General Session

Monday kicked off with the General Session's always highly-energized entertainment as a local dance troop from Nashville, Southern Movement, dazzled the crowd with an impressive array of choreographed hip-hop moves that also showed off a bit of the dancers' southern, country roots.

An introduction and welcome followed, presented by NACM-National Chairman Kathleen Tomlin, CCE, who brought some of her trademark charm to the podium this year. "I thank all of you, our members, for taking the time to support our association and our profession by attending this year's Credit Congress," she said. "I always look forward to spring and to Credit Congress. It seems like a time of celebration each year and, this morning, I'd like to spend some time talking about the things we have accomplished and milestones we can celebrate together."

Tomlin reminded attendees of changes to the national board, commenting on the efficient transition process from 30 board members to 18. She then introduced the new board, including Chairman-Elect Marshall Kahn, CCE and Toni Drake, CCE, who herself won the chairman-elect position during meetings at this year's Credit Congress. She will serve following Kahn's term.

Tomlin also guided this year's Honors & Awards Committee presentation to members who went above and beyond in several categories during the last year. NACM's Credit Executive of the Year, which was renamed in honor of the late O.D. Glaus as the O.D. Glaus Credit Executive of Distinction was given out for the first time during this year's General Session. Mike "Pooch" Puccinelli earned the distinction. Part of what made things more special this year, aside from the award being presented in Glaus' home turf of Nashville, was that Puccinelli actually was one of Glaus' students and a member who had cultivated a friendly relationship with him over the years. "He epitomized everything about a professional in credit, in education. To be given an award named after him is really something special to me," Puccinelli said following the ceremony. See all of this year's award winners in these web pages.

After the awards, Tomlin welcome author and motivational speaker Tom Flick, featured in the book Speaking of Success, which is available through the NACM Bookstore. The warm and charismatic former quarterback, a past Rose Bowl Champion with the NCAA's Washington Huskies and National Football League quarterback for several years, gave a humorous and inspirational speech challenging credit professionals to do better. Flick reflected on stories from his playing days, including a game where he found himself face-to-face with feared Pittsburgh Steelers great Jack Lambert. Still a backup at the time, Flick recalled that the Hall of Fame linebacker sarcastically asked him "Who are you?" during play.

Off the field, Flick says the question "Who are you?" has acted as a rallying call for introspection to determine what type of person he was, what he stood for, etc. Flick still uses it to evaluate himself and strive to be better. It's a lesson almost anyone would be well served to take. Flick said those in the business world who ask themselves the question need to honestly be able to answer with a number of words, with "leader" perhaps being the most critical.

"You need to be a leader...and speak with a leader's voice. We need to be 75% leadership and 25% management."