- Introduction by Women of NATE Committee Member Therese O'Brien
- WON Profile: Jennifer Kolinko
- Where will you find the Women of NATE?
- Upcoming Events
- Recent Event Highlights
- Feature Article: 5 Effective Ways That Good Leaders Manage Older Workers
- Book Recommendation
Release:
January 4, 2023
Women of NATE Today Newsletter
Volume 5, Issue 1
Happy New Year! 2023 is here and we have so many reasons to celebrate. A new year means a new chapter and I hope that 2023 is an incredible part of your story. Let’s embrace the new year with an open heart and a fierce spirit. My wish for you and your family is good health, lots of love, and plenty of laughter this year.
Although it is exciting to begin a new year, it can also come with a lengthy to-do list and many expectations. We make resolutions and set goals for work, home, finance, and health. We expect change and most of the time, we expect it to happen right away. This year let’s give ourselves the love and support we give others and not let our resolutions become overwhelming reminding ourselves there is an entire year to work on our goals and make positive changes. We must remember to take good care of ourselves so we can be our best and give our best to our loved ones. Celebrate your successes and remember even a small step can make a big difference to your overall desired results.
I am excited to see everyone in Orlando, Florida, at this year's NATE UNITE 2023. The Women of NATE Events start on Monday, February 20 at 7:00 a.m. at the Information Lounge, which will be open all three days from early morning to evening. Please plan to stop by and meet new and old friends. The WON 5K Fun Run/Walk is Tuesday, February 21 at 6:00 a.m. and will be a great time for everyone no matter if you walk or run. If you are a walker, you can always walk with me. It is a great way to start your Tuesday. Please join us!
The WON Educational Sessions this year are as follows:
Monday, February 20
2:15 PM - 3:15 PM • Educational Session 4: Contract Negotiation - Make it Work for You Presented by Nanette Cortese, Attorney, The Cortese Law Firm, PLC. Located in Panzacola 1-2.
Wednesday, February 22
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM • Educational Session 21: She Climbs Presented by Loui McCurley, Chief Operating Officer, Pigeon Mountain Industries, Inc. Located at the Tower Stage in the Exhibit Hall.
If your company is interested in sponsoring any of the WON events this year, please reach out to me at obrient@tessco.com for more information or contact the NATE office directly at 605-882-5865.
Enjoy the newsletter, take good care of yourself, and have a warm and wonderful January.
Therese "T" O'Brien is a member of the Women Of NATE Committee and is the National Account Executive at TESSCO Technologies. She can be reached at obrient@tessco.com.
WON Profile: Jennifer Kolinko
Jennifer Kolinko is the Market General Manager of the Detroit Market for DISH Wireless. In her role, she is responsible for DISH Wireless innovative, an exciting new 5G network for the State of Michigan and the Toledo area. She oversees everything in the market including RF, site development, construction, and field operations.
Prior to her role as Market General Manager, Jennifer joined DISH Wireless in February 2020 as a Senior Project Manager. In August of 2022, Jennifer stepped into the role of Market General Manager, leading Detroit. Before joining DISH, Jennifer spent most of her previous 15 year telecom career at a smaller Site Acquisition Firm in Michigan.
Tell us something about yourself that would surprise us.
I started in telecom the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school. I started with building permits and learning how to review leases and negotiate with landlords.
What is the best book you have ever read?
"The Four Agreements" by Miguel Ruiz.
What is your favorite thing to do?
I am a certified yoga instructor and going to hot yoga is my favorite thing to do when I have a free hour.
What kinds of hobbies and interests do you have outside of work?
By far my favorite thing to do outside of work, is movement. Yoga, lifting, spinning. Anything that can take me out of my head and into my body for an hour or so.
What would people never guess you do in your role?
I pride myself on being a leader and manager that gets in the weeds with my team. I enjoy getting back to the basics of telecom every once in a while and will do whatever is needed if any of my employees are needing help.
You’re happiest when?
I'm happiest when my four kids and my husband are home and we are laughing; and when our home has a silent but thick feeling of love.
What's a typical day like for you?
As a mother of four, a wife, and a full-time employee and leader of a market, no two days are the same. But overall, I wake up WAY earlier than I would like, get the kids up and off to school, and head into the Detroit market office, where no two days are the same.
After work, it's either kids' sports or movement time for myself, followed by getting ready for the next day. There is never any boredom in our lives and it keeps me on my toes both in and out of the office.
Who is someone you admire, and why?
Most of my life, I have been guided by strong, fierce, incredibly successful women and therefore, the two women that first come to mind are my mother, T.J., and my current leader, Nichole Thomas. My mother, T.J. Garrett, was someone who could be considered a pioneer of Site Acquisition in Michigan. She and her partner built a small, but extremely successful Site Acquisition Firm for which I started working in high school. While building this company, she managed to raise my two brothers and me. She never missed a ball game, a school play, or a holiday party. She is my every day role model both personally and professionally.
The second is Nichole Thomas. She is our current Regional Vice President of the Central Region at DISH Wireless and leads a team of Market Managers who are incredibly talented and driven. Nichole may be the only other human I have ever seen work as hard as my mother. It amazes me daily how she is able to lead this strong market, but still be completely available for every single person in the region. I watch her in meetings and lead conversations with such intelligence and poise, while being able to ask the right questions and keep engagement high. It is a true talent that I hope to mirror one day.
What's your motto?
Energy is a currency, spend wisely.
Best advice anyone has given you?
My dad used to always tell me, that the amount of effort and attention you put into something, is what you will receive from said thing. What we put in, is what we get out.
Before working at DISH Wireless, what was the most unusual or interesting job you've ever had?
During a brief stint away from telecom, I worked for Domino's Pizza in Ann Arbor. I worked in their legal department overseeing half of their corporate stores in lease negotiations as well as lots of maintenance issues. It was a super fun, eye opening job with lots of pizza!
How do you balance your career at DISH and family?
I must admit, I hate this question, for two reasons. One is that my male counterparts never get asked this question.
The second is that a work/family/motherhood balance does not exist. When you are in the deep throws of your career, meeting a deadline of launching a network, the family life/motherhood life will inevitably suffer. And when you are deep in the throws of motherhood/wifehood/familyhood, your career will inevitably suffer.
You cannot be in two places at once, you can't give 100% to both. It is physically, mentally, and emotionally impossible. That is when you must dig very deep and ask for help. It was a life-changing moment when I admitted to myself and my husband that I could not do them both and that I needed help.
One thing I do try really hard to do with both my career and my family is that when I am at home with my kids and husband, I try to be completely present and off my computer. Likewise, when I am at work I do everything I can to focus on work and know that the home life is being taken care of by the village I have surrounding me.
What is your favorite part about working for DISH?
There are a lot of reasons I love working for DISH. The first one that comes to mind is my team in Detroit. We have a small, close-knit team of incredibly high performers. The experience of the team in our office is quite mind-blowing. We all work together and have a mutual respect for each other. There are lots of laughs alongside the hard work that we are all doing. We have employees that are doing work completely outside of their "job description" because the narrative of all hands on deck is a common theme in our office. It is refreshing, fun, and super exciting to see.
Do you have a favorite quote?
Tough times do not last, tough people do.
What is your favorite food?
I do not discriminate, I like pretty much all food.
What motivates you?
My top motivation is my children, but mostly my daughter. I am motivated every day to work hard, honor my mental and physical being and show up as the best version I can be, for her.
I want to show her that you can have it all, if you surround yourself with the best people, work hard, and set healthy boundaries.
What
is your biggest challenge in life now?
This question varies from day to day. Sometimes the challenge is keeping my team positive and forward focus, sometimes the challenge is learning to step back and slow down for a minute to enjoy the amazing work the team has done. There is not a one size fits all answer for this question, and that is the beauty of this career and this life. There is no one single challenge, it is a series of little ones that we must overcome every day.
Describe yourself in three words.
Passionate, loving, and fierce.
Where will you find the Women of NATE?
Take Women of NATE with you!
Are you traveling for work or taking a leisure vacation?
Take a creative photo holding a Women of NATE (WON) logo in front of a landmark that lets us know where you are.
(Right) NATE Events and Meeting Manager, Shari Wirkus displays her famous salmon caught in Lake Oahe located on the Missouri River in Central South Dakota. Her catch was published in Dakota Country Magazine.
Submit your photos along with your name and location to nikki@natehome.com for a chance to be showcased in an upcoming Newsletter or social media post.
Upcoming Events
Register Now for Ditch the Resolutions Webinar
It's that time of year again. That time in January when we sit down and think about what we want to achieve over the next 12 months. We make a list and resolve to meet our goals thinking, this year it will be different. But will it?
Here's the catch, making a resolution or setting a goal is good in theory, but for 80-90% of people it isn't enough. You need tools that will enable you to change your habits and hence, achieve your goals for sustained results.
This webinar will present basic concepts from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, focusing on making small changes which lead to new habit formation. We will review the 4 Laws of Habit Change and Habit Stacking so you can learn how to add small positive habits into your current routine and make 2023 your best yet!
Deadline Approaching - January 20, 2023
Women of NATE Announces 2023 Education Scholarship
Women of NATE (WON) is pleased to announce the 2023 WON Education Scholarship. The scholarship was designed to encourage and inspire more women to enter the tower and communications infrastructure construction, service, and maintenance industry or advance their current roles within the industry.
Women play a prominent role as leaders and visionaries in the advancement of wireless and broadcast communications. Through the establishment of the WON initiative, the Association is delighted to recognize the vital contributions of women in the diverse tower and communications infrastructure industry. Two scholarships valued at $1,000 each will be awarded to two different applicants.
Application documents must be received in the NATE office by January 20, 2023. In addition to the one-page application form, applicants must provide an essay describing how the WON Education Scholarship will help them achieve their goals, a high school transcript, a letter of acceptance from the college or technical school the applicant will be or is attending, and a letter of nomination from a current NATE member company.
To find out more about the WON Education Scholarship, please visit http://natehome.com/women-of-nate/won-education-scholarship/. Award recipients will be announced on February 20, 2023, in conjunction with the annual NATE UNITE 2023 event in Orlando, Florida.
Recent Event Highlights
(Above) Diane Mueller, WON Committee Member, attends the ILWA Holiday Party with Richard Leyva of CCSI, Ryan Giarelli of Power & Comm Solutions, and Chris Mallon of TowerMRL, LLC.
(Above) Brian Orlandi-NEWA Board Member-Timberline Communications Inc.; Heather Harrington-NEWA Vice President-T-Mobile; Tara Rand, President of NEWA-Senior Business Development Manager SAI Group; Will Dodge-NEWA Board Member-Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC; and Ben Revette-NEWA Secretary-Dewberry present $20,000 check donated to the Tower Family Foundation.
(Above) Diane Mueller, WON Committee Member, attends WIWA Holiday party with fellow NATE Members, Andy Van Roekel of Tower Systems, Inc., Pete Hagstrom of Viking Mantenance dba Finish Tower, Inc., and Ross Royer of TowerMRL, LLC.
5 Effective Ways That Good Leaders Manage Older Workers
How and when to respond differently to older Gen-Xers or Boomers.
By 2030, 71 million Americans will be over age 65, according to the U.S. Census. Some economists and CEOs are wringing their hands over what they call "the silver tsunami," but they're missing the point.
The fact that so many people are getting to experience old age while still being productive and contributing at a high level in the workplace is one of society's greatest achievements.
Many leaders are now faced with a dilemma about how to manage four generations of workers under one roof. Good leaders go a step further: they recognize the value that older workers bring and choose to leverage their strengths. They're realizing that keeping them engaged and productive will have a critical effect on the business and workplace morale.
How to lead seasoned workers
The challenge most leaders will face is having the self-awareness to know how and when to respond differently to a seasoned Gen-Xer or Boomer worker versus a less experienced Gen-Zer or younger Millennial worker. Here's what I suggest:
1. Share your leadership with them
Their length of service on the job often shows their commitment. So allow them to have a seat at the table to make decisions and exercise influence over things that matter in the business. Think of decisions over key projects, strategy, mission, or hiring, in which loyal, older individual contributors can get involved and provide input.
2. Ask them to teach and mentor others
What older, more seasoned knowledge workers may lack in formal education, they often make up for in experience. Honor it, and them, by tapping into that base of knowledge and experience to help advance more junior-level people through mentoring and job shadowing opportunities.
3. Give them plenty of freedom and autonomy
Top-down, hierarchical management styles that direct traffic one-way -- up the chain -- will collapse, especially since older knowledge workers typically know more than their managers about their own areas of specialization.
4. Expect them to learn as well
Older generational employees have the same innate desire to grow as human beings as anyone else. So, stress this in your early meetings with all your staff. Don't overlook your older employees in terms of training, and even reverse-mentoring assignments.
5. Give them advisory roles
Review ideas and strategies with them. Because of their vast knowledge of how things work, they often know the informal and political side of an organization, and many have battled in the corporate trenches. Use that experience to your advantage.
Marcel Schwantes
Marcel Schwantes is an Inc. Contributing Editor, global speaker and leadership expert attracting over a million readers per month to his thought-leadership. He is the creator of the highly-rated From Boss to Leader online course. His powerful speeches teach the conditions necessary for creating caring human-centered workplaces that result in high-performing cultures. He is the host of the popular Love in Action podcast.
Article previously published on Inc.com on September 13, 2022. https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/5-effective-ways-that-good-leaders-manage-older-workers.html
