BUCYRUS —For Jeremie Kubicek, everything he needed to know about success in business, he learned on his father’s farm in Prauge, Oklahoma: plant, fertilize and water.
Kubicek, chief executive officer of GiANT Worldwide and co-founder of all GiANT companies, gave the keynote speech at Crawford County’s 20/20 Vision in Bucyrus for their annual Leadership Awards dinner and presentation, Thursday night.
“The leader in me comes from my father. His influence taught me not to worry over things you cannot control,” Kubicek said. “You can’t control the weather.”
Kubicek alluded to wheat farming, something he helped his father with every year growing up. He said that the easiest and most fun part of farming is the harvest, but what most people dislike is planting the seeds, fertilizing the soil and going out and watering the crops every day.
“That’s your job. Your job is to plant seeds, fertilize and water. Over and over and over. You want to see growth happen in your community? You plant, you fertilize, and you water,” Kubicek said.
Kubicek spoke of the importance of helping fellow community members because synergy and being a neighbor will always be beneficial. He gave an example of how one year, his father’s farming equipment was old and rusty, and his father was worried he would lose his wheat harvest.
“I remember my dad calling my name with a shaky voice, he was emotional. When I got back to the house, I saw six combines coming down the road, and all of these pickups of neighbors we had helped for years coming down the road (to help his father). In one afternoon, we took care of all of the wheat,” Kubicek said. “It was amazing.”
He told the story of his death, and how after he survived being dead for a minutes, he knew his company did not matter as much as being able to be helpful and lead others — to plant, fertilize and water.
While taking a September vacation in Cancun, Mexico, Kubecik, his wife, and friends were trapped in the eye of a hurricane. He said he knew they had time to kill and because their hotel was less than desirable, he coaxed them into seeing the movie “Signs” starring Mel Gibson.
When the party left the theater, a drunk driver hit them. Kubicek said he took the brunt of the force, cracking nine ribs, breaking his back and having his sternum pushed out of his chest.
During the 45-minute period of waiting for the ambulance, Kubicek recalled saying, “I’m going to die in Mexico.”
He said he made peace with that idea after speaking to God. He said he asked him if he was a good father, a good husband and was if he was his man.
In what Kubicek described as an amazing miracle, after his conversation with God, his wife bent over and whispered, “You were God’s man, you were a great father and you were a great husband.”
“I took my last breath, and I was out for four and a half minutes,” he said.
When he woke, among other things, Kubicek said he realized it took him dying in Mexico to head back to his roots.
“It’s only the secure, confident and humble leaders who can better the country. And the only way to become secure, confident and humble is to die,” he said. “And that’s hard. I don’t mean Mexico death, but I do mean dying to your view of things. Dying to being for you versus being for others.”
Scott Stober, director of sales for National Lime and Stone, said being a good leader is paramount to creating an atmosphere of improvement.
“We try to be socially responsible, try to be a part of the community,” he said, “so people can understand what we do. If people don’t get involved in the communities they can’t grow. People learning leadership skills will only benefit the community.”
Kubicek told the crowd that leadership is not the same as dictatorship or ruling over others. Leaders must help employees grow and bloom. The best way, he said is by allowing them room to grow and help them any way possible.
“Leadership is not domination. We’re talking about liberation. Get up every day, support people, challenge people and then what do you do? You plant, fertilize, water. Every single day.”
