Abdallah Abe Salloum Executive Leadership

Abdallah Salloum’s career in integrated industrial manufacturing began in 1988 at Mazda Motor Manufacturing. He started as a line worker. He became supervisor while attending night school program where he received his BA in business at William Tyndale College and his MBA at Davenport University. He then became a water testing engineer at the Mazda plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.

Abe moved on to TRW Automotive in 1999 for the next ten years. Abe Salloum moved up from global staff engineer to global head of supplier quality. During his time at TRW, he relocated to Woodstock, Ontario for one year to run one of their automotive plants before returning to be their global head of quality assurance.

In 2009, Abdallah Salloum took a position with HARMAN International and expatriated to Germany to become the vice president of operations in Europe. He was in charge of six manufacturing facilities in Europe, 3,500 employees, and a P&L of $3 billion. In 2012, Abe Salloum returned to Michigan for a year as HARMAN International’s vice president and general manager, where he was responsible for the Automotive Americas, 2,700 employees, and a P&L of $2 billion.

General Electric (GE) was Abe Salloum’s next destination. He worked for the oil and gas business in Houston, Texas for two years, a $20 billion industry with over 50 global locations, before he went to GE Healthcare. He is currently based at GEHC in Wisconsin as a Senior Executive responsible for global Supplier Management.

Tell us a bit about what you do in your current position.

I am currently the Senior Executive responsible for managing General Electric (GE) Healthcare 5000 suppliers. What’s within my scope is to ensure the proper selection, development, and monitoring of GE supply base. My team is responsible for this framework and for managing supplier relationship over the product life cycle. In each of these 3 buckets, select, develop, and monitor, several activities take place, and specific measures of performance, deliverables, and engagement protocols.

What gave you the idea for a career in executive leadership? How did it start?

It started when I began my career at Mazda Motor Manufacturing, where I learned a lot about integrated manufacturing and Japanese philosophy. After working for almost ten years at Mazda, I had served in three different capacities. I started as a line worker, learned a lot about Kaizen and PDCA, and about 5S, tools we used daily to control the manufacturing process and to ensure efficiency. Then I became a unit leader, where I started in the paint shop of this manufacturing facility, then in the final assembly process and body shop and stamping.

When I went to TRW, I had to interface with 13 divisions, 150 plants globally – 60,000 people in all. That was when I first encountered the term global. Global is a word that we use, but it’s not fully understood as to its impact and complexity. At TRW, I had to learn what global meant. How do you define and drive global strategy within an organization that stretches across an empire on three continents?
I first started as a local staff engineer, then became a global director of supplier quality where I created this organization, and I ran this group for seven out of my ten years there. Then I was afforded the opportunity to run a plant in Woodstock, Ontario. The plant was comprised of 550 people and made machined rotors for the automotive industry.

Then I returned as the global head of quality for TRW and got recruited by HARMAN International to join them in Europe initially as their Senior Vice President of Quality and nine months into my ex-pat assignment they created a Vice President of Operations Europe and asked me to lead it, running all of the manufacturing sites in Europe. It was a heavy responsibility for AME and full responsibility for product industrialization, all manufacturing plants, end-to-end quality and aftermarket customer service. When I repatriated back from Europe, I then served as the vice president and general manager of HARMAN Americas for one year.

I was then recruited to go to GE oil and gas in Houston, Texas, where I developed and led the advanced manufacturing engineering group that was focused on employing existing and proven technology to create better efficiencies in the plants. I spent two years in oil and gas and then came to GE Healthcare, where we make MRI machines, ultrasounds, CT scanners, probes for ultrasounds, monitoring solution, and anesthesia and respiratory care type devices. I’ve been with GE Healthcare for two and a half years now and these two years have been all about product development and quality transformation and I am now responsible for Supplier Management.
The idea of becoming an executive was not my focus. My focus has always been to step up and do what you’re good at and to ensure that you’re continuing to bring value to the equation that you’re playing a role in. Never settle for mediocrity, continue to want more or do more. That has been my recipe for success.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your chosen profession?

Hiring and developing the right team/people. I spend a lot of time when contemplating a hire. Then the development of people, and recognizing the support that the people need to be successful. I believe that the chain is as strong as the weakest link. We always say that people is our greatest asset, and I believe that leaders need to spend significant amount of their time developing, coaching, and providing guidance to their teams- you have got to invest a lot more development and emphasis on skills and competency. Getting to work with people and helping them to realize their maximum potential is what gives me the most satisfaction.

What keys to being productive can you share with our readers?

Consistency is key, as well as your work product. Always look at whatever you produce as a representation of who you are, so the product always has to be a reflection of you.

Be punctual. If I set up an appointment at one o’clock, I am going to be there on time. If I run into obstacles, I am going to give enough notice that I will be delayed or need to postpone the appointment. I think that’s a key attribute to success in the business environment. People have to be able to rely on you, and there needs to be a level of trust between employees and employers.
Tell us one long-term goal in your career.
To never stop expanding my professional and intellectual boundaries. I can’t guarantee success, but I can guarantee that I’m not going to stop.

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned through the course of your career?

You need your colleagues to understand what you are doing and to support your success. You can’t do it on your own. You have to have the support of your colleagues, the people that are at the same level as you, and people that are on your team. You will also need the endorsement and coverage from your leaders, and from your boss, to be successful.

What advice would you give to others aspiring to succeed in your field?

Know who you are this should result in clear evaluation of what you are good at and what you are not good at. Focus in on what you are good at and become that much better at it, and recognize what you’re not good at and whether it is critical to your success or not. Then, either hire and surround yourself with people that can complement that deficiency, or go and acquire that skill. So it is essential that one knows themselves, feels comfortable in their skin, and is candid and forthcoming. Also, that they really hone in on developing their technical competency, their interpersonal skills, and their consultancy skills, to drive for a bigger and better outcome.

What are your favorite things to do outside of work?

I like biking, swimming and reading non business related topics. I also like traveling on vacation and exploring places I have not seen before.

Name a few influential books you’ve read and/or websites you keep up with that you’d recommend to readers.

Kiss Bow Or Shake Hands by Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conaway. It’s an older book, but it talks about, especially for people in business when they are traveling to different countries and meeting different cultures and those cultures, do you kiss, do you bow, or do you shake hands? And it tells you in a very nice format what to do when you are abroad.
World Class Quality: Using Design of Experiments to Make It Happen by Keki R. Bhote. It describes an extremely effective method for technical problem-solving. So if somebody needs to learn how to solve problems efficiently, this book is a must-read.

What career advice would you give to 20-year-old you?

I would tell a 20-year-old me to do three things. Write down on a piece of paper side-by-side what are you good at and what are you not good at? And to the highest level of detail as possible. Then reflect on those before you decide on what career path you want, because what you’re good at and what you’re not good at are extremely important for the next element; what drives your economic engine? Meaning, when and how will you want to reach financial independence? The third element, in my opinion, is the most important and it requires a lot of reflection – what you are passionate about. You need to be passionate about it your career. Even if you are good at something, but not passionate about it, then you’re not going to enjoy doing it. So, I would tell my 20-year-old self to reflect on these three things.

For more information, visit Abe Salloum’s Linked In page.