By Christine Imbs You might call Steve Hassell a computer geek. “I’ve always been around computers,” he says. “My dad worked all his life for IBM repairing them. And as a kid, I’d ride my bike to Radio Shack when the TRS 80s first came out, just so I could play with them.” But as enthusiastic as he was about the technology, this CIO of Emerson didn’t particularly plan on a career in computers. “Are you kidding? I wanted to drive ships,” he says. “So at age 14, I announced to my parents that I wanted to go to Annapolis. And that’s exactly what I did.” Of course accepting the appointment to Annapolis meant his studies would have a more technical bent. And Hassell was torn. A trumpet player, he hated giving up the idea of a music career. But his fascination with computers, and some words of wisdom from his father, helped make the decision a bit easier. “My dad told me that the world’s filled with starving musicians, but not with starving computer guys,” he says. “I continued to play through college, but gave it up. Being on a ship, people don’t always appreciate trumpet playing.” Hassell was eventually stationed on board a destroyer based in California, where he served as an engineer responsible for the ship’s engines, generators and other such things. But when he converted the ship’s paper forms to electronic, he suddenly found himself the ship’s computer expert. “I just got a personal computer from the Log Room and put everything online,” he says. “But it was 1988, and this was a relatively new phenomenon to the Navy. So I ended up being the ship’s PC guy.” While still in the Navy, Hassell attended Northwestern University in Chicago, where he got his MBA. After being discharged, he took a job in strategic planning at what was then Tenneco’s Newport News Shipbuilding division. He soon became involved with the company’s re-engineering campaign and a suggestion cemented his future. “I brought up the point that if we’re going to change all the company’s processes, we had to change the systems,” he explains. “It actually made a big stir because the company had no real IT plan. So I was asked to do one.” When the CIO left, Hassell, at age 29, found himself the top “computer guy” of a billion dollar company. And although he’s held CIO positions for the past ten years, he says he still wonders about it. “A question I think about a lot is, how much of career success is due to timing and fortunate circumstance? There’s any number of my classmates who haven’t been able to get to the type of position that I’m lucky enough to hold,” he explains. “I think a good deal of that might possibly be that they weren’t in the right place at the right time. And fortunately, I was.” Being in the right place may have played into his success, but Hassell gives a lot of credit to his parents, the Naval Academy and in particular his second commanding officer, whose leadership style left an indelible impression. “The first CO who came on board was very controlling,” Hassell explains. “When the second CO came on board, he called his officers together and said our job was to run the ship so he could sit in his stateroom and think great thoughts. It sounded crazy at first, but in truth it was incredibly liberating. He trusted his managers to go manage. We were to run the ship and he provided overall guidance. He said his primary mission was to make sure all of us were able to sit in his chair one day. I’ve used that style of leadership ever since.”   TalkingPOINTS BORN: Lansing, Mich. family: Married; two kids, ages 7 and 9 EDUCATION: B.S. in computer science from U.S. Naval Academy; MBA from Northwestern University HOBBIES: “Computers are still a hobby. And I’m a mediocre golfer. Other than that, doing things with my kids.” BOOKS: The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki ST. LOUIS IMPRESSIONS: Great place for families. Lots to do.

August 2006 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cover Story: Rich Malone, Ed Glotzbach and Mark Showers Jim Brasunas Day Veerlapati - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.stlrcga.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.technologygateway.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gregory Lanza, M.D. and Samuel Wickline, M.D. Mike Behr James Crane, M.D. Niche