T
he call went out: Who are the fittest CEOs in southeastern Wisconsin? Eighty men and women
answered that call. Some were short, some were tall, some were fit and some not so fit.
Some keep in shape by jogging, others by swimming, weightlifting, Pilates or other exercise routines.
Despite the differences, all of the participants had one thing in common: a competitive nature.
One such person is Pam Kassner, 44, owner of Super Pear Strategies LLC. “My competitive streak is with myself,” said Kassner, who is always trying to set goals and once she meets them, she tries to improve on them.
“I approach fitness the same as business,” she said, adding that in both business and fitness, she consults an expert, makes a plan, tests the plan, adjusts it and tries to reach a milestone.
Kassner has not always been a competitive person when it comes to athletics. She describes herself as a petite woman who didn’t get encouragement as a child to be athletic. As an adult, she became more active and with encouragement from her husband, who also participated in the Fittest CEO program, Kassner decided to compete in an Ironman triathlon.
“I always thought that it is something I’ll never do,” she said.
With the confidence boost of being able to complete a triathlon, Kassner said her business confidence also improved.
“I thought that if I can do that with preparation, planning and the right information, then I can open my own business. There’s not much that I couldn’t do,” Kassner said.
Kassner’s husband, William Ochowicz, president of Medical Building Leasing LLC, takes competition seriously as well. He is a category two level masters’ bicycle racer. He incorporates his cycling hobby into his business practices.
“I am taking more and more groups out on corporate rides,” he said.
Ochowicz, 45, explained that many corporate participants feel like they can interact more during a bike ride than they can in a boardroom or on a golf cart. As a result, Ochowicz’s fitness routine affects his business routine. He believes that executives should “actively get corporations engaged in any athletic activity.”
Sara Gilliame, 26, president of Aras Promotions Inc. also promotes fitness and well-being at her company. For Gilliame, it’s important that her employees are, “living healthy; having a healthy body inside and out.”
Since most of Gilliame’s employees are promotional models, their appearance is important. While most of the fashion industry believes that a model must be overly thin, Gilliame prefers models who are “healthy and athletic.”
To help her staff stay in shape, Gilliame has arranged a discounted rate for them at the Wisconsin Athletic Club. Also, she and her staff often work out together, which according to Gilliame, helps to keep them more motivated.
“We have fun with it because we do it as a group,” she said.
The reason that Bill Budzien, 48, chief financial officer at Frank F. Haack & Associates, an HRH Company, decided to compete in the Fittest CEO program was because he wanted to create more visibility and awareness of fitness within his company. Frank F Haack & Associates offers educational programs, resources and initiatives to its employees to help manage benefit costs, recruit and retain employees and to improve employee health.
Budzien said he wanted to send a message to his co-workers.
“One message is that we should feel fortunate to work for an employer that supports and embraces a wellness program for its employees,” he said.
On a personal level, Budzien works out five to six times a week during the noon hour with a co-worker. “I try to stay very active. One of the greatest success factors in having a good workout routine is having workout partners that motivate you to work out regularly,” he said.
Like Kassner, Budzien makes his workout competitive. “We’ve tried to make it competitively fun,” he said.
For example, they decided to see how fast they could run a mile and if they could do it in less than six minutes. Budzien and his co-workers went to a local high school track and ran, only to learn that they weren’t as fast as they had hoped. As a result, they encouraged each other to improve their times with additional exercise.
Art Flater, 44, vice president and principal at Kubichek Office Products Group, describes himself as an average American and who likes to eat custard. When asked why he joined the Fittest CEO Competition, he said, “I looked at the information and figured they needed someone to be in last place.”
All kidding aside, Flater does work out daily. He recently lost 40 pounds and has adopted a healthier approach to life. He is also training to run in a marathon.
In the end though, Flater believes, “Everyone knows what it takes to be healthy. The average person knows, but doesn’t do it.”
John Scheibel, CEO of Scheibel Halaska Inc., said he believed that his cigarette addiction set a bad example for his employees. So, about four months ago, he gave up smoking and started working out.
“I thought maybe what I can do is trick myself mentally by picking a challenge that would require me to quit smoking,” he explained. The challenge that he chose: to run the Chicago Marathon in October 2007 with his son, who inspired Scheibel, 53, to train for the event.
Scheibel says he already sees a difference in his employees’ attitudes. According to Scheibel, one of his key managers was inspired and began exercising more. In turn, the manager’s wife also has adopted a new exercise routine.
“We have to lead in more domains that just strategy and operations that leaders of business are expected to lead in,” Scheibel said. “Your behavior is influencing other people in a whole bunch of domains.”
Scheibel believes that “people who are granted authority to lead” must guide by example with ethics, family values, etc. “Culturally bring an example of how you take care of yourself. You can have some kind of influence and impact on those who work for you,” he said.
Deb Bristoll-Weis, president/CEO of Engineered Plastics Corp., also has seen the rewards of encouraging employees to be healthier. The company’s employee wellness program includes health risk appraisals, blood work testing and wellness education.
“This year, it impacted health insurance rates a lot,” she said. She said the company saved 10 percent on its health insurance costs, and the company’s renewal premium had an increase of less than 3 percent this year.
More than two-thirds of the company’s 64-person staff participates in the wellness program, according to Bristoll-Weis. During the first year of the program, there was a cash incentive to participate. Engineered Plastics Corp. covers the cost of health appraisals.
Bristoll-Weis has seen immediate results from the health appraisals. “We were able to identify someone who is pre-diabetes,” she said.
Gilliame also sees the benefit of having a healthy staff. She plans on having a corporate fitness plan with the Wisconsin Athletic Club once she has a full staff. “I think this is a great way for employees to have a connection with each other outside of work,” she said. “It could also create healthy competition which could translate into the work environment.”
Kassner agrees that fitness can be very important in a workplace.
“If you want to foster confidence, good morale and boost creative thinking, get moving and get your employees to do the same,” Kassner said.
“A job well-done motivates me,” Kassner said. “Fitness makes me a better, more ethical, sincere and genuine person.”
