March 22, 2023 – Anne Eiting Klamar had zero leadership experience when she stepped into her role as president and CEO of Midmark in 2000. At her urging, a leadership coach interviewed the people at Midmark to assess her skills as a leader. Most said she had work to do.
Not to be discouraged, she transformed that hard truth into a lifelong journey in leadership, teamwork and family governance, as well as advanced medical technology, manufacturing, and sales and marketing. She shepherded Midmark through challenging times and in 2015, confident that the company was in capable hands, stepped away from her role as president and CEO to become chair.
Anne Eiting Klamar received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan and graduated with her M.D. degree from The Ohio State University. She practiced medicine in Urbana, Ohio, before moving to Versailles, Ohio, with her husband, Rob, also a physician, when she was named president and CEO – the fourth-generation Eiting to assume that role since the company’s founding in 1915.
Lacking any experience running a company, she wondered about her qualifications for the job. But her father, Jim Eiting, was retiring, and the company needed leadership. The board felt she could handle the job. “I honestly didn’t have the presence of mind to say ‘no,’” she later told an interviewer.
Speaking to a reporter from a Dayton newspaper, she said, “Physicians don’t necessarily have great leadership skills. They tell people what to do, and people do it or not. That doesn’t work in business.” Being the boss’s daughter didn’t make the job any easier.
Read more in the latest issue of Repertoire Magazine.