Letter from Scott Carson
Ask me the biggest challenge that companies must solve in driving innovation in today's business environment, and the answer is easy. The biggest challenge is developing our future leaders.
I believe this holds true for any organization—companies, universities, governmental bodies, financial institutions, or any group that must adapt to our ever-changing world, harness its talents and resources, and execute effective strategies.
I have been extremely fortunate in my career to see firsthand the development and application of breathtaking aerospace technologies that have captured the world's imagination and have profoundly changed our lives. But those advances did not happen simply because the technologies had arrived. They would not have happened without creative and effective leadership.
Leadership skills allow us to sift through opportunities and threats, evaluate new ideas and innovations, and ensure that resources and expertise are properly applied to benefit our organizations and our world. Leadership is that important.
I am thrilled to see the Carson Center for Professional Development become a reality because I believe WSU has the right approach for giving our students the opportunity to augment their world-class academic education with real-world skills. These skills and techniques will help our students get off to a great start on their post-WSU careers. They are essential fundamentals for building effective leadership.
Developing our future leaders is indeed a challenging task, but it is also wonderfully rewarding. I often ask our people to reach beyond their grasp to find true success because that is also where innovation lies, waiting for us to realize and apply it. I want WSU students to have that same opportunity to reach beyond their grasp, and I salute the University for its commitment to giving our students the opportunity to reach, to succeed, to innovate—and to become our future leaders.
Scott Carson ('72, Business Administration)
President and CEO
Boeing Commerical Airplanes