A Masterclass in Leadership

If you think effective leadership is about intimidation and cold, aloof authority, then you haven’t met Joe Warren (Class of 1979). He firmly believes that leading is about showing, not telling; that actions speak louder than words when it comes to being a strong leader. Spend just a few minutes with him and you’ll soon realize that he lives by this adage every day. 

Maybe it’s the way he stands tall, shoulders poised yet relaxed with confidence (likely remnants of his days as a United States Marine) as he greets you with an open, welcoming smile. It could be the way he makes you feel at ease as he engages you in transportive stories about growing up in 1970s Indonesia — “When [Jakarta] finally built high-rise buildings, you could see them from far away” — or his experience as a lifelong expat  — “People always ask me, ‘What’s your favorite country?’ And I don’t really have an answer because I’ve loved everywhere I've lived.”  Joe is commanding yet warm, self-assured yet reassuring. 

Intimidating? Far from it. Cold and aloof? Hardly. But Joe Warren is, without a doubt, a walking, talking testament to his belief that when it comes to leadership, actions speak louder than words. Not one to take credit for something he didn’t do, he concedes that he didn’t come up with this core value himself but was inspired by the late professional golfer Arnold Palmer and what he had learned from his “humble upbringing”.

“He grew up in an environment where his parents taught him, ‘Show people, don’t tell’. I think that’s important; keep your head down, do your job, and trust that people will see your quality of work,” he explains.

Joe’s first taste of leadership came in the ranks of the US Marines, where he served as a platoon leader at a remarkably young age and was entrusted with the well-being of 42 soldiers. He spent five years on active duty and 10 more in the reserves, leaving active duty as a Captain. During this time, he earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Ivy League Cornell University in New York State, then went on to secure a scholarship for a Master of Business Administration from Chaminade University of Honolulu. He not only excelled at his studies in the latter, but he was also invited to return as a teacher.

What came next was a veritable road map of leadership “DOs” and milestones: seven years at FMC Corporation in Hong Kong, California, and Chicago; six years as President Director of Detmold Packaging Indonesia; and finally, 22 years at Nike, bouncing from Jakarta to Guangzhou and Zhongshan in China, to Taipei, then Singapore, and back to Indonesia where he is currently President Director.

And that’s just his career. Are you ready for more?

Joe was also the first JIS Alum to be elected to the JIS School Council (now called the Board of Trustees) in the late 1990s. Wasting no time, he established the Development Committee, which would now be the Advancement Office, and became its Committee Chair. Under his guidance, the School Council organized JIS’s 50th-anniversary reunion and set up the JIS Alumni Association — all while helping to shape school policies. By the end of his tenure some 10 years later, Joe had served as School Council Vice President, President, and Chairman, as well as a member of the Board of Directors.

His three children are now grown, having left JIS many years ago. But Joe still lives in Indonesia, happily connected to the country through his work and his wife’s family. When asked if he would like to go back to serving on JIS’s Board of Trustees or Board of Governors, he pauses before shifting the attention to those who deserve it.

“I help out; people ask my opinion and I give my opinion. But it’s a time commitment, and I respect the people who take the time to serve because what they’re doing may not make an immediate impact, but they are protecting the future of  [JIS]. The decisions they make now regarding buildings, or maintenance, or student-teacher ratios, those things make a major impact.”

While humility is one of the many marks of a great leader, we think you’ll agree that this time, Joe should take credit where credit is due.