SALT LAKE CITY – April 24, 2007—“Business strategy is easy to articulate but much harder to execute,” says Dave Ulrich, leading author and business coach. Ulrich shared his insights with a sell-out audience of leading Utah executives at last week’s Utah Technology Council (UTC) educational event.

“Talent equals competence times commitment,” Ulrich told executives. “Competence without commitment means you have very bright people who don’t work hard. Sometimes we call that ‘tenure.’ Conversely, if you have incompetent people who are very committed, you have an organization of stupid people doing very aggressive things. Either scenario would result in disaster.”

Ulrich also pointed out that the best leaders in the world, for example, seemingly do nothing. They are smart enough to surround themselves with people who are better than they are, so their job as leaders is ultimately to get out of the way.

Ulrich also addressed the value of diversity of opinion among leadership groups.

“Chip, I will put you on my team because we don’t think alike,” Ulrich stated. “If we thought alike, there would only be room for one person, and that would be me. I value your insights, so disagree with me. However, when we go public, we will go with one voice. It’s important to get people involved, but to consider the diverse opinions, privately, not publicly. Ultimately the organization must still speak with one voice.”

Ulrich stressed that participative management means that everybody has a voice—but not that everybody gets their own way.

Dr. Ulrich has consulted and completed research with more than half of the Fortune 200 and has also been listed in Forbes as one of the "world’s top five" business coaches. He was selected by Business Week as the #1 management educator and guru. In 2006, HR Magazine ranked Dr. Ulrich the “#1 most influential person in HR” by influential HR thinkers. In 2007 he earned the lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) www.rbl.net.

Along with his many accolades, Dr. Ulrich has published more than 100 articles and book chapters and 12 books. He studies how organizations build capabilities of speed, learning, collaboration, accountability, talent, and leadership through leveraging human resources. He has helped generate award-winning data bases that assess alignment between strategies, human resource practices and HR competencies.

“We appreciate the opportunity to welcome world-class speakers and business coaches to share their expertise at our education events,” said Richard Nelson, UTC president and CEO. “The wisdom Dr. Ulrich and others share with our UTC members is a tremendous benefit to the business community in our state.”

For a complete list of upcoming UTC events, readers can visit www.utahtechcouncil.org.

About Utah Technology Council

As the premier professional organization for more than 3,900 Utah life science and IT companies, the Utah Technology Council (UTC) exists to form closer relationships with industry and community leaders, develop superior management talent, sharpen professional skills and help gain access to capital. For more information on UTC, please visit www.utahtechcouncil.org

Agency Contact:

Cheryl Snapp Conner
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T) 801 994-9625

UTC:
Judy Young
T) 801.568.3500