Grow As You Go
Josh Clark Sees Continual Improvement and Focusing on the Present as Keys to Leadership
By Nicole Needles
Josh Clark, PMP, CSM, went to high school in Noblesville, Indiana. He spent four years learning, and the place that would be a massive part of his career was just under his nose the whole time. Years later, he’s back, only this time, a few minutes around the corner as Vice President of Project Management and Sales Support at Storage Solutions. Clark joined the Army out of college as a logistics officer. After serving just over 20 years, he transitioned to the reserves and went into the manufacturing field as a civilian.
“I also got my master’s in supply chain management from Michigan State. And that led me here to Storage Solutions, which is great – It’s kind of a happy intersection of all three. So I do a lot of supply chain, material handling equipment work, project management and process improvement projects,” Clark said.
A firm believer in lifelong learning, Clark continues to lean on mentorships, audiobooks, podcasts and professional development even as a seasoned professional in his field. Luckily, Storage Solutions’ culture is very conducive to learning and mentorship among the team.
“Mentorship isn’t necessarily a top-down thing. It’s an everybody thing. I can’t think of a day where we’re not having someone pass on information that they learned that might be relevant to the organization,” Clark said. “This is a really great culture for sharing information and making sure that you’re prepared based on other people’s successes or failures.”
An organization’s new talent and emerging leaders are an opportunity to learn a lot and get new, fresh perspectives.
“Just because they’re new to your organization doesn’t mean they just fell off the turnip truck. The big thing is they bring a lot of context and perspective, but you have to be willing to listen to them early on to get that feedback when it’s most impactful,” Clark said.
He credits his bosses, Eric McDonald and Nate Storey, for filling in the gaps in the background and supplemental information at Storage Solutions. Sharing knowledge at his company simultaneously accomplishes his goal of lifelong learning and keeps the spark of desire for it alive.
Developing people, skills and processes are Clark’s big three regarding professional advancement and his favorite things about his career. His certifications include: Project Management Professional, Certified Scrum Master, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Kaizen Facilitator.
“I like helping solve problems and like leading meaningful change. So I believe organizations have to adapt to survive. Doesn’t have to be willy-nilly, but they do have to change. And so if you can, if you can pull those three things together, there’s not much that can stand in a company’s way,” he said.
Clark is forward-thinking for many reasons, but one of the reasons may be what he learned from the Army: “Bloom where you’re planted.” No matter what your circumstances turn out to be, whether the job environment isn’t what you thought, or your tasks don’t align with your long-term goals, Clark knows the importance of working with what you have.
When it comes to looking ahead, Clark finds that instead of discussing where you see yourself in 10 years, you should evaluate where you are currently and how to thrive there.
“Do a good job. Be part of the team and, you know, good things will happen,” Clark said. “And so from an industry perspective, from a company culture perspective, I feel very blessed to be where I’m at and to have the opportunity to help move Storage Solutions into the future and see where that takes me.
