With Scottish roots and American upbringing, McCullough grew up in the U.S.A. Around the age of 20, McCullough headed for Cape Town in South Africa, and just a few years later, he arrived in Chicago. There he began his journey in the logistics world. Mark is quite the character, his laugh and voice fill the room, his sense of humor brings joy to the workplace, and he’s a get-up-and-go kind of guy who has a good word and an answer for everything. For Mark, achieving his goals for both himself and the company is a must, and he always strives for success.
How has the company changed in the last two years? What made these changes possible?
GW USA has gone through several changes since we opened just over two years ago. Our goal was to build a strong foundation built upon Service Excellence. We are assembling the right team of professionals who care about their company, their clients and each other. The team has had many obstacles to overcome while we established Gebrüder Weiss in the United States. I’m very proud of the way they have persevered through those challenges. The team has come through to be even stronger and more experienced. Starting the business here is nothing that I have done on my own. It always has been and will always continue to be a team effort. I only insist that we provide our staff with an open and inclusive environment in which they can grow over time. We have invested in a culture of “no one person is better than the other” and that we must all push and pull in concert, in the direction of growth and prosperity for our company, our clients, and ourselves.
What do you like most about GW?
There are several things I love about our company. I would say that GW’s values and policy of “people first” has always drawn me to this organization. Whether it was the presentations given to us at the former JV company or the discussions we’ve had, they all orbit around “The People.” Heinz Senger-Weiss has always said that we must first find the right people, and the success will come. Many companies say they value people first, but few actually practice this value. My experience with GW as an organization has always been “People-Centric”; That is the only way we can differentiate ourselves from our competitors. When an excellent team of people feel valued and appreciated, they can easily provide excellent service to our clients, partners and sister companies. Through these elements, we will always find success.
What have you learned since you started that will help the company be successful?
From my perspective, one of the most valuable currencies in this business is trust. When people know that they can count on you and that you have the network and ability to deliver what you say, when you say it, you can earn their trust. In the business world today, having a partner that you can count on and trust is precious. It may take you months or years to develop this commodity with your clients, and you can lose it in an instant. This is why we invest so much in our employees. Trust and honor in your work ethic start at the top. When your employees know that they can count on their leaders, then customers can count on their account managers. I also think it is important to have faith in humanity. Give people the room to make errors and, therefore the room to learn and grow. Sometimes people can let you down, but you don’t have to lose trust in them. That is, after all, human nature itself. We all make mistakes, and we are all here to learn and grow into better people.
