21 Sep Fleet Response Celebrates LEaD Graduates

Fleet Response would like to congratulate the graduates of the 2019 Leadership Education and Development (LEaD) Program. These employees completed an intensive program, learning more about leadership, personal and professional goals, and discovering their own strengths and how to apply them at work and in the community.

This year marks the second graduating class through LEaD. Members of the LEaD program were from several different departments at Fleet Response and include Matt Nycz, Rick Jacko, Kelly Medcalf, Nicolas Thomas, Sam McHenry, Natalie Angelo, Zak Etela. Program supervisors were Subrogation Supervisor, Noel Donato and Subrogation Manager, Megan Aloisi.

LEaD was created in 2018 to provide opportunities to master leadership and professional development competencies in our own employees. This program is part of the commitment we make to develop talent and represents our belief that moving talented people across our company and developing them with challenging opportunities are fundamental to personal and professional growth.

The program leverages the Leadership Team to provide the tools, techniques, and mentorship to become a more effective change maker and leader. This experience empowers the group to take bold risks, gain tools to accelerate change, and advance themselves, their team, and the organization.

“I joined LEaD initially because I wanted to gain the tools to become a leader at Fleet Response. It’s a great program that challenges you and gives you exposure to coursework that can be applied in the real world,” said Matthew Nycz. “A month after joining the LEaD program, I was promoted to a supervisor role in the Subrogation department. I went from learning the tools to become a leader to being a leader and putting what I learned in each LEaD module into practice daily.”

To be considered for  LEaD, the application process starts with a manager referring candidates into the program. Once the referrals have been made, an interview is then held with the candidates and LEaD supervisors along with members from the Leadership team.

Throughout the program, the group was presented with modules including Company Branding, Time Management and Delegation, Relationship Building and Communication, Coaching and Feedback, Professional Presence and Critical Thinking, Managing Results and Change Management, Presentation Skills, and Finance and Risk management. Modules were taught by members of the Leadership team.

“I have learned so much from this program,” said Zak Etela. “From the importance of communication and relationship building, coaching, time management, and delegation. All these modules have helped me in my current leadership role. This program has helped me become a more efficient and effective leader for my team.”

Nicolas Thomas stated that learning about time management and communication can be especially applied during times like these when employees are working remotely. “Learning and being able to apply these skills, truly helps out in my current situation working from home. Being able to effectively manage my time on various tasks and communicating with my team helps with my workflow.”

In addition to the eight modules that were taught, the group was also asked to plan and create all the activities for the 2019 Customer Service Week. Throughout the week, the group created daily games including Star of the Day, Lost Package Search, Guess the Executive Team Super Powers, Bingo, caramel apple dipping, Penny Wars, and a raffle.

“Pulling off a successful Customer Service Week, in my opinion was the LEaD teams’ biggest success,” said Nycz.

The group also created and implemented “Breakfast with Scott” which gave employees hired on within the past two years the opportunity in an informal setting to talk with CEO and President, Scott Mawaka and other members of the Leadership Team. These breakfasts allowed employees to better understand the history of Fleet Response, the vision for the future, and what makes us who we are. They were also able to ask Scott any questions they had.

Natalie Angelo said, “I feel that LEaD helped me grow at Fleet Response and find new ways of approaching different situations. It taught me different ways to effectively communicate not only with my peers but with our customers as well. Meeting with the executives in the modules was something that I felt made the program complete, to hear their insight and values really strengthened the program.”

As part of their graduation, LEaD members gave their final presentations for the program. Due to COVID, what would be an in-person gathering turned into virtual presentations from the participants. Members from the Leadership Team along with Fleet Response employees were able to watch and interact with each participant while they explained what they learned including the various modules, experiences and their application of it to their day to day work.

When asked where success was met through the program, Kelly Medcalf replied, “I met success when I communicated important things with my client in a leader type format, I stepped up my daily work, took on more responsibility, and allowed those module’s from LEaD to guide me through effective communication and peer interaction. I would encourage everyone to get into this program.”

After speaking with graduates, they all agreed that this was an invaluable experience, one that allowed them to grow personally and professionally, and will never forget. This program has been received with incredibly positive attitudes and proves that Fleet Response does live by the mission to provide innovative and effective service. A proven way to accomplish that goal is to invest in your employees.

Congratulations to the LEaD graduates!