Press Releases

Atlanta's Best Named at the 12th Turknett Leadership Character Awards

ATLANTA – October 4, 2016 – Today, Turknett Leadership Group and the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership announced the top Award recipients at the Twelfth Leadership Character Awards luncheon held at the Georgia Aquarium.

This year’s top award recipients are:

CEO/President/Managing Partner - Large Company Category
Janet Barnard, President-Cox Automotive Inventory Solutions

CEO/President/Managing Partner – Small/Medium Company Category
Tom Beaty, CEO-Insight Sourcing

Executive Manager Category
Mary Ellen Garrett, Senior Vice President- Wealth Management-Merrill Lynch

Education Category
Kim Bearden, Founder-Ron Clark Academy

Nonprofit Category
Frantz Fortune, Executive Director-Veterans Empowerment Organization (VEO)

"Inspiritor" Category
Edward  J. “Jack” Hardin, Partner, Executive Committee Member- Rogers & Hardin

Special Recognition for Successful Board-Staff Partnership
Jose De La Cruz, HR Director-Travelers
Myrna Garcia, Director of Strategy Account Management and Business Development-INROADS, Inc.

Francis S. “Frank” Blake, former Chairman and CEO of The Home Depot, received the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award in Leadership Character. The award recognizes exceptional leaders who exemplify the highest standards of character, integrity, and servant leadership over a lifetime of organizational service and service to the larger community.

Since 2003, the Turknett Leadership Character Awards have recognized Georgia leaders who demonstrate character in leadership based on alignment with the Leadership Character Model, a model developed by Bob and Lyn Turknett in 1995. The model represents character as a scale with integrity as the base and respect and responsibility balanced on either side. The awards were presented under the auspices of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, a nonprofit with international reach. 

Top award recipients in each category were selected by the five-person Advisory Board. Members of the 2016 Advisory Board includes Ann Cramer, Senior Consultant with Coxe Curry & Associates; Tom Crawford, owner of Crawford Corporate Coaching; David Ratcliffe, former President, and CEO of Southern Company; Conchita Robinson, President and CEO of C Robinson Associates, Inc.; Ann Stallard, Partner with Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs and Dr. Betty Siegel, President Emeritus Kennesaw State University; Advisor Emeritus.

About the Leadership Character Awards
Since 2003, the Turknett Leadership Character Awards have recognized Georgia leaders who display character in leadership based on alignment with the Leadership Character Model, a model developed by Bob and Lyn Turknett in 1995. This year, the 12th Leadership Character Awards were presented by the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership in partnership with Turknett Leadership Group on October 4, 2016 at the Georgia Aquarium.

About Turknett Leadership Group
Turknett Leadership Group’s expertise is leadership. With nearly 30 years’ experience, TLG is a premier resource for Executive Coaching, Talent Assessment and Development, Succession Planning, Business Focused Engagement Surveys, and Cultural Assessment and Change. Through an approach grounded in science and guided by the Leadership Character Model™, TLG helps organizations identify and develop high potentials, develop strong leadership teams, and create high-performing cultures. Turknett Leadership Group has built a reputation for results and client satisfaction. To find out more, please visit www.turknett.com.

About the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership
Founded in 1964, the Greenleaf Center is an international nonprofit organization that serves students, individuals, workplaces and the community by growing servant-leaders through education and programming. Robert K. Greenleaf was the author of "The Servant as Leader," a landmark essay that coined the phrase "servant-leader" and launched the modern servant leadership movement.  Today the Greenleaf Center nurtures students, enhances workplaces and builds the servant leader community through education, leadership development and conferences. To find out more, please visit www.greenleaf.org.