President and CEO Forum
“That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature.”
—Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Isaac McPherson, August 13, 1813
On behalf of the Baldrige Foundation’s Board of Directors, it is a privilege to introduce the inaugural issue of the Chronicle of Leadership and Management® published by the Baldrige Foundation’s Institute for Performance Excellence. I would like to thank Dr. James Evans for volunteering to serve as the Chronicle’s first editor-in-chief. Dr. Evans is a nationally respected leader, author, and academician. We are grateful for his volunteer spirit in heading up this project. I also want to thank our editorial board for reviewing the numerous submissions we received. Dr. Evans has gathered a diverse group of stellar authors and Baldrige experts to assist him in determining the best articles to showcase in the Chronicle.
If Baldrige is to remain relevant and grow in its use, additional thought leadership in the domains of leadership and management will be required to inspire its application in every sector of the economy. The intent of Congress when establishing the Baldrige Program was to identify and recognize national role-models who would share their best practices to accelerate learning and high performance across the nation to drive American competitiveness in a global economy. For more than three decades the Baldrige Program has fulfilled that mission. The Baldrige Foundation’s Institute for Performance Excellence was created to complement and leverage that success, and launch a fresh, new commitment to performance excellence. This will be accomplished by undertaking research projects, hosting conferences and activities, and by conducting executive-level and online professional development and skills training. Additionally, the Institute will provide valuable resources to enhance organizational performance and publish a variety of educational materials to share best practices.
As part of our collection of resources, the Chronicle will afford leaders and managers with in-depth articles into subjects that will help them think about what “can be” within their own organizations, and shorter, more practical articles with perspectives on contemporary ideas and current events. Even for those who are not using the Baldrige Framework, this publication will strive to become a valuable addition to your personal leadership and management library.
As we look to future issues, expect the journal to evolve. We hope to publish content that serves as the starting point for ongoing conversations among authors and our readers. We will employ strategies to obtain reader feedback and plan to host forums on topics addressed. We seek to engage both practitioner and scholarly communities. This process is central to the Institute’s purpose: helping people and organizations learn and grow in the pursuit of performance excellence. The Institute does not view particular ideas presented as absolute or exclusive of others. Our goal is to provide a creative spark to help foster engaging dialogue that ultimately leads to innovation and improved organizational results, growth, and sustainability.
In closing, I want to sincerely thank the Baldrige family, Midge, Molly, and Megan, as well as the Institute’s first Trustees who form the Mac Baldrige Society, Adventist Health, Stellar Solutions, and MidwayUSA. Their generous gifts have made the Institute a reality.
As President Ronald Reagan once said of Secretary Baldrige, “I always prized the quality of Mac’s vision. He had the capacity to look up from the dust of the plains to see the distant mountains.” It is that eternal optimism embodied in Mac’s personal leadership style that serves as his legacy and our inspiration for the future of Baldrige.
Wishing you all the best!
Al Faber
President and CEO
