Elon University will honor three North Carolina business leaders who are profiled in a book titled “Lessons in Leadership and Life: Secrets of Eleven Wise Men.” The book’s author, Dickson C. Buxton, will be joined by Bob E. McKinnon, Grason T. Nickell and F.P. “Bodie” Bodenheimer at a special book-signing reception at 5:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 16, in McKinnon Hall of the Moseley Center on the Elon campus.
Buxton’s book follows a fictional young executive who is caught in the downsizing wave that has been associated with today’s business contraction. It then draws on the experiences of the eleven business executives who outline their successful leadership philosophies.
McKinnon, a 1962 Elon graduate and former member of the Elon board of trustees, is Chairman and CEO of McKinnon-Land-Moran LLC, a textile firm located in Charlotte, N.C. He grew up on a farm near Burlington, N.C., and worked his way through college as a roofing salesman. After serving in the Army, McKinnon became a senior executive at Burlington Industries and later headed Valdese Weavers, which combined with Century Furniture and Expressions Custom Furniture to become CV Industries. Buxton writes that McKinnon “is a natural leader who inspires others to excellence by the example he sets.”
Nickell is chairman of AC Corporation, Greensboro, N.C., and Bodenheimer is CEO of Zickgraf Enterprises Inc., Franklin, N.C. Buxton is managing director and co-founder of Private Capital Corporation, which provides financial services for mid-market private companies.