executive profile

HARRAH’S “SUPER MAN”CHRISTIAN JOHNSON

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out howthe strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds might havedone them better. The credit belongs to the man who is in the arena,whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. The one whostrives valiantly, yet errs and comes up short again and again. Theone who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, andspends himself in a worthy cause. The one who, if he wins, knows thetriumph of high achievement –yet also the one who, if he fails, atleast fails while daring greatly–so that his place shall never be withthose cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt “Citizenship in a Republic”

Paris, April 23,1910

Christian Johnson is not a critic. He does not point out thefailures of other men. He does not sit on the sidelines waiting forothers to decide his fate. Instead, he is a man who strives valiantlywith great enthusiasm in all that he does. He spends himself onlyin worthy causes and knows the triumph of great successbecause he has dared greatly. Christian Johnson is a livingtestament to his favorite quote, spoken by Theodore Rooseveltnearly a century ago. But, despite these commendable traits thathe embodies, Johnson remains about as far from conceited,arrogant or boastful as a man can get. Actually, he’s an extremelynice, down-to-earth guy. And he’s funny, easily laughing athimself and happy to share his story with anyone, including avisiting magazine editor from Fargo, N.D.

Nonetheless, it is impossible to overlook Johnson’s honesty,competence and intelligence. He has spent a lifetime developingthese traits while striving for excellence in all that he does—andhe has accomplished a whole lot in those years, including joining

Krista ReinerBy

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the gaming industry as the corporate vice president of capitaleffectiveness for Harrah’s Entertainment.

It’s a position he never expected to hold, and it wasn’t until Johnsonwas hired that the position even existed there. “About a year and a halfago, Harrah’s developed the position to help steer the company’s overallcapital growth and effectiveness,” Johnson explains.

Put simply, Johnson is in charge of managing the corporate giants’capital and ensuring that capital has the greatest ROI possible. “I managethe effectiveness of Harrah’s capital budgets, including all growth andmaintenance projects,” he says. “I also manage the development of thelong-range and operating plans for the capital spent across the entirebusiness.”

With a fleet of more than 50 casinos in six countries (under brands thatinclude Harrah’s, Caesars, Paris, Flamingo and Horseshoe), Johnson has alot of effectiveness to ensure, so it’s a good thing he’s got the experienceto back it up.

Super ExperienceJohnson always had high aspirations—“I wanted to be Superman

growing up,” he laughs. And one could argue that he met this goal,though in a more readily achievable way, through the armed forces. In1986, after graduating from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with aB.S. in electrical power engineering, Johnson went to work as a navalsuper hero of sorts. “I really didn’t have a definite direction in life until Isaw the lay of the land that was offered through the Navy,” he says of hisfour-year ROTC Naval Scholarship to Rensselaer.

It was during his time at Rensselaer that Johnson was introduced tothe teachings of Admiral Hyman Rickover, otherwise known as the fatherof the nuclear Navy, and a person whom Johnson greatly admires. “Afterreading Rickover, which is a 700-plus page book about the life and naval

career of four-star Admiral Hyman Rickover, I was inspired to go intonuclear propulsion,” he says of his early career.

It turned out Johnson had a knack for nuclear physics andengineering. He was one of only 12 chosen nationwide in 1986 to jointhe 250 full-time nuclear engineers at the naval headquarters inWashington, D.C. “I was responsible for a number of exciting projects,including analyzing and correcting emergency-power system failuresand problems in the Navy’s 178 nuclear propulsion plants. I could havechosen a position in the fleet aboard a ship or submarine, but I wanted tobe around the ‘really smart people’ designing the submarines withAdmiral Rickover’s staff,” he says with a smile.

Over the next five years, Johnson would prove to be one of those“really smart people” himself. He excelled as a nuclear engineer andachieved the rank of Lieutenant, living by Rickover’s leadershipphilosophies and relishing in each opportunity to learn and serve hiscountry. “I managed the installation of a $2 million emergency-powersystem for a nuclear power plant in Charleston, S.C.,” he explains. “Thatelectric power plant ended up providing seven days of power to the cityof Charleston following Hurricane Hugo in 1989.” This, he says, was ahighlight of his career in the U.S. Navy, although he is equally proud tohave served during the end of the Cold War and the fall of the SovietUnion. “The work of the U.S. Navy helped our country win the Cold War,and I feel like I had a small part in that,” he says modestly.

Masters BoundAfter mastering nuclear science during almost six years in the Navy,

Johnson knew he needed a new challenge. “When I decided to leave theNavy, I distinctly remember thinking to myself, why?” he notes. “I honestlyfelt like I had gotten out of it all that I could—and that new opportunitiesmust lay ahead. I decided to make a change, so I applied at various

gaming management executive profile

gaming management executive profile

schools to get an MBA.” One of those schools was Harvard. “I applied and was accepted,” he remembers with enthusiasm. “I was

overjoyed in the confidence Harvard had in me, and I was excited to be apart of its student body.” For the next two years, Johnson feverishlystudied international finance. He also met and studied under his futureboss Gary Loveman. “I took a service management course that Gary taught, and it was a

very interesting and engaging class,” he says. “It focused on hotel andentertainment industry customer service and the service profit chain.Gary really stood out as a teacher because he was very peopleorientated. He was always reaching out to his students to ensure theirunderstanding and was willing to explain anything they were confusedabout.” From that class on, Johnson would follow Loveman’s career untiltheir paths eventually crossed again in 2007.

Worldly WaysAfter graduating with his MBA from Harvard, Johnson went on to

spend more than 15 years working in international finance, traveling theworld to advise foreign governments on financial and economics issues.He worked for some of the world’s most respected international financialcompanies, including UBS Securities, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Booz AllenHamilton and BearingPoint. “I found myself very successful atinternational finance,” he says. “I was able to tour the world, learningabout many different cultures and ways of life. I also was able topositively and directly impact the lives of people enduring the challengesassociated with rapidly changing economic systems.” Those 15 years afforded him many unique experiences. He was an

economic advisor to governments in China, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan,Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Philippines, France, Spain,Kazakhstan, Bosnia and countless other countries. He ran with the bulls inSpain. He ran marathons in four different cities. He learned how to speakFrench and Spanish and is conversant in Russian as well. He published abook and lectured at prominent universities and the United Nations. Heeven had the opportunity to meet his economic idol, Warren Buffett. “Ihave a picture with him framed in my office,” he says with pride.But most importantly, he met and fell in love with his wife. “She was a

Russian fashion designer from Kyrgyzstan,” he says with adoration. “Whileadvising the Kyrgyz SEC and working to grow the country’s stockexchange, I met my future wife Dina. We dated, fell in love, and started afamily.”But after 15 years in international finance and having started a family,

Johnson began to reconsider his career choice. “I realized that I had adaughter starting kindergarten and I was spending more than 80percent of my time traveling,” he explains. “Plus, the world economy waschanging. I was seeing more short-term advisory work, and I made apersonal decision that I wanted to have a more normal career while mydaughter was in elementary school.”When Johnson began looking for other opportunities that fit his skill

set he remembered one from his past. “I had followed Harrah’s ever sinceI graduated from Harvard, especially after Gary Loveman joined them,” henotes. “It was an exciting company and an exciting industry, so I decidedto see if they had any career opportunities I was interested in. I firstapplied for an international development position, which I figured wouldbe perfect because I could leverage my broad overseas experience tohelp Harrah’s expand internationally. But I applied and never heardanything back.”But like the true leader he is, that didn’t stop him. “I followed up with

Harrah’s and found out that the position had been filled internally.Although disappointed, I said thank you and asked that my resume bekept on file in case something else comes up,” he says. A short while later,Johnson got a call. “Heather O’Green called me in late February of 2007and said they were hiring for a newly created position that fit my

experience. And that’s how I got to Harrah’s.”Having traveled to nearly every corner of the world, you’d think it

might be tough living in Las Vegas for Johnson, but he says it’s hisfavorite place on earth. “I find that I’ve traveled so many different places,that it’s better to focus on the advantages of where I am presently ratherthan where I’ve been,” he says.

Looking Ahead at Harrah’s Now with a home base inside Harrah’s corporate offices at Caesar’s Las

Vegas, a typical day for Johnson involves working on capital requests,budgeting, and driving value throughout the enterprise. “Our capitalapprovals go through a five-member capital committee, and I’mresponsible for reviewing every capital request that comes through onboth a monthly and annual basis,” he says. “I review the strategy, themodels, and the input assumptions to ensure validity and challengewhere appropriate.”While some colleagues might refer to Johnson as the “No” man when it

comes to asking for capital, Johnson insists he is the “Yes” man. He workswith corporate, division and property leadership to build sustainablefinancial and strategic cases for capital projects. “If the case falls short, it isbetter to know before a project is funded rather than afterward,” heexplains. Although Johnson hasn’t yet been with Harrah’s for two years, he’s

already made quite a mark. “Besides directing capital toward the highestvalue projects, one of the notable things I accomplished recently wasdeveloping a lease analysis tool, which incorporates the effects of ourTotal Rewards program on our third-party leases,” he explains. “I also wasresponsible for selling two of our corporate aircrafts during the mostchallenging economic times in aviation history. I was able to sell themboth for more than their book value.” And that isn’t the only tight-economy challenge he has faced at Harrah’s.

“I don’t think it’s a corporate secret, but I’m trying to securitize our casinocredit,” he says. “It’s been a very interesting and challenging 18 months.”While Johnson has affected much change already, he’s not even close

to finished. “I love the people I work with and I hope to stay with Harrah’sfor a very long time,” he says. That should be easy to do, considering hisunique view on gaming: “People thought I was crazy when I told them ayear ago this economic downturn could be the best thing that everhappened to the gaming industry. First, the downturn will help us toimprove our cost structure and make us more efficient. Second,governments in the U.S. and globally will need revenues to supplementtheir budgets. This will cause gaming to grow at a more rapid pacearound the world, and Harrah’s is in a prime position to realize thebenefits from that expansion. I think it’s really important to be a believerin your industry, to have a path for growth, and a path for success.” Pathsthat Johnson has already been walking for a very long time.

Krista Reiner is the Managing Editor for Casino Enterprise Management.She can be reached at (701) 293-7775 or by e-mail at editor1@aceme.org.

KRISTAREINER

Visit www.aceme.org/video-library to watchvideo excerpts of this exclusive interviewwith Harrah’s Christian Johnson.

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