William C. Cobb on Leading Through Adversity

This lecture features William C. Cobb, President and Chief Executive Officer of H&R Block, Inc. Cobb, who brought his experience in the retail, digital and consumer-brand space to drive success throughout the company by focusing the organization on its core expertise – tax preparation. In addition, he has elevated the company’s Emerald Card from a simple, once-a-year gift card to a leading general purpose reloadable debit card in the market with fewer and lower fees than its competitors; driven growth outpacing its competitors in the do-it-yourself online market category; and increased net income from continuing operations by 18 percent and earnings per share 33 percent from FY11 to FY13. In this talk, Cobb discusses real world-examples of companies that dealt with certain challenges, and how you can lead your team to overcome adversity.

About the Series:

Corporate leaders and senior executives choose current business issues to discuss during the fall series. The series is sponsored by the Eugene Clark Distinguished Lecture Series endowment.

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