Successful Meetings - January 2009 - (Page 34)

PLANNER’S WORKSHOP visionaries One of the most successful CEOs in the world, Marilyn Carlson Nelson has always put people first Ride of a Lifetime By Andrea Doyle, andrea.doyle@nielsen.com annual meeting as CEO on rollerblades, exclaiming, “Here we go, go, go, go!” Sixty-nine-year-old Nelson’s zest for life, her warmth, sense of humor, and optimism are her trademarks. So is her honesty. She frankly reveals that her father, Curtis Carlson, who founded the company, wished he’d had a son to fill his shoes instead of two daughters. A demanding boss, Carlson expected a great deal from himself as well as others. He started in 1938 with an idea and a $55 loan. He founded the Gold Bond Stamp Company to help retailers drive customer loyalty. In the 1960s, he began buying hotels and later, travel agencies and restaurant chains. Nelson was busy raising her own family in a suburb of Minneapolis and supporting the career of her surgeon husband, Dr. Glen Nelson. She was also deeply involved in the Minneapolis community and was being urged by many to run for Minnesota governor. It was that suggestion that led her father to look at her in a different light. “My dad said to me, ‘If you’re willing to make that sacrifice and take on that accountability and the 24-hour nature of politics, why don’t you come into the company full-time?’ ” explains Nelson. This was a big step for a man who believed a woman’s place was at home, raising children. “He said, ‘Come in and learn the business and you will be able to make a hen Marilyn Carlson Nelson became the chief executive of the marketing, travel, and hospitality conglomerate Carlson Companies, she took to the skies, literally. Sporting a G-suit, harness, and helmet, she climbed into an F-16 fighter jet and pulled nine Gs with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. “I did it to show we were about to burst boundaries, taking the company to new heights,” enthuses Nelson, teeming with energy. She reminisces about walking to the F-16 and being surprised to see there, above the door, her name in paint, along with another name. She became a bit concerned W when she realized the other name was not that of her pilot. “I whispered to him, ‘Are you a lastminute substitute?’ He laughed and explained that the name above the door is always the head of the crew who prepared the jet, since any successful flight is a partnership between the pilot and mechanical crew. I thought to myself, what a wonderful model. Although your account team is out front, there are a whole lot of people behind the scenes who are also responsible for fulfilling promises.” Those who know Nelson weren’t surprised by her high-flying antics. This is the woman who breezed into her first 34 I SM I January 2009 I SuccessfulMeetings.com http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

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