Recently, Bob Buford launched a new web site (www.ACTIVEenergy.net) that has a free e-mail newsletter service. You can follow the link below to go straight to the sign up page: Sign up for the ACTIVEenergy.net Newsletter.
Until the sale of his company in July 1999, Bob Buford served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Buford Television, Inc., a family owned business that started with a single ABC affiliate in Tyler, Texas, and grew to a network of cable systems across the country.
In 1995, Buford wrote Halftime, a book that came out of his mind and heart on how to find meaning fulfillment in the second half of our lives. Those who readHalftimeand Game Plan (published in 1997) often want to know more about the endeavors in which Bob Buford is involved as a result of his own “halftime” experience. Buford’s third book, Stuck in Halftime: Reinvesting Your One and Only Life, was released in April 2001.
What follows is a brief description of initiatives that reflect his interests both as an entrepreneur and someone wanting to make a difference through the application of his faith and resources under the general mission of transforming the latent energy of American Christianity into active energy.
Read more about the organizations Bob is involved with on some level. They are all involved with transforming the latent energy of American Christianity into active energy.
Leadership Network
Started in 1984, Leadership Network serves as a resource broker that supplies information to and connects leaders of innovative churches. The emerging new paradigm of the 21st century church calls for the development of new tools and resources as well as the equipping of a new type of 21st century church leader, both clergy and laity. Leadership Network serves the leadership teams of large churches, as well as leaders in the areas of lay mobilization, denominational leadership at the middle and regional judicatory level and the next generation of emerging young leaders.
Leadership Training Network
Believing that one of the hallmarks of a 21st century church is its engagement and deployment of the laity in ministry and mission, the Leadership Training Network (LTN) was created in 1995. It has as its purpose to identify, train, and provide an ongoing peer-coaching network for leaders of lay mobilization in local congregations. Through its training programs, materials and consultations, LTN is making a distinct contribution to the emerging 21st Century church.
The Peter F. Drucker Foundation (now known as Leader to Leader Institue)
In 1988, Dick Schubert, Frances Hesselbein and Bob Buford convinced Peter Drucker to lend his name, his great mind, and occasionally his presence to establish an operating foundation for the purpose of leading social sector organizations toward excellence in performance. Bob serves as the Founding Chairman of the Board of Governors. Through its conferences, publications and partnerships, The Drucker Foundation is helping social sector organizations focus on their mission, achieve true accountability, leverage innovation, and develop productive partnerships.
In the fall of 1999, several people agreed that it is vitally important to preserve the writings and management ideas of Peter Drucker for the future leaders of business and nonprofit organizations. In connection with Claremont Graduate University, Bob is serving as co-chairman of the board with Bill Pollard of ServiceMaster for the newly created Drucker Archives and Institute. Its first Executive Director is Nan Stone, former editor of the Harvard Business Review.
The Halftime Group
In 1998, Bob launched FaithWorks (name later changed to Halftime) to mobilize and equip high-capacity business/ professional leaders to convert their faith into action and effective results. The mission of Halftime is to develop strategy and resources to equip business/professional leaders to achieve maximum leverage and return on the investment of their time and resources measured in changed lives and healthier communities.
Halftime is taking on the challenge of joining two distinct cultures – those of the business/professional leaders and the nonprofit leaders – in partnerships at the local community level where the business/professional leader sees and touches the lives of the recipients the partnership services.
Bob is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and of the Owner Managed Program at the Harvard Business School. He has played active roles in Young Presidents’ Organization and World Presidents’ Organization and serves on the board of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard.
Bob and his wife, Linda, live in Dallas.