Sean Keohane, 2023 Executive of the Year, is a champion for chemistry, Cabot

BOSTON—Humility is misunderstood. Because humility isn't weakness or indecision.

It is strength.

And that makes humility essential to leadership.

See, humble leaders listen first. They weigh all sides of an issue, hear contradictory opinions and consider areas where they may have blind spots. They admit if they're wrong, are quick to offer praise and always—always—keep the focus on others: the company, its employees and stakeholders.

That's the kind of leader Sean Keohane strives to be.

The kind that listens. The kind that learns. The kind that keeps the focus on others.

And according to the Cabot Corp. employees who nominated their president and CEO for the Executive of the Year honor, that's exactly how Keohane leads. With compassion, respect and foresight.

And it's for these reasons—and quite a few more—that Keohane is Rubber News' 2023 Executive of the Year. He also is the first to receive the honor while at the helm of an industry supplier.

Keohane was named Executive of the Year, in part, because he is invested in the personal wellbeing of those he works with. He knows their names, asks about their families and remembers the stories they tell. He makes everyone around him feel seen and valued, while challenging them to achieve more than they dreamed they could.

In other words, his nominators said, Keohane leads with humility.

And humility is an under-valued leadership trait.

"(Humility) is important in creating the right environment inside of a company because if you bring a sense of humility then you will be … open to new information," Keohane said when asked how he would define humble leadership. "I think if you lack humility, you are probably closing yourself off to new information and ideas because you don't have the humility to listen and consider those things."

Listening though, cannot happen if the people around you don't feel empowered to speak, share their ideas or bring their sincere selves to the workplace. And that cannot happen, Keohane said, without humility.

"If people feel more comfortable in the environment and that you (as a leader) are more approachable, you are going to get to a level of dialogue and input with people that is going to help the company be better, and help me do my job better," Keohane said.

So, humility is the key that lets leaders unlock their company's potential. Because humble leaders unlock people's potential.

And as Cabot's CEO, unlocking the potential of people is among Keohane's greatest callings.

Under his guidance, Cabot has maintained that the creation of a safe, inclusive work environment remains a pillar for success. It is a vision—an expectation—that he puts forward, and it is an area where he leads by example.

Keohane empowers others to contribute to the company's success by ensuring employees have the tools and resources that make them feel supported and included. He keeps open lines of communication to ensure the consistent exchange of ideas and fosters an environment where learning and innovation are valued.

He is, in the end, the kind of executive with a literal open-door policy. Even if it means traveling the world to open literal office doors or ensure the proverbial doors are never closed.

He meets with Cabot employees in office spaces, at the plants and on warehouse floors, and he makes it a point to spend time in the communities where Cabot has a presence, often engaging in community service.

"His office door in Boston is frequently open so that colleagues can stop by to say hello, share ideas and collaborate," the Cabot team that nominated Keohane for the Executive of the Year honor wrote. "… He often travels to other facilities to further build relationship capital and foster in-person discussions—something he feels passionately about. As such, he consistently champions advancing an inclusive workplace where all employees can contribute, thrive and advance."

Because for Cabot to succeed, Keohane said, it needs its people, their passion and all of the big ideas they bring with them. Cabot needs its people to lead, listen and learn.

"The world is constantly evolving," Keohane said, "the challenges and opportunities are constantly evolving, and if you are not—from a personal characteristic standpoint—if you are not a committed lifelong learner, you will become irrelevant very quickly."

Keohane came to Cabot in 2002, taking a position within the carbon black business. In doing so, he left Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp., where he held a variety of management positions that took him across the country and around the globe.

"This is really where I learned a lot of the best practices around safety, health and environment," Keohane said, noting this area is a critical focus for him, personally. "That was central (at United Technologies) as it is at Cabot."

For Keohane, though, Cabot was—and is—home. It is the perfect fit. And it was the heritage of the company, one anchored in innovation and powered by trailblazers, that was most appealing.

"A few things stood out for me," Keohane said. "… Cabot was pioneering in being the first to go places, and that pioneering spirit is something that attracted me to the company."

In the two decades since coming to Boston-based Cabot, Keohane has led every business within it, holding titles of general manager for the Performance Product business group, global marketing director for carbon black, and senior vice president and president of the Performance Materials Segment.

He was named president and CEO in 2016, and his main focus was to ensure that the tenacity and innovation that carried the company since 1882 remained core tenets under his guidance. Because that is how Cabot grows.

"Cabot, in so many ways, has been first in our space," Keohane said. "I think that, if I were to describe the aspects that really make Cabot stand out today, I would say I start with leadership in all of our businesses. We are either No. 1 or No. 2 globally in all of our respective spaces. … There is also a really rich heritage of innovation in the company, and this is what allows us to stand out today."

And these things will allow Cabot to stand out tomorrow.

Under Keohane's guidance, Cabot launched its "Creating Tomorrow" corporate strategy. With this vision as the road map, Cabot is focused on a new phase of growth, one that allows it to leverage strengths around innovation and manufacturing to provide products that meet stringent performance and sustainability targets.

"Creating Tomorrow" is built on three pillars: driving growth, pursuing improved performance and delivering innovative chemistry.

And deliver Cabot has.

It has, with Keohane at the helm, unveiled new innovations—more sustainable innovations—and redefined its portfolio along the way. In doing so, Keohane—and Cabot—have focused on businesses with the greatest growth potential.

Moreover, Keohane has steered Cabot toward macrotrends such as new mobility, where developing more sustainable, higher-performing products for tires and batteries has been critical.

Cabot's financial results underscore what Cabot has achieved with Keohane's vision—offering high-value products that meet the needs of customers across focus areas of sustainability, performance and price point. Under Keohane, fiscal year results have steadily improved.

Since he took the helm, Cabot's full-year sales have continued an upward trend, eclipsing the $4 billion mark in 2022 and holding in that range during a difficult FY2023, which ended Sept. 30. This represents a nearly $2 billion increase over FY2016, the year he stepped into the CEO role.

Net income also has grown, the only exception being fluctuation early in Keohane's tenure and an unprecedented 2020.

And with this as the backdrop, Cabot's Reinforcement Materials business has strengthened as Keohane led the company to structural improvements that left it less vulnerable to cyclicality. This year, for instance, one that should have been defined by destocking, the segment posted record EBIT of $482 million.

That success, though, has not come without difficult decisions.

To further position Cabot for growth, Keohane opted to divest its Specialty Fluids and Purification Solutions. The company, in March 2022, completed the sale of the business unit to private equity firm One Equity Partners in a transaction valued at around $111 million.

Keohane believes it was the right move for Cabot, but it remains among the most difficult decisions he's had to make.

Because those decisions—the ones that impact people—those keep him up at night.

"The decisions that I find to be the most challenging are the decisions you make around the portfolio and the companies. Do we acquire or divest?" Keohane said. "Usually, the acquisition is an easier one in the sense an acquisition is a feel-good thing because you are investing in the company—you're getting bigger, and you're growing.

"Divestitures are hard because you're cutting something off from what was part of the family. And you are doing it because you don't believe it fits in the long term, and that it's not going to be part of the future vision that you're painting. …

"The hard part is that they are really good people who work in those businesses. They come to work every day and work hard, and yet you are making a decision that you need to move on from that, and they will go with the business. And I think that's tough. You want the business to land in the hands of a good owner that will treat the employees that are part of Cabot fairly."

For Cabot, success starts with innovation.

And innovation, Keohane said, defines Cabot.

"I think, in the company culture, innovation is in our DNA," Keohane said. "And I think that (our) people have always believed in the technology and its ability to do really big things."

You can bet that Keohane is one of the believers. He believes in technology and innovation, and he believes in the need to make meaningful, sustainable changes.

And, above all else, he believes in the power of chemistry and its ability to shape the world for the better.

In other words, Keohane believes in Cabot.

"I truly believe," Keohane has said, "that many of the world's challenges are fundamentally materials challenges that can be solved with innovative materials."

This is why Cabot innovates and evolves, grows and redirects. And that pioneering spirit built into the company's framework at its founding serves Cabot well today. It allows Cabot to lead, to leverage its know-how, to scale critical innovations—more sustainable innovations—to manage costs and ensure implementation across the industry.

This, Keohane said, is essential.

"There are big societal challenges," he said, "and I know that the rate-limiting step in all of this is innovation in the chemistry sector and how to develop these materials and bring them to market at a cost structure that can cause technologies to proliferate."

But that is what Cabot does best, Keohane said. It builds materials solutions the world needs, at the scale that makes a difference.

Keohane's advocacy for chemistry and its ability to transform lives for the better transcends his position at Cabot. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Chemistry Council and serves on the Board of Directors for Chemours Co.

Moreover, he advocates for a stronger, more diverse chemistry industry. And has done that through his work as an advisory board member with the Future of STEM Scholars Initiative. FOSSI works to engage the next generation of chemists by providing scholarships to students pursuing STEM degrees at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

"One of the areas that our industry—the chemicals industry—is dealing with is we have an emerging talent challenge because so much of the talent in the chemistry industry is close to retirement," Keohane said, noting that this challenge is also an incredible opportunity to build strength through diversity. "We have to be searching for that next generation of talent everywhere."

Everywhere. Including the military.

Keohane has committed to helping veterans find places for professional success across the chemistry and manufacturing sectors. He has served as a mentor for American Corporate Partners' Veteran Mentoring Program, which aims to ensure transitioning service members have support as they navigate resume and interview preparation, networking and other professional topics.

And as he does that, he's encouraging younger students to consider chemistry careers as well.

Each year, he makes time to engage with students from Boston Latin School, listening to presentations on business-related topics, offering feedback and challenging them as they prepare for post-secondary business and STEM studies.

He does all of that because he believes in Cabot, the value of chemistry and the critical need to strengthen the entire industry for tomorrow.

And in the end, he'll learn a little more, too. About himself, his company and the ways each can make an impact. Because that is how Keohane leads: with a whole lot of listening and a little more giving back.