Harris E. DELOACH, Jr.

President and CEO of Sonoco

Charles W. “Charlie” Coker, Sonoco Products Company’s current Chairman of the Board of Directors and former CEO from 1976 to 1998, once gave me these words of wisdom:

“Sonoco has prospered for over one hundred and four years because of the achievements of its people. Such prolonged success can come from nothing else. A company, after all, is a collection of people who create products, make it all work to achieve financial results, and, ultimately, create its reputation. The right people build businesses!”

I have found that the biggest successes and failures in business are most often determined by whether or not the right people are in the right jobs. You can have the best strategy, but it has no value without the right people to execute it. Conversely, if you have the wrong strategy but the right people, they will correct it. The right people truly do build businesses.

The right people build businesses