Article originally published in the Philadelphia Business Journal on December 22, 2014
Many of my readers have asked why a former CEO and current director on for-profit and nonprofit boards decided to write on the subject of leadership, and how I became a weekly guest columnist in the Philadelphia Business Journal. This is my 23rd article, and I think it is time to share the story of my journey.
Last March I visited Silicon Valley with Donna De Carolis, founding dean of Drexel University’s Close School of Entrepreneurship, six of her staff members and 16 Close School students. We visited Apple, eBay, PayPal and numerous incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces in San Francisco. After watching De Carolis interact with and inspire her students, and witnessing the creativity and innovative spirit of those students as well as the entrepreneurial drive of those we visited, I decided I needed to undertake something new. It had been three years since being named as the chairman of the board of the Drexel University College of Medicine, which gave me the opportunity to learn about the business of medicine as well as the academic and experiential learning requirements of medical education. It was time for a new challenge.
Having served in many leadership roles as an executive rising through the ranks of PQ Corporation and as a director on numerous boards watching other CEOs in their roles, I decided to start writing on the subject of leadership. There are many writers on this subject: there are those who do academic research on leadership, as well as some very experienced practitioners who have years of experience. I am in the latter category. I try to differentiate myself by sharing my perspectives and experiences in an impactful way to my readers.
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