4 minute read
PARTING WORDS
Show Me the Way
How many of you live and work in the same town as you were raised? Not very many I would guess. How many of you stay in touch with friends you went to school with? How many of you get back to your hometown on a regular basis? I am fortunate that I can say “Yes” to a couple of these questions. Just recently the good people at RILA completed their annual asset protection conference in my home state not far from my hometown. So, guess where I made a visit before the show started.
Over the years when someone would ask me where I grew up, I always said a small town about sixty miles from Indianapolis. It is still small, still sixty miles away from “Naptown,” and I still have school friends who live there. I drove around town, visited with relatives, and had lunch with a couple of friends I went to school there from the third grade through high school. Is it just me or do you think when you see friends from school, they always look older than you? Anyway, it was fun to recount the good old days and excellent therapy to remember where you came from. I recommend it.
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Number 42, Jackie Robinson.
I also recommend the RILA conference. It seemed like every session I attended focused on leadership—being a good leader or showing others the way. An executive panel was a perfect example of dynamic leaders showing others the way. Jay Fogg, senior vice president of operations at Bloomingdale’s, was an exceptional moderator with a relaxed, confident, probing style. Fogg grew up in the LP side of the business and was himself an A-plus leader before other parts of the business needed him more. Bob Oberosler, group vice president of LP for Rite Aid, who spends a great deal of his time trying to create new and different solutions for our business was superb in his spot-on responses and even turned the tables on Fogg by asking him questions. Libby Rabun, vice president of LP for AutoZone passionately spoke of the value of advanced education through school, certifications, and conferences. Mark Stinde, vice president of asset protection at 7-Eleven, drove home the education piece with the personal example of how we all can find the time if we desire to go back to school. While Mark leads the AP effort at 7-eleven, he also finds time to work on his MBA.
An undergraduate student session featured presentations on “Millennial Customers’ Perception of AP Strategies.” With a title like that you have to pay attention. Under the mentorship of LP professionals representing companies across the U.S., each student conducted research, performed community surveys, and prepared presentations. The results of the studies were presented, and the students fielded questions from the audience. Industry leaders then offered their insight to the students’ work. The session was a learning opportunity for the student, but also underscored the patience and mentorship that is a strength of today’s LP leaders.
A leadership session featuring Debbie Maples, Melissa Donaldson, and Hanan Darwish focused on creating a workplace culture that fosters inclusiveness, promotes diversity, and embraces team member’s unique skills and qualities and affords them the opportunity to fully participate in creating business success. Each speaker challenged participants to become ambassadors of change—reflecting on their teams, their programs, and themselves.
There were several other sessions that I attended and always seemed to find a leadership thread within them. Good that this industry is on a high note with quality leaders willing to show others the way. And good that it happened so close to my hometown. I am pretty proud of being called a “Hoosier.”
Jim Lee, LPC Executive Editor
Customer expectations are higher – we have to up our game
LP can lead this conversation
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And better information means better customer experience
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