The College of Business (COB) welcomed Jim Fish, CEO of Waste Management (WM) to the University of Wyoming. Fish was invited to speak at the COB by Dean Scott Beaulier, to share his experiences as a businessman and successful leader with students and faculty.
The event consisted of a fireside-style chat between Fish and Beaulier, with students encouraged to ask questions toward the end. A reception followed the event, which was held in the business building atrium.
Beaulier has been in the dean position with the COB at UW since July of 2022, and has made this “speaker series” a priority.
“We’re wanting to raise the visibility of the college and try to engage with some top notch scholars and business leaders,” said Beaulier, “this past fall we had a Nobel Prize winner, a gentleman named Vernon Smith.”
“We’re just running with it and trying to engage students with good speakers and relevant content.”
Fish talked about what WM is, what makes it a sustainable company, our nation’s current economic status, and advice that he wanted to give to young people.
“I always thought that there’s something more I can contribute,” he said, “my goal was to be a people-first leader,” he said.
WM was started over 55 years ago, around the same time that Starbucks and Southwest Airlines were born. It is the biggest recycling and landfill company in North America. The Fortune 500 company is considered to be one of the nation’s leading sustainability companies.
“The biggest challenge with sustainability, is that it must be both sustainably and economically viable,” said Fish, “without landfills, you simply can’t recycle.”
Along with statistics about the company itself, Fish wanted to focus on current events and advice pertaining to his young audience.
“My personal belief is we’re going to see a recession in the next twelve months,” he said. “If we as a society don’t get [our debt] under control, the 2030’s are going to look like the 1930’s.”
“No country has overleveraged themselves like we have and didn’t have it come back to bite them. We need to elect people that are going to focus on that.”
He emphasized that young people today should not focus on salaries and wages, but rather employment opportunities that make them feel like valued contributors of society.
“Yes, money is important, but when you think about what’s important to you, you’re going to think about whether what you’re doing is important,” said Fish.
One audience member, a student, was interested in knowing Fishs’ secret about what skill sets and attributes one must have to lead a life of success.
“Have priorities. My priorities are my faith first, then my family, then my job,” he said. “Focus on leadership and people skills. Leadership is way more important than education.”
“A healthy mix of education and leadership is important, and one of the things that will make you successful are good people skills.”
