Sustainable Solutions With Solvay: A Conversation with Mike Finelli

BIO: G. Michael Finelli is the President of Solvay Growth Initiatives and Chief North America Officer. He  leads all aspects globally of the Group’s key strategic growth platforms - batteries, hydrogen and thermoplastic composites – including overseeing commercial activities, operations, capital planning, partnerships, alliances and research and development.. Previously, he was President of Solvay’s Specialty Polymers global business, the most innovative solution provider with the broadest specialty polymers portfolio. 

Asher Joy (BT): Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed by Business Today. To start off, you have a background in biology and marketing and are now the current president of growth initiatives at Solvay. Could you describe your journey in getting here?

Mike Finelli (MF): Thank you, I’m very excited to be chatting with you. To be honest, when I started my undergraduate degree, I had not really figured out what it was I wanted to study. I’ve always had a range of interests. In fact, while I started school as a math major, when I got to Calculus II, I realized that, actually, I didn’t want to spend my life focused on math. So, I made the decision to change over to marketing, something that I had always found interesting. By my junior year, I decided to combine my interests in marketing and science, another discipline I have always loved. I chose to focus on biology. With special permission, I was able to design my own degree program, and so that I could keep to my timeline, compress four years of biology into two years. That’s how I ended up with a dual degree in marketing and biology.

Even though I worked very hard to get that dual degree, I didn't really know what to do with it once I graduated. Initially, I tried to get a job in pharmaceutical sales, but at the time it was a rough job market, and no one was hiring. I wound up getting offered a job in the mailroom of a chemical company – and I can safely say that working in a mailroom had not been my goal. However, the industry was interesting so I countered, saying that I would accept if they promised to pay for me to get an MBA. I couldn’t afford graduate school on my own and thought it was worth a try. They accepted my proposal, and I took the mailroom job. That company was Ausimont, which was later bought by Solvay.

After a few months I moved into customer service. My goal was to get into sales, so I made a point of meeting different managers and reading every trade journal I could get my hands on. It also occurred to me that I was surrounded by experts and decided to learn from them. When I didn't understand something, I'd ask questions – lots of questions. To this day I think one of the best things you can do to learn, get ahead, and become more valuable to your organization is to ask questions. Within a few years I moved into sales, then product and marketing management. Growing up, I hadn’t even realized these were jobs one could have.

In 2006, I relocated to Italy and became the manager of one of Solvay’s global businesses. I stayed there for about six years. When I returned to the United States, I was put in charge of another business unit. From there, I was promoted to business director and then president of the division and, eventually to President of Growth Initiatives and Chief North America Officer.

So, in many ways, my story is a classic “climbing the ladder” one, albeit alternating between business and commercial sides of the company. But I also took opportunities as they presented themselves and helped me learn and grow. In some ways it’s also a story of just being in the right place at the right time.

BT: Do you ever rely on your background in biology, because a lot of what Solvay does is related to providing sustainable solutions?

MF: Working at Solvay, biology is less of a focus than chemistry and engineering but having a science-based training has certainly been important. A formal education teaches you how to learn and how to organize and think through information. Practical experience teaches you how to best apply that knowledge to real life. I think both are critical to success.

For example, my MBA training was very applicable to the kind of work I do now. And I have a better understanding of the issues around sustainability because of my background in biology and science. But the experiences that have proved most valuable for my career have been those learned on the job. For me, the mix of education and practical experience have been a valuable combination.

BT: Clearly, you've had a number of leadership positions, whether here or in Italy, so how are you able to leverage your experiences working in other leadership roles to now being North America President? And what Solvay-initiative challenges are you excited about tackling in this role?

MF: Each step in my career also came with a big learning curve. That’s something I’ve always appreciated in my own growth. Often, when I stepped into a new position, I thought I was ready for the role – but when I got into it, I realized that wasn’t always the case. But each time, I was able to take what I had learned in previous roles and apply it to the new opportunity. Suffice it to say, the leader I am today is not the leader I was five years ago. It’s been a continuous process of becoming more self-aware.

The way I now operate as a leader includes spending more time learning about myself and about how I can best lead and manage others. It’s important to be thoughtful, grounded, and balanced, and not ‘busy-minded.’ When you're busy minded you can't think straight and are preoccupied with things that actually need to be handled by your team. In my role, it’s imperative that I focus on being strategic and keep brain space open to address overarching priorities.

I’m most excited about how Solvay is poised to play even more critical roles in the areas of technology, transportation, materials, and sustainability. For example, Solvay is already thinking ahead about the impact of a shift to electric vehicles. We partnered with Veolia to build a proof-of-concept facility that recycles EV batteries and extracts and refines key metals so they can be reused in brand new batteries. We want to reduce the environmental footprint of future EV batteries while securing a local supply source for critical raw materials. As part of this project, Solvay is also working with Groupe Renault to capture spent EV batteries and put them into our circular recycling process.

BT: Would you say there’s a word that describes your leadership style or a word to describe how it may have changed over time?

MF: Absolutely. I grew up in New Jersey, and when I was younger and starting out in my career, sometimes my ‘Jersey Mike’ used to come out. He had a pretty quick temper when things didn't go well. I would get agitated and default to a, frankly, unproductive, and unhelpful attitude. Over time I learned that acting out in that way didn’t show leadership, it just made other people in the room anxious and then everybody gets busy-minded. The next thing you know, no one's using their brain anymore – they’re focused on how to avoid me – which doesn’t help anyone. 

So, what I’ve learned about being a leader is that it’s important to have a more balanced mode. When things aren’t going right or get off track, don’t look for blame; get grounded and look for solutions. When you can have everyone in a meeting grounded and balanced, the ideas pop. When the focus is on solving the challenge, not ducking for cover, people are more collaborative; they work together and you’re able to leverage the creativity and diversity in the room. So, you can say that ‘Jersey Mike’ has grown up!

BT: Let’s turn the conversation to Solvay. Many of its goals are focused on sustainability, such as promoting the preservation of the climate. How are you able to use the global growth platforms, for example, like green hydrogen, in promoting these goals, and how do you, in particular, envision that these will become more mainstream?

MF: I’m glad you asked about this. Sustainability is very much at Solvay’s core. We have a comprehensive sustainability strategy called ‘Solvay One Planet’ through which we’ve made very aggressive commitments to become carbon neutral before 2050. These commitments range from how much water we use to biodiversity to our product portfolio. It's important that our company is sustainable, but we also want to provide products, materials and services that help our customers, and ultimately the world, be more sustainable.

That’s where our product platforms come in. We have three transversal platforms – hydrogen, lithium-ion batteries and thermoplastic composites – which operate globally and across all of Solvay. For example, in the case of lithium-ion batteries, we supply materials that help them go farther. When you think about an electric battery vehicle, two big concerns are safety and range anxiety – how far your car can go before it needs to charge. Our materials help solve both those problems. When it comes to hydrogen as an energy source, you start off with water and split the hydrogen and oxygen; the      membrane used to split these two elements is our product. Then, when the hydrogen is being consumed, it goes through another membrane – also a Solvay product – that allows you to generate electricity and produce a waste stream of water. So, we split the water and recombine it at the end in an entirely emission-free process.

The great thing about Solvay is that our products, solutions, and innovations are practical and, for lack of a better word, tangible. They solve challenges that really matter. We want to develop technologies and products that actually make the world more sustainable.

BT: In terms of small businesses being able to incorporate things that are more sustainable, these generally tend to be more costly. So, what do you think is the trade-off between implementing something that might be more costly but also wanting to preserve the climate for the future?

MF: Ultimately, it boils down to leadership. As a company or industry, there is a choice to lead or to follow. Yes, the more sustainable approach is often initially more expensive. While some companies see this as a binary choice – either/or – Solvay sees it as an “and/and” decision. For us, it is not profits or sustainability: it’s profits and sustainability. We can do both.

I'll give you an example. When I was the president of our Specialty Polymers division, I set a goal to become completely dependent upon renewable energy. It was clear to me that sustainability as a business factor was going to move from an idea to an expectation. We were still a ways off from businesses needing to really focus on it, but for Solvay, finding ways to marry business and sustainability was already part of our philosophy.

We achieved that goal in 2019 when all electricity used by Solvay Specialty Polymers operations in the United States was offset by solar energy. It would cost less to buy energy from the grid. But for us, this shift was something that aligned with both our own ideals and, ultimately, those of our customers.

The decision bore out. Three or four years ago, customers were not asking about our sustainability commitments and benchmarks. Today every one of our top customers is asking us about our sustainability initiatives. 

So, we were a first mover on this. As a result, Solvay is gaining market share because we have a better sustainability profile than many of our competitors do. Eventually everybody is going to have to go this way because more and more customers are asking about, or requiring, clear sustainability plans. So that's where the “and” comes in; yes, it's more expensive up front, but we're going to gain market share and we're going to serve our customers better.

BT: Did you find a difference in attitudes towards sustainability in Europe versus the United States, or would you say it's the same?

MF: There is a difference, and I think it comes from the fact that in Europe sustainability is much more up front and already baked into corporate thinking. When I look at our European competitors, they're all making similar commitments, but actually making it happen. When I look at the commitments of our competitors in the United States, they're a little bit less bold. There’s a more progressive approach in Europe with respect to climate change and sustainability; more taking action rather than talking about taking action.

BT: Let’s turn toward sustainable solutions brought about by the pandemic and the challenges faced because of it. What were some of the challenges that Solvay faced with promoting sustainability as well as within its business operations?

MF: The pandemic has been tough on every industry, some more than others. The chemical industry was considered essential under federal guidelines, so we had to keep operations up and running. Solvay materials were used in some very important applications directly tied to pandemic response. For example, one of our divisions came up with a disinfectant called Actizone, which kills the Covid-19 virus for 24 hours. We also manufacture a lot of materials used in facial coverings and masks.

The remarkable thing is that under normal circumstances, our products aren’t used in these ways, but there was such a shortage of materials that we jumped in and partnered with our customers to come up with solutions. So, in an unexpected way, the pandemic gave us a chance to leverage different parts of our businesses operations and use our science and technology to help during this time of crisis. However, worldwide, we had to quickly put in place strict access and health protocols, limit access and ensure that workers were safe. Like every other business, the pandemic created enormous challenges, from supply chains to keeping plants open to the pressure on our staff. 

BT: Going back to leadership style, how did you feel that you had to adapt your style in order to meet these challenges?

MF: Although, it sounds like a management cliché or a catchphrase, I would say leading from the front. In the case of any crisis – but certainly with a global pandemic – you must be out front and visible, providing clear leadership and being candid about the challenges. Within Solvay, we created global teams comprised of regional leadership that kept each other up to date internally and worked to engage collaboratively across the company. All the company presidents were front and center and drove changes needed to help protect our employees and remain operational and responsive. It’s been a critical education process for everyone and reinforced the importance of a supportive and innovation-driven internal culture, luckily something Solvay already had in place.

BT: Earlier, you spoke about a commitment to sustainability. Many businesses make statements about what they hope to do, but they don't necessarily cross the finish line. So how do you think businesses can step up to the plate and actually achieve their sustainability goals rather than just having sustainability goals but not necessarily reaching them?

MF: It comes down to leadership once again. In the case of Solvay, we're spending the money needed to make it happen. Just recently, we publicly announced that Solvay is going to invest billions over the next 10 years to reach key sustainability targets by 2040 and 2050. Yes, you need to set the goal, but then you have to make it happen and that's done through leadership and active commitment. It’s not free.

With that being said, the fact that we are in a competitive environment also forces progress and moves us forward. Sometimes, it’s very much a gamble. If we are spending all this money but our competitors aren’t, and if we’re unsure our customers value what we're doing, there’s the real possibility we could lose market share. However, the good news is that our customers are valuing our actions more and more. Today, Solvay has a distinct competitive advantage on the sustainability front. But our competitors are catching up, so it’s an ongoing race for progress. I firmly believe that, as long as the customers continue to demand it of their suppliers, meaningful sustainability changes will happen.

BT: Regarding your own work, are there projects you have overseen that have been the most meaningful and most rewarding to you?

MF: I’ve been at Solvay for almost 30 years, and I've loved every bit of it. But I can truly say that what I’m doing right now is some of the most exciting work I have ever done. Our hydrogen, battery and thermoplastic composites platforms hold incredible promise. I don’t want to sound hyperbolic, but the fact is we're truly contributing to the kinds of big goals that make a difference. My team really does wake up in the morning with a purpose – to support and build our business, yes, but also to have a positive impact on the world.

BT: To end this interview on a light-hearted note, if you could hop into a time machine and go back to your previous undergraduate-college-self and give yourself one piece of advice you've learned along the way, what would that be?

MF: I’d actually give myself two pieces of advice. I’d remind my younger self to recognize when he was being busy-minded, but also to listen more. When you’re busy-minded, there's no room for you to listen because you're in love with your own thinking and can’t get out of your own way. When that happens, you're not really paying attention to what's going on around you and you're not listening to the people in the room.

I’ve personally learned that there are so many smart people around me who need space to offer opinions and ideas and suggest solutions. I’ve learned that I don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, I just need to know who they are and make sure I’m giving them room to shine. So, my advice is to stop being busy-minded and listen more, because you're not productive when you're just being busy.

BT: That is really insightful, I’ll take that advice to heart as well.