OK, OK. I guess it has been long enough, especially after all the inquiries. I can now catch everyone up on my new endeavor.
In July, I teamed up with my partners Scott Miller, former CEO of Hyatt Hotels, and Dave Fuente, former Chairman and CEO of Office Depot to launch Next Generation Leadership, LLC (NGL) . The purpose of the company is to redefine executive development at the very top of an organization. For example, “How do you train someone who is too senior to send to Harvard?”. Our objective is to create cutting edge development programs utilizing the world’s most experienced and iconic leaders as faculty. NGL is a sister company to G100 – the leading private forum for Fortune 500 CEOs, which is owned and run by Scott and Dave.
This week in New York, we successfully kicked off our very first program – the Next Generation Leadership Forum. We brought together about two dozen non-competitive executives, each hand selected by their CEOs and Boards for participation in the program. These are the cream of the crop, most already running multi-billion dollar divisions, and likely future CEO candidates in the eyes of their boards.
The curriculum for this program was developed directly by current and former Fortune 500 CEOs, nearly two dozen of whom are participating directly in the program as faculty. Although it was only our first time out, it was a great success. Most of the CEO guests stuck around for a significant portion of the program. At any point in time we had 6-7 leading CEOs in the room, participating directly in the discussion. I took 50 pages of notes in only two days. The insights were incredible, and came at us non-stop.
In addition to the content, there is an amazing bond developing among the executive participants. We fully expect most of these executives to go on to become large company CEOs, and assume that many will eventually participate as directors on each others’ boards.
This, as you can imagine, is quite exciting for our team! For the second time, we are quickly taking a new idea from concept to a cash-flow positive, million dollar business. We are creating programming that is new and presenting it in a unique format never directly tried before. And our team has a front row seat to learn from the best of the best. Knock on wood – this is so cool.
In the coming weeks and months, I hope to share with you some of the insights that emanate directly from these gatherings. There are startling quotes, creative new approaches to common problems, and time-tested truisms. At least for me, this is timely and impactful content. I will also selectively share some of the behind the scenes trials and tribulations of launching and growing a new company – once again with no capital investment and no direct experience in the sector we are seeking to redefine.
It should be great fun. Please provide any feedback on any particular topics of interest. And thank you to everyone who has supported us in the process.
And we’re off!