Labour/Management. Military/Civilian. Client/Vendor.
Only someone who has lived on both sides can truly understand the whole picture.
James (Jim) Leonard’s 27+ year career in the Canadian Forces (CF) began as a Communications Technician. The trade, later renamed Avionics (AVS), was focused on fixing aircraft radios and radar. After ten years in the ranks, he received his Commission as a Communications Electronics Engineering (CELE) Officer. Building on his technical experience, this change provided the opportunity to grow in a management role.
Thanks to his experience in the ranks, Jim developed a unique perspective on how government and business work together and about what he might contribute that could make things better. During this phase of his career, he developed an in-depth understanding of how government contracting and procurement work – and how they don’t.
As a Contract Manager, Jim’s job required a lot of writing; from statements of work, statements of requirement and bid evaluation criteria to all of the usual administrative tasks like processing security clearances and invoices to communicating with senior management, vendors and clients. Jim also worked as a civilian Contract Manager servicing military contracts when he got out of uniform for a short time in the middle of his career. In that job, he learned from the Vendor’s perspective, how to successfully respond to requests for proposals (RFPs) and the strategy behind asking the right questions and not asking certain others.
While working as a Project Manager, Jim lead several projects including construction, software development, hardware and vehicle acquisitions and Information Technology (IT) System development and implementation.
This has been the theme of his life so far; working on both sides of the fence; Labour-Management, Military-Civilian, and Client-Vendor. This experience has given Jim a unique perspective on Leadership, the importance of treating people correctly to inspire movement toward a common, mutually beneficial goal and how this can positively affect the bottom line.
It continues to be his passion and pleasure to help individuals and companies to grow and reach new goals. If you share these passions or want to incorporate them into your life/business, feel free to contact Jim any time and begin a discussion on the Art of the Possible.