Bill Baldwin Honored at DBJ C-Suite Awards
This article originally appeared in the Denver Business Journal. See it here.
Category:
CXO
Name:
Bill Baldwin
Title:
Managing principal
Company:
Cresa
Team:
Chicago Cubs
Position:
General manager — a leader, coach, utility player and pinch hitter.
Industry: Commercial real estate
Website: cresa.com
Years in profession: 31
Location: Denver
What I bring to my team: I’m actively involved behind the scenes in the strategy of the company. In addition to the Denver operations I also have responsibilities, running our Portland office and serving on Cresa Global’s board of directors where I help set the overall strategy for our global business.
Biggest home run of business career: My biggest “home run” was having the opportunity to participate in a leadership position in the roll-up of 14 Cresa offices. This included the integration of BGL Facilities into the Cresa team. It is great to have Lynda Schroer and her team a part of our organization.
A time I missed the ball, but then made a big play: In my 30-year career I’ve lost existing clients twice. Both times were due to a staffing change and the new contact having existing relationships so I shouldn’t feel too bad about it. But I do, and it’s been a big challenge for me not to take it personally. In both cases it turned out to be a real blessing as I was able to take on larger and more complex clients as well as leadership positions that I might not otherwise have had the opportunity to do. Things happen for a reason.
Favorite restaurant for business dinner: Strangely, I do not do a lot of night-time entertaining, but I really do a lot of lunch entertaining. When in the area I like to go to the restaurant at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Jefferson County. It is a great place to watch the planes take off and land and they have an amateur open mic night on Wednesdays.
Secret talent: My secret talent is the ability to solve problems unconventionally. Unfortunately, I spend a huge amount of time commuting but I use this time effectively by thinking about our business-client challenges and re-framing them to addressable opportunities. Over time, I have grown to become a problem solver by finding non-traditional solutions to complex problems.
Secret to work-life balance: It’s still something I’m trying to work on. I enjoy traveling, riding my bike, fly-fishing and summer water sports. We are heading to Amsterdam in October for my daughters 24th birthday and so my girlfriend can run the Amsterdam Marathon – They are on the same day.