19 Leaders Graduate from SRC Leadership Academy
On March 20, 2024, a group of 19 leaders from across the SRC companies celebrated their graduation from SRC’s Leading Edge Leadership Academy in Springfield, MO.
SRC created its leadership academy in 2019 because it recognized that the world continues to change at a rapid pace with new challenges that organizations are forced to adapt to, and the biggest barrier to thriving in the coming years is the scarcity of talent.
“There simply aren’t enough qualified people to fill the jobs we project with future growth,” said Krisi Schell, the Executive Vice President of HR at SRC Holdings, who led the way in creating SRC’s leadership academy. “That’s especially true for highly skilled workers. This program strengthens our leaders’ abilities to attract, retain, and empower our associates to meet our plans and the commitments to our customers.
Strengthening Frontline Leaders
SRC’s Leading Edge program was designed to give employee-owners from all ten SRC companies the opportunity to learn what it takes to lead in an open-book company through an intensive, on-the-job class.
The program, which involves more than 100 hours of “learn-it-do-it” training, is designed to give associates not only new leadership skills but also a greater knowledge of the engine that powers SRC’s transparent, owner-driven culture: The Great Game of Business. To help teach classes, SRC partnered with the People Centric Consulting Group and Great Game of Business coaches.
This year’s cohort of 19 leaders, SRC’s fifth—who represent a diverse range experience and expertise—spent time touring the organization’s multiple locations and facilities, which provide remanufacturing programs and logistics services for the agricultural, industrial, construction, truck, marine, and automotive markets.
Learning the Essentials of Leadership
The program’s coursework includes taking deep dives into a diverse range of topics such as the company’s total rewards package and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), business literacy and Great Game practices, employment law, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and presentation and communication skills. Participants also learned about the four key “pillars” every aspiring leader needs: relationship building, embracing change, developing talent, and strategic thinking.
The class of leaders also spent time learning more about how SRC uses the Great Game of Business to plan and adapt to the future through its High-Involvement Planning process, which helps the entire organization align around its five- and ten-year plans for growth.
Leading A Brighter Future
The graduation ceremony held in March included teams of participants sharing snapshots of what they learned over the past year—and examples of how they have already applied that knowledge back on the job by leading change with their teams.
As Krisi Schell said: “These leaders are our greatest teachers, and they can pass the principles they’ve learned to others. It has a powerful impact on the success of our business, associates, and our community.”
In other words, these leaders are already making SRC and their community stronger—and the best is yet to come.
Leading Edge Class 5 Graduates
Maggie Anderson
Tony Christopher
Ryan Coomer
Brett Freeman
Becka Frost
Micah Gonzales
Daniel Gordin
Alan Gorman
Braden Harris
Carla Howard
Shamari Jones
Hal King
Artemis Knight
Cody Merritt
Darrell Smith
Dylon Thompson
Jeremy Webb
Sean Williams
Ralph Wilson
