Today marks 12 years since I joined Ford AV. I had forgotten the date until it showed up on our internal page and the congratulations started arriving. Thank you to everyone who sent one.
In 2014 our Houston division hired a bass trombonist as a Project Manager. I had spent the previous 4 years running technical operations at a performing arts center near Boston and had never worked for an integrator. Somebody in Houston took a chance on me that year, and most of what followed came from people doing the same thing.
As a PM, my job was straightforward. Deliver the project, take care of the customer, and leave the division's reputation a little better on every job that closed out well.
Becoming Job Center Division Manager in 2017 changed the math. I was responsible for the install techs, PMs, superintendents, and engineers who delivered our work, and my results depended on theirs. During those years I also took over our corporate PM training, which I still count as the proudest work of my career.
Today I run the Houston division, and the scope has widened again to sales, customer relationships, and the health of the whole operation.
Across all 3 roles the lesson has held. A division grows when good people get the opportunity, the resources, and the backing to succeed, which is exactly what I was given in 2014.
What we've built in Houston over 12 years belongs to the people who built it with me. I'm looking forward to what we do next.
