Leadership Q&A…

This section of The Journey provides a glimpse into the lives of our company’s leadership—what they think about the business, where they’d like to see us go in the future, what occupies their time while at work and at home, their interests, hobbies, and ideas. In a nutshell—who they are and what makes them tick.

For this edition of The Journey, we asked our senior leadership to provide us with their favorite quote and why it resonated with them. Here’s what some of them had to say: 

Kevin Connolly

Chief Financial Officer

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

—Henry Ford
I like this quote because it highlights the importance of someone’s attitude towards problem solving, trying something new, etc. It’s human nature to find the reasons something won’t work or can’t happen but having a positive mindset when planning for and tackling an issue can legitimately impact the probability of success.

Stefania Dobre

Executive Director, Medical Group

“The future depends on what you do today.”

—Mahatma Gandhi

I live by this quote and am a firm believer that consistency above all will result in the greatest achievements. It motivates me to push a little harder each day to become a better person in both my personal and professional life. By understanding and implementing small daily habits, we constantly keep ourselves engaged and focused on the bigger goal for the future. I refuse to make a New Year’s resolution and, if an idea strikes, I implement it the same day with utmost passion and excitement. It’s always “Day 1” instead of “One Day…”.

Dan Gordon

Executive Director—Aviation

“What you do speaks so loud, that I cannot hear what you say.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

I appreciate authenticity and to be authentic our actions need to align with our words.  Our true selves are revealed more by our actions than by what we say.  This applies beyond the workplace to our personal lives as well and really reveals our core values.

Tonya Torgeson

Executive Director—Growth

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”

—Winston Churchill

To me, this quote reflects a positive mental mindset that allows you to acknowledge failure is part of the process to learn from mistakes, so that we may ultimately achieve success. We may sometimes find ourselves stuck on the negative retrospective (looking in the rearview mirror) so we have to choose to think positively. Maintaining an optimistic attitude keeps your focus forward-facing, encourages positive brainstorming for solutions, builds resilience to adversity, and spurs conscientious actions to attain your goals. Anyone involved with business development or operational execution should strive to adopt a positive mental mindset, especially during times of unexpected change or unanticipated events.