"THE VISION, LEADERSHIP AND TRUST THING"
Thursday, October 20, 2005 - Panel Discussion at Steinway Hall
Please RSVP --- *In the event that your plans change, please be courteous and inform us.*
"THE VISION, LEADERSHIP AND TRUST THING"
Time:
6 to 8 p.m. (reception before and after)
Location:
Steinway Hall, 109 West 57th Street (between 6th & 7th)
Speakers:
Jurgen Ahlers, President and Owner, Hospitality Consults International
Judith E. Glaser, CEO & President, Benchmark Communications, Inc.
David Carter, Chairman and Founder, Merryck & Co.
Stephen H. Baum, Chair, The Executive Committee International (TEC)
Generously hosted by invitation of Bruce Stevens, President and CEO, Frank Mazurco, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing and Dan Miceli, Director of Retail Sales, Steinway & Sons
A recent article in WWD proclaims "Avoiding Bumps: No Slowdown Ahead for Booming Luxury." The luxury engine just keeps purring.
But there is an underbelly and a darker side. Since 1994, the number one issue facing CEOs of The Luxury Marketing Council is "finding, motivating, educating, compensating and succession planning for the best and brightest." At no time, perhaps, in the history of the recent bullish luxury market, has the need for intelligent, creative, personal management and sophisticated customer courting and retention been more pressing and important.
And what does doing it right all boil down to given the right brand and the right product/service? VISION, LEADERSHIP AND TRUST. And the scrupulous management and strategic growth of human capital. Making sure people have the courage and support to do their utmost best. Management needs to grow personally and business wise and management needs to grow, retain and inspire the best and the brightest people. Without this, riding the wave of a robust luxury market is nothing more than a short-term, short-sighted tactic.
Our panel of global experts each in their own way specializing in coaching, mentoring, leadership development (individual or corporate), pushing the envelope of individuals and organizations to help build leaders and organizations of leaders that can SEE AHEAD and, importantly DO THE RIGHT THING. No easy task and one that separates those that are riding the wave of a robust luxury market and coasting on a great brand from those that do more and profit more.
After brief introductions by each of our panelists who will talk each-by-each about their specific areas of expertise in this important niche, Greg Furman, Founder & Chairman, will moderate a lively discussion and challenge those attending to ask the tough questions of our panelists whose successful practices have prospered on the ability to ask the tough questions and lead their clients - top management of top organizations - to a better, more visionary and profitable way.
About the Speakers:
Jurgen Ahlers
Jurgen Ahlers was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. With degrees from Syracuse University (International Relations) and Princeton (Theology and Adult Development), Mr. Ahlers has extensive experience in Human Resource Development and Organizational Effectiveness, both in the U.S., as well as abroad. As founding Director of Professional Development for all Ritz-Carlton Hotels, he is credited with establishing the Ritz-Carlton Credo, which became the nucleus of the Ritz-Carlton philosophy, impacting its service culture, training, and human development throughout the world. He has a keen ability in helping to infuse any corporate culture with a fresh sense of direction and, more specifically, "emotional energy" at all levels of the operation.
In 1990 Mr. Ahlers decided to "go independent," serving in an advisory capacity, not only The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, but other hospitality concerns and businesses in general with a primary focus on helping to create cultures that "breed" leadership at every level of the organization, as well as consistent customer relations excellence. Present and former clients include the City of Winston-Salem, William's Island, Florida, Meridian Hotels, BMW of North America, The Coca-Cola Company, Meadowood Napa Valley, The Inn of the Anasazi, Santa Fe, Mrs. Smith's Bakery, Crystal Cruises, MGM Grand, South Africa, BVLGARI Hotels and Resorts, Italy. He has created a "niche" in helping companies capture their essential vision/mission/credo in a "passionate" one, two, or three sentence statement, which in turn, becomes the integral driving force in every facet of a business, ultimately profiting every stakeholder. Other services Mr. Ahlers provides, include executive enrichment and management training in subjects such as Foundations of 21st. Century Leadership, Maximizing Customer Service: Service with Presence, Behavioral Interviewing and Selecting, Team Effectiveness, The Art of Effective Communication, Performance Reviews that make a Difference, Stress Management and Human Wellness, Honoring Diversity in the Workplace.
Jurgen Ahlers' presentations are highly motivational, and always interactive.
Along with his consultation, Mr. Ahlers is currently also spearheading a unique concept: Sanctorum – The Sound Spa, which promises to help alleviate stress and advance general health and well-being in numerous contexts: airports, hotels, corporate environments, etc.
He has traveled widely throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and southern Africa. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Judith E. Glaser
Judith E. Glaser is a sought-after best selling author and keynote speaker and executive coach. Her newest book Creating WE: Change Thinking to We-Thinking & Build a Healthy Thriving Organization (Platinum Press, an imprint of Adams Media; April, 2005) made Amazon Business Book Best Seller List and was selected as one of the top business books of 2005.
She has appeared on the NBC Today Show, Fox TV, Channel 12 and the Family Network talking about We-Centric Leadership, Bully Bosses and Culture Transformation. She has been quoted many times in the NY Times, WSJ, Crain's, Newsday, Star Ledger, Harvard Management Review, AMA World and other print media talking about her Revolutionary Workplace Approaches. She is contributing Editor of Executive Excellence Magazine and is listed in the Excellence 100 Consultants.
Judith calls herself an Organizational Anthropologist and Coach, who brings new insights to leaders on how to create a We-Centric Workplaces which supports the growth and development of people, partnerships and a thriving business. As a master coach, facilitator, and organizational designer she works with clients to raise the bar and achieve the next level of success through a process she calls the Journey. This process catalyzes new ways of thinking and new types of courageous conversations, and enable leaders to redefine challenges, rethink strategies, reinvent new products and services, build strong partnerships with customers, leverage mergers and acquisitions and create new business models that drive profitability and growth – with a direct line of sight to the customer.
Her clients span a wide variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, fashion, retail, consumer goods, finance, technology, communication, consulting, entertainment and manufacturing. They are organizations seeking to sustain a leadership position by revitalizing their strategic business focus to become more competitive, profitable and higher performing. These include clients such as: Siemens, Pfizer, Coach, Inc., Lipton, VeriSign, Thomson, Novartis, Verizon, Citibank, Donna Karan International, Exide Technologies and Clairol, Inc.
She earned a B.A. from Temple University in Interdisciplinary Studies, and an M.S. in Human Behavior & Development from Drexel University, where she was a Research Fellow. She has earned credits from Harvard University's Bales School of Social Relations, with a focus on Organizational Studies. She later received a Master's Certificate in Corporate and Political Communications from Fairfield University.
She served as an Adjunct Professor at Wharton, and was awarded the Benno Curtis Entrepreneur of the Year and Quality Consultant Award. She is currently on the boards of The We Are Family Foundation, WITH (Woman in Transition Helping and Healing), State of the World Address, Positive Media Workshop, and was a founding member of The Executive Woman's Business Forum. She was awarded Business Woman of the Year in New York City in 2004.
Other Books: Random House Book of Business Terms; Ultimate Power; Discovering the Power of We.
David Carter
"Fulfilment comes not from just knowing the answers, but implementing them in a way of being true to your authentic self."
With more than 20 years of hands-on, high-level global corporate, entrepreneurial and venture capital experience, David has grown Merryck & Co. from a standing start in January 1997 to what the independent Corporate Research Foundation defined as on of the "Top UK Companies of the Future" in 2001. Indeed, Merryck & Co.'s rating was second only to Cisco in the CRF's ranking of companies operating in the U.K.
The cornerstone of Merryck & Co.'s success is David's special ability to communicate at any level within a business or social environment. Clients and colleagues cite David's highly personalized, results-oriented Business Leader Mentoring approach that has been proven to help clients build more successful businesses and lead more fulfilling lives.
Specifically, David's proprietary Business Leader Mentoring model is based on a fresh analysis of clients' operational, financial and human situations to create and implement customized strategies for improving success, often exponentially.
David has worked in venture capital in the USA, on the East & West coasts, the Middle East, the Far East and throughout Europe. After leaving Financial Services in 1988, David built two successful businesses, one of which he sold, the other floated on the London Alternative Investors Market (AIM). In addition, David has also been involved either as a principal or advisor on the sale, merger or purchase of over 30 businesses.
He has also overcome a few failures and near disasters.
His greatest personal challenge has been as a single parent with two young children since 1995. David established Merryck & Co. to make a difference in the lives of his family, his colleagues and his Clients.
Stephen H. Baum
With many years' experience as an advisor, management consultant and facilitator of retreats for CEOs, Mr. Baum's role as Chair of TEC is to foster an interactive exchange among business owners/chief executives on such critical issues as: managing growth, outsourcing, managing health care costs, developing new strategies to outperform competition, working with partners in China, capital-raising, compliance and succession, to name a few.
Mr. Baum's consultancy, The Point Group Network assists the business owner/CEO in achieving a specific organizational or business goal by supporting executive-level project initiatives, strategic planning processes and senior team retreats. Mr. Baum continues to serve as advisor to selected chief executives as part of his practice.
Mr. Baum's clients have included leaders across industries: a magazine publisher with many titles and websites, a global beverage company, a major broadcast network, a large visual effects house, an electric utility, a global hotel chain, a global search firm, a motion picture and television studio, a media company with cable networks, mutual fund organization, and two regional banks. He has also served on boards of smaller companies owned by a private equity firm and provided coaching to their CEOs. Not-for-profit clients have included a top 20 University and The College Board.
Mr. Baum holds degrees in chemical engineering from M.I.T. and Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard. He has been an instructor, Senior Examiner and site visit team leader for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and Chief Judge for the Connecticut Excellence Award. He is a member of the Luxury Marketing Council, is a jazz pianist and member of the National Storytelling Association.
He was a board member of the Actors Studio Drama School of New School University and remains on the boards of Community Partners (HBS volunteer consulting to not for profits) and of a private manufacturing company with major facilities in France.
Random House will soon publish his book on leadership development. He has lectured on this topic at Baruch College.