Today we’d like to introduce you to LaShon Ross.
LaShon, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
For 28 years, I was a public servant in municipal government. I began my career in Human Resources with the City of Texarkana, Texas, which is my hometown. While at Arkansas High School, I decided a career in Human Resources was right for me. So, when I saw a vacancy announcement for “Temporary HR Secretary,” I saw that as my “foot in the door” opportunity. It turned out to be exactly that! Within three months, I was full-time; ten months later, I was a Personnel Technician; and two years later, I was Personnel Director. After about 13 years with the City of Texarkana, Texas, I accepted the position of HR Director with the City of Plano. One of the biggest learning lessons for me in moving from Texarkana to Plano is that organizational culture and community environments change, but human behavior is what it is. This realization equipped me to settle in with Plano and (with a great deal of support from many people) continue building what has been an amazing career and life experience.
The City of Plano allowed me to broaden my involvement in many areas, which allowed me to become a practitioner in Leadership Development, Succession Planning, Conflict Management and Emotional Intelligence, among other important topics. In addition to working closely with my colleagues on these topics, I also found myself presenting at local, state and national conferences and engaging in professional development initiatives with local schools, nonprofits and civic organizations. Along the way, mentoring became a staple for me. Mentorship is a necessary part of giving to others what so many people have shared with me through their talents, knowledge and patience with me throughout my life.
In 2009, I transitioned into City Management and retired as Deputy City Manager in 2016. There has never been a day when I questioned the path that I chose. In many ways, I feel that my career beckoned me into an area that is perfectly suited for my personality, skills and interests and has allowed me to make a living doing all the things I love to do. My municipal career prepared me for the work that I do now as a Professional Development Facilitator, Coach and Human Resources Consultant. This will be an incomplete story if I do not include my daughter’s and son’s influence in shaping me, as well. I often tell them that my accountability to them has exponentially improved the quality of my decisions since the day I knew they were one with me.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This is a question that I have pondered for many years. I have to say the road has been fairly smooth, and I attribute this to me learning fairly early in life that self-awareness and personal accountability are valuable tools that allow me to manage my circumstances and my perception of life in a way that keeps me physically and emotionally centered. A struggle for me in my early HR years was learning to separate issues from people so that more objective decisions could be made. This meant that I had to learn that the answer I give may not always please the person in front of me, but I could be okay with it if I could genuinely say I had done my part to help him/her reach the best outcome. Maturity, experience and a few missteps taught me that I have to own my stuff, and other people have to own their stuff. As much as I might want to make everything okay, somewhere around the age of 38, I accepted that trying to fix everything for everybody is not healthy for me or realistic in general.
However, I accept that I must be honest about doing my part. For me, accepting reality as it is presented has been a calming approach to life. I don’t try to make things or people fit preferred molds; I accept them as they are and determine how much of my world they can occupy without disrupting my energy. I also regularly conduct my own self-checks to honestly evaluate how well I’m managing me. My biggest struggles have been in learning to balance all that comes with life. Yes, there were days when work was overwhelming, but there was seldom anything that schedule management and a good night’s rest couldn’t temporarily resolve.
Because my work also fed my personal needs, I never questioned whether I was on the right path. After a divorce and accepting that co-parenting would not be part of my experience, my commitment was to live my life in a way that my children would never feel they had less of me because I had a career and that my employer would never feel it had less of me because I was a parent… this was my struggle. When I look at the quality of my relationship with my daughter and son, alongside the great relationships I have with colleagues and organizations, there is no question that I accomplished this goal. Yes, the price was high in terms of time that was very seldom only for me. Do I have any regrets? Absolutely not. Would I do it differently if I could have a do-over armed with the knowledge I have now? Perhaps, I would tweak a few things but nothing significant. I think my commitments would be the same.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
It is true that I work as an Independent Consultant with several organizations, but it simply feels like an extension of me and relationships that were built over the years. I teach professional development classes, coach employees at varying levels of their careers, conduct departmental assessments to identify issues and solutions, and I maintain multiple, non-contracted relationships that simply reinforce the value of connecting on a human level.
I am most comfortable talking about communication, the human psyche and how they work together to impact the quality of our personal and professional lives as well as the quality of the life journey. I think I’m known for being authentic, reliable and focused on making lives and situations better. With regard to my work, I am most proud of the fact that the quality of my work and relationships -not marketing- is what results in people inviting me into their lives and organizations. Consequently, we build valuable relationships, which is most important to me.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
This is a question that I have been asked many times. The key to my success has been two things: (1) I always try to ensure that I am competent (or can become competent) for the roles I accept (2) I always treat people well and with respect, regardless of their status or demeanor. These two characteristics have made the most difference in my personal and professional life. I do not discount that being degreed, credentialed and titled have played a role.
Image Credit:
Roland Pollard, John Cunningham
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