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Keller Schroeder Completes Transition of Leadership

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Jeff Gorman has been appointed President of Keller Schroeder, effective January 1, 2017, replacing Larry May, who will be retiring in February, 2017 after 20 years with the company.  The leadership transition was announced in January, 2016.  Gorman will also be appointed as a Director and Board Chairman.

“Keller Schroeder has experienced significant growth over the past several years, and Jeff has been a key part of our success,” said May, “He is highly respected by our employee-owners and has an outstanding reputation with our clients.”  Gorman joined Keller Schroeder in 2004, and most recently served as Director of the Company’s Network Solutions Group, its largest and fastest-growing business unit.  Prior to Keller Schroeder, Jeff held technical and leadership positions with Ascension Health/CSC, Welborn Clinic, and South Western Communications.  He earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and his Masters of Public Service Administration from the University of Evansville.

Please join us in congratulating Jeff!

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by Carissa Carissa No Comments

Holiday Wishes

holiday-bannerDear Colleagues and Friends,

The holiday season is often a time for reconnecting with those closest to us and reflection on what and who are most important to us.  At Keller Schroeder, that means being thankful for each other (we really do like each other here!) and being thankful for you, our clients.  We enjoy many deep, enduring business relationships, even friendships, with our clients.  For this we are sincerely grateful.

It is our goal to be more than “resources” to you.  Our aim is to make a positive, personal impact every time we connect with our clients – helping you achieve your business objectives, but also leaving you in a better place, personally and professionally.  We appreciate every opportunity to serve you in 2016, and we look forward to new ones in 2017.

For me, this year-end is especially significant as I pass the leadership reins to Jeff Gorman, our new President, on January 1, 2017.  I have been richly blessed by the good friendships and experiences with my co-workers at Keller Schroeder and my client colleagues.  Thank you for the opportunities we’ve had to do some great work together.

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones in 2016, and best wishes for a prosperous 2017!  Not everyone subscribes to Jesus (the “birthday boy” of the Season) as Lord and Messiah, but all of us would agree He was a world-changer.  He certainly changed mine.

Sincerely,
Larry May
President
by Carissa Carissa No Comments

Ownership Thinking

how-to-choose-a-careerI was asked recently to speak to a group of college students about lessons learned from my 35 years in the marketplace.  As you can imagine, narrowing 35 years of experience down to a 30-minute talk was fairly challenging, but one of the topics I chose for these students – and a factor that has contributed significantly to our success at Keller Schroeder – is what I refer to as ownership thinking.

Keller Schroeder has been employee-owned for 13 years through an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), but ownership thinking has little to do with who actually holds the stock certificates.  There are lots of people who own companies, in full or in part, who do not practice ownership thinking.  And, there are lots of people who have never owned a share of stock in a company who are pros at ownership thinking.

choose-your-pathOwnership thinking is about choosing to believe – and it is a choice – that you have the most to do with your path and your destination – not your circumstances, and not the actions of others.  Psychologists refer to it as a strong “internal locus of control”.  Students who practice ownership thinking will blame themselves, not their teacher, for a poor outcome on an exam.  Leaders who practice ownership thinking will focus on shaping the future and influencing outcomes rather than reporting on the past or justifying underperformance.  Conversely, individuals who tend toward an “external locus of control” are quick to blame others or environmental factors for their misfortunes.

What is your bias?  Do you “own it”, look for solutions, and take action?  And would you agree that those who do so are far more pleasant to live with and work around than those who don’t?  Doesn’t it stand to reason that those who practice ownership thinking perform at a higher level and achieve more than those whose default is to look beyond their sphere of influence to explain most of what happens to them?

You and I as individuals can strengthen our tendency toward ownership thinking by surrounding ourselves with those who have a strong internal locus of control – those who habitually believe and act as though their own actions are more important than the hand they have been dealt.  As leaders, we can build a bias in our organizations toward ownership thinking by rewarding action and initiative over justification and deflection.

There are always environmental factors and circumstantial contributors to what we see and experience in business and in life, but if we choose to own, act and move, rather than blame, dwell and wait, we exponentially increase our chances for success.

Larry May – [President]

by Carissa Carissa No Comments

Larry May to Serve as USI’s 2016 Executive in Residence

dsc_0023Keller Schroeder’s President Larry May will serve as the 2016 Executive in Residence for the University of Southern Indiana’s Romain College of Business. His presentation, titled “The Value of Ownership and Running Shoes,” will be presented at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, October 5, in Carter Hall in University Center West. The presentation is free and open to the public.

The primary purpose of the Executive-in-Residence program is to provide opportunities for students to gain insights into the business world and into the thoughts and lives of business executives. This year is the 44th year for the program at USI.

More about Larry May from the University of Southern Indiana’s post :

Larry May led Keller Schroeder’s transition from its founding owners to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan structure in 2004, fostering a highly-engaged ownership culture that serves more than 200 clients and 85 employee-owners. Prior to Keller Schroeder, he held technical and leadership positions in IT and human resources with Bristol-Myers Squibb. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer systems management and a master’s degree in business administration from Murray State University.

usi-logoMay has been a resident of Evansville for 35 years and currently serves as the chairman of the board of United Way of Southwestern Indiana. He also serves as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children (CASA) volunteer for Vanderburgh County. May has served as chairman of the IT Alliance advisory board for the Romain College of Business at USI.

May resides in Evansville with his wife Tammie. They have three children daughter Diana; son, Travis; and daughter, Carly, who is a CPA and recent accounting graduate of USI.

by Carissa Carissa No Comments

Vision Trumps Strategy

We businesspeople love our strategies.  We conduct strategy meetings and summits, develop strategic plans, and more.  And yet on a recent mission trip to El Salvador I was reminded, perhaps more vividly than ever, that vision trumps strategy.  If you don’t know your destination, a map for getting there is pretty useless.

 Sus-HijosKurt Ackermann is a missionary and founder of Sus Hijos (Spanish for “His Children”), a non-profit organization in El Salvador dedicated to serving orphaned and abandoned children, under-resourced families, and the homeless in this impoverished, crime-laden Central American country. This year was the second time I had served on a team hosted by Kurt and Sus Hijos.

To summarize Kurt’s passion for El Salvador, I would say he wants to help kids and families from “hard places” find their way socially, economically, and spiritually.  It should be no surprise, then, that a Sus Hijos mission team agenda typically includes serving and doing projects in orphanages, prisons, and transition homes for older youth.  Would it surprise you, though, if Sus Hijos opened a United States-themed diner in an upscale business and retail district in the capital city of San Salvador?

States DinerOn a trip with Kurt four years ago, I heard him share his dream of opening the “States Diner” as it is now called, a place where young adults who “age out” of orphanages can find employment, job skills training, and income when they would otherwise have nowhere to go but the streets.  Kurt didn’t come to El Salvador to start a diner.  He was drawn there by a vision to help lift up struggling kids and families in a country where there are very limited government support services.

While enjoying a couple of meals at the diner on my recent trip, I had the benefit of seeing its impact firsthand.  I saw hard-working, hope-filled smiling faces who are learning how to work, improving their English, learning new skills, and planning for their next step up after the Diner.  It was and is a highly-effective strategy for helping kids from “hard places,” and the strategy was born out of a compelling vision, not the other way around.

As business leaders, we can learn from Sus Hijos.  “Start with Why” (as eloquently suggested by Simon Sinek in his book and his popular video at TED.com), building a clear vision of why your organization or team exists.  Then “begin with the end in mind” (per Stephen Covey in his classic, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”).  The strategy for getting there is important and a worthy investment of time and energy, but only after your organization is healthy enough to know why and where you are going.

Planning and strategy have always been in my comfort zone as a businessman, yet the longer I work the less stoked I get about planning and strategy, and the more I find myself asking about the purpose and the destination of those plans and strategies.  The more I focus on the destination, the more I find my colleagues joining me with inspiration and aspiration for excellence.  As Kurt is so effectively demonstrating in El Salvador, a leader with a purpose can make a deep and lasting impact.

Larry May – [President]

by Carissa Carissa No Comments

Cruise Control

KS Begin I-69As a long-time resident of Evansville, I had heard about the benefits of I-69 so many times, and had awaited its arrival for so long, that I actually became a bit numb to it.  But on a recent drive to Indianapolis, I was reawakened to its benefits.  I packed and dressed as usual for my trip, and then headed east on Lloyd Expressway to connect with I-69 north for the first time since it had been opened all the way to Bloomington.

It wasn’t until about 10 miles north of Evansville that I realized just how easy this 100-mile stretch was going to be.  I could set my cruise control only once, and my Toyota Highlander would need very little attention from me for the next 90 minutes.  All the stories and positive spin about I-69 were only theory to me until I experienced some of its advantages tangibly:

  1. Time savings
  2. Safety – reduced risk of obstacles and unanticipated hazards
  3. Predictability – reduced uncertainty about traffic conditions
  4. Opportunity – to think and plan and invest my attention and thoughts on things other than the challenges of two-lane traffic

KS Cruise ControlAren’t these benefits similar to what you are expecting out of your information technology investments?  As a business leader or IT professional, you are looking for opportunities to save time, reduce risk, and experience stable, predictable outcomes for non-mission-critical investments.  But you are also looking for advantage – leveraging technology to help you build and expand your business, create a greater impact, and make a lasting difference for the stakeholders to whom you are accountable.

The problem for I-69, and the similar challenge for IT solutions, is that the benefits are often difficult to imagine or quantify until you experience them firsthand.  When we can actually see the efficiencies, or feel the effects of streamlined operations, or close on a new opportunity made possible by a strategic investment months or years ago, the critics tend to move on to another topic, and the beneficiaries  wonder why it took us so long to deliver.

Those of us who might be championing a change, an investment, or a challenge to the status quo should expect a gravitational pull back toward what is comfortable and non-disruptive.  Like a rubber band being stretched, there is a constant tension against change and a propensity to snap back into a place that is normal and familiar.

Leaders must do more than dream about opportunity and investment.  We need to actively paint a picture of how things can be better so others can share the vision with us, and then we must bring people together who can execute a strategy to get there.

As for me, I’m thankful for an easier drive to Indianapolis.  The opportunity to set my cruise control today is made possible by those in years past who were willing to envision a better future, sell the benefits, and invest heavily toward the desired outcome.

Larry May – [President]

by Carissa Carissa No Comments

Leadership Transition at Keller Schroeder

Jeff GormanAs we transition into a new year, it is my pleasure to announce an upcoming leadership transition at Keller Schroeder.  I will be retiring from the Company in first quarter 2017, and our Board of Directors has selected Jeff Gorman as my successor.

Many of you know Jeff already as our Business Unit Director for Keller Schroeder’s Network Solutions Group (NSG).  Jeff will become President of Keller Schroeder effective January 1, 2017, and will be elected our Board Chairman.  I will continue as an owner and a member of the Board for the foreseeable future, but will not have any day-to-day responsibilities after first quarter of next year.

I have seen many changes at Keller Schroeder since my appointment to this position in January, 1999.  We have seen growth in our size, reputation, and impact on our community.  Perhaps most notably, we became employee-owned in 2004 through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).  I believe the strong, positive culture of excellence, substance, and accountability emerging from that transaction has made us better for you, our clients, and for the employee-owners who serve you.

This is a great time for me to step away, as Keller Schroeder is poised for even greater impact in the years ahead, and Jeff is uniquely suited to lead us forward.  Jeff joined Keller Schroeder in 2004 and has overseen tremendous growth in the size, reach, and reputation of NSG, our largest and fastest-growing services business unit.  He is a key member of our Operations Team and has a solid grasp on all segments of our business:  IT consulting and staffing services, project management, and value-added resale and integration of hardware, software, and cloud-based solutions.

Jeff possesses a deep and diverse background in leadership at Keller Schroeder, and at prior employers including Ascension Health/CSC, Welborn Clinic, and South Western Communications.  Most importantly, Jeff is a person of integrity.  He is an outstanding representative of our client-focused, people-centric, ownership culture, and has earned broad “followship” across Keller Schroeder and among many of our clients (see my last newsletter article on this subject).

Jeff earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and his Masters of Public Service Administration from the University of Evansville.  He and his wife Amy are natives of Evansville and are avid Aces fans and Hoosier fans (some of us had to overlook the IU part when the Board chose him for this role).  He has three children – Jacob, Caroline, and Allison.

We were intentional about making this announcement a full year in advance of my retirement to give Jeff and me the opportunity to work closely in 2016 to ensure a seamless transition.  Those of you who have interacted with members of the Keller Schroeder team know that our success has been tethered directly to the outstanding skills and conscientious work ethic of our employee-owners.  I have been blessed to lead such a talented group of professionals, and I believe Jeff is stepping into one of the best jobs on the planet.

I could not be more excited about Keller Schroeder’s future under Jeff’s leadership.

 

Larry May

President

by Carissa Carissa No Comments

Followship

follow-the-leader

There is much written and taught on the topic of leadership.  While the most often-cited examples of influential leaders are those who run large organizations or hold positions of authority, we are inspired when we hear stories of those who have emerged as powerful leaders from unexpected places having no obvious resources or credentials to propel them.

The true indicator of all leadership is “followship”.  If you are a leader, others are following you.  If no one is following or being influenced by you, you are not a leader regardless of your position, title, or place in society.

Malala Biography

One of the greatest recent stories of influence and followship emerging unconventionally is the young life of Malala Yousafzai.  Listening to her autobiography with my 12 year-old daughter in recent weeks, I have been amazed at the amount of influence this 18 year-old Pakistani activist has wielded for the cause of female education.  In 2014 she became the youngest-ever recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize, and even before an assassination attempt on her life in 2012, she had garnered a huge following for her efforts at making known the suppression of young girls’ educational opportunities in many parts of the world.

Malala had followship long before she was recognized as a leader.  You can probably point to some key people in your life who have led and influenced you profoundly without positional authority or an overtly-stated mission to do so.  Followship is earned, not endowed.  If this is true, then how do we earn it?

I want to follow you (1) if I understand and identify with where you want me to go, and (2) only when I conclude you are credible and worthy of my trust.  Stated another way, influential leaders must (1) articulate vision or direction, and (2) demonstrate aptitude or expertise, along with actions, in support of that vision or direction.  If I perceive your behavior to be inconsistent with where you are asking me to follow you, the deal is off – I’m not following.

To summarize, then, followship is a required indicator of leadership, and leadership is all about the person, not the position.  The leader may garner influence through touchy-feely factors such as demeanor, charisma, and enthusiasm.  But a large part of becoming an influential leader involves much less sensational factors, such as simply following through on what you say you are going to do.  Credibility and trust are most often built by consistent performance over long periods of time.  This doesn’t make for riveting leadership writings, but it is how many leaders have achieved great things through groups of passionate, devoted followers.

An important point for all of us:  we may not possess personality traits typically ascribed to great leaders, but all of us can influence and lead by being clear about where we are going and ensuring that our priorities and our actions are consistent with our destination.  If we do, others will likely follow.

 

Larry May

President

by Carissa Carissa No Comments

Bandwagon Thinking

Cards UKI don’t get it, but people sometimes accuse me of being a “bandwagon” guy.   I’m a huge St. Louis baseball fan and a lifelong University of Kentucky basketball fan.  Just because the Cardinals have won more World Series Championships than any other National League team, and the Wildcats have won more games than any other Division I college team, does that make me a “bandwagon” fan?

 

It’s not too hard to imagine how a little guy growing up in Paducah, Kentucky would be indoctrinated as a follower of both of these sports “religions.” Admittedly, though, it’s not too hard to follow the Cardinals and the Wildcats.  They are winners.  Most people enjoy winning more than losing.  And yes, I am going to resist any temptation to reference the Chicago Cubs in this article.

 

While my sports loyalties subject me to some unfounded criticism (heck, I even have a license plate on the front of my SUV espousing my commitment to both teams – shouldn’t that count for something?), being a bandwagon person can be a very good thing when it comes to choosing your information technology partners, solutions, and strategies.  You need to choose proven winners – paths, organizations and people with demonstrated success over the long run.

 

At Keller Schroeder, we are well-informed and connected with the latest tools, vendors, technologies, and processes to help you leverage the best outcome for your business.  We have been intentional about avoiding the “bleeding edge.”  We encourage and embrace innovation and change, but we believe in doing our research, aligning ourselves with successful partners, products, and techniques, and focusing on substance and excellence over form and fashion.

 

We may be accused of being “bandwagon-types”, but we are okay with that reputation.  Picking the underdog might be fun in sports – even profitable at times at the race track – but it is not what you expect of us.  Whether it is the employee-owners we recruit, or the vendors we partner with, or the solutions we recommend, we look for experience and a proven track record of performance.  We hope you appreciate this about us.

 

Larry May

President

by Carissa Carissa No Comments

If I Could Hire Your Next CIO

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If I were your company’s next CEO looking to hire your company’s next CIO (Chief Information Officer), here’s the kind of person I would be looking for:

1.   Someone who cares more about our business than our data center. With the speed of change in technology, and the emerging opportunities to use it for strategic advantage, an aptitude for understanding and applying technology is no doubt an important trait. The leader of your IT organization must be able to articulate, educate and effectively deploy technology in the best interest of your business.  The best technologies, however, are of limited value if solutions are not embedded deeply within your organization’s purpose and plans, or if stakeholders do not buy in on the benefits.  All good organizations begin with “why?”, and the business or mission drives the “why” of technology, not vice versa.  Alignment between business strategy and IT strategy is incredibly important when resources are limited and timing is of the essence.

2.   Someone who cares more about people than projects. A repeatable, credible project management process, resulting in disciplined, in-scope delivery of well-tested solutions is the hallmark of an effective IT team.  The important thing to remember, though, is that good people deliver, and weak ones do not.  People want to work in teams where they are genuinely valued, where co-workers support and care about each other, and where they can see the positive impact of their work.  If you start with people and culture, then build good project management and execution disciplines, the results will follow.  The best processes and practices within a toxic work environment will produce temporary success at best, and even those achievements will be eroded over time by higher-than-necessary employee turnover.

3.   Someone who cares more about learning than knowing. We IT folks like to be the experts.  And if you are depending on us, you want us to be experts in functional areas not well-understood by other key leaders in the organization.  Routinely, however, we find the IT environment changing at a pace which does not allow us to know everything about everything.  IT leaders need to be lifelong learners with enough humility to (a) know when they need to ask for skills or advice from outside the organization, (b) be willing to admit weaknesses and failures in order to change and get better, and (c) network actively with internal stakeholders and external peers to ensure their organization is operating at peak performance.

I love the pace of change in the “tools of the trade” of IT, but I firmly believe the winners – from programmers and engineers through project managers and CIOs – understand and give proper attention to the relational and missional facets of the IT tools, projects, and solutions they are depending on to drive success.

 

Larry May

President

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