Lynn Tanner
Dr. Lynn Tanner’s original roots in business came as an executive in New York with Pan American World Airways prior to attending Syracuse University. His work as Senior Financial Analyst to the Senior Vice President of Finance and as Manager of Customer and Cargo Services for East Africa, as well as his work with Boeing’s Aerospace Division, showed an evident interest and love of business. But it was the Maxwell School that truly launched Dr. Tanner’s unabated attraction to the research side of business.
In 1975, Dr. Tanner received his PhD from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where he studied on an NDEA Fellowship. His doctoral work focused on organizational change and development in both the public and private sectors. The transfer of private sector management to the public sector was Dr. Tanner’s particular focus during his three year study which included the American Management Association, President’s Round Table, Top Management Briefing Program and their two-week Strategic Planning Sessions.
Following his graduation from Maxwell, Dr. Tanner was drawn further into the academic world. At Florida International University’s School of Business and Organizational Science, he was a member of the original faculty who wrote graduate and undergraduate programs and hired faculty. He was then recruited to the University of Calgary where he taught Business Policy and Organizational Behavior and Design as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Management.
While involved with both universities, Dr. Tanner maintained a private Gestalt Therapy practice and operated his organizational consulting firm. Engaging in the academic side of business theory and forwarding its real-world application is a theme that continually manifests in Dr. Tanner’s career.
Leaving the University of Calgary in 1982, he continued to apply the philosophy of learning and growth while working in private business. With the vision of developing leaders for the possibility of outstanding personal and corporate success and the development of solid business communities forefront in his mind, Dr. Tanner negotiated the license for TEC (The Executive Committee) Ltd. for Canada in 1985. The peer mentoring model of developing leadership capacity through CEO’s working together had begun in the United States almost 30 years prior. It was the perfect platform to implement the concept of accelerating the growth and development of outstanding 21st century leaders through advocacy, inspiration and collaboration. Learning in a community of peers was launched in Canada.
Too often new ideas and theories are learned and then put on the shelf. In contrast, TEC Canada encourages implementation. Confidential forums are chaired by accomplished business leaders and mentors – former CEOs and business leaders who choose to stay on the forefront of executive coaching. The chair and members of each group challenge each other to put ideas into action while holding each other accountable for doing so. Each forum is enriched through a continual infusion of the best in business thinking. TEC’s parent corporation, U.S.-based Vistage International, has been helping business leaders outpace the competition for more than 50 years. All members, through TEC’s affiliation with Vistage, have ready access to an international network of business leaders, an extensive library of best practices and intellectual capital. Dr. Tanner’s vision of chief executives working together to create personal and professional success out of business theory is realized in TEC Canada’s groups everyday.
From the first TEC group in Calgary, Alberta, Dr. Tanner has grown TEC Canada to over 80 groups with close to 900 active members. Constantly expanding, TEC member companies exceed $54 billion dollars and employ over 150,000 people. Dr. Tanner continues to help drive the success of business leaders across Canada and worldwide.
