CEO LEADERSHIP
WALKING THE WALK
CEO Leadership Forums Model How to Adapt in Uncertain Times
S
eated around a conference table at the Orlando headquarters of AppleOne Employment Services, six members of the CEO Leadership Forums reflected on the Great Recession of 2008. Ultimately, they all agreed when it came to weathering storms like that one, the CEO Leadership Forums help to make the “unknown” known and arm leaders with knowledge that can help them not just survive the next recession, but thrive.
It was 2019, a full year before the COVID-19 pandemic would hit the United States and change the way the world lives and conducts business. Suddenly, the scenarios the members of the CEO Leadership Forum groups had been fortifying themselves against were confronting them head-on. The organizations quickly readied themselves to step up to the plate. 36 | JULY/AUGUST 2020 | i4Biz.com
Call to Action Made up of two groups each of about 20 CEOs, partners and other leaders from across industries throughout Central Florida, the forums offer a way for leaders to come together to discuss and share their knowledge, expertise and experience. “We had all been preparing for the next recession, but (the pandemic) hit us all so quickly,” said Nicole McMurray, regional manager of AppleOne Employment Services. “When this happened, we knew we wanted to come together because a lot of us needed information and it was coming from so many angles, but who could you actually trust? Who could you really listen to?” In mid-March, with all the uncertainty and questions swirling around them, 25 members had a call that was half strategy, half therapy. “We all talked out how we were feeling, how we were dealing with it, and what we needed,” said Geoffrey Gallo, founder of CEO Leadership
