Jim Luebke

Jim Luebke, Purchasing and Materials Manager, Olympic Steel, Bettendorf, IA

Innovative leader. Believes collaboration is key. Encourages individual growth as a means to improve the team’s success.

In 2002, Jim Luebke began his career at Olympic Steel’s Bettendorf location as the Quality Manager. In 2009, he was promoted to Inventory Control Manager and received another promotion within a year to Purchasing and Materials Manager. Jim was the first person to hold each of these positions at the Bettendorf location.

“All three of the roles I’ve been in were new positions that hadn’t previously existed in Bettendorf. I was able to define each role to fit exactly what Bettendorf needed at the time, and I’ve helped develop the roles into what they are today,” Jim explains.

Supporting his growth, Jim credits “really good mentors in Iowa, at Corporate and other divisions” for helping him throughout his career. He says, “After having received invaluable direction from others, I now reciprocate those experiences by working hard to be a mentor for others. I’ve taken the strengths of many OSI leaders in my past and present to develop my own leadership style that can benefit others.”

When asked, Jim said he best represents our Integrity Core Value. “I feel Integrity is the most important Core Value – it’s critical for me and the cornerstone of all of our Core Values. If you have Integrity, the others fall into place.”

Through his honest feedback and continued personal development, Jim has shown that he operates with integrity. Jeff Carson, General Manager for the Bettendorf division, says, “Jim’s journey at Olympic Steel is a long-term commitment to the organization and himself – with a relentless pursuit to improve at all levels. He continuously strives for success for himself and his team.”

The team at Bettendorf is what makes Jim happy to come to work each day. He explains, “It’s the people who make getting up each day fun. And it’s also fun to come to a workplace that’s successful. Iowa has persevered through many challenges in the past two decades and it feels good to be one of the top-performing divisions. The challenge of maintaining that success keeps me coming here to make it happen.”

He finds success by tackling those challenges head-on with collaboration. “What I’ve learned is you don’t need to have all the answers by yourself. As I look back on my career, I used to stress about how I’d figure things out – but the key is to build a network of respected leaders to help solve those difficult issues, working together as a team toward the same goal,” Jim explains.

As a mentor, an advocate for continuous improvement, and a long-term employee who is passionate about sharing why OSI is a great place to work, here’s Jim’s advice for others who would like to build a successful career with the Company: “Engage yourself in all aspects of the business, not just where you’re assigned. You’ll be more successful in your career when you understand your role and how it is involved in the ’machine’.”