Transformation to Transition: On Leadership, Legacy, and the Future
We’re pleased to present this month’s episode of Leadership Reimagined, featuring Jim Fitterling, Chair and CEO of Dow, one of the world’s leading materials science companies with 2025 sales of approximately $40 billion. With a career spanning more than four decades, Jim has driven Dow’s transformation into one of the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive, and sustainable powerhouses in the industry. Reflecting on what it means to lead at this level, Jim says, “The volatility in the world today is not going to decrease, so we need to be eyes wide open about that.” In fact, what has made leadership so demanding isn’t just the pace of change – it’s that the “magnitude of the change and volatility exceeds anything most leaders have faced before.”
Don’t miss this powerful episode about Jim’s journey leading Dow through multiple pivotal transitions, his vision for what’s next for Dow, what it means to pass the reins to his highly accomplished successor, Karen S. Carter, and his deeply personal experiences – including surviving stage 4 cancer and at the same time his decision to come out publicly – that have shaped the extraordinary leader he is today.
Before becoming CEO in 2018, Jim was the COO and had spent multiple years in Asia, as well as holding leadership positions with P&L responsibility in many of the company’s operations. At his direction, in January 2019, Dow became a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, and he served as the business lead in Dow’s successful launch of its next-generation sustainability goals. Jim has led Dow’s drive to diversify its global talent and is widely recognized for his work supporting non-discrimination and workplace equality. Beyond Dow, Jim serves as 3M’s Lead Director and is a member and former chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Chemistry Council, the FOSSI Advisory Board, as well as past chair of the Governing Council of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, and is active in many other impactful organizations.
Please enjoy this episode of Leadership Reimagined, featuring Jim Fitterling, leader of a company whose “products are in everything we touch and use every day.” As Jim reminds us, the future isn’t something to fear – it’s something to shape: “There will always be a role for skilled workers, engineers, and researchers at Dow. AI is going to change the way they do their work dramatically, but it’s not going to replace the physical side of things.”