Plain Talk

“Plain Talk” Lessons From a Business Maverick. The book “Plain Talk” Lessons from a Business Maverick written by Ken Iverson, was a truly inspiring, and refreshing look into how a small company like Nucore a very small company of 500 people at the time could take on behemoth companies like United States Steel Corp. and Bethlehem Steel and ton for ton out produced them in a proportional manufacturing race of steel. The Goliath’s of the industry sitting fat and happy stuffing there corporate pockets full of cash while making deals with organized labor gave Nucor an opportunity to revolutionize the steel production industry. By paying attention to details like their employees and their customers, Nucor led by Iverson, put into practice common sensibilities that would propel them the twenty-first century of steel manufacturing. Collectively this book gives insights into leadership, life, business, risk taking, and honesty for the interested manager who would like to become successful in an entrepreneurial venture or in his corporate career. History
Ken’s small stint with large corporate America working for International Harvester in a research lab learned some very valuable bits of information that shaped his course of direction and development as future Fortune 500 company executive. Al Ellis his boss in the lab taught him some valuable lessons in that big business “extracts a measure of your individuality” and your hard work and skill you bring to the job would never be enough. Ken’s humble beginnings and lessons from his father instilled in him that team work and the individual was at the core of a successful company. Ken went on to prove his gut instincts by keeping things manageable even while you growing as a company.
Iverson’s Principles Leading to Success: In Iverson’s world corporate management met no more than 4 layers of management to the front line worker and as Iverson says, “That no one is more than four promotions away from