Leading with Purpose: Albers Executive Speaker Series Welcomes Brooks Running Chairman and CEO

Thursday, Oct. 13, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Pigott Auditorium

In his new book Running with Purpose: How Brooks Outpaced Goliath Competitors to Lead the Pack, Brooks Running Company CEO Jim Weber shares how he led a passionate, committed team to transform a failing business into a billion-dollar brand in the ultra-competitive global running market. 

Joining Brooks in 2001 as the brand’s fourth CEO in two years, Weber devised a strategy for Brooks to move from the back of the pack to leading in the athletic, fitness and outdoor categories. It would require the team to employ conviction, fortitude and constancy of purpose to out-execute much larger brands. Brooks’ success caught the attention of Warren Buffett, who declared it a standalone subsidiary company of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 2012.

Today, people are yearning for authentic leadership and want to attach to brands and people they can trust. In Running with Purpose, Weber outlines six leadership principles he believes are essential to building trust and drawing people to a purpose bigger than themselves. 

Weber’s journey at Brooks and beyond has become a playbook for anyone looking to apply purpose in their life–both professionally and personally. Pick a path, commit and work every day to make a difference.

Since 2002, the Albers School of Business and Economics has organized the Albers Executive Speaker Series, live panels featuring top business leaders from the Puget Sound Area. Guests talk about a topic of their choice and respond to questions from a panel and the audience. The speaker series is yet another way Albers is committed to build student connections with the Seattle business community.

The Albers Executive Speaker Series is free and open to the public. Register to save your seat, ask questions for Jim Weber and to be e-mailed any updates on the event.