The baton, please.

• Position: Financial Executives Institute and Financial Executives Institute Canada appoint new chairmen of the board

On July 1, 1998, both Financial Executives Institute and Financial Executives Institute Canada passed the leadership baton to new volunteer officers. Here are portraits of the two chairmen, who discuss with Financial Executive their goals for the organizations in the upcoming year, their thoughts on the business climate that senior financial executives will face in the near future and their own strategies for succeeding in business over the years.

The Building Blocks

Being flexible, making the right choices and providing value are three themes that weave through James J. Abel's conversation. Abel, wearing his twin professional hats as the new chairman of the board of Financial Executives Institute for 1998-99 and executive vice president and CFO of The Lamson & Sessions Co., an electrical products manufacturer based in Cleveland, says, "I enjoy being a generalist much more than a specifics expert, filling different roles in the organization and creating interdisciplinary teams. The functional disciplines are less important than making correct business decisions."

On the personal side, his favorite book and movie corroborate these points; he cites The Process Edge by Peter G.W. Keen and "The Hunt for Red October." Why? The Process Edge, he explains, "is about not only creating value but getting the process right in doing so. We've been involved with that in our company over the last several years - finding the right mix of skills and attributes you need to be successful." He's seen "The Hunt for Red October" several times and especially enjoys "observing the characters and seeing how the process evolves to make the plot work. They show flexibility and out-of-the-box thinking, demonstrating the reasons people would change their longstanding views."

Abel, who holds a B.S. in industrial management from Purdue and an M.B.A. from St. John's University, joined FEI in 1982 (he's a member of the Northeast Ohio Chapter). "I was looking for continuing professional development and networking," he explains. "FEI really improves as you become active. It's given me an opportunity to see how other financial people deal with different problems. Part of the value it provides to its members is that there's a commonality to the issues that can be brought back and applied to one's own business setting. This gives one a better sense of where the financial profession is going. It's an opportunity to work with a great, diverse group of people. And I get a sense of...