Executive Coach

Jim Marvel

President and CEO, Coca-Cola Bottlers' Sales & Services · Vice President and General Manager, Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Company

“It's extremely rare that one of my coachees would have a challenge that I haven't actually been through myself... what I'm really effective at is giving them options to consider that they might not have thought about before.”
Jim Marvel

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Experience

$350M+: Sales P&L owned as GM
$360M: Bottler acquisition he moved to oversee
1,500: Associates in his integration plan
+2.7%: Share swing vs. competition, 2013

Expertise

For more than 30 years in the Coca-Cola system, Jim was sent in when a business changed owners or structure. He ran a newly acquired bottler, divested a business unit, set up shared services for new independent bottlers, and renegotiated bottler contracts. He opens with a message plan for each level of the organization, then works frontline shifts in uniform to deliver it. He lets his team decide and takes direct control in a crisis; in his words, "leading from the front or leading from behind is situational."

Industry

Jim spent more than 30 years in the beverage industry with The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola Refreshments, and Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Company. He held roles in sales, marketing, general management, shared services, and franchise governance and contracts. As general manager, he ran a fully integrated bottler with its own sales, distribution, production, finance, and HR functions.

Specialties

Leading an acquired company through its first years
Selling a business unit without losing market share
Standing up shared services for a new organization
Renegotiating contracts across a franchise system
Keeping a team engaged when its future is uncertain

Career history

01 of 11

Territory Sales Manager, The Coca-Cola Company

In their own words

Proudest accomplishment?

When I was leaving, we took a picture in the parking lot of all of us together. Everybody wrote a story of how we interacted together, and that means the most to me.

Best advice he'd give?

Worry less about what other people around you are doing, and focus on becoming what I call functionally excellent. If you're in the right organization, others in more senior roles are going to recognize that.

Most fulfilling part?

We established a personal development plan for everybody in the organization. The people that stayed ended up with a much better skill set and were able to take on jobs in areas of increasing responsibility.

Career highlights

As general manager of Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Jim owned the full profit and loss for sales of more than $350 million.
In 2012 he moved to Oklahoma City to oversee Coca-Cola's $360 million Great Plains acquisition and plan the integration of 1,500 associates.
Great Plains moved from a 0.2 percent share loss against competition in 2012 to a 2.7 percent gain in 2013.
He managed the divestiture of a $15 million vending and food service business to Compass Group.
He executed 40 restructured contracts between Coca-Cola and independent bottlers, bringing 99.9 percent of US volume under new agreements.

Personality type

ENTJ-A

“The Commander”

He sets the plan and the message, then hands decisions to the team and steps in under pressure.

Based in

Easton, Maryland

Would Jim be the right match?

Tell us about the leader and the situation. If Jim is not the fit, one of the other coaches will be.

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Office: 405-286-2816

Coaching leaders across North America.