Gratitude

After 27 years and 253 days (literally half my life), December 9th marks my last day as an employee of Kelly. When I take the appropriate time to reflect on my time inside Kelly, one word sums it up – gratitude; both in my head and in my heart.

But before sharing some personal reflections, I want to make clear my absolute and complete support for Peter Quigley, his senior leadership team, and the noble purpose that bring Kelly employees around the world to work every day – Kelly connects people with work in ways that enriches their lives! …add in the new Equity@Work movement and the path forward at Kelly is a very exciting one!

I am truly one of the lucky few who has loved their work every day. My career at Kelly has been an intrapreneurial one, marked by the opportunity to learn, experiment, lead, and be led, within the boundaries of an organization that founded an industry and has continued to innovate throughout its 74-year history. And while I cannot try to cite all the people, events and opportunities that have been part of the journey, there are some that stand out in shaping who I am today.

When I think of the early years, my first chapter at Kelly began with Jason Botts – then an intern, now a CIO – who introduced me to the world wide web, Unix commands, and my first .edu account, along with Jimmy Derrick and ABB Power T&D for the first contract placement. Phyllis Carswell, David Tucker, TA Nguyen, Monica Dolack, Tom Williams, and Michael Webster each helped me in unique ways to learn the contingent staffing industry, how to do business in the South, the importance of listening to and creating value for the talent we serve, the opportunity to develop external networks though organizations and people of high character, and how to lead a team and develop leadership competencies.

In my second chapter with Kelly, I was given the freedom to explore what is possible – both personally and professionally – by some great leaders! Larry Seyfarth and Carol Johnson stand out as individuals who embraced my “Why?” and the alternative approaches I brought to organizational design, developing of enterprise relationships, and stepping away from what was comfortable to attack what was new, different, and often complex. Their demonstration of trust in me, and the responsibilities that they gave me, empowered me to execute the strategy and to learn through both my success and my failure – likely the most important lesson learned in my professional life. 

My disruptive tendencies led to opportunities to introduce partnerships and technology into the organizational DNA. It was through the BORG, and the collaboration with Michelle Steffes, Ralf Lorenzen, and Dan Hanyzewski, that the greatest disruption in my career came – the relocation to Brisbane, Australia and a secondment into the mining industry. George Corona’s executive level support, coupled with Anthony Nardi and Bob Roushey leading the team on the ground, made this experience one that has forever created a second home for me. The seeds laid then, are the foundation of an amazing team and practice that Pete Hamilton now leads for KellyOCG.

When I look at my third chapter at Kelly, Teresa Carroll was on point to channel my talents in the best interest of the company. Defining and building a Talent Supply Chain based on structured methodology and research to truly differentiate the KellyOCG business model, adding analytics and data visualization with Tom Tisdale and Rich Fisher in a way that empowered our operational teams and the supplier network that Thorsten Koletschka was developing extended that value. So with the exceptionally strong leadership team that was built across the COE - Candy Hipple, Paul Vincent, Jocelyn Lincoln, Deb Joseph, Tim Pr?hm, Amy Anger, Jamie Stacey – I was free to step aside to take on new challenges. 

Project “Blue Sky”, M&A and restructuring in APAC, launching the Office of the Future of Work, embracing the impacts of digital disruption, reimagining the connection between work and education, and developing a focus on advocacy for workers and healthy labour markets became the next points of focus. Peter Quigley, Brad Borland, Natalia Shuman, Kamal Karanth, Anthony Raja Devadoss, Carl Camden (and ipse-us), and Jeff Tennery (and Moonlighting), Ashley Beaudoin, John Winsor (and the Open Assembly community), and an amazing network of thought leaders, and practitioners who were willing to share their perspectives and experiences each taught me to see the market with a fresh perspective. It is in this chapter where I learned to embrace the power of the extended enterprise – networks vs. hierarchy, the passion economy, consumer behaviors, crowd sourcing, human agility, and advocacy for personal choice became embedded into every aspect of my work.

The World Employment Confederation truly deserves its own chapter, and I am pleased to share that this is a relationship where I will continue to represent Kelly! This is where the focus on the broader role of the industry and the global impact of our choices truly came into focus.

I would be remiss not to acknowledge Delta and Marriott for keeping me safe and comfortable and throughout my travels, and Laura Sawyer for keeping me organized. And to the Talent and the Clients who have been our customers across the globe, thank you for sharing your needs, your trust, and your vision for a better future!

Most importantly, I must thank my family; for the embedding an extra dose of passion, curiosity, and courage into everything I do, for the support and encouragement to live, taste and feel every experience (even as we encountered bumps along the way), and for providing a constant purpose for everything I do…I love all of you deeply!

So now, when I pause and reflect on this journey, it is the people that I have had the opportunity to develop personal bonds with and work with who bring me the greatest joy and sense of accomplishment. I am humbled by all that they have accomplished….their current scope of responsibilities include CEO, Founder, President, Chief Talent Officer, Chief Diversity Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Growth Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, General Counsel, Board Advisor, Independent Contractor, Consultant, countless VPs, and so many on the front line who are still defining their “what’s next.” Then, in a testament to Kelly’s willingness to allow me to explore my full range of interests, I am in awe of the breadth of the functional areas that these same people are working within: corporate strategy, product development, recruiting, marketing, learning & development, analytics, innovation, digital strategy, IT, client services, sales, solution design, professional services, employee engagement, talent supply chain, growth enablement, research & development, human resources, talent acquisition, services procurement, legal, diversity-equity-inclusion, supplier development, remote workforce strategy, automation enablement, open talent evangelist, organizational design, global business services, and people analytics.

Uncle Junk will continue to muse, and the future of work will continue to fascinate and engage me, but for today, I pause to say, “Thank you, to everyone who has been a part of my journey; I am truly grateful!!”