invest in younger workers, Dave makes what Reece calls a “very conscious effort” to empower everyone who works for him. “We’ve all said at one point, ‘Dave could do this better,’ and we’ve all realized he’s letting us learn along the way and trying to nurture us along.”
A Rising Tide
And it all comes full circle. As Dave invests in his team, supporting and enabling their personal and professional growth, they lift up not only themselves but those around them—their teammates—and everyone is better for it.
“He would say the strongest resources APR has are its people—‘Our biggest asset is our people,’” Reece says, lowering his voice to imitate his boss. “Working at other companies, you wonder if you’re valued. Dave doesn’t let anyone wonder about their importance.”
If a rising tide lifts all boats, Dave Nieman is that tide. While his moment in the spotlight—on stage to accept his induction—only lasts as long as he chooses to before he returns to his seat (“There will probably be a bunch of people bawling at the APR table, myself included,” Reece admits), his enshrining in the FTA Hall of Fame ensures others will know all about the teams he has led to victory.