Page 18 - 2019 Spring Conference Ebook

Closing General Session
MY PASSION FOR THE MISSION
Speaker: Steven C. Preston, President and CEO, GII
Since joining GII in January 2019, Steve Preston
is absorbed in the details. As a former Secretary
of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development and
former Administrator of the U.S. Small Business
Administration, Preston approaches his role as
GII President and CEO determined to help the
Goodwill network have a greater impact and
drive change more quickly. Goals and challenges,
he says, can be met through aligning with the
right partners, improving Goodwill’s visibility and
better disseminating the collective wisdom of
the network.
In this Closing Session conversation, he
discussed his passion for the mission, the
advantages of his outsider perspective and his
plan for moving the Goodwill network forward.
A Personal Mission Statement
As a young man, Preston tutored and mentored
children in the inner city. After serving in the
government, he began volunteering with adults
with challenges, then pivoted his career to
help this group improve their lives. During a
leadership workshop, he wrote down a mission
statement for his life.
“My mission statement was to lead and grow
a company whose stated mission was to help
difficult-to-employ people flourish, grow
and find economic livelihood, transforming
their lives into helping them improve their
communities. Who knew?”
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When Preston interviewed with the GII Board of
Directors, he was bowled over by its dedication,
mission focus and desire to continue making the
organization great. “It was a remarkable affirmation
of what I was hoping to achieve in my life and what
you are doing every day,” he said. “I’m just thankful
to be a part of what you’re doing every day.”
Valuable Lessons from Life and Career
Preston has served and worked on presidential
cabinets, in executive suites and in boardrooms.
But his parents began their lives in a coal mining
camp and in war-torn Germany. He says he grew
up on the lower-end of working class but was
fortunate enough to graduate from Northwestern
University and earn his MBA from the University of
Chicago Graduate School of Business.
After serving as a senior vice president at Lehman
Brothers and First Data Corp, he rose to become
executive vice president and chief financial officer
at The ServiceMaster Company, where he learned a
valuable lesson.
“I always know, especially in service organizations,
that what you do for clients and what we do for our
participants goes right down to the front line, and
often that’s where I go for my best information,”
he said. “If we are leading the people who do the
serving well, the people whom we serve will be
well-served. I believe, as a leader, in the people
ecosystem.”
What He Brings to the Table
Preston said anyone on his past teams would
describe him as an incessant asker of questions
“I think one of the keys to our
moving forward is to drive
greater employee engagement
and satisfaction across this
network. That’s key. That’s who
we are.”
– Steve Preston, GII