Meet Jay Glasscock, Sport Group Chief Executive Officer, Americas

Sport Group regional CEO talks development, diversity and a different kind of vision

Jay Glasscock, CEO, is also an ‘engineering philosopher.’ Raised in Charlotte, North Carolina and educated at North Carolina State University, he graduated with an ability to speak a technical and human language. His passion for development, diversity and teaching led him on an interesting career path where he now brings emotional intelligence and engineering business acumen in equal measure to Sport Group’s business in the Americas.

What is your training?

I went to NC State University, in Raleigh and studied mechanical engineering. My favorite classes were thermodynamics (a branch of physics that deals with the study of energy and its transformations in systems) and philosophy.

I loved philosophy, because it gave you a chance to sit back and think about life just as you were about to head out into the big world. Ten years later I went back to university at night and earned my MBA from Duke University in Durham, NC which helped be better understand the global business world.

How has a background in engineering, business and philosophy influenced your career?

On the surface, it is an unusual mix but it has served me well. I am passionate about engineering and it means I can speak our technical team’s language. The philosopher in me also appreciates the human experience, especially when it comes to enhancing diversity in an organization and helping people grow and develop. Finally, the businessman in me helps me understand the various markets we participate in and how we must all lead to grow our company and our bottom line.

“Yes, we make sport and recreation surfaces, but what we really deliver is happier and healthier people and communities.”

How did your early career unfold?

Interestingly, I started out in the weaving, tufting and finishing business for a big textile company in Burlington, and now, 30 years later, I am back doing extrusion, tufting and coating with Sport Group! So you could say I’ve come full circle.

In between this, I spent the bulk of my career at Becton, Dickinson and Company, known as BD. They are a multinational medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems, and reagents. Although I spent 20 years there, I did 10 different roles. They believed in moving people around to build up experience and networks so it was a diverse and career-enriching experience under one roof.

Was BD a good place for an engineer philosopher?

Yes – on both levels. There were so many interesting technical challenges that satisfied the engineer in me, but because they wanted to attract and retain talent, they also invested heavily in developing people.

Edward Betof was the chief learning officer; he became a mentor of mine and as BD started an internal university, I quickly volunteered to be a teacher. I taught classes in leadership development, emotional intelligence, manufacturing and diversity. My teaching took me to Europe and Japan and allowed me to help people to learn how to stay connected across the regions. It was an inspiring model. Everyone was learning from everyone and it also offered a unique way for me to get to know the organization and meet many people.

Edward ended up writing a book, Leaders as Teachers: Unlock the Teaching Potential of Your Company’s Best and Brightest, which chronicles BD’s journey to create a leadership development program that relies on all top leaders (even its CEO) to train other leaders. I feature in the book but you’ll have to read it to hear what I had to say!

While I was there, BD grew from a $2 billion to a $12 billion business. We were clearly doing something right.

How does a company keep its people connected during such growth?

With a lot of effort. For example, I ran the company SAP project which was designed to integrate the 100+ systems within the company to one shared platform. This was a 3 year, $350m project with a team of 100 people. The global implementation took me around the world which was fantastic.

As the company expanded, we also focused on a stronger vision that better spoke to our purpose.

We evolved from a functional vision; ‘BD is one of the world’s leading medical supply manufacturers’ to a more emotional one; ‘Helping all people lead healthy lives’. This was much more powerful and captured the value that the company and the employees bring. It made our business less about equipment and more about people.

Working in the health industry must have been satisfying?

It was rewarding and stimulating – sometimes in surprising ways. In my last role at BD, I lead the Biosciences division, and as part of this we went to Kenya for two weeks and built a small lab from cinder blocks.

We installed one of the first machines that could do HIV testing in outside locations. My role in this was working the cement mixer! But beyond that, we taught the doctors how to use the equipment. Seeing the positive impact this made on lives was a powerful experience.

Where did your career take you after medical technology?

In 2020 I moved to Tegra, a large apparel manufacturing and supply chain provider. I was looking for a new challenge, and wanted to work in a private equity-owned business. Tegra is a fascinating company. It manufactures athletic wear for major sports leagues such as the NFL and NBA and the big brands such as Nike.

It is trying to help the big sport brands bring manufacturing ‘near shore’, meaning closer to the USA, which it does through manufacturing facilities in Central America. I spent most of my time in developing countries like Honduras and El Salvador, and we worked hard to ensure the 9,000 employees had positive work experiences including benefits such as childcare, good food and transport to work.

Why Sport Group?

What first caught my eye was the name ‘AstroTurf’. This is one of the great American brands and innovations.

I then learnt more about the vision of the leadership team. I was inspired by Christoph von Nitzsch (Sport Group CEO), Klaus Hauschulte (Sport Group COO) and Heard Smith (Sport Group Chair of the Americas).

My time at BD taught me the value of opening up your vision and this is something that is part of our journey at Sport Group. Yes, we make sport and recreation surfaces, but what we really deliver is happier and healthier people and communities. That is a purpose that is worth getting up for everyday!

The challenge of integrating the Sport Group companies, harnessing the global knowledge, optimizing the market opportunity in the USA and driving the transformation to green technology is very exciting.

How have the first 11 months been?

I am loving it. The business is interesting and complex, and the teams in Dalton and Harmony are the hardest working teams I have ever seen. I’ve also really enjoyed the One Sportgroup activities across our international regions.

What are your sports?

Volleyball, in all its various forms, has been my sport for 20 years. I play grass, sand and indoor volleyball with both the US Volleyball Association and the North American Gay Volleyball Association.  

I also enjoy snow skiing and competitive equestrian events.

When I was a kid, my dad took me to every Clemson Tigers football home game, so I still follow them. But as alumni of NC State, I am a big NC Wolf Pack fan*.

*Jay concludes the interview with a loud wolf howling noise!