ABSTRACT
FRED: I think, probably, the most painful moment of my life was when I had to go in front of the Chairman of the Board at my fi rst big-time job as the newly minted Chief Executive Offi cer (CEO) of Memorial Hospital. I followed a seasoned CEO who served thirty-fi ve years, since the hospital was founded. I mistakenly thought that a change in leadership and fresh perspective would be a welcomed, easy undertaking. And there I found myself, confessing that I didn’t have all the answers to concerns the Board expressed. Little did I know that the prior CEO had actually retired ten years before his announcement was made. In fact, just about every major stakeholder of the institution had lost faith in the organization. Today, the Chairman of the Board asked that we have a discussion about his idea that the hospital “go green” as a top priority. As the CEO, “going green” was not exactly at the top of my priority list. I just couldn’t imagine how going green would impact any of the dozen problems that I thought were in the way of the institution going forward.
