Every Job Gave Me a Different Perspective
When I think about my career, I can see how each job prepared me for the next one, even when I did not realize it at the time. I started in the automotive world, where the work was very hands-on. From there, I moved into management, spent time in transit, and eventually built my career in fleet operations.
On paper, those jobs might seem pretty different. To me, they are connected by the same basic idea. Things need to work, people need to communicate, and someone has to take responsibility when something goes wrong.
The way I learned those lessons changed with every job.
Working as a mechanic taught me to pay attention to details. You cannot overlook a problem just because everything looks fine from the outside. Sometimes the smallest issue can turn into something much bigger if nobody takes the time to find it.
That lesson has stayed with me in management.
My Automotive Background Taught Me to Get Involved
There is something about working with your hands that gives you a different appreciation for the work being done. When I was working around cars, I was not sitting on the sidelines telling someone else what needed to be done. I was getting involved and figuring things out myself.
That experience has influenced how I manage people.
I have never wanted to be the kind of manager who only knows what is happening because someone gives me a report. I want to understand the work. I want to know what the people on the ground are dealing with and what makes their job difficult.
At the same time, I have learned that being involved does not mean taking over.
That was something I had to learn as I moved into management. When you are used to fixing problems yourself, your first instinct can be to jump in and fix everything. But eventually you have to ask yourself whether that is actually helping your team.
Sometimes the right thing is to step in. Sometimes the better thing is to let someone else work through the problem while you provide support.
Figuring out when to do each one has taken experience.
Transit Taught Me to Think Beyond One Job
My time with Monterey-Salinas Transit gave me another perspective. In the automotive world, you can become very focused on the vehicle in front of you and the problem you need to solve. Transit operations made me think about the larger picture.
There are schedules, employees, equipment, customers, and unexpected problems that can affect an entire operation. One issue does not always stay isolated.
That taught me how important communication is.
You can have the best plan in the world, but if the people involved do not understand the plan, it is not going to work the way you intended. I learned to pay more attention to how information moves through an organization and how quickly a small communication problem can become an operational problem.
I also learned that you have to be prepared for things you cannot predict.
Anyone who has worked in operations knows that the plan can change quickly. You can spend time preparing for one situation and then have something completely different happen. You have to be able to adjust without losing sight of what needs to get done.
Fleet Operations Brought Everything Together
Moving into fleet operations with PG&E brought together many of the lessons I had picked up throughout my career.
There is still the mechanical side of the work. Vehicles and equipment have to be maintained and ready. There is also the operational side, where planning and communication become just as important. Then there is the people side, which I have found can be the most complicated part of all.
You can have a process for almost everything, but people do not always fit neatly into a process.
That does not mean standards are not important. I believe strongly in accountability, dependability, and doing what you say you are going to do. I also believe in giving more than what is expected when the situation calls for it.
But I have learned that leadership requires some flexibility.
Not every person needs to be managed in exactly the same way. Some people need more direction. Others do better when you give them room to work. Some employees will come to you with every question they have, while others will try to figure everything out themselves.
As a manager, I have had to learn how to recognize those differences.
I Still Learn From the People Around Me
One of the biggest things these different jobs have taught me is that I do not have everything figured out.
I have made mistakes. I have made decisions that I would handle differently today. I have also watched other people handle situations in ways that taught me something.
I try to pay attention to that.
I have always believed that you should keep learning, and I still try to learn new things every day. Sometimes that means learning something technical. Sometimes it means listening to someone with a completely different perspective. Other times it means looking back at something I did and asking whether there was a better way to handle it.
That last part can be difficult. Nobody enjoys looking at their own mistakes. But I think there is value in doing it honestly instead of pretending everything went perfectly.
The Common Thread Between All of It
When I look at my career now, I realize that automotive, transit, and fleet operations taught me different parts of the same lesson.
The automotive side taught me how important the details are. Transit taught me to look at the bigger operation and understand how different pieces affect one another. Fleet operations taught me how important it is to bring the equipment, processes, and people together.
Most importantly, moving between these industries taught me that there is no single way to manage people or solve problems.
You have to understand the situation in front of you. You have to listen. You have to be willing to make a decision when one is needed, but you also have to be willing to admit when you could have handled something better.
I would not trade the different stages of my career for a more straightforward path. Each one gave me experiences I could carry into the next. Looking back, that variety has probably shaped the way I work and manage people more than any single position ever could.