This has been a tremendous year for me and a true honor to serve as the CLO of the Year. I had the opportunity to expand the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Acquisition Academy, impact the broader learning and development community and accept a new challenge as the vice president of learning and development at the Lowe’s Cos.
As CLO of the Year, I have carried a message emphasizing collaboration among professionals, creativity in developing our workforces, discipline in building high-performing teams that deliver outstanding results, and courage to innovate and transform the training space and in turn change behavior and improve performance.
In my last year at the VA, I focused on creating professional opportunities for our returning warriors. I created the Warriors to Workforce program, designed and implemented for our veterans to provide them with the education and training — classroom and on the job — needed to assure their success in federal careers. These men and women, who have sacrificed so much for us, and who represent the most wonderful attributes that employers should prize, are now working to develop the skills and credentials to serve our government as acquisition professionals.
Only 42 days before his assassination, tired from three and a half years of war, and with victory almost assured, Abraham Lincoln made a national commitment to our nation’s veterans. In his second inaugural address, Lincoln declared that it was our nation’s duty “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.”
This quote serves as the heart of the mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which we all used as motivation. I painted Lincoln’s words on the academy wall to remind and guide us every day.
My purpose was to better train the VA workforce so they can assure every dollar is spent wisely, every program is better managed and every resource is focused on helping our nation repay the debt we owe our veterans.
Regardless of where I have worked, I have found three tenets that serve as a consistent guide for my efforts: passion, determination and courage.
My passion is deeply rooted in my belief that I can make a meaningful difference. By serving others, by focusing on agreed-upon outcomes, by rewarding success, by pursuing excellence, outstanding results are achieved.
Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach, once said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.”
Willpower and determination go hand in hand. My determination comes from my parents’ influence. They instilled the ethic in me that, if something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. I have always pushed myself to the extreme, to assure that if anything is within my power to accomplish, I will accomplish it.
As leaders, it is our responsibility to model the way and give our entire effort to achieving exceptional results.
Of course, one person’s determination cannot assure overall success. Contributions are essential from all members of high-performing teams who share the commitment to achieve outstanding results. As leaders, it is our responsibility to encourage determination and accountability to achieve and to reward success.
Courage is important in our lives as well. It takes courage to stand up for what we believe in, to fight the good fight for resources and support. It takes real courage to step out of the norm and pursue truly innovative, transformative approaches. It takes courage to step out of our comfort zone, whether imposed externally or created inside ourselves, and to put our ideas and ourselves on the line for the good of others.
As learning leaders it is our role, our duty, to make sure we make a lasting impact on our companies, our agencies and most especially our students. We have the opportunity, while directly addressing our organization’s business needs, to also help our students to grow and improve on a holistic level, and thus become more effective workers. We can and should be weavers of more complete people.
