Darwin’s Andrew Liveris one of the most successful Australians in corporate America

Darwin-raised Andrew Liveris is one of the most successful Australians in corporate America, and he has some advice for leaders under pressure

DARWIN-BORN DowDuPont exec­utive chairman Andrew Liveris has some advice for leaders under pressure.

“Never blink,” he says in an interview with the Sunday Territorian. “Never show any fear.

“Always show your best face to your organisation because confidence starts with the leader.”

Mr Liveris was speaking from Dow’s headquarters in Michigan on the eve of receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Australian American Association in New York on Friday.

Being a CEO, he said, was a “lonely job”.

The 63-year-old has been chief executive of Dow Chemicals since 2004 and its chairman since 2006. In August this year, he became executive chairman of the newly merged DowDuPont, overseeing the company with former DuPont chief Edward Breen, who is CEO of the combined group.

The merger, which has just been finalised, is the culmination of a strategy Mr Liveris has been pursuing since he took over as Dow chief executive, having worked his way up the ranks of the company he joined as a production engineer in Melbourne more than 40 years ago.

His 13 years at the helm of a Fortune 500 company make him one of the most successful Australians in corporate America.

Reflecting on his time in the job, Mr Liveris talks of an informal network of CEOs who provide moral support for each other as they can’t talk about their worries to their staff.

“It’s a bit of a closed club,” he said. “The loneliness draws you together.”

Andrew Liveris is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company, and a materials, polymers, chemicals and biological sciences enterprise, with 2015 annual sales of nearly $49 billion. PICTURE: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

Mr Liveris said he “benchmarked” 27 chief executives of major US companies when he took over as Dow CEO as a way of teaching himself the leader’s job, studying how they handled their jobs and speaking to them about being a CEO.

“There were a lot of people, like former IBM chief executive Lou Gerstner, Corning chief Wendell Weeks, former Boeing chairman and CEO James McNerney, former Citigroup chief executive Vik­ram Pandit, former IBM chief executive Sam Palmisano, former GE chief executive Jeff Immelt and former Coca-Cola chief executive Muhtar Kent,” he said.

“Henry Kravis at KKR was a terrific friend. Dave Cote at Honeywell was a terrific friend and mentor. In Australia, Don Argus was tremendous. I remember calling these folk and getting their advice.”

Mr Liveris recalls one of his toughest times as CEO in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008 as he coped with the fallout from a $US16.2 billion takeover bid for specialty chemical company Rohm and Haas. The deal was launched in 2007 and closed soon after the financial crisis took hold in 2008.

Mr Liveris was devastated when Dow’s joint venture partner, the Kuwait-owned Petrochemical Industries, pulled out of the deal, depriving the company of an expected $US9 billion in funding.

“We were teetering on the edge of bankruptcy,” Mr Liveris said. “I was sitting in alone at the office at 4am, tapping the keys I had on my key chain.

“I looked at one of the keys and realised it was the key to the local museum, where there was a display on the founder of Dow.”

He drove to the museum in the middle of the night.

“I went to the museum and I turned on a hologram image of Dow,” Mr Liveris said.

“He was called Crazy Dow.

“He almost bankrupted the company three times.

“I walked out of the museum in the early hours and I said: ‘Not on my shift. It’s not going to happen.’

“So I made a few phone calls and found new banks and new credit lines.”

With Dow on the ropes, Mr Liveris was keenly aware of the future of the company’s 50,000-plus staff around the world.

“There were bags under my eyes but I knew it was important to appear cool and confident,” he said.

“There were several moments like that along the way.

“When you have the livelihoods of 50,000 to 60,000 people in your hands, the accountability weighs large.”

Mr Liveris will step down from his role at Dow once the merger and restructuring has been completed – most likely next year. He recently reached out to another CEO who he saw was struggling.

“I sent a note saying: ‘Hey, I’m here for you if you need me. Give me a call.’

“He did.

“There is a bit of a support group like that. You know what everyone else goes through.”

Mr Liveris said there had been discussions in the past about him joining BHP.

“I got to know Don Argus in my many forays intersecting with the possibility of me going to BHP,” he said.

“Ten years ago, when there were lots of changes going on at BHP, there was some murmuring about me possibly going there.”