MEL #025 | From Plant Floors to Boardrooms through Business Acumen and Lifelong Learning with Mike Stone

In this episode, I speak with Mike Stone, a retired chemical engineer whose career responsibilities progressed from production engineer to vice president with many stops along the way. Mike began his engineering path inspired by older cousins working in chemical engineering and driven by a desire to escape farm work. He earned his engineering degree from UT and built a diverse career spanning multiple chemical industries, eventually moving into business management and strategic planning.Mike talks about how he was thrown into leadership early without formal training and how he initially struggled with managing people and navigating complex cultural dynamics. A pivotal moment came when he was sent to lead a newly acquired company under challenging circumstances without a proper handoff or leadership preparation. In our advice segment, Mike stresses the importance of gaining early exposure to leadership, business, and financial literacy. His core message is, engineers must invest in themselves continuously to gain separation from their peers and approach their careers with a CEO mindset. Mike provided a recommended reading list, which I will include in the show notes. Takeaways, transcripts, and more in the show notes: https://drangeliqueadams.com/insights/