By Joseph Cabadas
Dec. 15, 2011
Former U.S. Secretary of State and Gen. Colin Powell has often told audiences that effective leaders are made, not born and learn from trials and errors.
Michigan’s business leaders are created the same way. Along the way, many become exceptional as they learn to persevere through hardships, looking for opportunities to succeed.
To honor these Top Chief Executives, Corp! magazine held an awards ceremony Dec. 6, 2011, at the MSU Management Center in Troy in conjunction with the Entrepreneurs of Distinction award breakfast.
The Top Chief Executive awards were open to senior company executives.
This year’s winners include Jay Rising, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Detroit Medical Center; Denise Sherwood, chief development officer, Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids; David C. Walker, CFO and executive vice president, Level One Bank; Courtney Morales Hofmann, chief operating officer, MCM Staffing Solutions; Sandra Gaddy, chief marketing officer, Mel Trotter Ministries; Bob Josifovski, COO, OHorizons LLC; Deborah Phillips, chief administrative officer, Priority Health; Michael P. McKay, chief technical officer, RF Connect LLC; Julie Moore, chief technical officer, Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge; Bill Wagner, CEO, SRT Solutions; John McLaren, COO, Sun Communities Inc.; Wayne Chuang, CFO, Sunfire Carbide & Rare Earth Materials Co.; Stephen Koons, president and CEO, Trubiquity; and Richard Widgren, vice president, treasurer and CFO, Urban Science.
Leadership takes some sacrifice and requires leaders to put others before themselves, said Eric B. Larson, president and CEO of Larson Realty Group.
“Leaders need to give more of themselves than they receive,” Larson continued. “Look at the city of Detroit and the challenges it faces financially or the cultural arts organizations and their funding challenges. These are times that those that have the ability and resources have to dig deep and support those parts of our community that really define our community.”
Larson had founded the real estate development firm with his late father, Robert C. Larson, to specialize in construction, engineering, property management, leasing and finance. Leadership was such an important concept for both father and son that they created the Robert C. Larson Leadership Initiative in conjunction with the Urban Land Institute.
“Originally (the Larson Leadership Initiative) was focused on cultivating and developing the next leaders in the real estate industry, which touches a lot of facets including lawyers, architects, and planners,” Larson said. “We are able to harness the depth and breadth of leadership expertise in the senior levels of our industry and bring to bear with the next generation of leaders.”