Leadership drives corporate performance. How can Northeast Ohio companies develop, nurture and retain business leaders who are prepared to deal with the dizzying pace of change in the global marketplace?
• How can these leaders help reposition a company when sales are flat, prices are unstable and markets are increasingly commodity based?
• How do leaders promote strategic thinking and actions when customers and competitors insist on change, but employees seek stability?
• How can business leaders prepare for the moment when they assume responsibility for company profits and well-being?
Through partnerships with area companies, Baldwin-Wallace College and its Executive Enrichment program regularly bring to Northeast Ohio some of the world’s top experts on issues facing business.
Leadership development, strategic planning and globalization have been topics at recent Executive Enrichment seminars, attended by top executives and key middle and upper managers of local companies.
In October, Dr. Ram Charan, President of Charan & Associates, shared his methodology for driving results and creating continuous growth. In December, Fariborz Ghadar, of the Center for Global Business Studies at the Smeal College of Business Administration at Penn State University, talked about corporate strategy and its implementation in the global marketplace.
“We are making sure our program is relevant and responsive to area corporations,” said Dr. Peter Rea, Chair of Business Administration. “Our hope is to contribute to economic development in the region.”
In a recent article in the Journal of Executive Education, Gerri Hura, Director of Professional Development, wrote, “With a little creativity, a bit of hard work, and a willingness to step outside the institutional walls, any management or executive education department can develop and produce a world-class executive development and leadership program for their local corporate community.”
Hura’s article noted that executive education programs can provide the opportunity to learn from nationally renowned experts, as well as the opportunity to network with peer executives from other companies in the area. Through partnerships with participating companies, a college such as Baldwin-Wallace can offer such programs affordably, and provide local companies with an excellent investment in their own futures.
An alliance with the University of Dayton has enabled B-W to further enhance its offerings, responding to the strategic learning needs of executives in the region.
Corporate partners receive seating at Executive Education programs. They also have opportunities to meet with the experts in informal settings such as breakfast meetings.
Paul Carleton, managing director of Carleton Advisors LLC, is a participant. “Peter and Gerri have done a very good job identifying a need to provide interesting and challenging business perspectives,” he said.
Carleton, a B-W alumnus and member of the Business Advisory Council, is also on the college’s Board of Trustees. An investment banker, he sold his mergers and acquisitions “boutique” business in 2000 and now has a new firm that does M&A work, raises capital for private companies and does other financial advising.
He described many of the daily challenges of business as well beyond the undergraduate or business school experience. “Retooling” - hearing fresh perspectives throughout one’s career - can make a key difference, he said.
“Hearing Ram Charan’s latest thought processes is a rare treat,” he said. “Ram laid out what he sees as the metrics and dynamics of business over the next decade. And Fari Ghadar is a great macro-thinker. It is thrilling to sit around and ponder these things with some world-class people.”
Robert Joyce is CEO of the Westfield Group, a 155-year-old, Medina-based regional insurance company. He agreed.
“Our senior managers have had the opportunity on a number of occasions to hear Charan and Ghadar. Both have the ability to make seemingly complex situations or problems simple, and further make the point in economic or financial terms. They understand the need for value creation,” he said.
Joyce said each speaker has his own style, but both have a talent for driving home their points via anecdotes about experiences they have had with corporations. Managers then bring back to company what they have learned. “Our people can relate to these experiences and bring them into their current situations,” Joyce said.
Westfield is working closely with Baldwin-Wallace College to develop custom programs for its emerging leaders. Through the B-W Emerging Leaders Program, managers in Westfield’s Capstone Project presented three recommendations to the company based on what they have learned in Executive Education programs.
“We were successful in developing our future leaders and bringing immediate value to our company through the Capstone Project experience - a real win-win,” Joyce said. In addition, the experience has been a catalyst for at least two managers who may go on to complete their master’s degrees.
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