So, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic in early June as Memorial Day has passed by so quickly and with recent poignant graduation speeches still in my main memory. This makes me think that this time of year is not a bad opportunity to reflect on the people that have made an impact in our lives, particularly as it relates to picking a career and advancing in it. 
For me, 2017 marked my 31st year in the professional work world that was preceded by a wide variety of odd jobs ranging from newspaper routes to caddying, working as a dishwasher, pizza delivery guy, grocery store bagger and produce clerk, grass cutter and many others. Then, after graduating from Northern Illinois University’s College of Business I started my career in consulting – first deep in technology and later more operations & strategy, and finally blending all three, when starting TSI.
When I look back, I can produce quite a list of talented people that either I worked with, worked for or simply was able to observe, and their talents jumped right out. When I was at Anderson Consulting, now Accenture, people such as: Stan Smith, Jeff Cazel, Bruce Quade, Yom Senegor, Tyler Viernow, Rob Peterson and Karen Karbin impressed me with their professionalism, intelligence, creativity and work ethic.
After that, before I started TSI, I worked at two other consulting firms. While there, people like Debbie Bricker, Paul Himes and Mike Ripley impressed me with their entrepreneurial spirit, resourcefulness and perseverance.
Over the years, I have had the good fortune of being mentored by super smart, no nonsense, yet thoughtful people like Eric Wasowicz and Dave Pittman. And, in a more informal way, I had a chance to participate with David Graf, Dennis Barsema and Craig Funkhouser on advisory boards for a few years, and I learned so much just watching and listening to them.
TSI has been up and growing for over 22 years and I can think of a number of TSI’s clients that have made their mark with me, but I think I’ll save that for another post.
I’m reasonably certain that none of these people understand the positive impact they made on me and my career. But hopefully through this post, they will know that they made a very positive difference in me.
I hope this post provokes a few questions for you (that I would enjoy hearing your comments about):
- Who has made an impact in your career?
- How have they helped, coached, mentored or guided you?
Feel free to “tag” these individuals on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook as a way of acknowledging their impact on you.
You can also Contact Us if you’d like to speak with Dan Feely, or any other members of TSI!
