{"id":4749,"date":"2006-11-01T12:44:07","date_gmt":"2006-11-01T16:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=4749"},"modified":"2014-11-14T16:03:58","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T21:03:58","slug":"world-fuel-services-leader-proves-to-be-a-world-class-speaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2006\/11\/world-fuel-services-leader-proves-to-be-a-world-class-speaker\/","title":{"rendered":"World Fuel Services leader proves to be a world-class speaker."},"content":{"rendered":"

What he said, and the way he said it, enabled Paul Stebbins<\/strong>, entrepreneur and now chairman and chief executive officer of World Fuel Services Corporation, to enthrall an audience of 100 people when he spoke on the topic \u201cEthics, Innovation, and Risk: Reflections on Building and Managing a Global Enterprise,\u201d at the first Herbert A. Wertheim Lecture of the 2006-2007 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nPaul Stebbins <\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Stebbins\u2019 professional credentials would be enough to captivate any group. Prior to joining World Fuel in 1995, he founded Trans-Tec Services, Inc., in 1985, serving as officer, shareholder, and director until World Fuel acquired his company. Headquartered in Miami, World Fuel boasts $8.7 billion in revenues, $40 million in net profits, and employs approximately 600 people in 43 offices in 23 countries. But his ability to communicate and his modesty in light of his achievements gave an additional dimension to the lecture.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing metaphors and quotations from literature and philosophy, Stebbins revealed himself as a well-read man who applies ethics to the day-to-day operational activities of a large global corporation,\u201d said Ed Glab<\/strong>, director, Knight Ridder Center for Excellence in Management. Glab, who spent 25 years in the energy business, not only was impressed by Stebbins\u2019 insights, but also by his communication skills, another area of expertise for Glab, who teaches seminars on handling the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was one of the best lectures I\u2019ve ever attended,\u201d he said. \u201cI tell my students that studies and surveys show that the number one characteristic businesses look for in a person is his or her ability to communicate well. Stebbins is a very able communicator, in part because he draws effectively on his own experiences and personalizes what he says.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, Stebbins revealed that he was rejected two years in a row when he applied to business school. He also talked about the fact that the longer he is in business, the less he feels he knows.<\/p>\n

Lecture offers insights into wide-ranging set of issues.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he spoke, you could hear a pin drop,\u201d said Natalia Sol<\/strong>, director of corporate relations, who attended the October 23, 2006, lecture. \u201cHe is very humble because he feels there is so much he doesn\u2019t know. That attitude has led him to \u2018hire good people and get out of their way.\u2019 He also talked about how he sees people as the biggest assets of World Fuel and how he believes that, in his company, the best leaders are the ones who\u2019ve made the most colossal mistakes\u2014because that leads to learning and growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe made it clear that ethics begins at the top,\u201d said Constantine \u201cGus\u201d Kalogeras<\/strong>, professor, Department of Finance, and coordinator of the banking courses within the department. \u201cYou can\u2019t be a leader who browbeats sales people to bring in sales any way possible and then expect ethical behavior from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stebbins shared his perspective on other timely business subjects as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe covered the waterfront,\u201d Kalogeras said. \u201cHe explained how innovation improves the lifeblood of a company, and he talked about the necessity of creating an environment where risk is permitted.\u201d \u00a0To view a podcast of his presentation, visit http:\/\/business.fiu.edu\/Spotlights\/wertheim_lecture_series.cfm<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What he said, and the way he said it, enabled Paul Stebbins, entrepreneur and now chairman and chief executive officer of World Fuel Services Corporation, to enthrall an audience of 100 people when he spoke on the topic \u201cEthics, Innovation, and Risk: Reflections on Building and Managing a Global Enterprise,\u201d at the first Herbert A. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[484,811,1093,1516,1982,2100],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24356,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4749\/revisions\/24356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}