10 Things You Didn’t Know about Sherwin-Williams CEO John Morikis

John Morikis is the CEO, the President, and the Chairman of the Board for The Sherwin-Williams Company. This means that he is the man in charge of one of the leading manufacturers of general building materials in the United States and beyond. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about John Morikis:

1. Went to St. Joseph’s College

For his bachelor’s degree, Morikis went to St. Joseph’s College, in Renseller IN. a former NCAA DII college that recently closed.

2. Studied Business Administration

In school, Morikis studied Business Administration, which is the natural choice for people who want to climb up the rungs of the corporate ladder. After all, Business Administration is focused on the management of businesses, which is why it sees use in such a wide range of contexts.

3. Studied Psychology

Besides Business Administration, Morikis also studied Psychology. Said subject is nowhere near as common in the business world as Business Administration, but it sees a fair amount of use as well. This is because well-motivated employees are critical for the success of a business, meaning that Psychology can play a much bigger role than what people might expect on initial consideration.

4. Went to National Louis University

Later, Morikis went to National Louis University for his master’s degree. Said school’s main campus can be found in Chicago, IL, but it has other locations in the surrounding region as well as both Florida and Poland. Besides that, National Louis University is known to have played a historic role in early childhood education, seeing as how it helped to found both the National Kindergarten Movement and the National Parent Teacher Association.

5. More than 30 Years of Experience with Sherwin-Williams

In total, Morikis can claim more than 30 years of experience with Sherwin-Williams and counting. As a result, he is an excellent example of a CEO who has reached their current position by rising through the ranks. However, it wouldn’t be wholly accurate to say that Morikis started out at the very bottom of the corporation.

6. Started Out as a Management Trainee

For those who are curious, Morikis started out as a management trainee at Sherwin-Williams, which makes sense because his education was very much aimed towards managing other people. It is interesting to note that Morikis is the first management trainee at Sherwin-Williams to rise to the position of its CEO.

7. Sees His Climb as a Strength

Morikis has stated that his climb from management trainee to CEO was a strength for him. In part, this is because he believes that it has made him more capable of relating with all employees at all tiers at the corporation. However, he has also stated that this means that he isn’t asking his employees to do anything that he hasn’t done himself.

8. Became COO

Before becoming CEO, Morikis had become the COO, which is often considered to be the second-in-command because of its responsibilities in overseeing operations. In said position, Morikis took the chance to learn from his predecessor Christopher Connor. When Morikis became the CEO, Connor became the Executive Chairman, which is sometimes used for a Chairman who intends to continue being involved with the operations in some sense.

9. Handed a Strong Position

Sherwin-Williams was in a strong position when Morikis took over, as shown by its consecutive years of record sales and record earnings. At the time, Morikis expressed a sense of gratitude about being given the resources with which to become a successful CEO.

10. Received the Position for Various Reasons

Connor has stated that Morikis was the final choice of a multi-year process to choose the next CEO of Sherwin-Williams. Morikis received his position because of a combination of factors such as his focus on customer needs, his interest in finding and developing business talent, and his strong understanding of the coatings market. In particular, it is interesting to note that Morikis has been known to voice his belief in the need of a strong team to back him up, which is something he says that he learned from Connor.