CLOW Valve Holds Leadership Seminar

Sen. ken Rozenboom (R) seen here speaking with future leaders of CLOW this week.

Sen. Ken Rozenboom (R) seen here speaking with future leaders of CLOW this week.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Building better leaders was the focus of a tour and speech held on the grounds of the CLOW foundry facility in Oskaloosa this week.

Ken Rozenboom (R) is the Senator for Mahaska County and represents the community in the Iowa Senate. The tour helped the company to showcase many of the improvements they are making to their facility, including new technology that helps the company be more efficient and more environmentally friendly with lower emissions.

The company is planning on a significant investment in the Oskaloosa foundry in the near future, which include new furnaces “that are going to be a real game-changer,” said Cody Davis of CLOW Valve.

Davis said that CLOW is undergoing a transformation and a strategic vision that has been set.

Davis said one of those goals is being better leaders. Davis chose Rozenboom to speak based up the experiences the Senator has had through his life. “We wanted to tap into that and see what he had to say.”

Rozenboom told the gathered crowd of future leaders, “I told some of the guys a few minutes ago, I appreciate employers more than I ever did.”

“Jobs make everything happen in America. A lot of people want to take jobs for granted. A lot of people want to take manufacturing for granted. They want to tax it to death,” said Roozenboom. “I sometimes feel like they want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.”

Rozenboom said that in rural Iowa, having a facility like CLOW “is fantastic”.

Rozenboom said he is thankful to be in the Iowa Senate, and “I hope I’m making a positive difference doing that.”

Rozenboom said he pondered his time on the farm, his years of work at Wakes, and then in public service when developing his speech on leadership.

With notes in hand, Rozenboom began to share his take on leadership and the role it plays in society and the business world.

“We live in a very politically charged time. I feel that very directly, I can assure you,” said Rozenboom. “My goodness, football has become politically charged. That’s unfortunate.”

Rozenboom opened up his speech by touching on “Honesty, Integrity, and Character.”

“Those are the essence of who you are as a person,” said Rozenboom. “Do others trust you? Do they believe you? Talking about leadership, if people don’t trust you, or don’t believe you, I don’t think they’re going to follow you.”

Rozenboom said that, “talent is a gift, but character is a choice.”

When it comes to tough votes, Rozenboom referenced the vote taken to raise the gas tax in Iowa. “It takes courage sometimes to vote against your opponents.”

“It takes integrity to vote against the people that you agree with most of the time,” added Rozenboom. “I voted for the gas tax in 2015. I’m a conservative Republican; I’m not supposed to vote for tax increases ever. Believe me, a lot of my best friends took me to task for that.”

“Leadership does require courage,” added Rozenboom, who then quoted Eddie Rickenbacker. “There can be no courage unless you are scared.”

“My first time I spoke on the Senate floor, you think I was scared? I was scared,” said Rozenboom.

“Responsibility: if you won’t carry the ball, you can’t lead the team,” added Rozenboom.

“Generosity: your candle loses nothing when you light another candle,” said Rozenboom. “Be generous with your resources, your time. Maybe it takes some time to talk to a colleague. Maybe it’s fiscal. If you’ve been blessed with some financial resources, don’t keep them all to yourself. Be generous.”

“Servanthood: In our political system, as nasty as it gets, you can’t ever lose sight of the fact that, down deep, you’re a servant,” said Rozenboom. “You’re a servant of the people.”

“I have 61,000 constituents. You can’t hit a home run for every one of them because they’re usually about a 50/50 split,” added Rozenboom. “But that’s why I have to listen. That’s why I have to try to learn. That’s why I have to try and understand other concepts that maybe I didn’t automatically agree with.”

“To get ahead, put others first. A true leader serves the people,” said Rozenboom.

Posted by on Oct 1 2017. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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