Thompson Coburn congratulates Bob Chapman of Barry-Wehmiller on best CEO honor

Thompson Coburn extends warm congratulations to our friend and client Bob Chapman, Chairman and CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, who was named the third best CEO in the world by a national corporate leadership consultancy. The ranking was published Friday in Inc.’s online magazine.

Bob has led Barry-Wehmiller for more than 40 years, guiding the now $2.4 billion global manufacturing technology and engineering consulting company through extraordinary expansion and change. Along the way, Bob developed a remarkable approach to his leadership of Barry-Wehmiller’s more than 11,000 team members around the world: Every person matters. This philosophy generated a best-selling book and a highly successful leadership training program, the BW Leadership Institute.  

As reported in Inc., leadership expert Marcel Schwantes of Leadership from the Core selected his top 10 CEOs based on corporate leaders who embraced servant leadership and “made a positive impact on business, society, and the future of work.” He commended Bob for transforming his organization into one “focused on bringing out the best in its people through communication, trust, celebration, respect, continuous improvement, and responsible freedom.”

Thompson Coburn has been proud to serve as a legal advisor to Barry-Wehmiller through much of the company’s growth over the last several decades. 

Said Thompson Coburn Chairman Tom Minogue, “Bob is not only a highly valued friend and client, he is also an inspiration to every corporate leader who strives to build a team of truly dedicated and engaged team members. I’ve personally learned so much from Bob over the years about managing by serving, creating a culture of commitment and putting your principles into action. As Bob has said many times, ‘When people thrive, organizations thrive.’”