Frank Glaviano
Sr, Shell's VP of
Frank Glaviano Sr, 53, Shell
Exploration and Production's Vice President for
the
He is the grandson of Italian-Americans who emigrated from
Though not a typical hard-knocks
He attended high school at
Holy Cross. At 14, he got a job in
While still at school, he got an
internship at Shell, on the 34th floor, just down the hall from his current
corner office in
Moving up Shell's corporate ladder,
he was promoted to his current role in 2004. The Glavianos
have three children, 25, 23 and 17.
Despite his perfectionist and
workaholic tendencies his inspirational
leadership of "empowerment coupled with expectation." has evoked
powerful loyalty among all his employees.
Frank's most important leadership
role model isn't John D. Rockefeller, it's Mother Teresa.
This article focuses on Mr. Glaviano leadership in making possible the New Orleans Jazz
and Heritage Festival, an important morale and tourist booster.
The Times-Picayune (
By Pam Radtke Russell
He just returned from a week in
But there is one place New
Orleans-born-and-bred Frank Glaviano Sr. has never
been: the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
Starting this week, though, as the
local face behind Shell's sponsorship of Jazzfest, Glaviano, the first New Orleanian
to lead Shell's New Orleans office, is making up for that oversight. This year,
Glaviano, 53, Shell Exploration and Production's vice
president of production for the
While Glaviano
is not as well-known as some local business titans, his company has played a
high-profile role in
Like everything he does in life,
from getting production of 450,000 barrels of oil restarted in the Gulf of
Mexico to helping his son with baseball practice, Glaviano
has approached Jazzfest with resolve and intensity.
"He will do whatever it takes
to make this happen," said Quint Davis, producer
of the Jazz and Heritage Festival. "He really feels a genuine involvement
and pride. He's become our guy at every level."
The local portfolio
Though Glaviano's
He is the grandson of
Italian-Americans who emigrated from
His family later moved to eastern
At 14, he got a job in
Later, Glaviano
started his own house-painting business, an enterprise that carried him through
While still at school, he got an
internship at Shell, on the 34th floor, just down the hall from his current
corner office in
When he graduated from Tulane, a
full-time engineering job at Shell was waiting for him. Within five years, he
was a manager.
In 1978, he married a secretary at
Shell. Though they had met years earlier, when Glaviano
was an intern, it took him a few years to get a date with the secretary.
"That was another goal," Glaviano says jokingly.
The two moved back and forth
between
Familial role models
Though not a typical hard-knocks
"No one beat it into me, that's just how I was raised. That's my father, that's my
grandfathers -- neither one of them could sign their names," Glaviano said. "And they never complained."
The influence of Glaviano's father was probably the greatest force in Glaviano's life, one that remains with him, more than six
years after his father died.
Henry P. Glaviano's
Army sergeant pin is always visible on his son's shirt or jacket. In Glaviano's corner office, a sealed copy of his father's
book about his experience during World War II in the 156th Infantry Band is one
of the few personal affects Glaviano highlights.
In the book, Henry Glaviano is cited as a "good musician with excellent
leadership qualities," by the 156th bandmaster, Frank J. Rosato.
While musicianship didn't rub off
on his son, the qualities that made his father a good drummer and a good leader
apparently did.
Glaviano said his father taught drums, but
wouldn't teach anyone who already had a drum kit. Only when they were good
enough would he allow them to graduate from a drum pad to a single drum.
Glaviano has carried on with those
perfectionist traits.
"He and his father were very
much alike," said Glaviano's wife, Marie Glaviano. "If something is wrong, it's going to stand
out immediately. It's going to stand out like a sore thumb."
And, like his parents and
grandparents, Glaviano believes in working hard.
Once, Glaviano's
son asked him what a work ethic was. Glaviano said he
answered, , "It's how hard you work when no one's
looking. That really defines who you are."
Glaviano lives that speech, getting up at
Even when he's at home, Glaviano stays busy. During Easter weekend he painted a
bathroom in his house because he didn't think anyone else would do the job
right.
And when his son became involved in
baseball, he didn't just play catch, he helped him build a baseball diamond on
their three acres.
Marie Glaviano
laments the time her husband has missed with his children, but said she
realizes he would not be content if he weren't working.
"I don't think that if he had
to compromise reaching his goals, that he would be happy," she said.
Knowing when to defer
Despite his perfectionist and
workaholic tendencies, Glaviano does not micromanage
the operations of Shell's production in the
After Hurricane Katrina, he turned
to his key leaders and told them they would have to do their work without his
input because he was too busy with Katrina-related issues.
J.R. Justus, Shell's onshore asset
manager for the
Glaviano told Justus he trusted him to keep
his division running. "That's one of Frank's strengths," Justus said,
"empowerment coupled with expectation."
Beyond his attention to detail, his
hard work and high expectations, the key to Glaviano's
success has been his ability to reach employees on a personal level.
Glaviano sends out a weekly e-mail to all
his 1,000 employees that touches not only on
production, but also on daily issues within Shell and his personal trials.
A note he e-mailed days after
Hurricane Katrina, on Sept. 2, was forwarded around the world to people even
outside Shell.
"We all are affected by this
tragedy in a different way," he wrote, "some with a total loss of
home and some with many other difficulties to deal with. For me, all I can do
is think about the positive aspects and to once again
be reminded what my knees are for."
Because of these notes, and Glaviano's efforts to meet regularly with employees , he receives e-mail from all levels at Shell.
"I know everyone in the
organization respects him highly," said his secretary, Cathy Hennig. "He gets a lot of requests from people just
for advice. People look up to him and respect him and what he thinks."
It's not just Glaviano's
accessibility that makes employees reach out to him, said Marvin Odum, head of Shell Exploration & Production in North
and
"Frank, in my mind, is truly
an inspirational leader," Odum said.
"That's a rare quality in people. People really love to follow Frank as a
leader."
Glaviano's leadership style is just another
example of the pervasiveness of his Catholic upbringing. This oil executive's
most important leadership role model isn't John D. Rockefeller, it's Mother Teresa.
"The whole idea of a servant
leader is to serve the people you lead," he said. "If you think you
are the most important person, then you actually fail. Serving the people you
lead is the most effective and most noble form of leadership."
Pushed to the fore
Glaviano has largely stayed in the
background during his 30 years at Shell.
But that all changed with Hurricane
Katrina.
In the aftermath of the storm, Glaviano has been pushed to the front of local, national
and even international attention as a Shell spokesman on Shell's production in
the
Glaviano has also become involved in the
Business Council of New Orleans, meeting regularly with local business leaders
about the city's future.
Fellow council member John Laborde, who led Tidewater Marine for 40 years and who is
the current chairman of Laborde Marine Lifts, said Glaviano has done well by the city.
"It became very obvious from
the outset, he was a local product who had distinguished himself quite
favorably," Laborde said. "He has
participated personally and on behalf of Shell in a lot of things that would
have been missed with others not so familiar with the state of
Glaviano was one of 40 government and
business leaders who were asked to join the delegation that visited the
"From bringing Shell back to
Bringing them home
But before Shell and Glaviano could help lead the city, first Shell had to
return. As is his style, Glaviano played a quiet, but
important, role in the final determination.
The decision to return to the city
was made Oct. 25, when a group of Shell's key leaders gathered at the company's
training center in Robert, where Shell New Orleans operations had temporarily
relocated after the storm.
Shell's options were written on
boards around the room, and Shell executives were asked to stand next to the
option they agreed with.
Glaviano said he was clearly in the
Odum, also a proponent for a return to
"I can absolutely guarantee
you that some people were convinced that coming back was the right thing
because Frank was there," Odum said.
The day after Shell returned to
Without Shell's support, Jazzfest "would not be what it is," said Quint Davis. "It was teetering on the brink of
happening or not."
The one-two announcements were part
of Shell's plan to support the city and help it come back.
"It's kind of un-Shell like,
but it's not just about music and food, it's helping the city's economy," Glaviano said. "We want to work in a city that is
viable. If it's viable, then we can attract employees."
While Shell's sponsorship of Jazzfest wasn't Glaviano's
complete doing, he has been a key person in seeing the sponsorship through.
"Frank, to me, is the
embodiment of what our relationship with Shell is all about, and how it came to
be,"
"That shocks me, that shocks the whole neighborhood," said Marie Glaviano. "He doesn't like crowds, he doesn't like
standing in line."
The fact he's become so immersed in
Jazzfest is indicative of what makes Glaviano a great leader, said Leslie Bouie,
who works in Shell's organizational effectiveness division and is also Glaviano's personal leadership coach.
"This shows his willingness to
step out of what might be considered an individual's comfort zone to do what's
important for the company and the city of
Weeks ago, Glaviano
said he'd bought his sunscreen for the festival. And Bouie
can guarantee that with Glaviano's commitment to
safety, he's also got a hat and sunglasses.
But the hardworking executive also
will likely have one more piece of vital equipment with him: his Blackberry.
"There's really not much time
for anything else after work," Marie Glaviano
said. "But, I guess for once, he's going to have more fun." . . . . .
. .
Pam Radtke
Russell can be reached at prussell@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3351.
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