David Gilbert
Destination Cleveland and Greater Cleveland Sports Commission
Education: MBA, Cleveland State University; bachelor’s degree, The Ohio State University
What Guides My Decision Making: A number of factors go into this — strategy, ability to execute and resource availability. Above all, however, is doing right by my community and the people around me.
First Thing I Do When I Start My Day: Working out early is the key to my day. It helps keep me balanced mentally and physically.
What Motivates Me: I am passionate about wanting to make my family and the communities I am a part of better. I feel that every day.
Most Important Leadership Quality: I believe it is emotional intelligence. So few things in life can get accomplished by just one person. The ability to advance programs, projects and initiatives takes understanding of motivations and creating situations where many can claim victory and feel good about the outcomes. The feeling of being part of something successful can be contagious.
My Very First Job and What I Learned From It: Delivering the newspaper (when there was such a thing). As soon as I was old enough to work hard to make money, I did.