Peter Nesmith (IL '13), vice president, Fifth Third Bank

by Peter Nesmith, Ignite Louisville Class of 2013 –

It is hard to believe my Ignite Louisville classmates and I will graduate from this amazing journey in less than two months.  This program has been a true education in building trust, leadership competencies, communication skills, conflict resolution, and relationship building, just to name a few.  Since October, we have had the privilege of learning from leaders from highly-regarded organizations such as the United States Army, Norton Healthcare, YUM! Brands, and, most recently, UPS.

Although we were not able to gear up in brown shirts and brown shorts, we had a wonderful experience on our visit to UPS.  You have all heard the memorable tag line for UPS, “We Love Logistics.”  Well, that saying couldn’t be more true! The folks at UPS live and breathe logistics.  They take employee safety and the customer experience very seriously by establishing the most efficient processes and systems.  In their world, minutes and seconds mean the difference between failure and success.  By touring their Global Operations Center, we were able to witness the well-oiled machine that is UPS.

From a leadership perspective, Rhonda Clark, Regional Plant Engineering Manager, shared with us how UPS manages their internal talent and creates an engaged workforce.  They understand the direct effect that their employees have on the customer experience.  UPS has a unique way of creating and sharing their strategic vision by cascading it down from the top of the house.  Houston Mills, Airline Director of Safety, shared his leadership story with our group.  He stressed the importance of getting out of your comfort zone, challenging yourself, and building strong internal and external relationships.

The Leadership Louisville Center understands the importance of developing emerging leaders for the betterment of our community.  In four short months, we have been given the tremendous opportunity to perform meaningful work for deserving non-profit agencies in the Louisville Metro area.  All the while, we have been creating lifelong relationships and friendships with other eager, young professionals that were total strangers just four short months ago.

It doesn’t get much better than that!