A recognized authority on corporate governance issues, Larry Taylor is the founder and chairman of The Creighton Group, an international corporate governance advisory firm that has provided management consulting, training, and auditing services around the world. Prior to founding The Creighton Group, Taylor served as principal-in-charge of the Deloitte & Touche West Coast productivity consulting practice, which counseled Fortune 1000 corporations and governmental agencies on productivity improvement and environmental management.
Taylor holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial administration from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University), and an MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Management. He received his PhD in Executive Management from the Drucker School of Management and regards Peter Drucker, who was one of his professors and advisors, as a decisive influence on his subsequent career.
“I changed my dissertation topic because of him,” Taylor recalls. His original intent had been to study the topic of redistribution of income. But Drucker and Taylor’s dissertation advisory committee chair, Bela Gold, suggested that he instead examine the impact of the proposed Clean Air Act of 1990 on small businesses, since Taylor was leading an air quality consulting project at the time. “It was a huge change for me; it was the primary reason I spent fifteen years in the environmental management industry.”
Taylor has helped numerous countries to build their ranks of environmental management lead auditors, and created a certified environmental management training program to help train lead auditors. He served in various executive leadership roles with established and new companies. Drucker’s vision of management’s producing a beneficial impact on society also has influenced Taylor’s efforts in another area: expanding the opportunities for young executives from diverse ethnic backgrounds for roles on corporate boards.
“I noticed there were hardly any minorities in the field of corporate governance,” Taylor says. “My calling has been to help educate younger minorities about this potential career option, to work and plan for this and be prepared for it.”
Taylor serves on a number of boards, including Guided Compass, a technology platform, and the National Association of Corporate Directors, Pacific Southwest Chapter—covering Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona (his four-year term will end on July 2021, at which time he will become the board chairman). He is the author of three books: Enhancing the Tone-at-the- Bottom: Free Market Capitalism is a Corporate Social Responsibility, Private Sector Praises: The New Tone-at-the-Bottom, and The New Breed of Independent Corporate Directors: Personal Glimpses and Perspectives of the Tone-at-the-Bottom.
“Joining the board of my alma mater is exciting,” Taylor says. “It’s something I could never have imagined years ago, and I’m deeply honored.”