|
When I left Parker Construction, our
family business, in 1990 to pursue other professional and
personal goals, I had no desire, at that time, to lead a
family business one day. I had grown tired of the ‘issues’
associated with the construction industry, in addition to
wanting to finish my degree. Yes, I returned to UT in the
fall of 1990 to complete my BSEE after a five-year hiatus. I
finally graduated in June 1992. Finishing my degree was a
true game changer! That will be the focus of the next series
of articles.
From 1990 to 2009 my career pursuits
provided me with a plethora of experiences that shaped my
current thoughts related to talent acquisition and
development, and strategic partnerships associated with
creating a high performing organization. My first stop after
Parker Construction was at Orion Engineering located in
Jackson, Michigan.
Wait, officially, that was my second
stop. I worked for one week at Omni Source on Hill Avenue.
That definitely was not the right fit for me! I will have
to share those details during a private conversation!
Why Orion Engineering, in Jackson,
Michigan, of all places? If you are old enough to recall,
the country was in a serious recession in 1990. Jobs in NW
Ohio were scarce for non-degreed technical professionals.
Especially, if you were African-American!
The partners of Orion Engineering,
however, wanted an electrical design professional with field
experience and I fit that profile. In retrospect, I think
the partners were pleased to find diverse talent to add to
the team as well. Yes, I was the ONLY African American on
the team. That surprised me down the road when I found out
that they were huge fans of all people - Rush Limbaugh!
For the record, the partners of Orion
Engineering were friends and colleagues who decided to leave
a larger engineering firm to pursue the dream of owning and
running their own engineering firm! They even recruited two
administrative assistants from the larger firm to join them
too! By the way, those administrative assistants were a part
of a friends and family connection as well.
I commuted from Toledo to Jackson from
1990-1993. Yes, that is a three-hour round trip commute. I
worked full-time and went to school full-time from 1990-1992
as well. It was definitely worth it. My immediate supervisor
was an amazing power systems engineer. He was also the lead
partner in the firm as it related to organizational design
and customer acquisition. Additionally, he was an excellent
technical mentor. He, along with the lead mechanical
engineer, taught me a host of valuable technical and
business aspects of running an engineering firm.
Specifically, as it related to preparing engineering
estimates, engineering project development, engineering
management and execution.
The dynamics of the partnership was
intriguing. They all were professional engineers with
stellar credentials. Each had established positive
reputations while leading multiple large projects across
several industries at their former place of employment. Two
were alpha males and the third partner was not. How they
made decisions related to people, process, technology and
product/service offerings was extremely interesting to me.
I learned so much from those
gentlemen. I truly thank them for the opportunity they
afforded me because their investment exposed me to a
‘different world,’ provided me with new skills, and quite
frankly, dramatically changed my personal circumstances that
actually saved my life! (Yes, another story over a Chai
Latte! )
The true game changer for me occurred
in December of 1992, when I decided to accept an invitation
to attend, of all things, The Nutcracker, with a
friend whom I used to play pick up basketball with in the
late 80s at UT. During the intermission she asked me if I
was happy at Orion Engineering. I said yes. I worked with
great people, on great projects, and have learned a ton;
however, the commute was getting old. She asked me a few
other questions and then said: Would you consider other
opportunities? I said: Of course. Why?
She then said: The new CEO where I
work is looking to bring in diverse talent throughout the
company. I said: Who do you work for again? She said: Owens
Corning Fiberglass in Toledo. I said: What do they again?
She said: We are a building materials company headquartered
in downtown Toledo that makes the pink insulation. I said:
Ok, cool. What’s next? She said: Send me your resume and I
will send over to Mr. Robinson. I am sure he will give you a
call.
That conversation was the beginning of
a structural shift that would redefine my worldview on
recruiting, developing and deploying talent along with
developing skills to assess business partnerships.
To be continued in Part IX - Entrepreneurship – Who should
you partner with or hire? |
