10 Things You Didn't Know about Stanley Black & Decker CEO James Loree

James Loree has been both the CEO and the President of Stanley Black & Decker since August of 2016. Although his tenure hasn’t been that long, he has nonetheless had an important impact on the corporation, as shown by how his efforts led to its newfound purpose of providing the best tools for the so-called “people who make the world.” Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about James Loree:

1. Went to Union College

For his schooling, Loree went to Union College, which can claim the honor of being the very first institution of higher learning to receive a charter from the New York State Board of Regents. Besides this, it has a reputation for being the “Mother of Fraternities,” which can be attributed to the fact that three of the first fraternal organizations were founded at said location.

2. Studied Economics

Thanks to his time at Union College, Loree managed to secure a degree in economics. Presumably, this would have been pretty useful for his chosen career, seeing as how microeconomics, macroeconomics, and other economic fields have a close relationship with business. For example, the demand and supply of products is one of the most fundamental topics in microeconomics. Likewise, the aggregate demand and supply of entire economies is one of the most fundamental topics in macroeconomics.

3. Member of Sigma Phi Society

Loree is a member of the Sigma Phi Society, which is the second Greek fraternal organization ever founded. Technically, it is a secret society, which is why its rituals and other practices are relatively unknown to outsiders when compared to those of its counterparts.

4. Was With General Electric

For a long time, Loree was an employee of General Electric. There, he managed to rise to a high position, as shown by his time as Vice President as well as his time as Chief Financial Officer.

5. Was With Stanley Works

It is interesting to note that Loree came to Stanley Black & Decker via Stanley Works. He hadn’t reached the top before the merger between Stanley Works and Black & Decker happened in 2010. However, there can be no doubt about the fact that Loree had managed to reach a very high position as the Chief Operating Officer, which in turn, meant that he played an instrumental role in the course of events that led to that particular outcome.

6. Spearheaded Mergers and Acquisitions Effort

In fact, Loree was the one who spearheaded Stanley Works’s mergers and acquisitions effort, which started up in 2002. On the whole, he was responsible for more than 70 acquisitions that enabled the corporation to quadruple its revenues before getting involved in the merger with Black & Decker.

7. Bothered By His Corporation’s Failure to Define Its Purpose

When Loree took the reins of Stanley Black & Decker, he was bothered by the fact that the corporation hadn’t defined its purpose, which means the societal role that it is supposed to fill. It took some time for him to correct that problem, not least because it couldn’t come from him but instead had to come from the people who make up the corporation.

8. Found It Difficult to Let Go of Traditional Style of Leadership

Part of the process of defining the purpose involved letting go of the command and control style of leadership, which Loree found to be a serious challenge. For those who are unfamiliar, command and control leadership refers to a very authoritative and very top-down style of leadership that saw a lot of use in earlier times but has since been pushed out to some extent by more flexible and more innovative counterparts.

9. Now Engages in Two-Way Communication with Employees

Loree has mentioned that one of the biggest upsides to the process is the fact that he now communicates with his employees on a regular basis. Primarily, this two-way communication happens through social media. Something that presumably enables the participants to bypass a lot of the barriers that are inherent to a corporate hierarchy.

10. Sees His Corporation As Consolidator of Choice for the Tool Industry

The Stanley Black & Decker CEO is still very managed involved in making acquisitions. In this, he has been helped by his assessment of his corporation as the consolidator of choice in the tool industry. Partly, this is because of the corporation’s own ongoing search for deals, and partly, this is because of the corporation’s reputation that convinces other parties to approach it with their proposals.

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