Name: Jermaine Williamson

Title: CEO and Principal Consultant

Organisation: JLW Management Consulting, LLC

Jermaine Williamson has nearly 30 years of Recruiting Leadership experience on all levels including COO, VP Operations, Vice President of Talent Acquisition, Director of Talent Acquisition, Manager, Talent Acquisition, Full-Life Cycle Recruiter, Team Lead and Recruiting Management in industries including but not limited to:

Commercial, Government Contracting, IT, Research and Development, Scientific, Financial Services, Engineering, Business Development, Cyber Security and Intelligence community for companies in public and private sectors. He has extensive experience consulting with executive level leadership to define HR, recruiting strategies and sourcing techniques for hard to fill positions.

Human Resources experience includes: Diversity, Organizational Management, Human Capital Retention and Attrition management techniques, Development and Learning, Training, Employee Relations and Compensation Analysis. He designed and implemented capture/proposal recruiting process for large Government Systems Integrators.

Implemented War Room recruiting solutions to help streamline proposal recruiting process and maximize candidate engagement efficiencies. Established repeatable processes for HR/Talent Acquisition organization. Publications Author, Talent War! (The Unintended Consequences of a Broken Hiring Process)

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Jermaine's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

One of the things I've found most challenging as a leader is having patience with the development process of myself and others. Everyone learns at a different pace. Some people are visual learners, some learn by example or communication. As a leader, you must be patient with developing your leadership style. Particularly how you lead others as individuals and not collectively.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I became a leader by others trusting my ability to lead. When a crisis or challenge occurred, I was often sought out for my advice or input. I can remember filling in for my boss as Director only two weeks into my tenure with a company, while she planned to go out on maternity leave early in my career. I assured her that she wouldn't need to worry.

The team and our 3000 internal customers were in good hands with me. We survived her 8 weeks leave and I was able to gain the confidence and respect of her and several other executives in the organization. At that point, I knew I was a leader.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I start each day with meditation. At least 30 minutes of complete silence and darkness. It helps center me emotionally and calms my spirit to deal with whatever happens during the day. I then check my emails and handle the most pressing or urgent issues first. I review my calendar for the day, prepare mentally for my meetings by reviewing my notes.

I try to keep the meetings that I've scheduled or lead to no more than 30 minutes. Anything more than thirty minutes becomes a waste of time, unless the challenge requires more time at that moment. I don't drink coffee. I've never had a cup of coffee in my life at almost 51 years old. I then get through the day's agenda, try to eat lunch at 12 noon or 1pm and end my business day at 5pm.

I have dinner with the family around 6pm or 7pm. I watch a little tv, probably sports center or CNN and prepare for bed around 10pm. I pray for my family and friends, then head off to sleep.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

Small challenges can turn into big issues, if you procrastinate too long with addressing them. How people feel about you as a leader is your legacy, not your failures or achievements.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

Success Is A Choice- By Rick Pitino. It taught me that you can achieve anything you put your mind to, if your work really hard and believe you can. His ability to get the best out of the players and teams he coached, was what I wanted to emulate as a leader. Coach Pitino was the first coach to take three different college basketball teams to the final four. Most of those teams weren't comprised of big-time players, but he made the believe they could compete with anyone, and they did. Belief and work ethic as a leader are very important attributes.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Seek as many mentors in your field as you can and be a sponge for knowledge. It will take you very far in life.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

I can remember over 15 years ago, a junior employee had some very tough confidence and self-esteem challenges. She didn't believe how great she was, but I saw something in her ability. She was very smart, willing to learn, poised and had an exceptional work ethic. I decided to work with her directly. Give her assignments to boost her confidence.

Challenged her to step out of her comfort zone. I even sent her to support one of our largest customers at the time for a few months in another state. It showed her that I trusted her and believed in her ability, professionalism and capability. Today, she is a leader in one of the largest and most successful communications technology companies in the world. It wasn't only about my ability to lead more than it was about her trust in me as a leader and faith in herself. That's leadership! I'm very proud of this leadership story.