Growing up, Mark Wilbur had two passions: number-crunching/problem-solving and ice hockey. Wilbur rode his enthusiasm for numbers and troubleshooting to the upper echelons of accounting and consulting giant Arthur Andersen, only to watch the company implode in the wake of the Enron scandal. After a brief consulting gig, Wilbur ended up at his alma mater as associate dean of the USC Marshall School of Business, in charge of development and external affairs. As for Wilbur’s hockey passion, he figured that after playing the sport while attending USC, he would have to be content as a fan. But after watching a game in which the Trojans were clobbered, he volunteered his services as coach and has since led USC to 297 victories over 15 seasons. Wilbur now heads the Employers Group, a 111-year-old human resources and employer advocacy group based in Los Angeles. He was named to the group’s board after being hired to study how to reverse its falling membership. Wilbur now juggles his chief executive position with his coaching, while at home he and his wife, Theresa, a USC marketing professor, have their hands full raising two young girls.
Question: As a partner with Arthur Andersen Consulting, you were on the inside as the company imploded amid the Enron scandal. What was that like?
Answer:
It was definitely like a mourning process. There were three stages. The first was complete denial that there was a significant problem. After all, an internal Andersen team had looked at the company’s role in the Enron debacle, pinpointed the person deemed responsible and fired that person and told the Justice Department investigators that the situation had been dealt with. That’s what companies do when they encounter a problem: They fire the person responsible and then move on. But in this case, that wasn’t sufficient.
Q: What do you mean?
A:
We didn’t see the political fallout that would be coming. First of all, once we had identified this person, he cut a deal with the Justice Department and starting singing like a bird. That kept the Justice Department going after us. We had been very open about our dealings, and for that, we were taken out to the woodshed and shot. Meanwhile, other companies involved in the Enron scandal decided to keep everything tight and secret and largely escaped significant consequences. I don’t think that’s the lesson we want to be teaching our future business leaders.
Q: What were the other stages?
A:
The second stage was total confusion. There were endless phone calls and conference calls as we were trying to figure out how to protect our people. Then, by the end of April 2002 and into early May, the situation had really deteriorated. Clients were leaving the firm en masse and the realization spread throughout the management that the firm wasn’t going to survive. That ushered in the third stage: what I call the mad dash for the exits. The partners started cutting deals on their own. At that point, every partner was asked to sign a termination agreement that essentially stated we were not to testify against the company. Of course, by then, there was nothing left to protect.
Q: What was this like for you personally?
A:
I think we all felt angry and betrayed about all that was going on; I know I did. At the time, I had had a little bit of experience in dealing with the media, so I by default became the public face of Arthur Andersen in Southern California. That was challenging to say the least, having to face local television cameras and reporters. Also, I had one of the biggest books of clients in the Southern California area like Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp., Zacky Farms Chicken, MGM Grand. Trying to get them to stay with us was very challenging.
Q: Probably not what you expected when you first got into accounting. Why did you decide to go into accounting?
A:
All through high school and into college, I found that working with numbers was really very easy for me. Everyone else seemed to be having problems, but it just came naturally. So majoring in accounting was pretty much going with my talents.
Q: What did you do when Arthur Andersen collapsed?
A:
I had a choice: I could either stay in the industry as many other Andersen partners did and go to one of the remaining Big Four accounting firms or I could choose a different path. I chose to go into the business consulting sector, joining a project staffing firm. Then I got a phone call from USC and I was brought on there as associate dean of the Marshall school.
Q: What was your time like as associate dean?
A:
Let’s just say the development area was greatly challenged. Little had been happening at the Marshall school because of a two-year search for a new dean. Much of my time was spent trying to boost the school’s public profile nationally.
Q: During all this time, you were coaching the USC ice hockey team. How did that come about?
A:
I played hockey as an undergraduate at USC and loved attending games after I graduated. In 1994, I went to watch a game and saw the USC team get pounded. When I went into the locker room after the game, that loss just didn’t seem to register with the players. They just didn’t care they seemed to be marking time. So I went to the athletic director and said I would be available to help coach the team, but only if the school was committed to a winning program. They got back to me within 48 hours and said the job was mine and asked that I start immediately.
Q: That must have been quite a shock, especially since you hadn’t formally coached before. What was your first game as coach like?
A:
That was rather memorable. We took a pounding at the hands of Cal. They were leading us 9-0 late in the game when they pulled their goalie in an attempt to get goal No. 10. I never forgot that. Ever since, whenever we’ve played Cal, there’s a special ferocity there.
Q: How did you turn around the team?
A:
I actually started before that first game, kicking off a couple players who, while they were talented, didn’t have the right attitude. After that first loss, it was crystal clear what we needed to work on. We then lost the next few games before all the players stopped resisting the changes I was making. You know, coaching is not a democracy. You may take input from the players on the field, but the decisions rest with the coach.
Q: Did it work?
A:
Yes it did. After starting the season 0-9, we ended up with a 17-15 record and made it to the championship game against San Jose. We lost that game in overtime.
Q: What keeps you going after 15 years of coaching?
A:
Believe it or not, it’s not the actual coaching of games. I really enjoy the interaction I have with the players. When they first join the team as freshmen, they’re really just kids, even if society considers them legal adults. They come to me with whatever problems they may be having maybe it’s their studies, maybe it’s being away from home for the first time, maybe it’s problems with girlfriends. I then work through the problems with them. That’s what really makes me tick: solving problems, whether it’s with kids turning into young adults or whether it’s with companies.
Q: Have you ever tried teaching your girls to play hockey?
A:
Both my girls enjoy skating, though neither has taken interest in hockey. Opportunities for girls to play hockey are limited, especially here on the West Coast. The girls and their friends have different interests here: They like golf, soccer and skiing and softball all the traditional sports here in Southern California.
Q: How did you meet your wife?
A:
We actually met at Arthur Andersen, shortly after we both graduated college. She was an associate in the HR department. After we married, we both decided to get our M.B.A. degrees. She used an M.B.A. degree to redirect her career. She joined Mattel in the early 1990s and eventually was in charge of the international division for Barbie sales and the all-girl toys section.
Q: Have you called on your wife’s marketing expertise?
A:
She’s a very good sounding board, so I’ve often run ideas by her, even before she went into marketing.
Q: So how did you end up as chief executive of the Employers Group?
A:
While I was associate dean at the Marshall school, our dean, Jim Ellis, was also chair of the board of the Employers Group. A couple of years ago, the group was having issues with declining membership. He convinced the board to bring me on as an outside consultant to figure out what should be done.
Q: And what did you conclude?
A:
I found some serious problems. Chief among these: The Employers Group was one of the best-kept secrets in town. There (also) were complaints that the group wasn’t doing enough for its members. Just one example here: When a member company would call with questions about how to terminate a problem employee, if the staff members were busy on other projects, staff would often respond with a phone call a day or two later. But when you’re having an issue with a problem employee, you need a response immediately to head off any potential issues.
Q: So what happened?
A:
I turned in the report and was called into a board meeting to explain my findings. I fully expected to return full time to my duties at the Marshall school, so you can imagine my surprise when one of the board members asked me how long it would take me to fix the problems I had found.
Q: What’s been the biggest challenge?
A:
Not surprisingly, the biggest challenge has been instituting cultural change. You can explain what needs to be done to the employees and they will nod their heads in agreement, but a few days or weeks later, they go right back to doing things the way they had always done. I think this is a problem that any new manager has in trying to change the corporate culture.
Q: You’re still coaching. How do you
balance running the Employers Group with that and having time to spend with your family?
A:
First, the hockey coaching is not a full-time job. After the preseason practices, we practice once a week and then there are the games. As for how I balance everything, I often do things late at night. It’s not uncommon for someone to get an e-mail from me at 2:30 in the morning. The key is finding the management and the support around you in all aspects of your life, whether it’s at work, in the coaching box or at home.
Q: You’ve mentioned your family owned a chain of movie theaters in the Central Valley. I take it that’s why you also say you’re “addicted to movies”?
A:
Actually, my family sold their theater chain in the mid-1960s, right when some major players were consolidating the industry. So I was too small. But my family still had a great love of movies, which they passed on to me.
Q: What are some of your more recent favorites?
A:
“Gladiator” to me is a fabulous movie, really sticks out as a great film. So does “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.”
Q: You also say you love immersing yourself in the local culture when you travel. What are some of the most exotic cultures you’ve visited?
A:
The culture that I have enjoyed the most is in Thailand. The Thai people are some of the most beautiful people on Earth: They embrace everybody. I also love the Japanese and Chinese cultures.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
A:
Actually, it’s from Teddy Roosevelt and I have it on the wall in my home office. It’s a long quote, but here it is: “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
Mark Wilbur
Title:
Chief Executive
Organization:
Employers Group
Born:
1962; Bakersfield
Education:
B.S., accounting, USC; M.B.A, USC Marshall School of Business
Career Turning Points:
Moving from tax accounting to business consulting while at Arthur Anderson; after collapse of Arthur Anderson, moving into business consulting and taking associate dean post at USC Marshall School of Business
Most Influential People:
Andy Mosich, former accounting professor at USC (“His textbook is still the standard for basic accounting; he prepared me for high standards at Arthur Anderson.”); Jim Ellis, current dean of USC Marshall School of Business
Personal:
Lives in Rancho Palos Verdes with wife Theresa, a marketing professor at USC Marshall School of Business; couple has two girls, ages 8 and 12
Hobbies:
Ice hockey (playing and coaching); “addicted to movies” (family used to own theaters in San Joaquin Valley); immersing in local cultures while traveling