Gary Garfield

Gary Garfield is an expert on Change and Leadership.   As the CEO of Bridgestone Americas, a 55,000 person company with operations on five continents, he drove radical change throughout the struggling organization.  His change efforts transformed the company from a slow-moving follower to an industry leader, achieving 500% profit growth in six years.   Gary speaks from a position of hands-on success, sharing insights into what works and what doesn’t.   

In a book, Driving Results: Six Lessons Learned in Turning Around an Iconic Company, Gary details the six essential elements to achieve meaningful Change in any team, group, or organization.  

Gary began his career as a lawyer.  He practiced at one of the world’s largest law firms before joining Bridgestone, where he helped the company survive the Ford Explorer-Firestone tire crisis, the largest tire recall in history.   While serving as Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, he was unexpectedly asked to turn around the struggling organization as the CEO.  Knowing that the company had to change if it was to survive, he began a massive transformation process.  Gary changed virtually everything – the culture, the strategy, the vision, and, yes, where needed, the people.  The results were extraordinary:   The organization outperformed the S&P 500 and boasted massive record profits every year during his tenure as CEO.  

Gary’s success did not go unnoticed.  He has been a guest lecturer at some of the country’s most respected academic institutions, including Wharton, Yale, West Point, Vanderbilt University, The Ohio State University, among many other institutions.   In addition to being a sought-after speaker and consultant, Gary also is actively involved in several civic activities, including the fight to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.  

Gary’s keynotes are both motivational and enlightening.   He works closely with his clients to gain a deep understanding of their needs, and tailors his keynote to drive home the most salient messages.  For industry groups, he dramatically persuades its members both on the need to embrace change and the six key elements essential for successful change in their organization.  For a company’s leadership team, he helps them embrace senior management’s change agenda and explains what they must do to be successful in driving change.    For the broader organization, which is often resistant to change, Gary explains why change is essential, how they benefit by embracing senior management’s change agenda, and the consequences of resistance to change.  

Gary retired from Bridgestone at the end of 2016.    In addition to his work at Bridgestone, Gary has served on the Board of Directors of Piedmont Natural Gas, Inc., a NYSE company, as well as extensive list of civic and charitable organizations.  

Gary received his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in both Political Science and Philosophy from Wittenberg University and his Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where he also served as an editor of the Law Review and graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif.