“It’s time to think differently and globally when planning for a company’s success.”
These were the thoughts of Doug Clark, Founder, CEO, and President of AmeriQuest Business Services, as he addressed business leaders who attended the company’s annual Symposium held once again at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida.
Doug describes the Symposium as a total immersion experience that encourages business leaders to step away from their everyday business responsibilities to learn how to think differently and globally as they plan for their companies’ success. He also thanked attendees for their continued support of the event over the past 20 years during which AmeriQuest had been “helping companies grow profitably.”
The three-day leadership summit always has a compelling roster of speakers from a wide range of disciplines and this year was no exception. Attendees heard from Larry Kudlow, Economist and Senior Contributor at CNBC; John Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006; Frank Luntz, political consultant; and Robin Crow, CEO of Dark Horse Recording.
But the common thread evident throughout all the presentation was the theme of thinking differently and planning for the future. Douglas Tieman, President and CEO of Caron Foundation, focused his remarks on developing leaders for the future and shared his Five Steps to Leadership by reminding the audience that “managers do things right, while leaders do the right things.”
Kevin Mitnick, a former computer hacker and CEO of Mitnick Security, described social engineering as “a form of hacking that relies on influence, deception and manipulation to convince another person to comply with a request in order to compromise their computer network.” With this new form of hacking, nearly 99.5% effective, Mitnick offered tips for ways business leaders can ensure that their employees are aware of the threat and prepared to confront cyberattacks that jeopardize the security of their organizations’ intellectual property.
Seth Mattison, Founder and Chief Momentum Officer of Future-Sight Labs, warned business leaders not to talk about the future without looking first at their organizations’ past, noting, “You need to know the value of where you came from and what made you successful.” But he cautioned attendees not to hold on to the past for so long that it prevents them from moving forward.
He also advised businesses to move from a hierarchical management model to more of a network model and underscored the importance of a transparent and open culture in order to attract the next generation of workers. He explained how a company’s culture is a reflection of its leadership.
The average life span of a Fortune 500 Company used to be 75 years; today it is 15 years. This shocking statistic came from Jeremy Gutsche, Founder and CEO of TrendHunter. “Everyone wants to get better faster, but not everyone wants to put in the effort needed to do that,” he warned. Gutsche urged Symposium attendees to push themselves to determine what their customers want and commit to the steps needed to deliver on that.
A panel of AmeriQuest experts also answered audience member questions about ways to attract and retain employees and the essential services that will help companies run their organizations more efficiently and profitably.
Learn more about the AmeriQuest Symposium and look for our upcoming video on YouTube.
