Perhaps the moment when inventor Leighton Davies-Smith was unceremoniously informed that he did not have leadership potential was the very moment when he decided to become a leader.
His life mission — as an 18-year-old British citizen at the time — was to become a pilot with the Royal Air Force. They rejected him. Twice.
"They told me that I had to be a leader first — and then I could be a pilot," he said. Although he had clearly demonstrated to them that he did have the ability to learn how to fly, he says, they told him he didn't possess the necessary "leadership skills" to be a pilot in the Royal Air Force.
"I remember thinking to myself: Maybe I can learn how to be a leader," he said.
Learn To Lead Like Leighton Davies-Smith
Fast-forward four decades. Davies-Smith has certainly since proved that not only has he learned how to be a world-class leader, but he ranks among his generation's most successful inventors in several product categories — particularly pens.
The Ph.D. electrochemist has designed outside-the-box pens for Parker to Paper Mate. He's designed markers for Sharpie. He's designed permanent markers that can be used underwater and even on the most unfriendly construction surfaces, such as cinder blocks.
Most recently, he designed the industry-changing Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen for Colgate-Palmolive, which in 2022 ranked as the No. 1-selling whitening pen on Amazon.com and as the consumer product giant's No.2-selling product on Amazon.
His pens are legendary. Among the pens he has had a major hand in developing over the decades are popular refills used by Parker Pen and Waterman, the silver Sharpie Metallic marker, the Sharpie Professional marker and the Parker Ingenuity Fountain Pen. Most of these have been on the market for more than 20 years, which makes him somewhat of a penmaker's rock star.
Lead Like You're In The Chorus
But Davies-Smith says he doesn't lead like a rock star. He's perhaps more like a member of the choir.
"I like to introduce a healthy dose of humanity and humility so that those who work under me consider themselves to be followers — not subordinates," he said. He does this, he says, by empowering employees and never micromanaging.
Where did all of his Mr. Fix-It curiosity come from? From his dad, Ron Smith, who worked as a line operator at Ford Motor in the UK. At 85, his father's still at it, too, working in the UK as a craftsman who repairs watches.
Just how savvy is his dad at fixing things? Well, on two occasions he's been rewarded with new cars at Ford for submitting outside-the-box ideas that helped to save the company money on its line.
Davies-Smith, 61, says he hasn't won any new cars yet for of his own ideas. "But I've learned a lot from watching my dad," he said. "So I haven't given up on that one yet."
Davies-Smith: Innovate In Various Industries
Davies-Smith's career didn't begin in pen-and-ink but in the battery world. As he explains it, he received his Ph.D. in electrochemistry from the University of Brighton on a Friday and began work at Duracell the following Monday.
He stayed with Duracell for three years then transitioned to Parker because he knew he'd make a lot more money there. But before that, he spent months being mentored by a former ink chemist from Parker who instilled both knowledge and leadership values.
Once at Parker, he says, he mostly learned about leadership the hard way — through his own mistakes.
Pens have three concurrent systems that must all work seamlessly together. There's the ink. There's the carrier of the ink — or the reservoir. And there's the tip — or writing delivery system.
Don't Go It Alone
When Davies-Smith was first hired by Parker, he was focused on ink technology and was assigned to a special project to create a better pen. His biggest mistake: He opted to work in isolation.
Oh sure, he created a slam-bang ink system — but he did so in utter isolation from the guy who was in charge of designing the writing tip for the pen. As a result, he says, when the two projects were force-fit together into a single pen, "It was an absolute disaster."
So there was an early career leadership lesson, for sure. Don't go it alone.
When he became a team leader at Parker, his job was to encourage all divisions to work together. The art of penmaking is "micro-engineering" on many levels, he says. Never mind that even though he's never been specifically trained as an engineer, he was overseeing engineers all the time.
These days, he's senior director of research and development at Colgate-Palmolive.
His leadership there isn't just demonstrated in how he invents stuff — or even in how he encourages invention on his team. It's also in how he thinks outside the box for all teams on what might even seem to be he most mundane matters.
Focus On The Details Like Davies-Smith
Recently, Davies-Smith led an effort to leverage a new software system internally at Colgate to share employee backgrounds, including education, previous work experiences and areas of interest.
By learning more about each other's capabilities and experiences, the company's Global Technology Organization can now tap experts in technologies that may not be part of their immediate responsibilities, says his boss, John Gatzemeyer, who is VP of R&D, Global Toothbrushes & Devices at Colgate-Palmolive.
"In balancing priorities between people and business, Leighton is able to lead in a way that is both constructive and inspiring," said Gatzemeyer.
Start Early And Broaden Your Talents
Davies-Smith's days start early. He's typically up by 5 a.m. and arrives at the company's research office in Piscataway, N.J., by 6:30 a.m. On the way to work, he always keeps the radio off but keeps a special pad and pen on his lap.
He scribbles down ideas while he drives — but never actually looks at the pad while he's writing. Sure, his notes are difficult to read sometimes, but since he's a penman he much prefers that methodology over using a Dictaphone.
His success as a leader, he says, stems in part from being so passionate about his work. He loves telling people what he does for a living.
"Everyone knows what a pen is — and everyone has an opinion on them," he said.
Sure, the profession of inventing pens and penlike devices is not exactly like researching a cure for cancer, he says, "But the doctors who are searching for that cure are probably using pens to do it."
He's got his own pen collection. And a watch collection. And instead of sitting around watching Netflix, he recently remodeled his own master bathroom and did all of the plumbing and electric work himself.
Oops. Did we forget to mention that he's also trained in classical piano?
Keep Inventing Like Davies-Smith
There's more. Inventors tend to keep inventing. He does have one invention that he patented that sounds off-the-charts. It's a pen that you never have to click open or from which you never have to remove a cap. It automatically opens — magnetically — just by touching it. He hasn't quite figured out where to take it from here. Nor has he named it yet.
Just don't bet against it becoming yet another hit to add to his list of lifetime achievements.
Perhaps no one knows that better than George Safford Parker, the former inventor, industrialist and founder of Parker Pen Co., who once opined, "Make a better pen and people will buy it."
That could, indeed, be the future for the magnetic pen. "Listen to old George," said Davies-Smith.
Davies-Smith's Keys
- Inventor and designer of many of the world's most popular pens and refills.
- Overcame: Early resistance by supervisors to allow him to take on leadership roles.
- Lesson: "I like to introduce a healthy dose of humanity and humility so that those who work under me consider themselves to be followers — not subordinates."
