Interview with Jim Kerr, Partner at Blum Shapiro

Interview with Jim Kerr, Partner at Blum Shapiro 

Invisible Mentor: James M Kerr
Company Name: Blum Shapiro
Website: http://www.blumshapiro.com/ 

Part One: Introduction

Avil Beckford: In a couple of sentences, tell me a little bit about yourself.

Interview with Jim Kerr, Partner at Blum Shapiro

Jim Kerr: I’m a husband, father, consultant, author, teacher and I’m a partner at Blum Shapiro Consulting. I like the adrenaline rush that comes when clients look to me for direction and we have to find a solution together.

Avil Beckford: What’s a typical day like for you?

Jim Kerr: There is no typical day really. I go to where my clients are and help them to navigate the waters. So every day is a bit different. We spend a fair amount of time discussing challenges and issues, and then we try to figure out ways to get at them and lead them to good answers for their organizations.

Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Jim Kerr: That’s a really good question Avil. Big breaks go to those who are ambitious and are willing to take some risks. My big break came when Amy Fiore, who was an editor at Computer World Magazine, decided to publish one of my first articles back in 1987. I think submitting an article to a major industry magazine at the age of 24, with less than 3 years of professional experience was pretty much unheard of back in ‘87. This was before we had email and texting, and those kinds of things. It literally meant that you would write up the article, and have it typed up, and mail it to somebody. So, I guess I took a little bit of risk, and so did she. And that was the thing that launched my career.

Part Two: Career

Avil Beckford: How did mentors influence your life?

Jim Kerr: Hugely! Dock Schilke was one of my first mentors. He was a manager at my first job right out of college. He was the person that actually encouraged me to write. I had some good ideas that needed to be discussed more widely. Jim Johnson came next. He’s one of the folks that recruited me right after that article came out. He offered me my first executive role at a major insurance company in New York City. I was the youngest at the age of 24 years old to hit the Executive ranks there. He took a huge chance with me. These guys really jump started my career. By the time I was 30, I had written two books and started a management consulting practice that I ran for almost 25 years.

Avil Beckford: What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Jim Kerr: Again, another great question Avil. I would say it’s never to give up. If you possess a conviction, then you have to see it through. And it’s how you make a difference in the world by just having that dream and being willing to pay the price to make it happen.

Avil Beckford: An invisible mentor is a unique leader you can learn from by observing them from a distance. In that capacity, what is one piece of advice that you would give to others?

Jim Kerr: I would tell them to dream their dreams and have the courage to do what it takes to live them.

Avil Beckford: What big steps did you take to succeed in your field? What is one step or action you have consistently taken that contributed the most to your success?

Jim Kerr: I would say writing my first book back in 1989 was probably something that launched my career. I think if I hadn’t done that I probably wouldn’t be talking to you today. It shaped my career quite a bit. It got me on a track that I probably couldn’t have imagined back when I wrote it. I have been blessed with some terrific clients as a result and I have worked with companies like the Home Depot and AXA Financial and even the Pentagon as a result of that. As far as the one step or action that I have taken that contribute to this success… I don’t think you can teach ambition or stamina, but I have an undeniable drive to wow my clients, and that coupled with the ability to work tirelessly on behalf of those clients has made the biggest difference in my professional career. I lasted 25 years as a lone-wolf consultant, and I think it’s by working hard and staying focused.

Avil Beckford: Tell me something that you consider to be important about the work you do that others can learn from. 

Jim Kerr: As a Strategy Consultant & Organizational Behaviorist, I think one of the things that I am reminded of constantly is that the work I do can really make a significant difference in the lives of the people that work in the companies that I help. It’s through the work that I am doing there that leads to opportunities for people to grow in their careers. The strategy work helps deliver more results to the bottom line which also allow employees to share in financial gains and so on. I feel that one of the things that is really important, particularly if you are a consultant in an area that can really make and shape a company, is to take that responsibility very seriously and realize that there are people’s lives and livelihoods at stake in the work that we do.

Part Three: Life

Avil Beckford: Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Tips from Jim Kerr

Jim Kerr: It’s a question Avil that I get quite a bit. As I get to know clients they will ask questions along this line. I don’t really think about things in so much as failures or anything like that. I think that the toughest lessons to learn come not so much from failure, but from the kind of involved situation that tests who you are and challenge what’s important to you. So I prefer to focus my energies ahead, and look at what lies ahead and how best to try to affect that.  I think that if a person is centered and knows who they are, then they can face any challenge and see it through, and they don’t really see it as failure per se, but more as an opportunity to learn something.

Avil Beckford: What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Jim Kerr: I think this a very thoughtful question. I guess choosing to leave my hometown. I grew up in small town. It was a factory town. Not a lot of people pursued a college education. A lot of people stayed there and worked in the local factories and so on. I think choosing to move away from that hometown and away from the family dramas and the things that existed there was a tough decision. But I think that if I chose to stay, I probably would  have never started a consulting practice, I probably wouldn’t have written four books and I would have never worked with the great organizations that I have been blessed enough to be able to work with. I guess deciding to move on from where I started was probably one of the toughest decisions that impacted my life.

Avil Beckford: What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Jim Kerr:

1. I used to work nights on a loading dock. It was a way for me to pay for college. I realized working on a loading dock with people, some of them literally couldn’t read or write, made me realize that education was a way to gain freedom. That was certainly one of the things that shaped my life. It gave me a strong appreciation for education.
2. While I didn’t appreciate it at the time, deciding to write that first article for Computer World, back in the early 1980s made a huge difference. It put me on a path that brought me to where I am now.
3. The next biggest event was when my children were born. It helps you to realize that there is more to life than what you are living, and that you have other people that you are responsible for and they can really teach you how to love and so on.

Avil Beckford: What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Jim Kerr: The thing I am most proud of is that I have two great kids that have grown into great young adults. I am the proudest of them, and the part I played in shaping who they are.

Avil Beckford: What are five life lessons that you have learned so far? 

Jim Kerr:

1. Keep your cool would be one.
2. Keep your promises.
3. Hear what’s not being said. I think a lot of times people are more interested in trying to figure out what they are going to say next, instead of listening to whoever they are talking with. And a lot of times the subtleties that are not being expressed with words are important things to remember.
4. It’s one thing to say something, it’s another thing to do it. Watch what people do, not so much what they say.
5. Remember that you cannot change people. You can really only change yourself.

Avil Beckford: If trusted friends could introduce you to five people (living or dead) that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

Jim Kerr: I am always interested in meeting people who can inspire me, but to name them by name would probably diminish those that I can’t name. What I would rather do, what would be really interesting to me right now, would be to gather five people who are really anxious and excited about reading my book and have a conversation with them about what they learned and their personal takeaways from that book that I wrote – The Executive Checklist: A Guide for Setting Direction and Managing Change.

Avil Beckford: Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?

Jim Kerr: Another wonderful question. There has been lots. The Odyssey of Homer was certainly one. In the words of Southside Johnnie, one of my favorite musical artists, “Odyssey’s journeys were not mine, but I swear I venture some distance along that line.” It was really inspiring. I read the Odyssey back in the day.

Avil Beckford: What five books would you take with on a deserted island? And if you were on a deserted island how you spend the time? 

Jim Kerr: You know, that’s a fun question, and I have to tell you, I don’t know what five books I would take. But one for certain would be “How to survive on deserted island”.

Avil Beckford: Well, a lot of people have actually said that, and some people say they are extroverted, so they would spend the time trying to get off the deserted island. 

Jim Kerr: I may spend some of the time contemplating the peace and quiet that might be there, but I think that would quickly shift to how do I make this work, how do I survive? I am just imaging that I would land there without expecting to land there, and then I would have to figure out how to make it work. So I guess that book “How to survive on deserted island” would be important reading.

Avil Beckford: Complete the following, I am happy when….. 

Jim Kerr: I am happiest when the family is together and enjoying the ride.

Get Started Here – I want to help you get started on your learning journey.  Grab a copy of Jim Kerr’s book, The Executive Checklist: A Guide for Setting Direction and Managing Change. Join The Invisible Mentor 2015 Reading Challenge today, connecting the ideas from the books you read!

In the meantime, THANK YOU for your time… Thank you for sharing this post, and thank you for connecting with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest! What was your biggest takeaway from today?

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