UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Michael Hiltzik to Steer Conversation at 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Award Dinner

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

On November 2, the John Wooden Global Leadership Award, presented annually by UCLA Anderson, will be given to W. James McNerney, Jr., retired chairman, CEO and president of The Boeing Company. The award recognizes exemplary corporate leadership and service to the community by a professional whose career embodies the leadership ideals of Coach Wooden, with proceeds from the dinner funding four $25,000 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowships.

This year’s ceremony will be held at the California Science Center and features an on-stage conversation between McNerney and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Michael Hiltzik. During Hiltzik’s three decades with the Los Angeles Times, he has served as a financial and political writer, an investigative reporter, a technology writer and editor, and a foreign correspondent in Africa and Russia. He currently serves as the Times’s business columnist and hosts its business blog, The Economy Hub.

Hiltzik earned the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for articles exposing corruption in the entertainment industry. His other awards for excellence in reporting include the 2004 Gerald Loeb Award for outstanding business commentary and the Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association for outstanding legal reporting. His books include New York Times best-seller Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century (2010), The New Deal: A Modern History (2011), The Plot Against Social Security (2005), Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age (1999) and A Death in Kenya: The Murder of Julie Ward (1991).

His latest book, Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex, details the untold story of how science went “big,” built the bombs that helped win World War II and became dependent on government and industry — and the figure behind the movement, UC Berkeley scientist Ernest O. Lawrence.

Follow Michael Hiltzik @hiltzikm

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The 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Award honors W. James McNerney, Jr., retired chairman, CEO and president of The Boeing Company. The event will be held on Wednesday, November 2, at the California Science Center, starting at 6:00 p.m. Business attire is required. For event and ticket information, contact [email protected]. Proceeds from the event fund fellowships for four UCLA Anderson students who are being awarded John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowships. This year’s recipients are Doug Larratt (EMBA ’17), Corey McMillen (’17), Datra Oliver (FEMBA ’18) and Eric Potocek (FEMBA ’18).

#JohnWooden #WoodenAwards

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Where Business Integrity Meets National Security: John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Eric Potocek

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

For FBI Special Agent Eric Potocek (FEMBA ’18), the “intentness” and “enthusiasm” blocks are the most important in the John Wooden Pyramid of Success. “These are essential qualities. You must be personally driven to protect America.”

Potocek specializes in entertainment fraud, investigating and going after high-yield schemes that target unwitting mom and pop investors. In 2015 he closed the case on the Gigapix Studios investment scheme that defrauded hundreds of people who believed they were investing in a 3-D animated version of The Wizard of Oz. Previously, Potocek worked with the Special Inspector General for the Bush Administration’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he interviewed TARP’s key decision makers and examined the government bailout package provided to Citigroup.

Before that, Potocek was an auditor at Deloitte. He's one of four UCLA Anderson students receiving a 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowship.

Like Coach Wooden, Potocek was highly inspired by his father (also a white collar agent for the FBI and also once employed at Deloitte), who advised him, simply, “Always do the right thing.” In his line of work, he sees first hand that so often the victims of Ponzi schemes and other investment frauds are elderly people in rural heartland areas — unsuspecting targets, even Alzheimer’s patients, persuaded to hand over their life’s savings. Potocek enrolled at UCLA Anderson to develop the management and leadership skills that would enable him to make a greater direct impact on curbing greed.

“It’s incredibly motivating when you’re the last line of defense for the people you’re trying to protect. If you don’t find justice for them, the bad guys win.”

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The 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Award honors W. James McNerney, Jr., retired chairman, CEO and president of the Boeing Company. The event will be held on Wednesday, November 2, at the California Science Center, starting at 6:00 p.m. Business attire is required. For event and ticket information, contact [email protected]. Proceeds from the event fund fellowships for four UCLA Anderson students who are being awarded John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowships.

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Committed to the Mission: John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Doug Larratt

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

A former Naval flight officer, test pilot and veteran of multiple carrier deployments over 21 years of service, Doug Larratt (EMBA ’17) learned the brotherhood of service as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, creating life-long bonds with friends who, like him, “bleed Navy blue and gold” (coincidentally Bruin colors as well). “There’s something about committing yourself to a higher cause and serving that cause with like-minded teammates,” he says. “The bond created is unique.”

Both of his own daughters are now UCLA Bruins, and Larratt feels he still serves by delivering high-quality systems to the young servicemen and women who defend our nation. He is one of four UCLA Anderson students receiving a 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowship on November 2.

Larratt is a program director at Orbital ATK, where he manages design, development and production of major air-launched missile systems. His current project, the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM ER) is the next generation missile for FA-18 and F-35 JSF aircraft.

Following his Naval Academy studies, Larratt served in the Navy operationally, flying the A-6E Intruder and EA-6B Prowler aircraft. He attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, earned master’s degrees in aerospace engineering and strategic studies, and served in many flying and leadership positions while logging 2,260 total flight hours in 26 different aircraft and 501 carrier landings.

Larratt was sent on long deployments for many months at a time, while his wife, Bernadette, took care of their young daughters. “I am forever grateful. We moved eight times in 15 years of service.” He recalls flying through post-Gulf War oil fires in Kuwait, helping evacuate refugees from a volcano eruption in the Philippines, and celebrating Y2K on a carrier in the middle of the North Arabian Gulf. In 2007, he retired from the military and began working for Orbital ATK.

A Volunteer Spirit: John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Corey McMillen

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Captain Corey McMillen (’17) is pursuing his MBA as much to attain his career goals as to make a difference for other military veterans. He specialized in logistics and operations and, in the months between departing the Marine Corps and starting his full-time MBA, he offered his skills pro bono to Wounded Warrior Homes in San Diego.

McMillen is one of four UCLA Anderson students who will receive a 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowship on November 2. He says early examples of leadership and service inspired his volunteer spirit.

Introduced to the teachings of Coach John Wooden as a teenager, McMillen says he only recently understood how deliberately the Pyramid of Success was built — and “the genius behind it,” as he puts it. “I don’t always think of myself as the smartest person in the room,” he laughs, “but I’m most likely the hardest working.”

The Fort Lauderdale native joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 2004 at age 17 with the consent of his mother, who eight years earlier had seized the reins of the family business when McMillen’s father — a cruise ship musical talent agent — died young. She wanted to see him complete his studies at the University of Central Florida, which McMillen combined with Officer Candidate School in 2005, becoming a full-time officer in 2008 and embarking on his first deployment in 2010, a second in 2011.

McMillen was stationed with a NATO unit in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, navigating and refining operations in a difficult international context when he found himself working under an officer of the Royal Air Force. “He was the smartest and most influential leader I have ever met. He consistently planned four or five steps ahead of everyone else and always knew the right question to ask, regardless of how chaotic or complex the environment,” McMillen says, recalling how he learned to own the challenge of sifting through information and language barriers, covering all contingencies to anticipate the needs of people and facilities while under attack.

Worldly Influence: John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Datra Oliver

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

Datra Oliver (FEMBA ’18) describes herself as “a global citizen who embodies servant leadership.” She is one of four UCLA Anderson Student who will be awarded a 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowship on November 2.

Although she grew up in Nassau, Bahamas — an island measuring only 7 x 21 miles — Oliver has seen a lot of the world.

As a young teenager, Oliver met Nelson Mandela and was deeply impressed by his forgiveness and humility. Educated on a United World College scholarship in Victoria, British Colombia, she earned a B.A. from Macalester College in Minnesota. She served as a foreign service officer and met the likes of Condoleeza Rice and H.M. Queen Elizabeth II — both of whom influenced her sense of purpose and leadership. She worked in a hands-on capacity with Partners in Food Solutions to solve challenges of food production in Kenya. With a UK law degree and a background in economics and international affairs, Oliver now works with global distributors on contracting and compliance matters.

Both of Oliver’s parents were adult students and her son is a pivotal reason she is continuing her education at Anderson. She credits her entrepreneurial mother and grandmother as influences that demonstrated family sacrifice, recalling her mother’s adage, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” Along with preparation for the next stage of global leadership, the MBA is helping Oliver’s dreams to grow with her family.

Oliver echoes Coach Wooden in her personal philosophy that we do what we can, where we can for a higher purpose — regarding opportunities as small acts that evolve to serve the team’s needs. “Work hard. Give your best in every ‘game,’” she says. “That measure of success is truly yours.”

 

Catch Datra Oliver's recent FEMBA Drive Time podcast

 

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The 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Award honors W. James McNerney, Jr., retired chairman, CEO and president of the Boeing Company. The event will be held on Wednesday, November 2, at the California Science Center, starting at 6:00 p.m. Business attire is required. For event and ticket information, contact [email protected]. Proceeds from the event fund fellowships for four UCLA Anderson students who are being awarded John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowships.

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Boeing’s James McNerney Honored with UCLA Anderson’s 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Award

UCLA Anderson announces the recipient of the 2016 John Wooden Global Leadership Award, W. James McNerney, Jr.

McNerney is retired chairman, CEO and president of the Boeing Company. He joined Boeing on July 1, 2005, serving as president until December 2013, CEO until July 2015 and chairman until March 2016. During McNerney’s tenure, the company recaptured the global lead in commercial airplane deliveries with steady increases in production and a comprehensive update of its product line, and maintained a strong position in defense markets despite a downturn in U.S. military spending. McNerney restored Boeing’s historic leadership in human spaceflight with major new program wins and expanded its engineering and manufacturing footprint inside and outside the United States.

The UCLA Anderson community applauds McNerney’s contribution to business and thought leadership and congratulates him on this distinction, which is awarded annually to an exceptional corporate leader who espouses the principles exemplified by the legendary UCLA coach and teacher, John Wooden.

A prolific author and inspiring speaker, Coach Wooden dedicated his life to motivating individuals to achieve their highest potential. He instilled in others a sense of pride, a commitment to ethics and a respect for teamwork. These fundamental principles translate seamlessly from the sports arena to the realms of business, management and leadership. And they provide the cornerstone on which the John Wooden Global Leadership Program is built at UCLA Anderson.

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This year’s John Wooden Global Leadership Award ceremony takes place on Wednesday, November 2, at the California Science Center.

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Ursula Burns: Following John Wooden, Leading by Example

By Carolyn Gray Anderson and Nathan Moorman

Left to right: Dean Judy Olian, Ursula Burns, Maggie Wilderotter

On Tuesday evening, before an audience of nearly 500 invited guests gathered in the ballroom of Beverly Wilshire, Xerox chairman and CEO Ursula Burns received the 2015 John Wooden Global Leadership Award as its eighth honoree. In a MAKERS video interview screened during the gala event, Burns described humble beginnings as the child of a single mother in a New York City housing project — and the humbling experience in 2009 of being invited to lead the company she joined as an intern 30 years earlier.

Dean Judy Olian introduced Burns by comparing Burns’ values and life’s inspirations with Coach Wooden’s. Where Wooden was singularly influenced by his father, Burns looked to her mother for the wisest advice and most upstanding example. “I’m sure Coach would have approved of this year’s recipient,” said Olian. “Ursula’s mother reminded her and her siblings that where you are is not who you are.”

Burns was interviewed on stage by Maggie Wilderotter, executive chairman of Frontier Communications, who serves on the boards of Xerox Corporation and other private and nonprofit organizations. As Burns’ “boss” — and Anne Mulcahy’s before her — Wilderotter helped select Burns for the Xerox helm and is in the best position to know how capably she has led and transformed the company. Wilderotter asked her about her role models, prompting Burns to grin at her boss and say, “This is the ultimate kiss-up.” Wilderotter paused and quipped, “All right, bring it on.” At which guests laughed and to which Burns replied seriously, “Maggie can always find a way to build a bridge between what people can do best.”

John Wooden Global Leadership Fellows Recognized for an Extraordinary Range of Life Experiences Influenced by Coach’s Values

Left to right: Christian Dunbar, Tiffany Cantrell, Al Osborne, Virginia Tancioco, Rob Douk

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Watch the video featuring Anderson's four 2015 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellows in conversation with with Senior Associate Dean Al Osborne

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By Paul Feinberg

When UCLA Anderson and Coach John Wooden jointly established the John Wooden Global Leadership Program and the associated Global Leadership Award, it was the great coach’s desire that the annual event benefit deserving Anderson students whose values emulated his own views on life and leadership. In the first seven years of the award, 16 students from Anderson’s full-time, fully employed, and executive MBA programs earned Wooden Fellowships thanks to the proceeds from the annual event and the generous support. Last night, four new names were added to this illustrious group. They are Dr. Rob Douk (GEMBA ’16), Virginia Tancioco (M.D./MBA ’16), Christian Dunbar (EMBA ’16), and Tiffany Cantrell (FEMBA ’16).

The presentation of the 2015 John Wooden Fellowships included a video featuring Anderson Senior Associate Dean Al Osborne with all four fellowship recipients. Later on at the gala, Xerox Chairman and CEO Ursula Burns received the 2015 John Wooden Global Leadership Award. The evening opened with drumming by UCLA’s student-run taiko drum ensemble Yukai Daiko and featured a performance by UCLA alumna India Carney, a finalist on NBC’s The Voice, who serenaded Burns with Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind.”

Lessons in Leadership

A leader must convey this to those you lead: a tough fight can bring forth Competitive Greatness. The hard battle inspires and motivates a great competitor to dig deep inside. That's why I relish the challenge a worthy competitor presents. When properly prepared you will rise to your highest level and achieve Competitive Greatness.

— Coach John Wooden

By Carolyn Gray Anderson

His renowned Pyramid of Success is used in boardrooms as well as on the court. It’s cited in articles about sports, psychology, business, education and more. Parents pin it to the walls of their children’s rooms as a source of inspiration.

From 1948 to 1975, John Wooden guided the UCLA men’s basketball team to win 10 NCAA championships in his final 12 seasons, including a record seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. The Bruins won 88 consecutive games from 1971 to 1974 and 38 consecutive NCAA tournament games from 1964 to 1974, both records. Wooden said he was most proud of UCLA’s 19 conference championships. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first of the 10 championships, a record that holds fast.

But “Coach” was a teacher first and foremost; and, from his retirement in 1975 forward, he was a prolific author and thinker. The John Wooden Global Leadership Award was established on the basis of Wooden’s achievements as a thought leader. Author of numerous books, Wooden lectured widely on leadership tenets gleaned from the simple but crucial lessons of a long and thoughtful life. In addition to unbroken records in college basketball, his legacy comprises a trove of maxims that express the humility, sagacity, respect and care with which Coach built and led teams.

“A leader’s most powerful ally is his or her own example.” — Coach John Wooden

By Cheechee Lin

On October 6, the John Wooden Global Leadership Award, presented annually by UCLA Anderson, honors Ursula Burns, chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation. The award is given for exemplary leadership and service to the community, with proceeds from the dinner funding $25,000 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowships. 

The 2015 event also features Maggie Wilderotter, chairman and CEO of Frontier Communications, engaging Burns in a Q&A. Wilderotter is a seasoned executive in communications and a regular on Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. Wilderotter is also a strong advocate for women: “While we’re climbing the ladder with one hand, we need to have another hand to pull women along from behind. I do that every day,” Wilderotter says. 

Prior to joining Frontier Communications in 2004, Wilderotter served as Microsoft's senior vice president of global business strategy and directed the worldwide public sector. She has also served as the president and CEO of Wink Communications Inc.; executive vice president of national operations for AT&T Wireless Services Inc; CEO of AT&T’s aviation communications division; and SVP of McCaw Cellular Communications Inc.