Any marathon runner will tell you that there is no greater high than crossing the finish line after 26.2 miles. But imagine crossing that line after 2.4 miles of open water swimming and 112 miles of biking, too.

That's a feeling of gratification and accomplishment beyond compare, according to Phillip Jones, who swam, biked, and ran his way through his first Ironman Competition - the ultimate test of endurance - in 2004.

"Running helps me focus on what I need to do. It's a great escape for me and is also a time when I plan and prioritize," the 45-year-old Jones explained. "I have been running regularly for the last 20 years and will hopefully continue for 40 more."

Obviously, Jones is someone who welcomes challenge. He joined the Dallas CVB in 2003 as president and CEO - one of the youngest CEOs of a major CVB in the country - after it had been torn apart by scandal and poor financial management.

When we spoke, Jones was in peak training mode for an Ironman he was competing in mid-April in Arizona, logging an average of 22 hours of training per week. On this particular Thursday he had hit the track at 6 a.m. for a one-hour run and then went on a two-hour bike ride. This was before putting in a full day at the office.

Weekends were also devoted to training. On Saturday, he was off on a seven-and-a-half hour bike ride followed by a one-hour run. On Sunday, it was a three-hour run and an hour-and-a-half swim.

"The Ironman is all about pace and endurance. There is a strategy behind it. You must control your pace, your heart rate, and your intake of fluids," he explained.

Jones talks about the contest with extreme enthusiasm. "Less than one-tenth of one percent of the world has ever completed an Ironman. It's the ultimate challenge."

It became the penultimate challenge last summer in France. During the bike race, Jones said as he was "coming up the Alps, the derailer on my bike busted at mile 50. It put me off my pace." He completed the competition in approximately 13 hours. It was a miracle that he finished at all.

Five hours, 20 minutes was his time at a recent half Ironman in Texas, a time that qualified him to be part of Team USA, at the World Championship that is being held this summer in Lorient, France. He is excited that his wife, Denise, and their two children, 16-year-old son, Phillip Jr., and 13-year-old daughter, Laura, will be there to cheer him on.

Being asked to be part of Team USA is a far cry from his high school days. "I was always the very last person chosen to be part of a sports team. I was never good at basketball, or baseball, or even football," he said.

He gave running a try during college and has been hooked ever since.

His wife convinced him to join her in a 5K race 20 years ago. "I completed the race in 18 minutes," he recalled. "She was shocked to see me waiting for her when she crossed the finish line." He is an extremely fast runner. On average, he runs a sub-seven minute mile, taking him just over three hours to complete a marathon.

"When training, I'll wake up in the dark, run or ride for six to seven hours on a Saturday, in wind, in rain. It toughens you mentally. These are really good skills to have in today's business world. I've learned first hand that hard work makes the difference. I work hard, I work smart, I don't waste time on things that can't be controlled."

He has turned things around at the Dallas CVB, although it took some persuading to get him to leave his job as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. "When I was first contacted by the Dallas CVB, I said, 'No way.' I had such a dated perception of Dallas. I associated the city with J.R. Ewing, women with big hair, and cowboys everywhere. I didn't realize what a very cosmopolitan, diverse city Dallas was with lots of cool shops and restaurants. When I visited, I got so excited. One thing led to the next and I was selected as the new CEO."

He certainly had his work cut out for him. "When I started working there, I found out we were more than $2 million in debt. I had to immediately lay off 15 people."

The more he dug, the more improprieties he discovered. Smart business decisions hadn't been made in a very long time, he said. "They had invested in wireless Internet service that was in competition with the service the convention center was selling. I got rid of that as it was losing half a million dollars a year. They also had a housing company that was losing a ton of money. I got rid of that as well. During the first audit, 18 pages of items that weren't correct were uncovered," he explained. "I had to make some tough decisions. I had to redirect the organization and focus on our core mission: promoting the city as the ideal convention, meeting, and leisure destination. We didn't need to be involved in all these ancillary activities the bureau was involved in at the time. Plus, there was very little effort being expended on marketing, public relations, and advertising. We came up with a whole new brand campaign: 'Live Large, Think Big.' The slogan was created to describe the essence and vitality of a city built on big dreams, freshly blazed trails, and an attitude that all things are possible," he said.

His efforts are starting to pay off. Under his leadership, the bureau has achieved a 35 percent increase in definite room nights over three years, reflecting steady growth and has led the State of Texas for the second straight year in the number of future room night bookings.

Jones also did what comes natural to him; he took to the streets. He visited with local travel editors. "I wanted to find out what their impressions of Dallas were. I was shocked that most had the same outdated perception of Dallas I had. They didn't realize there was a new entertainment district or arts community. They weren't aware that we have 79 different ethnic cuisines, more four- and five-star/diamond restaurants than New Orleans. They weren't familiar with our incredibly diverse community that consists of African Americans, Latinos, and the sixth largest gay and lesbian population in the country. I realized with education, we would get a financial turnaround."

In the last three years, Jones is credited with turning a $2 million budget deficit into a $2 million surplus. "We streamlined the organization. We strategically placed sales staff in key markets. We opened new offices in New York, on the West Coast, and in Austin. Our future room night bookings increased 35 percent in the last three years. We went from booking 625,000 room nights the first year I was here to 850,000 room nights last year." There are many successes to celebrate, said Jones. A recent coup was booking the American Society of Association Executives 2012 meeting. Dallas beat out Denver, Detroit, and St. Louis.

Fall of the Berlin Wall?
Jones is a big proponent of partnership and he reached out to Fort Worth about doing a joint marketing campaign soon after joining the Dallas CVB. "At the very first trade show that we launched our 'Visit Dallas Fort Worth' effort, there was so much buzz around our booth that you would have thought the Berlin Wall had just fallen. We tripled our booth traffic, thus tripling our leads."

The fact that Jones came to the area with a fresh perspective helped him create the idea. "I asked, 'Why aren't we working together?' Our competitor was not Fort Worth but cities like San Diego, Orlando, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Atlanta." The partnership has been such a huge success that not only are more resources being invested but Irving, Grapevine, and DFW International Airport have joined as well. This collaborative sales and marketing program is designed to expand reach in the national and international markets and includes advertising, cooperative media trips, trade show efforts, and a new Web site, www.dallasfortworthtravel.com.

Jones has lofty goals for the CVB. Dallas is currently ranked as the eighth city for meetings and the 14th for leisure travel. His goal is to make it in the top five in both areas. "We have to be courageous to make this happen, we can't take baby steps. There is a $12 billion building boom under way, and we need to tell this city's story in an aggressive way."

He promotes the city every opportunity he gets. When he travels, he makes it a point to visit the editors in the area to educate them about the "new" Dallas. The result has been positive press about the city in major newspapers across the country.

He expects a great deal from his dedicated team of 60. He has implemented an internal program called, "Taking the Organization from Good to Great." It is a road map of sorts that spells out where the organization is now and where it should be in the next five years. He has also ensured that he has the right team in place, by using an invaluable tool, the DISC Personality System, he said.

The acronym DISC stands for the four personality styles: Drive, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance.

The DISC Personality System is the universal language of behavior. Research has shown that behavioral characteristics can be grouped together in four major divisions called personality styles. People with similar styles tend to exhibit specific behavioral characteristics common to that style. All people share these four styles in varying degrees of intensity. A DISC profile helps explore many different features of one's personality style, including communication style and motivation, particular strengths, how a person works within a team, and values.

Jones has such faith in DISC profiles that he requires all candidates to take a DISC assessment test so he can see if they're a good fit before he'll consider hiring them. "You may be a great person but not that great of a salesperson. I want to know immediately if this is the right person to represent the city. One out of two do not fit the profile," he explained. "Since I started this, every salesperson I have hired has been very successful."

He is also sharing his passion for exercise with his staff. The bureau now pays for a health club membership for staff members who are committed to a regular exercise schedule each week. In addition, a voluntary heart-healthy group walk program has been created to encourage employees to take a 20-minute break for their health.

The Southwest of the Meetings Industry
Customer service is one of Jones' main focuses since he took over the helm of the CVB. Southwest Airlines, the Four Seasons, and Ritz-Carlton are the crème de la crème when it comes to service, he said, and he expects the Dallas CVB to one day be included in this class.

"When you're on a Southwest flight, the flight attendants are happy, they tell jokes, the whole experience from start to finish is a pleasure. Everyone who works for Southwest is passionate about the airline. I want us to be the best at what we do. I want my team to go above and beyond every time. I want to be the Southwest of the meetings industry."

Not only has Jones learned from successful companies but successful people as well. Ron Brown, the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President Bill Clinton, left an indelible impression on Jones' life. The two first worked together when Brown named Jones southern regional political director for the Democratic National Committee. He served as his travel aide whenever Brown was in the South and would accompany him to all of his appointments and meetings. "I learned from him first hand. He was an incredibly charismatic guy who was very strong at interviews and interpersonal skills. He was the ultimate mentor."

Brown named Jones director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs for the U.S. Department of Commerce's Travel and Tourism Administration in Washington, D.C., where he helped organize the first White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. Brown, the first black Secretary of Commerce, died on April 3, 1996, while on an official trade mission aboard the Air Force CT-43, which crashed in Croatia.

After his stint in Washington, he was happy to get a call from Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, governor of Louisiana, asking him to return to his home state. He worked under Blanco for seven years as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, during which time Louisiana's tourism industry posted a 29 percent increase in visitation and a 37 percent increase in dollars spent by tourists.

He speaks highly of Blanco. "When you have a conversation with her, she looks you right in the eye and listens. She is not looking over your shoulder to see who else is in the room. She definitely is not your typical politician. She has great empathy, patience, and compassion."

Blanco's influence on Jones is evident when he says, "I've learned to not just listen to customers and clients and take their recommendations but to act on them. I don't believe in talking to someone and then just ignoring what they are saying. I have an obligation to make changes to improve our product."

Which sounds much like the marathon runner Jones is, with one eye always trained on the finish line.

° Andrea Doyle is Convene's senior writer. The Leading by Example series is sponsored by the Canadian Tourism Commission. Visit its Web site at www.CanadaMeetings.com.