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ATA Featured Member: Attainment, Inc.

ATA Featured Member: Attainment, Inc.

 

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ATAFEATUREDMEMBER

“Dynamic” – as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, pertains to or is characterized by energy or effective action; a dynamic force, especially one that motivates and affects development or stability. This definition aptly depicts the husband and wife team of Linda and Tery Tennant. Together they represent the dynamic force that is Attainment Inc.

Linda Tennant

Linda Tennant had become disillusioned with the traditional practices of personnel development and training that she had utilized for so long. Time after time these traditional methods consistently fell short of the goal of making a measurable impact on the performance and the profitability of people and organizations.

As the former Vice President of Sales of an international hotel chain Linda was keenly aware of the direct relationship between the organization, its people and success. She had personally experienced the frustration that came with trying to perform a job successfully with little or no training and had first hand knowledge of the discouragement, low self-esteem, waste, and low productivity of poorly trained leaders, co-workers, and employees.

Linda recalls from her training experience, “I found that people really wanted to apply and use the training material but they couldn’t make the behavior changes necessary to implement the training”. She realized that knowledge alone was not enough to lead to empowerment. Behavior change was also essential. She became committed to helping employees, leaders and organizations realize their full potential.

This commitment led her to Leadership Management International (LMI), a worldwide leadership development and performance company. LMI’s process focuses on behavior change instead of on teaching techniques that prove difficult to implement and practice. Linda embraced the LMI process and in 1988 founded Attainment Inc., an award winning franchise of LMI.

Attainment Inc. is dedicated to empowering individuals to maximize their potential. Attainment’s mission, as stated on its web site, is “to help leaders increase team focus, commitment and productivity through the use of our unique, proven Strategic Development and behavior change process.”

Tery Tennant, Linda’s business partner and husband, shares her commitment to the development of leaders. Tery has worked for nearly 25 years in corporate management, management consulting, small business operation, and training and is also personally familiar with the shortfalls of the traditional personnel development practices.

He understands the significance of employee training and development and recounts how completing an Attainment Inc. program transformed his management practices and his life:

I had a management degree and thought I knew what I was doing, then I met and went through Linda’s eight-week training program–I had the biggest epiphany in my entire career. The program revolutionized my attitude and leadership practices; I used to work 70 hours a week plus. After the leadership program I discovered I could eliminate, delegate, or streamline much of what I was doing. In three months I cut my hours in half and my departments ran better. I got out of my employees’ way and empowered my people to do their best.

According to Tery, “I became so enamored with the process that I had to marry the president!”

While Attainment Inc. is committed to helping companies succeed, some of the firm’s greatest accomplishments have been achieved through their service to others who are less fortunate than themselves. Tery serves on the Board of Directors of St. Joseph the Worker and was awarded Volunteer of the Year for his service to the organization.

Attainment Inc. has been a valuable member since March 5, 2004 after being referred to ATA by members Bill Ewing and David Sly of Hurley Transportation Services.

“Bill and David were clients and were active in the association,” Linda says. “They thought our services would be beneficial to other association members and that we would benefit from staying current with the industry’s challenges and opportunities.” Since Attainment joined ATA in 2004, several ATA member companies have become Attainment clients and realized the benefits of the firm’s services.

Attainment considers the benefits of membership in ATA to be mutual. They appreciate how the ATA helps them to stay current on industry challenges and opportunities and also enjoy the ATA Leadership Conference, Holiday Party and other functions that allow them to stay in touch with members and the association staff in a more casual environment. The intimate atmosphere of the ATA makes them feel like they’re part of the group and they appreciate the referrals to other members. When asked what they value most about their ATA membership, Tery and Linda cited “the relationships and mutual credibility we have built over the years with our ATA clients and the ATA staff.”

In addition to its work with ATA and its members, Attainment has expanded its services to other associations in Arizona and throughout the country. Phoenix Hilton Suites,

First American Title Corporation and Reality Executives of Phoenix are just a few of the Arizona businesses that have benefitted from Attainment’s services. They’ve also conducted workshops on leadership and performance improvement during the annual conventions of the Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Indiana, and Missouri trucking associations.

Keeping your business relative and competitive in an environment of increased local, national and global competition is becoming more and more challenging. Linda and Tery offer the following advice for being successful in the trucking industry:

  • Take steps today to take a fresh look at yourself, your business and your people.
  • Get together as a team and identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
  • Develop a plan of how to maximize the strengths and opportunities and address the weaknesses and threats.
  • Move from a reactive focus to being proactive.
  • Remove yourself from the day to day operation and into a leadership role where you spend most of your time focusing on ways to grow and improve the business.
  • Refuse to go another year without providing every employee a job description, scorecard and a training and development plan.
  • Get a succession plan in place that includes good systems and people development.
  • Put in your budget money to develop yourself and your people.
  • These are the things that will give you the greatest return on investment.

Thank you, Linda and Tery Tennant and Attainment Inc. for your membership, service and unwavering support of the Arizona Trucking Association.

For more information about Attainment Inc. visit their web site at www.attainmentinc.com. You can also give them a call at (602) 615-4163.

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