John Goolsby

John Goolsby

John Goolsby’s accomplishments in the corporate field can be tracks down to the vital education he received at The University of Texas Arlington (UTA) in the early 1960s. He said that all the accomplishments he made during his business career were because the UTA professors provided an excellent foundation for building his career. The following essay discusses John Goolsby and the achievements he made during his business career and his legacy.

John Goolsby was born in Hughes Springs in Texas. When he was two years old, he moved to Fort Worth with his parents. Goolsby’s father was an operator at General Dynamics Aircraft. he acknowledges his dad’s example of diligence and sincere belief in religion as essential in educating him on the fundamental principles of doing and maintaining a business. Being a first-gen university scholar, he did business and accounting at The University of Texas at Arlington. After finishing business and accounting at the university, he got a job as a management initiate at Southwestern Bell and established his land firm in San Antonio.

In 1980, after the death of Howard Hughes, founder of Howard Hughes Corporation, Goolsby entered the Hughes Company as real estate vice president. During this time as vice president of the company, Goolsby took excellent leadership roles. He thereby got appointed as president of the corporation and made a board member in 1988. Later in the year 1990, he was named chief executive officer.

One of Goolsby’s outstanding accomplishments is that as vice president of the company, he significantly controlled the Corporate’s transformation from a branched out organization to a concentrated regional estate building venture and Development Company that became an extensively respected company throughout North America (Quick, et al., 2017). Following Hughes’s death, the company was in turmoil and faced many financial obstacles and was destabilizing when Goolsby joined it. Upon arriving at the company, Goolsby brought a reputation for vast expertise in real estate and solid moral values, making the company prosper. He successfully restructured the company, restored sound and ethical business practices, and reinstated the financial viability. Goolsby also designed a policy where the rightful successors would finally note a financial gain. He is highly acknowledged and respected and known to have done an excellent job on the matter.

It is during John’s rule as the CEO that the Hughes Company became the first corporate donor to the Clark County Public Education Foundation. The impacted students in Clark County made a lot of distinguishing changes and contributions. Hughes Organization became accountable for the improvements in technology in Clark county schools, the opening of the 1994 stars for children campaign, and launching many television public awareness campaigns that were significant in changing many youths’ lives. The Corporate’s youth administration Development Grant was beneficial to the southwest region by aiding school-based strategies that encouraged scholarly outshining and household participation. It is then that John Goolsby and Judy Goolsby began the Goolsby elementary school. It aimed to give as strong a foundation just as Goolsby got at the UTA in the early 1960s.

Lastly, during his incumbency, Goolsby developed a master-planned community of Summerlin and a one hundred and fifteen master-planned business center. After retiring from Howard Hughes Corporation, he continues being an active member of the Summerlin, where he serves as director of many charitable organizations and companies. John has also worked in UTA’s enlargement committee and is a branch of the UT System Chancellor’s council (Goolsby). Goolsby is also a member of the UTA Alumni Association plus is a reputable affiliate of the Carlisle organization. What is more, John holds a BBA from the University of Texas at Arlington and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Leadership is one of the best legacies that Goolsby left behind. Since Goolsby traces all his achievements in the business field to the stable education he got at the University of Texas, Arlington. “Whatever successes that I accomplished during my business career started with the education that I received at UTA,” said Goolsby. Therefore when he got a chance to return to his Alma mater, he did not delay. It was the year two thousand and three when an unknown benefactor donated a two million US dollar donation (it was the most generous donation at the University of Texas Arlington at the time) in honor of John and his spouse, Judy. He established the Goolsby Leadership Academy and Goolsby Distinguished Professorships in the College of Business.

Goolsby Leadership Academy has admitted more than four hundred students, has been associated with more than thirty executives, and has provided scholarship amounting to more than half a million dollars. What is more, more than three hundred and fifty scholars have graduated from the institution and have gotten jobs in various big companies (Cooper & Leiter)

. Moreover, more than twenty-five percent of people who graduated from the Goolsby Leadership Academy institution have continued their education at graduate or law schools. Since the school has been established, the college of business is already growing its range on-campus and expanding its strength-based perspective to leadership establishment. Therefore, it is significant to note that Goolsby is very contributory in making a positive impact on business leaders. The academy is well recognized to date, is the cornerstone for the development of business leaders.

Studying Mr. Goolsby has inspired me that real inspiration is within oneself. One of the things I have grasped from this leader is that ethical leadership is mandatory to become a successful leader. One should lead in a way that respects the rights and dignity of others. I have also learned that leadership is a very vital structural role that influences every organizational matter, from the client’s satisfaction, employees’ morale to the effectiveness of the organization (Ciulla 4)

. Therefore, leaders need to be good role models if they want to make remarkable organizational changes. A leader must also be ethical and competent in all things they do. What is more, I have learned that leadership is not defined by one quality or characteristic. It is a mix of characters, values, competencies, skills, perspectives, and behaviors earned through a lifetime of uncommon commitment and investment.

To conclude, for one to be a great leader and make significant changes in their institutions or companies, one should be ethical, respectful, a good role model, hardworking, competent, and a critical thinker. One should emulate Goolsby’s characteristics and note that the best motivation one can get is from oneself.

References

Aacsb.edu. “John Goolsby | 2015 AACSB Influential Leader”. Aacsb.Edu, 2020, https://www.aacsb.edu/influential-leaders/honorees/2015/john-goolsby.

Cooper, Cary L., and Michael P. Leiter, eds. The Routledge companion to wellbeing at work. Taylor & Francis, 2017.

Ciulla, Joanne B. “Ethics and effectiveness: The nature of good leadership.” The Search for Ethics in Leadership, Business, and Beyond. Springer, Cham, 2020. 3-32.

“Judy And John Goolsby – Goolsby Leadership Academy – UT Arlington.” Uta.Edu, 2020, https://www.uta.edu/goolsby/about/thegoolsbys.php.