Photo By Sgt. Ian Leones | Mike Gilbert, director of operations with Amazon Fulfillment, speaks to senior Marines...... read more read more
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SAN FRANCISCO - Marines and Sailors with 4th Marine Logistics Group, Marine Forces Reserve, participated in the 4th MLG Senior Leadership Seminar at the Marines Memorial Club and Hotel in San Francisco, Sept. 26-27, 2015.
The goal of the seminar was to invoke discussion amongst the senior leaders of 4th MLG and to learn how successful civilian corporations approach the principles and practice of leadership.
"We owe it to our institution to make sound leadership decisions based on the guidance of our commander and our senior leaders," said Col. Todd A. Holmquist, chief of staff, 4th MLG. “To do that, we constantly study the principles of leadership and how we affect leadership across our organization.”
During the first part of the seminar, the attendees shared best practices and capabilities which they have implemented within their commands throughout the year.
“Our commanders are meeting the challenges of a constrained training environment with the same effectiveness as the active component,” Holmquist said.
Often times, commanders face the same types of challenges in meeting the annual training requirements, but develop unique solutions to overcome these obstacles.
"I don't have all the correct answers, but listening to how my colleagues meet challenges lets me jot some of those thoughts down so that I can apply them to my own regiment," said Col. Joseph N. Raftery, commanding officer, Combat Logistics Regiment 4, 4th MLG. “We are mutually benefiting each other by sharing these ideas.”
In the second part of the seminar, the Marines and Sailors watched presentations by speakers from private sector companies, including Microsoft and Amazon, in order to understand how these companies approach leadership.
“Coming from the Marine Corps, I brought the core leadership principles I developed as a Marine leader,” said Colby Williamson, a recruiter with Amazon and former Marine infantry squad leader. “The difference at Amazon is that you can't give orders the way you can in the military. You have to fine tune your interpersonal skills and solicit feedback in order to influence your team members. I think these are things I could have applied more in the Marine Corps.”
In addition, 4th MLG’s senior leaders had the opportunity to tour Microsoft’s San Francisco Sales Office, where the Microsoft staff taught the Marines how they can leverage their existing technologies to enhance their leadership and management capabilities.
“It’s our responsibility as senior leaders in our organization to continuously evaluate our own capabilities and to grow,” Holmquist said. “Whether it is through military education or through other means, there are always opportunities to develop and grow our organization.”
Through this productive discussion of leadership, the Marines and Sailors strived to make 4th MLG ready and responsive to the country’s future challenges.
| Date Taken: | 09.28.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.29.2015 16:45 |
| Story ID: | 177431 |
| Location: | SAN FRANCISCO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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