Monte Ford – The Person
: What
decisions as a young adult did you make that you look back on now and recognize as good decisions?
: I made the decision early on that I was
going to be determined to communicate effectively with many types of people. I had an
experience once where a very smart person, a very intelligent person in my neighborhood
was having a great deal of difficulty communicating with law enforcement. He was having a
great deal of difficulty communicating, without using slang to the people that he was talking to. I knew this
person to be intelligent, but his lack of communication skills really stuck out to me. His
inability to get his message across, at that point in time, made me decide that I was
going to learn how to communicate effectively.
: As
a child, were you affected by peer pressure and if so, how?
: I
was affected by peer pressure. I got a scholarship to go to a college preparatory
school… a very good school that was not in my neighborhood. I felt tremendous
pressure to ‘dummy down’ my communication skills (in the school that I got the
scholarship to), in order to better relate to my peers. That lasted for some time, until I
realized that was not an effective course of action for me to achieve my goals.
: OK, but what is so important about
education? After all there are many “educated” people looking for work.
: I don’t think that it is just
education that’s really special. I think that the combination of education and the
ability to communicate ideas, thoughts and concepts is really special.
: Is there a difference between working hard
and working smart?
: Absolutely! Although there are many
people that are working smart, without working hard. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I don’t think that is effective.
: What would you advocate?
: I would advocate working smart AND
working hard. I don’t think that you can separate the two, nor do I think that they
are exclusive. I think to be successful you have to do both.
: What
challenges lie ahead for you in your new position and how do you plan on dealing with the
issues?
: The majority of the challenges that lie ahead
for us are related around electronic or otherwise technological communication with our
customer base. In particular the customers that utilize the technology.
: How do
impending takeovers impact your job, in that you will need to integrate different
platforms?
: Impending mergers or acquisitions would affect
my job specifically because I would have responsibility for integrating the systems of the
2 companies. That responsibility is really the centerpiece of any type of integration that
really needs to occur. You can’t integrate any company, in the case of an acquisition
or merger, without first integrating the technology and the systems for those companies.
: What kind
of background does it take to pull something like this off?
: My background specifically is both technical,
communication and marketing. I think that [with] the combination of strong technical
skills and the ability to effectively communicate… you can do just about anything,
including this. It just becomes another project if you approach it the right way.
: What do
you do to give back to the community?
: I give time and money. In addition to that I
give guidance and direction. I sit on boards in the community, participate in programs,
attend functions, and fundraisers. The other thing that I do that is a lot less direct, I
make sure that I function and position myself and constantly think of myself as a role
model.
How I position my self in the community
relative to being a role model for others is important to me.
: What would
you say to individuals that desire positions in the IT (information technology) industry?
: First and foremost, learn how to communicate
effectively. Then learn the technology and focus on a specific track within the technology
industry. There are several tracks, telecommunications, programming, [and ] systems
integration. Pick a track, focus on that track and most importantly be an effective
communicator.
: What does
it take to make it to the top?
: I may not give an answer that everybody may
expect to read or hear, but I think that you have to be chosen. You have to be ready when
people are willing or ready to choose you. [A person] having worked hard, and having
pretty good communication skills and having worked smart…must be able to combine
those three things and effectively take advantage of
that opportunity.
: When you
say chosen, do you mean prepared?
: You have to be prepared, but in addition to
being prepared you need to be chosen. There are only so many top CIO (Chief Information
Officer) jobs at large corporations in America, and there are more people qualified to
fill those positions than there are positions available. If you are fortunate enough to be
chosen, for one of those positions or positions leading up to those kind of positions, you
have to be ready at that time of being chosen.
: How do you
feel working for American Airlines?
: It’s great. There are a number of
challenges here, just like anyplace else, but it’s a great environment. There is a
tremendous amount of talent here, there are a lot of very smart people and it’s an
environment that does a lot of development and promotion from within.
