Lawrence A. Bossidy

Retired Chairman of the Board and CEO of Honeywell International Inc.

Mr. Bossidy's distinguished 45-year career in business began with the General Electric Company, which he joined in 1957 as a trainee in the company's renowned financial training program. For the next 31 years, Mr. Bossidy served in a number of executive and financial positions with GE. He was Chief Operating Officer of General Electric Credit Corporation (now GE Capital Corporation) from 1979 to 1981, Executive Vice President and President of GE's Services and Materials Sector from 1981 to 1984, and Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of General Electric Company from 1984 to July 1991.

Mr. Bossidy moved from GE in 1991 to join AlliedSignal Inc. as its Chairman and CEO. He is credited with transforming AlliedSignal into one of the world's most admired companies, whose success was largely driven by Mr. Bossidy's intense focus on relentlessly executing growth, management development and Six Sigma-based productivity initiatives. During his tenure with AlliedSignal, the company achieved consistent growth in earnings and cash flow, highlighted by 31 consecutive quarters of earnings-per-share growth of 13% or more and an eight-fold appreciation of the company's share price. A number of senior executives who served under him are now CEOs of major companies.

In 1999, Mr. Bossidy became Chairman of Honeywell International Inc., following the historic merger of AlliedSignal and Honeywell in December, 1999. He retired from the company as scheduled in April 2000.

Honeywell's Board of Directors brought back Mr. Bossidy on July 3, 2001, as Chairman and CEO of Honeywell International Inc., to stabilize the company following General Electric's prolonged and unsuccessful attempt to acquire Honeywell. Mr. Bossidy's second term focused on reinvigorating Honeywell's core management processes and improving its operations and cost structures.

In 1993, Mr. Bossidy led the efforts of the US business community to successfully secure congressional approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement. He was named CEO of the Year by Financial World magazine in 1994 and Chief Executive of the Year by CEO Magazine in 1998.

Mr. Bossidy, who graduated from Colgate University in 1957 with a BA degree in economics, is a member of the Board of Directors of JP MorganChase and Merck & Company.

Verne Harnish
Founder & CEO
Gazaelles, Inc.

The founder of two world-renowned entrepreneurship organizations, the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO) and the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs (ACE), Verne is presently founder and CEO of Gazelles, Inc., which serves as an outsourced corporate university for mid-size firms and hosts a faculty of well-known business experts including Jim Collins, Geoff Smart, Jack Stack, Don Peppers, and Pat Lencioni. Gazelles has also created the first affordable “digital dashboard” web-based application called Flash Report.

The “Growth Guru” columnist for Fortune.com and a frequent writer for Fortune Small Business magazine, Verne is the author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Fast-Growth Firm, which was released in April 2002 and has been translated into several languages. Named one of the “Top 10 Minds in Small Business” by Fortune Small Business Magazine (FSB), he appeared on the cover of the Dec/Jan 2002 issue of the magazine. Verne has served as an advisor to CEOs of emerging growth firms for nineteen years.

Verne serves on the board of the New York City based National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and chairs the renowned “Birthing of Giants” entrepreneurship leadership program at MIT. He also chairs the leadership program for the prestigious Top 40 Under 40 Awards in Canada and helped launch in 2002 a new executive program in Malaysia entitled “Taipan, the Making of Asian Giants.”

Verne is the co-creator and presenter of Career Track's Implementing Total Quality Management program, audio, and four volume video series; and was a certified presenter for Tom Peters' In Search of Excellence and developer/presenter for his Liberation Management programs. He is also the author and presenter of the audio and video series Controlling Interruptions and a two volume video series on Creativity and Innovation.

Given his expertise in the field of entrepreneurship, he has appeared on several national television and radio programs including Smart Money, CBS News, and Nation's Business Today; and appeared in stories in over one hundred magazines and newspapers including Forbes, Inc., and The Wall Street Journal.

Verne has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA.

As a senior consultant with IMA, Inc., David Nielson brings more than 17 years of corporate, Fortune 500 and private consulting experience to the organization. His background includes senior positions in organizational development training and leadership development as well as line experience in sales and sales management.

Nielson's broad range of organizational and leadership skills has made him a recognized expert in the industry, specifically with clients who are undergoing large-scale cultural changes. In addition, he is a frequent keynote speaker for HR and OD organizations and associations around the country including Management Resources Association, PEPI, Training Director's Forum and the Alliance of Organizational Systems Designers.

A co-founder of the Denver OD Network, Nielson is also active in the Denver community. He currently serves on the board of Red Rocks Community College and is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Boys Ranch. Nielson holds a B.S. Degree in Psychology from the University of Utah.

After a 24-year career in professional public relations in Asia , Chard launched CCG in 2000 to create the world's first web-based crisis preparedness training capability, with operational headquarters in Seattle, Washington , USA. Central to the company's crisis communication expertise is a proprietary leadership and coaching methodology for building high-performance crisis teams. Chard is a certified Action Learning Coach. CCG's crisis team building methods are grounded in the principles of Action Learning, a state-of-the-art coaching model for leadership development. CCG serves multinational clients around the globe, ensuring that their crisis teams are always ready to perform at the highest levels when a crisis strikes.

Before launching CCG, Chard served as president, Asia Pacific for Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, the world's largest independent public relations company. In this role he supervised a pan-Asian network of nine Edelman offices and 26 affiliates. During this time he also served as Asia Pacific sector head for crisis management and in this role led to the development of crisis preparation and response programs for key clients in the region.

Beginning in 1976 Chard lived and worked professionally in Asia Pacific with a communication focus grounded in the hands-on development of advertising, public relations and corporate reputation programs for multinational firms. His career experience spans three successful entrepreneurial start-ups, including branch offices for J.Walter Thompson and Hill and Knowlton, and most recently, his own firm, Profiles Corporate Communications, which was acquired by Edelman Public Relations in 1997.

Chard is recognized for his broad experience in strategic crisis counsel and corporate reputation management. In addition to his work for corporate clients, Chard has served as a crisis advisor for the American Chamber of Commerce and has authored numerous articles on public relations and crisis communication. Chard is a member of the American Society of Training and Development, the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and the Washington State China Relations Council. He is a veteran media trainer and former Asia Pacific licensee for the award winning "Communicate with Power" media spokesperson training program.

Chard is the recipient of both the PIRAF and KASPAR awards from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the two most prestigious communication awards offered by the Netherlands flag carrier.