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Ride of a Lifetime: Incentive Profiles Marilyn Carlson Nelson
March 12, 2009
One of the most successful CEOs in the world, Marilyn Carlson Nelson has always put people first
By Andrea Doyle
When 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.
It started as a publicity stunt about her companies' new leadership. But it ended with a serious lesson about the people who help keep those leaders up there.
"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 when she realized the other name was not that of her pilot.
"I whispered to him, 'Are you a last-minute 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."
For Nelson, flying with the Thunderbirds was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, providing life-altering lessons. "Those chosen to be Thunderbirds are extremely successful, proud, and not particularly humble. On becoming Thunderbirds, they are ordered to get down on their knees to polish the Thunderbird image that is on the floor of the hangar. To me, that models powerfully how each of us represents a brand and how our actions can either polish or tarnish it."
Those who know Nelson weren't surprised by her high-flying antics. This is the woman who breezed into her first annual meeting as CEO on rollerblades, exclaiming, "Here we go, go, go, go!"
The Best Man for the Job Is a Daughter
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 h'’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, chairing the Minnesota Orchestral Association, creating a heritage festival called "Scandinavia Today," and bringing the 1992 Super Bowl to Minnesota. Many community leaders were trying to persuade her 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 the kids."
"He said, 'Come in and learn the business, and you will be able to make a bigger difference. You will create jobs, which is the best form of philanthropy and your passion will have a positive impact on the company,'" she recalls.
That's exactly what she did. She took over Carlson Companies from her 84-year-old father in 1998, inheriting a demoralized organization lethargic from decades of top-down rule.
She set out to create the most caring, collaborative environment she could. Not only did she empower the executive team, but also the frontline employees, giving them the ability to make immediate decisions on behalf of customers. She traveled tirelessly to meet with company employees and customers around the world; far from the life of pampering she could be leading. A decade later, with $1.4 billion in estimated net worth, Nelson ranked number 553 on Forbes' most recent list of world billionaires.
She inspired the organization's 160,000 employees to serve customers in a highly personalized manner. The parent company of Radisson, Country Inns & Suites, Regent, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and T.G.I. Friday's, Carlson has employees in more than 150 countries. One of the largest privately held companies in the United States, Carlson provides travel, hotel, restaurant, and marketing services worldwide.
"I went to every hotel, every travel call center, shook everyone’s hand. I did whatever I could to create one-on-one relationships and experiences, changing our culture to a very personal one where people feel connected in an almost family sense," she elaborates.
Under her leadership, the company’s systemwide sales have grown more than threefold, from $12 billion to $40 billion. Although this growth is impressive, she does not cite it as her proudest accomplishment. Creating an inclusive environment at Carlson ranks first.
"When I took over from my dad, there were two women executives. Today, there are 71, which is 49 percent of our top group," she beams. "The organization is truly a meritocracy. We attract talent whatever the gender, whatever the nationality. This is something I feel very good about."
She is all too familiar with how discrimination can hurt. After graduating with honors from Smith College in Northampton, MA, with a degree in international economics and a minor in theater in the early 1960s, she landed a job as a PaineWebber research analyst. In order to get the job, she had to agree that all of her research would be signed, "M.C. Nelson" to disguise her gender. Her supervisor told her no one would buy stock on the recommendation of a woman. Elation about getting her own office turned to dismay when she learned it was because she was pregnant, and women in her "condition" needed to be out of sight. These experiences motivated Nelson to attract and retain the most diverse talent possible.
Meetings Are a Passion
Creating meetings, events and collective experiences is a passion, she says. When working with Pete Rozelle, the commissioner of the National Football League, to bring the Super Bowl to Minneapolis in 1992, Nelson stressed the importance of giving back to the community. "Taste of the NFL," which continues today, was born, and since its inception in 1992, has raised more than $6.8 billion for national hunger organizations. Top chefs from each NFL city serve up their specialties alongside an alumni player from each NFL team, with all the proceeds going to charity.
"We were able to not only have the football game, but create an experience that reminded people that there are those who have less. We used the experience not only for enjoyment, but to draw the circle larger as well."
Her parents and her husband have been enormous influences, although she has learned from many. Her life’s most important lessons are included in her new book, How We Lead Matters. The tales not only motivate but demonstrate her ability to bring out the best in others.
"Author" was never an aspiration, but Nelson was encouraged to unveil her innermost thoughts when asked by her grandson if she was alive during segregation. "I was quite undone by that question. We’re a very close family. We talk all the time and I attend all their events, but you don’t necessarily talk about your passions, what have been the fights in your life, what you believe in, principles for which you stand. These are not conversations you have with kids," she explains.
She started jotting down her thoughts, her experiences, and her favorite poems on international airplane flights, shaping them into a whole with the help of Deborah Cundy, a Carlson vice president and speech writer, and Doug Cody, Carlson's vice president, executive communications. She shared the rough draft of the book with a friend who was so moved by her words that he took it to McGraw-Hill, and How We Lead Matters: Reflections on a Life of Leadership, was born. "I don't know if I would have had the courage to be quite so personal if I knew it was going to be so broadly disseminated," she reveals.
In it, she shares her life's pinnacles as well as its cavernous valleys. One of the deepest occurred just days after dropping her daughter Juliet off at Smith College to begin her undergraduate studies. A call came that Juliet had been killed in an automobile accident. During months of agonizing grieving, Nelson found solace in a speech that Juliet had given to her senior high school class just months before. She shares a passage from that speech in which Juliet reminded her classmates, "Life is always fragile…Each one of us is given only one journey. If we enjoy it to the fullest…every, every minute of it, one journey is enough." These words have inspired Nelson to live each day to its fullest, proud to "sign her name" as an artist signs his or her work with pride of accomplishment.
"I felt the book wouldn't be authentic if I didn't share the vulnerabilities, the bad times. Leaders need to let their people know, though they are CEO of a global company doesn’t mean they are free of the pain that is the human condition. The ultimate question is how do you play the cards you are dealt."
Today, chairman of the company, Nelson is not involved in the day to day, but contributes to big-picture strategies. She continues to live by the credo tirelessly promoted at Carlson: "Whatever you do, do it with integrity; wherever you go, go as a leader; whomever you serve, serve with caring; whenever you dream, dream with your all; and never, ever give up."
Carlson's Platinum Celebration
Marilyn Carlson Nelson had a lot to celebrate February 28, 2008. The company had not only survived, but thrived, 70 years. Revenues grew from $22 billion to $40 billion during her ten years as CEO, the number of Carlson brands more than doubled, and the company’s footprint grew from 50 to 150 countries.
"Very few startup companies make it to 70 years. A minimal goal for me was to leave the company at least as strong or stronger than I inherited it, and I feel we clearly accomplished that," says Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chairman of the company. Not only was Nelson celebrating the company's 70th anniversary, but she was passing the CEO baton to Frenchman Hubert Joly, the first "outsider" to lead the company.
"Imagine" was the theme of this Las Vegas extravaganza, and the speakers included Queen Silvia of Sweden; Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum; Pulitzer Prize nominee Maya Angelou; Christine Lagarde, France's economic minister; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman & CEO of Nestle; and Bill George, author and business leadership professor at Harvard Business School. Each spoke about how each individual can change the world.
"The point of this morning was that these people have impacted millions of lives and have made significant change. Whether it's at a school PTA meeting or a community volunteer agency or leading a huge corporation, we need to hold ourselves accountable. We have to try to make a difference in whatever circle of influence we are privileged to be part," Nelson says.
Closing on a fitting note, the equally spectacular Carlson World Gala entertained 5,000. Regis Philbin emceed the international show featuring the Boys Choir of Kenya, Peking Opera of China, Japan's Taiko Drum Ensemble, and Tony Bennett.
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