Streamlined for growth
In his three years as CEO, Mattera has worked to bring all these companies under one II-VI brand, rather than having a collection of divisions. He’s excited about adding Finisar to the fold, which should complement II-VI’s current portfolio and help it grow five or 10 times over the next decade.
Although the Finisar deal was announced in November 2018, because the deal requires approval from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, the transaction that was expected to close in the summer was pushed to the fall.
Mattera knows the necessary cooperation and collaboration between II-VI and Finisar won’t automatically happen, even though both companies have similar histories and values, as well as half their employees living and working in China.
Mattera already reorganized the structure of II-VI into a format that’s better for scale, streamlining the company into two segments.
He first brought the idea to his direct reports in 2017, but was told it would take five to 10 years. However, with the Finisar deal pending, he was able to gain buy-in to undertake the restructure in 30 days.
“Sometimes you need a forcing function, and the acquisition of Finisar and the planning for a large-scale acquisition was the forcing function this time,” he says.
While bringing the Finisar team in will be the true test, Mattera likes that everyone knows where they fit under the new structure, and he’s already seen positive results in the first few months.
Mattera not only hopes acquiring Finisar will improve II-VI’s talent development pipeline, as he expects half of the management team to turn over in the near future, the scale should also speed up synergies. However, the greater-sized company will need to downshift in the beginning to get the employees aligned.
The combination is going to take sustained work and communication, including making sure the employees are engaged in the overall vision, he says.
Mattera needs employees who stand out and challenge the traditions of management, including his own thinking, while still being collaborative and remembering that the organization isn’t sustained on the basis of one person.
“I’d like to have 26,000 people who think like and act like an owner,” he says.
Takeaways:
- Seize your opportunities, but someone has to shoulder the risk.
- Sometimes it’s better to go around the problem.
- Strategy comes down to deciding, so make a decision.
The file:
Name: Chuck Mattera
Title: CEO
Company: II-VI Inc.
Born: Providence, Rhode Island
Education: Bachelor’s in chemistry from the University of Rhode Island, a Ph.D. in chemistry from Brown University, and graduate of the Stanford University Executive Program
What was your first job and what did you learn from it?
My first job was to sweep the boardwalk of the state beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island. I was 14 years old. I made $1.40 an hour, and for the next 12 or so summers, I worked in the same place. I scaled myself. I became a manager. I worked for these two guys who had three places. I ran one of them.
I learned about speed. I learned about leadership and forecasting and problems. But I love to compete and I love to go fast. It was a fast food restaurant, but I honed some skills just doing that.
What was the hardest management skill for you to learn and why?
Listening and slowing down. It was hard because when you’re in these positions, you’re trained to want to direct, to guide and to be clear. That requires talking. What I found out is that the more you talk, the slower you go. The more you listen, the faster you go.
What are your business philosophies?
Make yourself indispensable. Be bold. Say what you’re going to do, do what you say. Do things right and do the right things.
Where might someone find you on the weekend?
I’m always on. They say some people live to work and some people work to live. I’m wired this way. I’m not sure it’s been the best path that a person can be on, but it’s the path that I’ve been on. It’s the path that I’m most comfortable with.
However, I do love to swim. When I turned 60, I started going north of Miami Beach where I intend to retire. I go whenever I can. I’m leasing a place that I can escape to one or two nights in a month, maybe a little bit more.
I love to do the following: I like to think. I like to be quiet. I like to swim. So, I’ll go on a weekend. I’ll sit at the ocean, bring a book, take notes, jump in the water, swim for a half an hour, come back and think.
