He has learned from that experience how to not simply manage, but to listen. Working remotely from Chicago, he’s made sure to open and maintain strong communication channels with his team to stay connected and tapped into the company culture. He especially loves the “military mindset,” and how everyone has a voice at ADS.
“Everyone pitches in to get the job done,” he said. “They allow open communication and they’re constantly having open conversations. People here are successful because they are empowered to be. You're allowed to make decisions and provide solutions for customers without a lot of red tape.”
Where Mike was raised in the Chicago area, most kids grew up to be police officers or firefighters, joined the military or developed a trade. He picked the first one. Policing was his childhood dream. Sure, his father had pushed him to go to college first, and Mike did just that right into his senior year. But that policing career kept calling, and he answered. The bachelor’s degree could (and would) come later.
He was the first to become a policeman in a family filled with military service. His dad was an Army infantryman in Vietnam. His Uncle Eddie served in the US Army and “jumped into Japan like four times” during WWII. But on the police force, Mike found his own brotherhood and sisterhood. In his early days on the beat, police officers were always well received. People were always grateful when they showed up. He liked that. But as the years went on, that changed.
