The speakers for our third class were Larry Scott the Commissioner of the PAC 12! and Dan Fulton long time CEO of Weyerhaeuser and now sitting on multiple Corporate boards one of which the Saltchuk. You may recall Saltchuk’s Founder Mike Garvey was our speaker for the first class.
Larry runs a large organization with a very complex governance structure. He works for 12 PAC-12 University Presidents who for the most part delegate their Sports programs to 12 Athletic Directors and 12 Associate AD’s and 12 Student Athletes. In addition the 12 Football, Basketball Coaches have major influence. He also has the very successful PAC-12 network that he started upon coming the PAC-12. His job more than any other CEO requires him to operate with both a tops down and bottoms up focus.. Transparency and diplomacy rule. Build consensus before asking for decision making. He said it is critical to create a shared vision and alignment on desired outcomes.
Dan’s entire working career was spent at Weyerhaeuser. He talked about the fabulous culture established at the Company, starting with it’s Founder in 1900 and it’s virtually the same today. Weyerhaeuser has a Corporate focus and policy of supporting all of the Communities that it has facilities. A number of these locations are in small towns or cities that are grateful for the support. He made a number of changes in his very successful tenure as CEO all of which were major teaching points for the students.
A big thanks to Larry and Dan for their contribution to our class. It was a learning experience for all of us.