Creating A Winning Culture

Mickey Leech has had a wide-ranging career—from his roots selling wholesale beauty products to retailers as director of field sales for L’Oreal, to various leadership roles at MTD Products, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker that manufactures outdoor power equipment.

In 2021, Leech became CEO of Schumacher Electric, maker of automotive aftermarket power conversion products including EV and traditional battery chargers, jump starters, portable power packs and portable power stations.

Through all of his experiences, one factor has stuck out to Leech as the cornerstone of business: the people. He shares how he has been able to re-build a successful culture and its impact at Schumacher Electric.

You’ve had an unconventional career journey. Tell us about that and the lessons you have learned along the way.

I started my career with L’Oreal and then spent nearly two decades at MTD Products before joining Schumacher Electric. I have had the privilege of holding leadership roles across various industries. I have always been a leader who is passionate about growing businesses with good people who do things the right way.

The cornerstone of my experience has always been the people involved. That has been my biggest lesson. I believe that by striving towards shared goals and addressing each person’s needs, successful outcomes can be achieved, regardless of the specific function or industry.

How has Schumacher Electric transformed over its 75 years?

For more than 75 years, Schumacher has been powering lifestyles with products sold in markets around the world. Our legacy is centered on delivering product excellence at a value, and we are a company that customers trust. But as new vehicles and lifestyles emerge, we’ve recognized when it is time for a shift.

Schumacher focuses on building upon its legacy, adding home power and EV charging while continuing to be a category captain within the traditional automotive aftermarket space. The disruption now is creating a consumer brand and reaching new audiences and lifestyles.

Since becoming CEO in 2021, how have you been able to change the company’s culture and how has that impacted performance?

When I joined Schumacher, it was my goal to restore its winning team-based culture. Because we were transitioning our headquarters from the Chicagoland area to Dallas-Fort Worth, this was a manageable change. The move allowed us to introduce new perspectives and foster a collaborative team environment.

After reviewing the company’s vision statement, we further defined and clarified the purpose of the company. Velocity is the speed of Schumacher heading in one direction. Being successful as a company and aligning overall with one goal—why are we here? We are here to empower end users to benefit from mobility, giving people the freedom to work, travel and play.

We wanted to create a culture around bringing innovative products at a value to market for end users, not just driving financial results. We repositioned and redefined the core values of the company, so they are mutually beneficial to end users as well as employees.

We also changed the company dynamic to be more team focused and instituted a training program on continuous improvement and what it means to be a team. All of these new solutions have helped to grow financial results at the company and re-create a winning culture.

As CEO, what are some of your strategies for growing the business further as new technologies within the EV industry continue to emerge?

Our strategy is to innovate the design, manufacture and performance of our products, giving consumers more value from the brand that they know and trust. Rather than focusing on technology, our innovation lies in translating proprietary consumer insights into the use of new technologies.

We strive to deliver exceptional value across all our products and price ranges. Ultimately, this results in greater benefits for consumers to their investment.

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