You’ll rarely find Marc in a board meeting or at a golf tournament. Instead, for the majority of Marc’s career, he has been a constant on the trade floor—never in an office—setting the pace for Smith’s traders, day in and day out, in times of shortage and in surplus.
One of only 12 employees when he joined the company as a purchasing agent more than 30 years ago, Marc has influenced all aspects of Smith. Now, as Chief Executive Officer, he oversees all of Smith’s day-to-day business operations and direction. Marc prefers to serve in a “wizard behind the curtain” role, and the sum of his experiences at Smith and in the industry are unsurpassed, giving him the ability to make decisions that propel, shape, and secure the organization.
“I think of my function here as a resource allocator,” Marc said. “I give the maximum support and tools to our management team, and, in turn, to every employee so that they can achieve their highest potential here.”
After all of this success, the thing that continues to motivate him is achieving things we’ve never accomplished before. For example, five years ago, Marc said, “The next 10 years will be the best 10 years.” And that prediction is turning out to be true: Smith has earned more than $12.6 billion in global revenue over the last five years—a 200-percent increase over the previous five years.
I think of my function here as a resource allocator,” Marc said. “I give the maximum support and tools to our management team, and, in turn, to every employee so that they can achieve their highest potential here.
Marc Barnhill
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