Award-winning case of what the metals processing industry offers

Geoff Gilmore's 25-year career with Worthington Industries culminated with him leading Worthington Steel as it recently transitioned to a publicly held company.

Growing up in the Midwest and surrounded by family members with connections to the steel industry, Geoff Gilmore had an awareness about the metals sector, but he really didn’t see it as one offering a possible career path until the right connection was made. From that first entry-level opportunity to now being president and CEO of Worthington Steel, Gilmore has made the most of this 25-year tenure with the company, including being named winner of the 2024 Steel Executive of the Year award from Association of Metals Processors and Distributors (AMPD).

Even with the majority of his career spent at Worthington Industries, Gilmore did not lack career challenges. The start in sales eventually led to being vice president of purchasing, president of the company’s steel processing business unit, and president of its pressure cylinders business. Ownership recently selected Gilmore to lead the now publicly traded Worthington Steel, spun off from Worthington Industries in late 2023. The challenges are sure to keep coming.

The Fabricator had a chance to speak with Gilmore about his career, what the metals industry has to offer young people looking for a career path, and what being recognized by his industry peers means to him. That edited conversation follows.

The Fabricator: How did you get started with Worthington?

Geoff Gilmore: So, I started in inside sales. I had a job out of college and a career I thought I was going to pursue. But then I decided I wanted to take a different path. Fortunately, I had a very good friend that was working for Worthington Steel, and he knew I was interested in a career shift. I thought sales could be a good opportunity for me to pursue, and he helped me get an interview at the facility in Porter, Ind.

The company hired me for inside sales, and I was able to come to Columbus and do a six-month training program. I then went back to Porter, Ind., where I was in inside sales for two years.

Fab: To start in insides sales and 25 years later be able to lead the company as it goes public is quite the journey. Do you still think that same path is available to young people who might be looking for a similar journey?

Gilmore: Without a doubt. As I get out in front of our younger folks and those who are still somewhat new, I like to point out all of the opportunities. There are just so many different directions you can go in a manufacturing company or a steel company: sales, supply chain, purchasing, or operations. There are a lot of tasks to choose from. The developmental opportunities are plentiful.

Fab: What was your knowledge of metal processing when you first considered the job at Worthington?

Gilmore: I grew up in Michigan City, Ind., around the steel mills. Of course, I’ve had cousins, friends, and their families all work in the steel industry, which was the largest employer in northwest Indiana. On the other side of my family, which would be my mother's side, they were all from the Pittsburgh area and Weirton, W.Va. My grandfather was actually president of Weirton Steel. I also had an uncle who was in sales at Weirton Steel, another uncle who was in quality, and multiple cousins and relatives who worked in operations. I had this everywhere around me and basically knew nothing about it. It’s not the path I thought I would pursue.

But it was an industry where I saw my family was well taken care of. Everybody had meals on the table. You had what you needed. You had opportunities to further your education. So, it clearly was a wonderful employer.

Fab: What motivated you to stay at Worthington Steel for 25 years and not pursue challenges elsewhere?

Gilmore: It’s been easy for me to stay here for 25 years. It started with that six-month training program. It was the hands-on aspect of the work, developing your own skills, developing other people, gaining expertise, trying new things, and being able to fail. It’s been a great learning experience.

And now we’re a publicly traded company. There’s a lot of excitement over that.

We also have a family feel here. We are a Golden Rule company: Treat people how you would like to be treated. That’s the bedrock of this culture. I think that’s our secret weapon.

We’re not pressured to make impulsive, quick decisions to meet a quarterly target. We’re focused on the long game and doing the right thing.

Fab: What’s been your greatest challenge as a Worthington employee?

Gilmore: I grew up in the steel company. I started in inside sales. I took on multiple sales roles within Worthington Steel, eventually into steel leadership positions. I became vice president of purchasing for Worthington Industries. I was a general manager. I had all these roles, and I was getting exposed to these different areas and taking on greater responsibilities. Eventually, I became the president of Worthington Steel. I was in that role for 4½ years.

My biggest challenge was when John P. McConnell [then CEO of Worthington Industries and son of company founder John H. McConnell] came to me when I had a great team in place. Our team was doing extremely well, and our earnings reflected it. Mr. McConnell said, “I want you to move to cylinders. I love what we’re doing in steel. We need to replicate that in this business. I want you to go over there and really lead a transformation of that business.”

That was challenging for a couple of different reasons. No. 1, I’m no longer the expert on the business. I’m really having to rely on others and on my leadership skills. It was just a great learning experience.

The other big challenge was that I was working with a couple thousand people that weren’t familiar with me or my style. I’m trying to get that buy-in to make the changes necessary to get the business to perform better.

Fab: How did that experience help prepare you to return to lead Worthington Steel?

Gilmore: Really, all the credit goes to Mr. McConnell. Looking back at 2008 and 2009 and the Great Recession, it really opened my eyes to the fact that we had a good business here at Worthington. But Mr. McConnell acknowledged that complacency had probably set in, and we could do better. That’s when we officially kicked off what we still call today The Transformation, our continuous improvement program.

We actually hired McKinsey and brought them in for a few years. We quickly built an internal team that was working side by side with them. Eventually, we were able to manage that program ourselves internally.

The excitement behind that effort was noticeable. We were setting stretch goals, putting better metrics in place, and increasing our accountability.

Why is that important? Because we want to set metrics that force you to do things differently if you are going to achieve goals. You don’t want to keep doing the same things over and over and getting the same results.

So, we started that program in steel, and that grew. Eventually, it just becomes part of your DNA. It’s just what you do.

We tried to mirror that mentality in the cylinders business. It was just slow to take off. That led to me having that opportunity.

I’m a leader that’s fair but demanding. I’m fact based. I’m going to hold the team accountable. I’m going to set aspirational goals.

But in leading the cylinder business, I began to understand that pace matters. What I mean by that is I may have had ambitions and high goals, but you always, as a leader, have to allow the team to keep pace with you. Sometimes you have to slow down and let people catch up.

I probably was going too quickly early on and was too demanding the first six months. Not everybody's going to work at the same pace. And by the way, if some are a little bit slower, that doesn’t mean that they’re not as good as those that are going quicker. They can think differently and sometimes need a little bit more time.

That whole period was a great experience for me.

Fab: What do you enjoy most about the steel industry?

Gilmore: The advice I give younger people is don’t judge a book by its cover. You hear steel, and it might just sound kind of boring. In reality, there is a great amount of innovation going on in our industry. It’s second to none. Whether we’re talking about high-strength steel, different coatings, the move to electrical steel, the effort to decarbonize the transportation industry, the reinvestment coming to rebuild infrastructure, the steel industry going greener, it’s all very exciting. And we’re really front and center for all of it.

What I think I need to do as a CEO, and I would urge other CEOs to do, is talk about this industry more. We have a responsibility to our industry to be a lot more vocal, a lot more front and center in trying to do interviews, trying to get on the news, and talking to our constituents about what we do. It’s something I think we all could do a better job of.

Fab: Do you have any other advice that you might offer a younger person considering a career in the metals or manufacturing industry?

Gilmore: Be curious. Explore. Learn everything you can. Ask to visit other companies. Spend time understanding what the industry may have to offer you.

And don’t forget to ask about career paths. Don’t just get so caught up on your first entry-level job. Where could this go? If you are in manufacturing or the steel industry, you’re in one of those rare situations where the career paths are varied and plentiful. You could go into sales, metallurgy, supply chain, purchasing, or several other things. We even need attorneys!

And by the way, we pay for you to go back and get your degree or advanced degree. So, there are a lot of opportunities to take advantage of.

Fab: What does being recognized as the 2024 Steel Executive of the Year mean to you?

Gilmore: First, I’m absolutely honored to be the recipient of this award. I’m certainly surprised as well. I’m very passionate about my job, and I’m even more passionate about our people. So, personally, I’m honored, but to be able to tell the organization and the 4,600 employees behind me pushing every day for our success that they won this as well is also an honor.

Second, when an award like this is given by your peers within the industry, that's even that much more special. They’re experts. They know what we face and what we’re doing. And if they’re acknowledging you’re bringing value, then it doesn’t get much better than that.

Lastly, I look at some of the prior recipients, and those are some great names. They are people that also added value to the industry and did remarkable things.