David S. Haffner

Dave Haffner was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Company in 2006 and Board Chair in May 2013. He previously served the Company as President from 2002 to 2013, Chief Operating Officer from 1999 until 2006, Executive Vice President from 1995 to 2002 and in various capacities since 1983. Mr. Haffner also serves as a director of Bemis Company, Inc., a manufacturer of flexible packaging and pressure sensitive materials. He was first elected as a director of the Company in 1995.

ICYMI: Sometimes the Entire Strategy Needs to Be Reconsidered

The Life @ Leggett blog is approaching its one-year anniversary. So, each post this week will spotlight one of our favorite posts from the past year. Up first is, naturally, the first article we published. It’s a great read about strategy from our CEO, David S. Haffner. (*ICYMI is internet slang for “in case you missed it.”)

Board Chairman & CEO David S. Haffner

For four full decades—from the 1960’s through the 1990’s—Leggett & Platt achieved growth of 15% per year (on average) in earnings, dividends, and stock price, largely by pursuing a strategy that focused intently on revenue growth. Over those 40 years revenue ballooned from $7 million to $4.3 billion, earnings grew about 1000‐fold,and our stock split approximately every 5 years. But as we entered the new millennium, our strategy seemed to lose its effectiveness. For the five years ending December 2007, Leggett & Platt’s stock priced moved sideways while the S&P 500 index achieved an 80% return. The desire for topline growth had led us to make certain acquisitions for which it’s now clear we paid too much, given their failure to meet expected performance levels.

We needed to make a change in strategy.

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Sometimes the Entire Strategy Needs to be Reconsidered