30 at 30: Chris Leichtweis
Executive MBA – Class of 2003
President/CEO of North Wind Group
A lifelong sports enthusiast, Chris Leichtweis discovered his passion for leadership in the wrestling arena. As captain of his high school wrestling team, he recognized his talent for encouraging and motivating his teammates toward their goals.
“When it came to perseverance, determination and never quitting, those are the things that built me into a true leader,” he said. “Leadership has always been in my DNA.”
From Technical Mastery to Strategic Leadership
Shortly after graduating from college, Leichtweis accepted a lead scientist role at Bechtel National Inc in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The company invested in his personal and professional growth, and he developed what he calls a “head football coach” leadership style: a people-oriented approach focused on building a strong team to maximize success.
“They taught me the foundational aspects of organization, structure, processes and procedures, which helped me lead and grow others,” Leichtweis explained. “It was about growing myself, but also about growing the people reporting up to me. Holistically, that creates a stronger team.”
Leichtweis is still connected with one of his mentors from Bechtel, Ed Walker. Walker encouraged him to earn the certifications he needed in his technical career to continue expanding into leadership. Today, Walker serves as a sounding board for his professional and personal goals.
“I frequently see him, and he’s still one of the brightest, smartest people I know,” Leichtweis said.
Entrepreneurship and Education
In 1991, empowered by his training and experience, Leichtweis founded his own company, Safety and Ecology Corporation (SEC). While he was excited for the opportunity that the entrepreneurial venture brought, he also recognized the need for continued education.
Twelve years after founding SEC, Leichtweis and his team were beginning to consider the possibility of mergers and acquisitions. He decided to pay for a trusted employee to take the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business Executive MBA program, which later became the Executive MBA – Strategic Leadership program.
“I sent my righthand man, Jack McRae, through the program, and he succeeded with flying colors,” Leichtweis explained. “I went through myself in 2003, and since then, I have probably sent 20 to 25 individuals from my leadership team through the program.”
In the EMBA program, Leichtweis learned about the CAGE framework, which stands for Cultural, Administrative, Geographic and Economic factors. Understanding the CAGE fundamentals of entering a new market helped him and his team feel confident in acquiring a United Kingdom-based company in 2004.
“I used all the CAGE principles,” Leichtweis explained. “Everything that I did and that I learned, I tied a direct link to the organizational structure, processes and approaches at SEC. It was perfect timing.”
Building a Blueprint for Success
The most tangible outcome of the program for Leichtweis was his final project – developing a business plan for his company. As one of the only entrepreneurs in his cohort, he developed one-year, three-year and 10-year business plans for SEC. It detailed metrics that Leichtweis and his team used to make goals more tangible, and therefore, achievable.
“I had the advantage of being able to build the plan, and also the authority to implement it,” Leichtweis said. “After I graduated, we were able to continue running with it.”
Leichtweis’ team was instrumental in helping him synthesize and build on what he’d learned. He strove to maintain a dynamic that allowed his employees, and the company, to expand and succeed.
“Everybody was equal,” he said. “The team concept made us great. There was never a time when it was ‘me’ and ‘them.’ We were all working together, and everybody’s opinion mattered.”
Nurturing Talent: A Leader’s Approach to Mentorship
Leichtweis says leadership and mentorship are cyclical, and both are key to a company’s continued success. Later in his career, as group president and CEO of North Wind Group, he developed Leadership Academy, a five-month training program, to prepare his employees for higher levels of management. He remained focused on developing the team and defining clear goals, which resulted in stronger business outcomes.
“Business functions, like legal, compliance and finance are the end results of a company that builds a culture and mentors along the way,” Leichtweis said.
He also used the Executive MBA’s “Balanced Scorecard” concept to help team members identify their professional goals. By defining small, measurable goals that ultimately add up to larger company goals, the team stays unified and accomplishes more.
“You can’t mentor someone when they don’t have organized goals, so that’s where the mentorship begins,” he said.
Leaving a Foundation for Success
Leichtweis chose to step down from his role at North Wind Group in December 2023, feeling confident that the company can continue to grow and thrive based on the structure he and the team built. Under his leadership, the company grew from $58 million in 2013 to $550 million in 2023.
“It was absolutely incredible,” Leichtweis said. “I felt that my work was done there. I’m ready to move on to the next phase, because the systems, processes and culture are in place, and it can continue to soar.”
EMBA Words of Wisdom
An automotive enthusiast, Leichtweis explained that his vanity plate reads “NXFAZ,” reminding him every day that this is his opportunity to enjoy the next phase of life. And, for up-and-coming leaders, he shared a few key takeaways.
“A successful career means delivering the goods to your customer and understanding that it’s not about you – it’s about the team,” he said. “The end result of those two things is growth.”