John Flood, Director, North American Sales Team, Motorola, Inc., Lake Forest MBA Class of 2000
John Flood (Class of 200), Director, North American Sales Team for Motorola, has had a fascinating career.
John’s professional life began as a ROTC (Reserves Officer Training Corps) officer serving in the Demilitarized Zone in Korea and in Desert Storm, Iraq, not to mention jumping out of airplanes at 2,000 feet as part of the Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina!
After serving in the Army for nine years, John was ready to enter the corporate arena and provide a more stable life for his young family. He was hired by Motorola as a Manufacturing Line Manager, supervising the production of cellular phones in Harvard, Illinois. Within five years, however, John foresaw that most manufacturing jobs were going overseas and knew he needed to broaden his overall business knowledge.
Motorola’s affiliation with LFGSM and seeing first hand the success of other Motorola employees who were LFGSM alumni, enticed John to begin his MBA, which he completed in just two years.
“My LFGSM education has been essential to my career,” says John, “As I expanded my understanding of the language of business and built my general business acumen – my overall confidence increased. I also improved my critical thinking, communication and presentation skills. I know how to prepare, package, and deliver content and I am very comfortable talking to anyone – customers, vice presidents, at town hall meetings and in employee training sessions.”
John’s LFGSM MBA also helped him to refine his leadership skills. Evolving from a command and control leadership style, John was able to master a more sophisticated negotiate and influence approach.
John was already well-disciplined, detail-oriented and process-driven. His MBA-honed skills and approach opened the door to higher management positions, with more strategic decision-making, problem-solving and relationship-building responsibilities.
Every day John uses his new arsenal of skills and knowledge at work. “I love interacting with my sales teams, working triage to address the concerns of our customers, and managing internal processes at Motorola,” shares John, “Since my MBA, I have been chosen for new positions because I am known as someone who can build a process from the ground up, who will use my expertise to turn around problems and challenges, and who is a team player.”
John’s Lake Forest MBA impacts other important areas of his life as well. “My favorite “paid hobby” is serving as a state certified baseball umpire where I have to be fair and consistent, know all the rules and be very quick on my feet,” shares John. And then there is John’s “second full time job” as a Lake Forest MBA faculty member. These important commitments also benefit from John’s MBA skills, such as being decisive and speaking in front of others.
“I was scared my first day teaching, but now it's fun. I like sharing best practices and real-life experiences with my students,” says John, “And I feel good about enriching their lives. Over the years I’ve been privileged to teach nearly 200 students, impacting their careers for the better.” The feeling is certainly reciprocated by his students, who awarded him the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2004.
Army Officer, Manufacturing Manager, Umpire, Faculty Member, and Regional Sales Quality Director. Clearly John Flood is an impressive and diverse individual. He has accomplished a great deal thanks to the discipline he learned in the Army, the experience he gained at Motorola, the education he received from LFGSM, and lots of hard work. Stay tuned, because what is most amazing, is that he’s not done yet!
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