“It’s metal roofing. It’s not the sexiest thing,” John Williams says. “But it’s really not so much about what you make, it’s how you make it.” And how Central States Manufacturing — which employs more than 700 people and has retail outlets in Arkansas, Texas, Alabama and Kentucky — makes metal roofing and metal building parts is through a rigorous system of accountability: “We will never sacrifice accountability for financial success.”

In this video Williams explains that accountability is achieved in part through CSM’s commitment to an Evergreen CEO’s best friend — open-book management, where financial information is freely shared within the company and all employees are empowered to make decisions. It’s a People First strategy that is working for CSM. How does that front-end decision-making work in practice? We’ll let Williams explain.