LEAD Grads to Trucking Execs: Encouragement and Creativity Key to Developing Future Leaders

 “A leader’s power does not lie in their title, designation, position, seniority or connections. A leader’s power is in their ability to inspire others to act.”

These were the words of Tom Hayes from York Transportation Group as he described his experience in the Next Generation Certificate Program to a packed room of trucking industry executives at OTA’s annual executive conference in early November.

Tom enlightened those in attendance to some of the challenges young leaders can face when trying to develop their leadership skills in the workplace, and how the Next Generation program empowered him to become more confident in his leadership abilities:

“For a large portion of my career, I have had a middle management position…I have employees that look to me daily for guidance, instructions and motivation. There have been times throughout my career that I needed these things as well and did not get it. This is why programs like the Next Generation Certificate Program are essential for the development and encouragement of today’s leader, because sometimes leaders need to be led too!”

The Next Generation Certificate program is an intensive leadership development initiative for the industry’s future leaders, and delivered by the highly esteemed Humphrey Group, the objective of the four-part certificate program is to strengthen a new leader’s ability to inspire action in others – from drivers, to customers, to executive teams.

After completing the Next Generation Program, graduates were left trying to answer, “what’s next?” OTA’s LEAD Committee developed a follow-up program with the Schulich School of Business at York University called the OTA-SEEC Leaders Certificate Program.

Designed to build on the skills in the Next Generation program, the OTA-SEEC Leaders Certificate program focuses on the theme of innovation, with the intention of creating an innovative mindset within leaders and using that mindset to drive innovation in the workplace.

Josh Wartman from Hitachi Capital Canada delivered an engaging speech to the audience on behalf of his fellow classmates, lauding his experiences in the program, the lasting friendships he has made, and lessons learned from his experience. In particular, he asked the leaders in the room to recognize their employees, and encourage them in the workplace:

“A key takeaway for me from the SEEC course is this: everyone has the ability to be creative. Successful leaders are good at recognizing creativity. They understand what it is that their team-members are good at and then encourage them to do that thing.”

Both graduating classes comprised nearly 40 up-and-coming industry managers and executives (both carriers and suppliers). This format offered graduates an opportunity to learn, network, and meet professionals experiencing similar career growth opportunities and challenges. (See list of graduates below).

Stay tuned for the registration details for the 2019 programs which will be released in the coming weeks. For more information on either program please contact lak.shoan@ontruck.org.

OTA extends its congratulations to the class of 2018:

Next Generation Certificate Program

OTA-SEEC Leaders Certificate Program