NVL Team Members Join Next Generation of Leaders

BROADVIEW, Ill. - June 5, 2020 - PRLog -- True leaders aren't satisfied merely thinking outside the box.

Instead, infinite inquisitiveness compels them to break open that figurative cardboard cube to seek powerful new perspectives.

Two National Van Lines employees are pioneering their own paths toward superior insight-and-oversight capabilities after recently graduating from the American Moving & Storage Association's Leaders Program, which focuses on creating what AMSA calls "the next generation of leaders."

Director of Agency Services Shelly Zachary and Customer Experience Manager Sue Mackey found the training to be a boundary-demolishing experience.

"The training really makes you think about the type of manager/leader you really are," Shelly Zachary said. "It gives you the chance to analyze yourself and provides tools and tips for ways you can change or improve your leadership style. In addition to learning about our own leadership style, we also learned how to interact with leaders who have a different style."

Previous AMSA Leaders Program grads have moved on to run successful companies or assume AMSA leadership roles. NVL Safety Director Laura Manning (https://www.nationalvanlines.com/press-release/nvl-direct...), a 2019 graduate, earlier this year became Chair of AMSA's Safety Management Committee (https://www.moving.org/contact/committees/safety-manageme...).

"The thing that surprised me about the program is how much it encourages growth on both a professional and personal level," Shelly said. "It really emphasized for me how interconnected our professional and personal lives really are."

Shelly already has expanded her sphere of responsibilities. She now has full responsibility for overseeing National Van Lines' biannual conventions, starting with the November 2021 event in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.

"The materials you go over in the class make you think about problem-solving in a different way," Sue Mackey said. "You learn you need to look at the bigger picture when you are making decisions."

Sue has put her newfound skills to work during the pandemic as a member of the company's COVID-19  Back to Work task force. Additionally, her input has proven essential to testing and training the company's new NVL+ software, which manages interstate-moving customer data.

"When you find yourself having to make a decision on something you have done before, you just think about it differently," Sue said. "I would recommend others participate in the program. It does make you think strategically in the diverse moving industry. There are never two days the same and, when you think you have heard or seen it all, something new comes along."