Cultural Transformations

Chapter 8Russ KleinCEO of the American Marketing Association

Great leaders engage in quiet, daily reflection: Did I bring extraordinary value to my family, my team, and my organization? And then make the commitment to bring even more value tomorrow

—John Mattone

WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES, ANOTHER opens. Throughout his life, Russ Klein weathered closed doors with grace and heeded the opportunity to walk through open doors with humility, courage, and self-reflection.

Russ Klein grew up in the small town of Middleburg, southwest of Cleveland. At that time, Middleburg was farmland as far as the eye could see. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather worked as metal smiths. Russ's father owned and led a third-generation metal engineering and fabricating company in downtown Cleveland.

Building a home from scratch with the help of extended family and friends, the Kleins settled into their hand-forged home about 30 miles southwest of the city. It was a childhood out of another time—where the work of a simple trade and the loyalty of friends and family were the order of the day. Today, thanks to the suburban sprawl of most Midwestern cities, Middleburg has become connected to the Cleveland metropolitan area and the farmlands are all but gone. But in the memory of the three Klein boys, it lives on.

Russ and his two older brothers were fortunate to grow up on what was known ostensibly as a gentleman's farm (also called a hobby ranch) where they had stables and horses, ducks and ponds, ...