Summer 2014
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TOWER
19
eight hours of classes a day, studying and analysis
of his videotaped sales performances.He also under-
went a crash course on electronics sales.
“At least 70 percent in the end didn’tmake it,”
he said.
Rock did.Then came his ‘Aha!’moment.After six
months of sales training, he was put on commission.
“I gotmy first check, and I realized that the harder
I worked, themore there is forme,”he said.
Ten years in sales and sales
management followed.Then
came a bigger change: Rock
moved into projectmanage-
ment in theEngineering
Department.Engineering?
With a business degree?
“I was told I was inquisitive
and should come into business
development,”he explained.
Rock advanced from project
management to productmarketing
and became a national salesman-
ager.This was what he had envi-
sioned:Work hard, be rewarded.
THEDECISION
In 2000,AMP Inc.was sold toTyco International,
nowTEConnectivity.OnDec. 7, 2001,Rock
received a call from the president of the company
a half an hour pastmidnight.He was to become
the general manager ofTyco’s computer group.
In the 1970s,whenRockwas a student at
Kutztown, his computer experience involved punch
cards in a senior seminar that the professor fed into
a gigantic computer.Affordable personal computers
were a dream.Laptops or tablets? Science fiction.
Now here was Rock,managing the computer
department for amajor corporation.
CAREERPATHSANDPRODUCTIVITY
Maybe it’s because he’s not one that Rock so appreci-
ates the value in the work an engineer or scientist
does.Not everyone should become amanager, as he
did, to get ahead, he says.AtTEConnectivity, for
example, engineers can continue on a path toward
becoming a fellow.
“That assures a prestigious place within the compa-
ny as an innovator,”he said. “Youwant to create an
organization that rewards innovation.Don’t penalize
people for taking risks.”
Workingwith customers over the long haul and
helping his company innovate to benefit them are
what he sees as his strengths.Close relationships
with customers are where new ideas spring forth.
The needs of customers are relayed to product devel-
opers.The innovations that result help customers
meet goals.
“We’re on the newBoeing 787,”he revealed, refer-
ring toBoeing’s fuel-efficient, quiet new jumbo jet.
“We’ve beenworking on that for ten years.”
TE alsomakes a wiring harness for the Sikorsky
S-92 helicopter, each of which can carry 22 troops
into battle.Every soldier wears communications
gear containingTE products.The helicopter is
under consideration as transportation for the
president – “Marine One,” inmilitary parlance –
and other dignitaries.
The company’smarine cables link offshore
drilling platforms,making them smarter by help-
ing to separate oil, gas andwater.
Still manymore products are everyday items
found in the door panels of cars and other consumer
goods.Rock’s workwith engineers, designers and
product developers gives him an opportunity to do
whatmany of us wishwe could: peer into the future.
“Seeing how things will work 20 years from now –
that’s what I love,”he said. “The biggest surprise to
me is that I ended upwhere I am. I never had high
expectations. I thought sales was a dream job.”
Now hemakesmulti-million dollar decisions,
but he’s still learning, including how to take the
biggest decisions in stride.
“One of the things I learned is thatmost deci-
sions are not final,”he declared. “They’re just an
initial reaction.Making decisions has become easier
forme because all you’re really doing is starting
down a path.”
For Rock, it’s a path that, through the products
he helps produce, has led fromKU halfway around
the world, through space, under the seas and even
into battle.
A FEW THOUGHTS
FROMKEVINROCK
KevinRock ’79, president of the
Aerospace, Defense andMarine
Division of TEConnectivity,
Middletown, Pa., has beenmarried
33 years toDebra. Their older son,
Josh, 26, is a recruiter of software
personnel. Their daughter, Lindsey,
22, works in human resources.
Tyler, the youngest, is a student
atWest VirginiaUniversity.
HereRock draws from his 35 years
of business experience to comment
on today’s issues and life demands:
THECOLLEGE EXPERIENCE
“A lot of people go to class
because they need the grade.
If I were doing it all over, regard-
less of the class, I wouldgetmore
engagedwith faculty. I would sit
in the front of the classwhere I
would hearmore. Most of us don’t
knowwherewewill end up. Learn
asmuch as you can on a broad
spectrumof things.”
THEKINDOF PERSONHE
WANTS TOHIRE
“If youget
peoplewho can speakand commu-
nicateonabroad rangeof issues
intelligently, other peoplearedrawn
to them. I’ve come toappreciate
over time the importanceof broad-
eningyour experience.”
ENERGY POLICY
“We’renot
gas-friendly in theUnitedStates. If
weembarkedonapolicyof energy
independence, thousandsof high-
paying jobs couldbe createdhere.”
MANAGINGACAREER
“You
have tobeproactiveandmanage
your own career. If your bosswants it
done tomorrow, do it today. Expect
moreof yourself. Peoplewhohave
high standards are indemand. It’sup
toyou to take command. Interns say
they like it here.Well, go tell your
boss, ‘I like it here.’”
DECISION-MAKING
“Youhave
todevelop self-confidence. I hada
bosswho saidhenevermadeabad
decision; he saidhe just didn’t have
enoughdata. I’vemadedecisionson
investingandbuilding inventory–
onwhether themarketwouldgoup
or down– that definitelymissed. But
if youdon’tmake somedecisions
that areoff, you’reprobablynot
moving fast enough.”
PRODUCTSMADEBY TE
