Globally Local

I don't know how many people are aware of just how big a global operation Goodwill is. I certainly wasn't until I started looking into this to prepare for the interview. But Goodwill is a global operation with a presence in 13 countries and the various Goodwill agencies each control their own operations. That takes an enormous amount of communication coordination, both in person and virtually. What would you say are some communications essentially in building an environment of transparency and trust, especially when you're working in a virtual environment like that?

I think in a networked organization, in both national industries for the blind and Goodwill, where the network organization, where the power rested with the local organizations, I think that's quite powerful in terms of being hyper-local. Because in fact, that's where the action is, right? That's where the people you serve are, and that's where the bulk of the resources are to fulfill the mission. So, I think my leadership role is one of service. And then I think what I tried to do pretty well was hear and listen to the leadership and the team members who are on the ground doing the real work. There's so much brilliance there. And then our job at the national or the international levels was to try to synthesize and feedback and then land on value added supports. So that was, the key was listening to all that brilliant brain power throughout that network and those local organizations. I think the key influence on my life to be able to work in that environment and not be a command and control type leader, really started in with my work at AT&T where I had to lead teams that I didn't have authority over, but responsible for results. So it kind of learning how to be responsible without authority, I found to be a pretty good life lesson early in my career.