As Amazon’s Vice President of Consumables—a $56 billion portfolio including grocery, household products, and beauty—Carla Vernon is the highest-ranking woman of color at one of the world’s largest corporations.
She has been honing her talents as a performer since she was a young girl, chosen to be the ballet partner of the famous Arthur Mitchell, the first African-American dancer with the New York City Ballet and somebody Vernon calls “the Jackie Robinson of classical dance.”
Today, she is the one breaking through barriers.
A dance protege and daughter of a microbiologist, Vernon took her talents to the American Academy of Ballet in Buffalo and then danced at Princeton, where she majored in ecology and evolutionary biology and continues to serve today as a one of that university’s Trustees. At Princeton, she developed “a lifelong passion for the environment,” which she applied in the corporate world as the president of General Mills Natural & Organic.
Vernon joined General Mills in 2008, leading business strategy for a $1.5 billion portfolio of snack brands including Nature Valley and Larabar. While in Snacks, Vernon continued her track record of business turnarounds and growth acceleration by driving unprecedented results on Larabar, quadrupling growth from +16% to +70% in six months. She also restored growth to the Nature Valley brand (the world’s top selling granola bar brand) resulting in the highest level of unit sales in the brand’s history.
Vernon says she is “fascinated by models of high performance teams,” particularly the high degree to which “unity and trust are resources” every bit as influential as money or technology in boosting organizational performance. In the Corporate Competitor Podcast, Vernon melds together her experiences as a dancer and corporate executive to elaborate on such practices as using corporate “warm-ups” to align individual and team strategy, goal-setting and execution, correcting errors on the fly by staying true to the training that got you where you are, and implementing strong cultural signifiers to build and preserve team unity through thick and thin.
The competitive dancer in Vernon never forgets the role confidence plays in the performance of individuals and teams alike, saying, “Remember that you are your own fiercest rival. We are the only thing holding us back, and we are the most important competitor we can compete against.”
• 11:00 The lessons she learned from partnering with the “Jackie Robinson” of ballet.
• 16:00 The “warm-up” exercise your corporate team should do at the beginning of a new season
• 36:30 How to carry yourself with confidence and not let your mistakes show.
• 41:00 Carla’s key factor in a strong team and how to implement it.
• 57:30 How to create synchronization, unity, and team alignment.
Check out the full Corporate Competitor Podcast interview archive and subscribe to new episodes.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
