Issue link: http://digital.corporatepress.com/i/186210
PROFILE G lenn Smith had his first job interview at the age of 47—after 24 years in the Naval Civil Engineer Corps. That was in 1997, and he still remembers a certain apprehension. "I had no idea how to convince someone to hire me," he recalls. But he needn't have worried. That first interview was with Bryn Mawr College; he was hired as director of facilities services and has been there ever since. Smith points out that a number of APPA colleagues are Navy CEC veterans, and with good reason. Many of the skills he developed in the Navy have served him well in his current career—especially leadership. LEARNING LEADERSHIP Raised in a small town in upstate New York, Smith attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on a Navy ROTC scholarship. Freshman year, he met his future wife Susan; they were married after he graduated with a BS in civil engineering, and he stayed on for another year to earn a master's in the field. Smith was commissioned as an ensign at age 23 and immediately thrown into leadership roles, with older people reporting to him. He had no formal leadership training. "I led by intuition," he says. Fortunately, his intuition was good and is still the basis of his approach. "I learned to rely on the expertise of people who worked for me. And by listening to them and supporting them I an tried to earn their respect," he says. About 15 years later, the Navy started to embrace Total Quality Leadership. Smith heard Dr. W. Edwards Deming talk about leadd Demi ership. "His message," Smith says, "was simply this: Your job as a leader is to restore pride and joy in the workplace. Create an environment where people truly enjoy and take pride in what they do—where they become intrinsically motivated—and they will constantly amaze you." Subsequently, Smith augmented Deming's Celebrating the Past ring the Future A Profile of President Glenn Smith BY ANITA BLUMENTHAL Facilities Manager | september/october 2013 | 13