“Congratulations to our friend and collaborator Peter Guber, who, for years, has generously provided his vision to our media, entertainment and sports education. His perspectives on leadership and the trailblazers he brings to his class are legendary, driving our students to Think in the Next.”
— Dean Judy Olian
UCLA Anderson congratulates Peter Guber, distinguished lecturer at Anderson, for being recognized as the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Business Person of the Year. Guber’s leadership class is beloved by MBA students, and undoubtedly is one of the most popular courses available. Guber has spent decades in both entertainment and sports, and boasts a long list of accolades. An awards ceremony took place to celebrate this distinction on March 23. Below is an excerpt from his LABJ feature:
The lecture hall at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management was packed with some 80 MBA students, listening in rapt attention to the man at the podium whose trim build and sheer energy belied his 74 years. Indeed, Peter Guber would fit in among most professors at the Westwood university. But his speech about leadership skills on a recent evening drew from hard-won experience, not book learning.
“You have to really emotionalize the offering,” Guber said in a husky voice that retains more than a hint of the brogue of his Boston youth. “Just look at that dumbbell running for president! When you’re running a business, you have to shape that emotion inside a proper narrative. Otherwise, you’ll never hold the emotion of your audience.”
Guber has commanded the attention of audiences for more than four decades, from producing Hollywood blockbusters in the 1970s and ’80s to his latest passion, professional sports. In addition to minor league baseball and professional soccer teams, Guber has taken stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers and reigning NBA champs, the Golden State Warriors.
“He’s the first in the room to remind everyone that we’re competing against every other form of entertainment in the market-place, and we should never forget that,” said Adam Silver, commissioner of the National Basketball Association.
As different as film and sports might be, they still rely on putting audiences in the seats and drawing viewers to the screens. And in that, Guber has excelled.
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