Global procurement leader Scott Montgomery has worked for Cargill for 28 years, so there’s no question he knows the company well. But with an organization as diverse as Cargill, which includes 160,000 employees in 67 countries, there’s always more to learn. With the help of Carlson’s broad-based programs, Montgomery has gained skills that have helped him become a stronger, more knowledgeable leader—and make decisions that have had a positive impact on the bottom line.

Montgomery, who had heard positive things about Carlson’s programs from colleagues, enrolled in Carlson’s Minnesota Management Institute program in 1995. He hoped the program would help him develop the skills he needed as he continued to climb the corporate ladder. “It’s a very diverse curriculum,” he says. “I spent most of my career in plant operations, so it gave me a broad perspective of finance, marketing, and IT. I wasn't an expert in any of those areas after the session, but I knew enough that I could always converse with the people who are completely involved in that work.”

He was particularly impressed with the finance piece of the curriculum, which gave him the tools he needed to analyze potential projects and decisions. “Early on, I was [primarily concerned] with how much things cost and what the potential payback was,” he says. “But I learned to see things through a financial lens: the time value of money and the return on investment, for example. The financial side of business is where all the decisions are ultimately made, and you need to be able to talk about it with the people who will be approving projects.”

Montgomery considered the program so valuable that just four years later, as his career continued to flourish, he jumped at the chance to take a second Carlson program. In 1999, he enrolled in the Minnesota Executive Program.

Spending time in a classroom, not a boardroom, helped Montgomery get insight and perspective that he found more difficult to come by when he was immersed in the constant grind of daily deadlines. Some of the most valuable time he spent in the program, he says, was connecting with other leaders to share advice, best practices, and concerns. “You begin to understand that all [executives] have similar challenges,” he says. “You can see how other people approach problems.”

More than 80 Cargill employees have enrolled in at least one Carlson program during the past 25 years, a testament to the program’s value over time. And while it may be difficult to link the program’s offerings to Cargill’s bottom line, there’s no doubt that the company has thrived. In Cargill’s 2008 fiscal year, its earnings were up 18 percent over 2007—a record financial performance in a sluggish economy.

Montgomery says he’d recommend the program to anyone seeking to help their company—and their career. “Carlson programs offer a great curriculum to broaden your knowledge,” he says. “It makes you more effective in your day-to-day work.”