Experience:
Leadership is about building relationships with those we lead. It is about helping them to overcome challenges and focus their effort on the principal objectives of the organization they work in. It is about developing them to succeed to their supervisors position. I have spent over 20 years in the US Army developing my leadership, problem solving and mentoring skills; culminating in teaching and developing those same skills in mid-career officers. I then honed my skills with 13 years of HR experience developing the workforce for a mid-sized business followed by 5 years of working with small and mid-sized businesses helping them to find creative solutions to financial problems. Each position I held has been focused on developing people to achieve their best and leaving behind an organization of people with the skills to continue to grow and improve.
Over the years I have:
- Led two 100 person plus combat units to consistently exceed all performance measures.
- Prepared, trained and led the staff of a newly formed 600 person combat unit to deploy to, fight and return from the first Iraq war without significant casualties or loss of equipment.
- Trained and developed ROTC cadets to become officers in the US Army.
- Taught, mentored and trained over 120 mid-career officers in problem solving, communications and leadership over a three year period.
- Authored 3 major rewrites of curriculum in teaching environments.
- Tested, reported on, and recommended solutions to the operational issues of a major weapon system of the US Army.
- Developed a skill centered training and testing program for the quality control employees of the mid-sized manufacturing company I worked for.
- Found creative solutions to conduct necessary OSHA training and testing with minimal disruption to production.
- Worked closely with the Lean Manufacturing staff to create training programs to improve quality and productivity.
- Trained managers in leadership skills to lower turnover and improve productivity.
- Assisted several small companies to find alternative financing solutions to smooth out their cash flow and improve their balance sheet.
I believe:
- People grow when they have mentoring that uses a thorough, patient examination of the situation to explore alternatives allowing them to find their own solutions; learning from the successes as well as the failures.
- People must acquire skills of problem solving and planning that are rational, systematic, flexible and creative in order to bring their best to the table. These skills can be taught.
- That management is a subset of leadership that uses the resources available productively and efficiently. It is not a substitute for leadership.
- Everyone has unique talents and strengths that are best used collaboratively to achieve the desired goals. It is a task of leadership to assist in identifying and developing those strengths while creating the climate that allows them to flourish.
- The test of good leadership is how well the organization performs when stressed while facing high stakes.
- Mentoring and developing people demands a customized, individual approach to each person. While all may face the same challenge, each will find his or her own way. Similar results can and will be achieved with very different approaches.
- Education
- BS, General Engineering, U. S. Military Academy, West Point, NY
- Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS