JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon and Verizon's Ivan Seidenberg Recognized as Legends of Leadership at Yale CEO Summit

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Verizon, each received the Legend in Leadership Award at the 58th gathering of the Yale CEO Summit of the Yale School of Management Chief Executive Leadership Institute

Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean for Executive Programs and Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management at the Yale School of Management and Founder and CEO of The Chief Executive Leadership Institute led the two days of intensive discussion, held December 11-12, 2008, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Top business leaders — such as Boeing CEO James McNerney; Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson; Mark Fields, President of Ford Motor Co.; MBIA CEO Jay Brown; Raymond James Financial CEO Thomas James; Goldman Sachs International Vice Chairman Robert Hormats; Tupperware CEO Rick Goings; Harley-Davidson turnaround CEO Richard Teerlink; Vanguard founder Jack Bogle; and former SEC Chairman William Donaldson — convened to discuss the theme of "New Beginnings for Existing Enterprises." All sessions of the CEO Summit other than the award presentations were held off-the-record to facilitate a candid, lively discussion of the challenges faced by participants.

The group addressed personal reactions to CEO challenges such as: untangling multi-tiered risk; transcending the limits of national structures to respond to the increasingly tightly linked global systemic breakdowns caused by terrorist attacks (as in Mumbai recently) and financial market meltdowns; the role of the CEO in leading through crises; the tools for enhancing the retention of customers in turbulent times; balancing the time-frame gap between today's public market expectations versus the requirements of genuine enterprise value creation; and maintaining the courage to stand alone against misguided criticism.

In receiving his Legend in Leadership Award, Dimon was recognized for his role as a leading voice in the financial industry — from his response to the collapse of Long Term Capital Management to his leadership of JPMorgan Chase in the recent crisis. In his acceptance speech, he discussed the causes of the turmoil that has struck the financial industry in the last year, as well as some of the things that can be done to turn the economy around. He also answered questions about how to lead a major international company. View his talk below. (52:22)



Seidenberg was lauded for turning Verizon into a healthy, cutting-edge telecom company, providing customers with the most advanced and innovative broadband experiences. In his remarks upon receiving the award, he stressed the important role that the business community can play in helping to solve problems in the economy. View his talk below. (6:16)



Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, presented the award to Dimon, and James McNerney, CEO of Boeing, made the presentation to Seidenberg. 

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld said, "Both of these leaders provide genuine models of courageous visionary leadership with superb execution, impeccable integrity, and rare personal humility. Despite the turbulence in their industries they transcended conventional wisdom among analysts and the prevailing practices of their peers to pioneer highly successful new paths."