My Friend Chuck Breuer
When your daughter Jennifer contacted me and others about some memories of our time with you, Chuck, I immediately started searching my memory banks for some funny, interesting incident that I could include in the book. Alas, either my memory has failed me again, or more likely, there just were not any times we had together that would provide a “funny” story to tell. But I feel there are things that I probably left unsaid when you retired from Rockwell that are important to me, and I hope are important to you, too.
I reflected back on the time I got to know you when I initially came to the Coralville facility as a new (very inexperienced) leader in Manufacturing, and later when I got to know you even better when I took the job as a leader in the Quality organization. I want to recall for you things that you probably remember about me, but I want to relate to you how important your time, your advice, and your insights were to help me become a better person at Rockwell Collins.
I knew you from our old neighborhood. I always loved the setting of your home near the Iowa River in River Heights. I lived up on the top of the hill, where there were lots of cars and traffic, and I had a big yellow Labrador, Finn, that liked to walk to the ponds and to the river occasionally. Exercise for that dog was required – he had so much energy – that we found ourselves on your street a lot!
When I first came to Coralville, Ron Schleder hired me to run the Process Center as the “Business Advisor”, and I really didn’t know what I was getting into. I had never worked in any of our factories, and didn’t really know what to expect. And then, there was the Navigator Team dynamic – the group of facility leaders in Coralville, and that is the group where we inter-acted the most.
I remember performance challenges and how we worked as a team of leaders for solutions. This is when I learned the value of the Quality organization by the decisions and actions you and Rick Less and Jamie Bruce helped with, and this is when you started to take the time to sit down with me one-on-one to explain to me what our customers and suppliers wanted and expected, and did it in a way that I could relate to it and understand it. You may not have thought what you did for me was anything out of the ordinary realm of doing your job, but it meant a lot to me that you took the time to get to know me and help me learn.
Later when I began a leadership role in Quality, working in Cedar Rapids, I had less day-to-day responsibilities, and more “big picture” things to learn. Once again, I was quite inexperienced in that role. And again, when I visited the Coralville facility, I would usually stop in and chat with you and Jamie Bruce about my job, our issues and get your advice. I always appreciated your insights about our Quality leadership. Once again, this was a challenging area for me, working in a new area with a new-to-me leader. You always brought me a very professional view about our leader, what he supported and more importantly, what he did not support. We laughed often about our challenges and that is probably the extent of what we should say about that.
Chuck, I also admire how you have been a father to your kids. My own kids are early in their college careers now, and the things you shared with me about your family and how you raised your kids meant a lot to me. As a parent with young children it was always reassuring to me to talk to you and realize that young kids could and would grow up to be great adults. It helped me to understand how important it was for me and Jami to cherish all the times we had with our children, regardless of the current challenge. You reminded me they do grow up quickly, and every day is a gift. We now realize how important that advice was. You are a great Dad!
Chuck, I always felt that your door was open to me, and your advice has helped me a lot over many years we have worked together. You are my good friend. I miss your “pep-talks”! All my best to you and yours…
Steve
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