Meet Ed McLeod

During my 35 years leading application development efforts, I’ve traveled the world and learned a great deal about different cultures, cross-functional team leadership, and politics. I am passionate about doing the right thing and transparency in my interactions. I have consistently provided “to the point” feedback in a constructive way, enabling my cross-functional teams to focus on their piece of the puzzle, while holding each other accountable for their deliverables.

I earned my Economics degree from Illinois State University in 1980 and worked my way up from the bottom in the application development arena, with my first role being a programmer trainee. Application development, managing projects and people became my passion. Following my first role, I worked at a consulting firm, General Electric Aircraft Engines, my own consulting company, and then with Procter & Gamble for the last 25 years. My application development leadership in key P&G corporate efforts include master data management, development of a new Order, Shipping, and Billing system, data warehousing, business intelligence, US and global shipment reporting, numerous acquisitions and divestitures, global point of sales solutions, and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). My focus for the last 5+ years was in the PLM space, including both Product and Packaging. I co-chaired a 3-year GS1 Packaging project from start to finish, developing and globally aligning a streamlined approach to manage and communicate packaging copy across manufacturers and design firms. I have spoken at several conferences about the productivity gains associated with leveraging this approach, along with “what must be true” to deliver the solution.

I have seen programs and projects go well and poorly, along with investigating and resolving the root cause of those issues. My book summarizes key learnings, and addresses the critical issues to manage when deploying enterprise software. More specifically, this book focuses on the leadership, process, and politics you, as an executive, must understand to help your cross-functional organizations deliver the benefit from your multi-million dollar investment.

I live in Cincinnati and am passionate about my activities, especially Chicago sports, travel, church, and spending time with my family and friends.