A CEO Who Gets it!!!

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A CEO Who Gets it!!!
By Gail Davis | Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I had the pleasure of visiting the Texas Roadhouse corporate headquarters and spending two hours with CEO G. J. Hart. In some ways, I felt like I had gone back home. In my former life, I worked closely with Les Alberthal, CEO of EDS, planning corporate recognition events. He always challenged me to give our attendees and their guests a once in a lifetime experience. He was very committed to that principle. I have often wondered if there was another C-level corporate executive who shared his passion for the importance of recognizing his people through memorable experiences at events.

Well, I may have met his match. G. J. Hart is not yet 52 and he lights up when he talks about giving back to a community, his company culture and the internal foundation. He made a bold move to state unabashedly his opinion about why spending money on events is important. Oh, and he did that on national TV just after the AIG debacle. He took a risk but spoke his truth…..meetings are important. And guess what? He became a rock star. People could not argue the facts. He runs a profitable company, is extremely social-conscious and he knows how to motivate his people.

It goes beyond his passion for his employees and events; he views the entire industry as a partnership. He makes the hotel staff feel like they are a part of the event team. He invites the upcoming year hotel employees to the current year site to witness their program first hand. He celebrates the success of an event with the hotel staff not only on site but by inviting them to be his guests the following year to just enjoy the event.

Our industry is alive and well…thanks to guys like G. J. Hart!

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