Jeff Jackson
CEO, PGT Innovations, Venice
The publicly traded window and door manufacturer, which ranks among the largest 70 public companies in Florida, employs more than 4,000. Jackson has been CEO for 16 years. “The biggest areas of growth I’ve experienced,” he says, “came from recognizing times or places where I was wrong. When you recognize that you’re wrong, you can also see that there is an opportunity to change and grow. For example, job titles used to be pretty important to me because it felt like leadership was synonymous with the title. As I grew in my roles, I came to realize that, while title does hold some importance, leadership comes from connection and trust.”
| EDUCATION | University of West Georgia (BBA) |
| SOMETHING SURPRISING | I’m an adrenaline junkie! I’ve hang-glided off of the Tetons. (I have a certified hang-gliding license.) I rock climb in Jackson Hole, and I love to ski black diamond runs (and have even broken a few ribs doing it). |
| NEW HOBBY | I want to get my private pilot’s license. My daughter is training for that now, and I’d like to do that, too. |
| SABBATICAL TOPIC | I’d learn to sail a catamaran in the Virgin Islands. |
| READING | Winning the War in Your Mind, by Craig Groeschel |