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Accelerating Education
Brad D . Smith Returns Home
ARIANNA WHITEHAIR MARSHALL UNIVERSITY
For Brad Smith , home is where the heart is , and his heart has always been among the hills of Appalachia .
Smith grew up in the small town of Kenova , WV , and was raised on southern hospitality , a humble attitude and a deeply rooted sense of honesty that he says is unique to the Appalachian people .
“ I had an idyllic childhood — two wonderful parents and two brothers — and I ’ ve had friends that have lasted a lifetime . I couldn ’ t have wished for a better upbringing ,” he says . “ Integrity is a true West Virginia trait . We still do business on a handshake , and we mean what we say .”
With a bachelor ’ s degree in business administration from Marshall University and a master ’ s in management from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids , MI , Smith began working for global technology platform Intuit in 2003 . Quickly working his way up the corporate ladder through his home-grown integrity and keen communication skills , Smith was named CEO of the company in 2008 , where he served in this position for an entire decade .
“ My role at Intuit was to create an environment where the world ’ s greatest talent could do the best work of their lives ,” he says .
Soon after Smith took over , Intuit saw its customer base grow to nearly 50 million and the company ’ s stocks jumped by an astounding 588 %. Fortune magazine recognized Smith as one of the country ’ s best CEOs in 2016 and listed Intuit as one of the world ’ s best places to work .
“ Leadership is the ability to inspire others to achieve shared objectives ,” he says .
For Smith , leadership is less about leading and more about serving others and providing employees with the opportunity and the environment to function at their highest potential .
“ A piece of wisdom my father gave me that I never lost sight of is when he said , ‘ The first thing you want to do is the thing that makes your heart beat the fastest ,’ and I found that it was serving people ,” Smith says .
While Smith accrued great success in Silicon Valley , his
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE