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PROUDLY PRESENTS
Johndavid Kerr
Resident of The United States and 3-DNET® VIP member
Email contact : johndavid@exec.org
VIDEO INTRODUCTION®
INTERVIEW WITH 3-DNET®
Listen to sample sound "bites" from the interview:
Question 1 : Tell me about yourself
First, I come from a family that believes in a strong work ethic and places value on individualism and family and faith. It is this foundation from which most, if not all, my successes emanate, and, as such, I am a highly ambitious, conscientious and driven person, who likes to balance work commitments with personal ambitions and community work and service. With such ambitions and drive has inevitably arisen the specter of failure. Thus, over the course of my life, I have withstood several major “failures” and have survived these crucible experiences, enabling me to obtain clarity about what I want and what I have to do to get there. These experiences have given me a solid bedrock of confidence and faith to accomplish anything to which I set my sights and mind on. It is as Basho, the fourteenth century Japanese haikuist, wrote, “I seek not to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; I seek the things they sought.” The meaning of this proverbial wisdom takes on even greater importance in the wake of such experiences and lessons. In terms of community, I very much believe in helping others, especially those who are less fortunate—for to whom much is given, much is expected.
Question 2 : What can you offer to your next employer ?
With my legal background, I have 10 years of experience in performing research, drafting pleadings, communicating regularly with clients and opposing counsel, engaging in problem-solving analysis, and doing due diligence in the areas of mergers & acquisitions, environmental, bankruptcy and antitrust matters. Further, integral to my work experience is a successful track record in working with teams. I like to work on team projects and be a part of the creative and productive processes and functions. Oftentimes, in these team settings, I take on a leadership role and find that team members will entrust me with their ideas and suggestions to maximize resources to finish the project. As a result, friendships are galvanized during these experiences, enhancing not only my personal contribution but also ensuring the success of future projects involving the same or similar teams. In addition, I am a well-seasoned writer and public speaker and look for opportunities to demonstrate these skills regardless of the environment or setting. Furthermore, I tend to think very quickly on my feet and can process a tremendous amount of complex data and make it manageable, finding it relatively easy and effortless to communicate and persuade through both the written and spoken word.
Question 3 : What are your strengths ?
I believe that my strengths are represented in my analytical and persuasion skills; ability to communicate through the written and spoken word; leadership potential; and, being a team member who significantly contributes to the bottom line in any company or firm.
Question 4 : What are your accomplishments ?
One of my accomplishments is, when I secured a Rotary International Scholarship to study law abroad for a year in Adelaide, South Australia, upon graduating from my undergraduate studies. This experience gave me a tremendous opportunity to learn a lot about myself in a foreign country in terms of interpersonal and communication skills, gave me exposure to new ideas and to varied cultures and world beliefs, and allowed me to see up close another part of the world. This trip also awakened within me a love of world travel, which instinct I have heeded to this day.
During my graduate studies in Texas, I was entrusted to do some major research for a textbook, which the Justice for whom I was clerking was co-writing with another colleague. Under minimal supervision, I researched hundreds of cases and had to analyze and summarize their issues and holdings. Fortunately, I got everything right and was able to hand-in quality work to the Justice, for whom I have the greatest respect. As a result of this relationship, I am privileged to know him and he has given me numerous references, the most important dividend being that one of my employers commented, “That is the best reference I have ever heard in my life.”
During my stint with the Attorney General’s Office, only several weeks into my employ, I was informed that my immediate supervisor was leaving for vacation and, as such, asked me to head up the cost recovery efforts in coordinating our continuing contacts with the Department of Justice attorneys, several state agencies, and, most importantly, our client. Under tremendous pressure to perform and to ensure a smooth transition, I immersed myself in the background information, spoke with numerous state and federal personnel, and put in an inordinate amount of time in understanding our consolidated cases and the labyrinthine collection of hundreds of thousands of documents to be processed, coded, and logged into evidence. These second-mile efforts allowed me to conduct business with these state and federal entities in such a manner as to effectively coordinate our cost recovery efforts. Upon his return, my supervisor was very pleased with the success of these meetings and contacts and after hearing good reports about my performance, he let me take the reins and supervise the remainder of the project, in which I supervised 20 staff. At the close, he highly praised me, as well as commended my efforts to the Attorney General, because, ultimately, our efforts resulted in a $14.0M award.
Question 5 : What are your limitations ?
One of my limitations is, my tendency to be a perfectionist at times. While I try to mitigate its effects by setting up “checks and balances” for myself (i.e., cutting myself slack on certain expectations or standards for which I set myself), I know myself well enough to know that I can micromanage projects in terms of my participation and contribution. In some instances, this may slow production on my part; however, because I am aware of this tendency, I try to accelerate my productivity if I sense that my perfectionism is setting in. Socrates’ maxim, “Know thyself,” is very applicable in this sense, and I find that, ultimately, knowing “thyself” is the best antidote to such limitations.
Question 6 : How much are you worth ?
While this question invites a certain margin of error, I can say with confidence that my track record speaks strongly as to the value that I can add to a company or firm. My greatest strengths, my communication and problem-solving skills, as both an attorney and writer, allow me freedom to explore and consider any set of issues from a fresh and creative vantage point. Because of an analytical and creative approach, I tend to push the envelope on issues and ideas, and arrive at solutions that strike a balance between compliance and positive results for the client. Further, because I work well within a team environment, I have demonstrated leadership potential on various projects over the years, and invariably find that management can look to me for supervisory and management value. As to expertise, my legal background has exposed me to an intimate knowledge of corporate governance and environmental legal matters concerning Fortune 500 companies, and has given me a solid foundation of both complex and general litigation experience.
Question 7 : What are your ambitions for the future ?
One of my law professors used to say, “Essence is in the details,” and he meant it. In a similar vein, I have chosen to answer this question in specifics because it is an important question and one, which intimates direction and mission. Because, I greatly enjoy working with people and exciting projects, I want to work for an international and global company or firm in which leadership opportunities exist. Ideally, I would like to serve as general counsel for a large corporation at some point in time, potentially working into a higher executive position. On a related note, I have political aspirations and will, at some point, more probably than not run for office. Eventually, I would like to teach at the college level and lecture and tour. In terms of personal ambitions, I am currently working on a novel and would like to publish. This keeps me balanced and focused on career and private ambitions.
Question 8 : How long would it take you start contributing to the firm?
Not long. Because I like to learn in a new environment and take it as a personal challenge to learn about and understand a company’s history, its markets and competitors, as well as its organizational composition, I set myself a short learning curve to hit the ground running. Toward this end, I usually ask a lot of questions and usually try to meet a number of people in those initial days of the honeymoon. It has been my experience that through these efforts to learn as much as I can about the company, my job, colleagues and the competition, I usually have a pretty good idea of how I can contribute, which usually gives me a good idea of how quickly I can begin contributing, which is weeks, not months.
Question 9: What is your management style?
I tend to be inclusive of a group’s creative idea making and troubleshooting dynamic and seek to direct this creativity and productivity in a manner that maximizes resources and that achieves exemplary results. Having done my due diligence beforehand, I will lead by example and sometimes micromanage certain minor (or major) aspects, but will tend to let individual talents and gifts blossom and will try to encourage the participation of everyone at each stage of a project. Moreover, I am not afraid to take calculated risks, as long as the team stays on task and keeps productive. However, as necessary, I am not afraid to reprimand (or, as the case may require, fire) people if they are not doing what is expected and required, after having first given them an opportunity to explain and defend. In this regard, I am willing to explore some options to improve productivity.
Question 10: Why do you think you have a good potential to be a manager?
I am a results-oriented person and look for opportunities to demonstrate this approach, regardless of the environment or setting. As such, I try to build a consensus with people on a team and try to understand off the bat what obstacles and hurdles must be overcome in order to reach the end result. Team members tend to look to me for answers and for support of their own ideas and suggestions, resulting in a strong morale among the team and producing successful results on time and on task. In my role as coach and mentor, I try to demonstrate exemplary proficiency as to my own work product and habits, and find that this has a contagious effect on the team, both individually and collectively.
Question 11: What would you look for in hiring people?
I would look, first and foremost, for a solid track record on performance and commitment and work product. Because I am a risk-taker, I would also look for those instances, in both career and private life, where risks were taken, how failure was dealt with, and how lessons were learned and how this process has lead to self-discovery and betterment of self. I would ask for specific examples of how value has been added to a company or firm, and ask how this was done in terms of the process, looking for analytical and problem-solving skills and awareness. I would look for examples of being a teamplayer and what projects they liked working on. I would also look for feedback on ambition and for general awareness of a company’s history and mission. Toward this end, I would want to see a demonstrated and concerted effort to do due diligence on a potential employer.
Question 12: As a manager, have you ever had to fire someone?
Yes, I have fired five people.
Question 13: What do you see as the most difficult task of being a manager?
In a one-sentence response, keeping everyone on-task and focused without decreasing morale or productivity.
Question 14: Describe what you feel is the best work environment?
The best work environment is one in which I can work on a team, be an effective yet participative leader, generating and encouraging ideas and suggestions, staying on-task, designing and implementing objectives, and achieving results in a competitive yet effective manner. Ideally, I am working with bright and motivated colleagues in an international environment, serving both domestic and international clients in a problem-solving capacity, and where creativity and productivity are encouraged and fostered by the company on all levels. This is also an environment where I am given leadership opportunities, and I am able to work alongside bright and motivated mentors and leaders to further hone and develop my skills. Furthermore, this is an environment where I can utilize my legal, communication and leadership skills, and can stay balanced and have fun.
Question 15: Looking back how do you describe your past employer?
I was very fortunate to have worked in a firm that was doing a specialized niche of law regarding railroad litigation, and was given wide latitude to pursue some challenging and rewarding projects, whose results met the expectations and needs of the clients whom we were serving. Because I had a flexible schedule, I could set my own hours—apart from the time spent working on several projects with two teams—and could set my own short- and long-term goals with a view toward reaching deadlines. I worked alongside the firm’s managing partners on these separate projects and learned a tremendous amount under their tutelage and instruction. Additionally, I worked closely with several senior associates on some drafting assignments and thoroughly enjoyed these projects as well. .
Question 16: What have you done to increase productivity, performance, efficiency, etc..?
During my project attorney positions, team members have come to me with numerous questions about a case, in the first several weeks, and have looked to me for guidance on both complex and general matters relevant to the tasks at hand. This saves a firm money by increasing efficiency in terms of time (offsets having to spend more payroll on the current team or having to expend training costs and time), and by increasing productivity because the project has a person upon whom management can rely for communicating the “closed universe” of the facts and issues and for keeping everyone on-task as to the direction of research, problem-solving, etc., freeing other resources of the firm or company for other cases.
Question 17: Whether you are a "computer wizard", how do you respond to the financial side of your responsibilities?
Because I am results-oriented, I want to know the bottom line of any project on which I am working in order to understand the prioritization of my work with regard to the overall needs and expectations of a client. In order to do this, I like to know the financial outlay of the project, projected costs, and related legal and financial liabilities. Similarly, I am comfortable in working with numbers because of the nature of the work I have done in the past with company financials, balance sheets, etc. relative to due diligence analysis and corporate legal work in general.
Question 18: How many people have you supervised in your recent job?
Three to five. .
Question 19: What do you like more, working with figures or words?
My bailiwick is with words, but I am comfortable with figures. To explain, while financial acumen is not my forte, I am comfortable with having to work with balance sheets, company financials, etc., and, as necessary, will unhesitatingly go to those persons for help whose financial skills can enlighten me on specifics.
Question 20: How do you think that your subordinates receive you?
The feedback, which I have received, has been generally favorable in terms of my responsiveness to ideas, suggestions and feedback, and in terms of my willingness to help the team be productive and successful. I think, at times, I can be perceived as micromanaging an issue or procedure, but this, I think, is mitigated by my willingness to do the hard work, be a team player, and lead by example.
Question 21: What do you think of your previous boss?
I was very fortunate to have worked with a well-seasoned law partner on several projects, one of which involved working on a personal injury case regarding a very complicated set of legal issues and facts. He has a reputation of being very difficult to work with and I took it as a challenge to work with him. My policy is to take these reputations at face value but, more importantly, to get in the ring, role my sleeves up, and jump into the fray. My experience was extraordinarily rewarding because I worked daily with him, and learned a great deal from him and his excellent legal mind. He was difficult at times and very demanding and exacting, but this only pushed me harder and further to perform and produce—a pace that I typically set for myself. Our working relationship was exemplary, and our work product was persuasive to the courts and helped contribute toward winning a $22.0M verdict for our client.
Question 22: Describe a situation in which your work was criticized?
Normally, I request that a complex assignment be presented in written form (e.g., a memorandum) in order to have a clear standard against which to measure my progress and by which to weigh the results. In this instance, I verbally listened to the assignment without recourse to a memo. After half a day’s work, I presented some preliminary results, which were met with a less-than-enthusiastic response and resulted in a pronouncement that I had “missed the mark.” I immediately requested a private conference and explained my above policy, apologizing for the inferior work product, which was inferior and deserving of criticism because I had wasted both the company’s and the client’s time and resources. Fortunately, my quick efforts to explain myself and to apologize allayed any concern on the part of my supervisor—he explained that it was a complex assignment on which both he and several other partners were working and understood how, without a memo explaining the details, it would be difficult to jump in and comprehend everything—and I was offered the opportunity to redeem myself the following day by receiving a very challenging project—and one on which I redeemed myself.
Question 23: If I spoke with your boss what he would say about your greatest strength and weaknesses?
My boss would say that my greatest strength is my ability to quickly and efficiently reduce complex data into an understandable, manageable form, and my ability in solving a client’s problems, using this information, through my leadership role on a team. My tendency to be a perfectionist would be cited as a weakness in that it has the potential to slow down productivity.
Question 24: How can you handle life under pressure and with tough deadlines?
First and foremost, I handle pressure and deadlines by proactively self-imposing and implementing a reliable time management system that keeps me on-task and which is full of short-term objectives (and rewards), which keeps my eye on the ball and on the big picture. There is an adage that says that everything falls apart in the middle, not at the start or end. With this in mind, I try to keep everything even-keeled from start to end by balancing work commitments, personal ambitions, and a healthy spiritual life and faith.
Question 25: What do you think you do better: staff work or line work?
It depends on the nature of the work and expectations and needs of the client, but I prefer staff work.
Question 26: In your current position, what problem have you identified that was previously overlooked?
After analyzing how certain forms and information were being processed regarding the underlying assumptions upon which the forms were created, I suggested that the team approach the analytical process differently, thereby making the processing of the information more efficient and sensible and relevant to the clients’ needs and expectations. My recommendations were based upon my observations of how team members were complaining about how the forms and information were ineffective and duplicitous. As a result, my recommendations afforded a more efficient process of collecting and processing information.
Question 27: If you had a choice of job and a company what would you choose?
Providing I understand the question correctly, I would choose a job (and company) that provided a match with my talents and skills and plans.
Question 28:Do you have any objection to take a psychological test?
No
Question 29: Do you consider yourself as a creative person?
Without a doubt. While I am quite analytical and logical by nature, training and experience, I place great credence in my ability to bring creativity to any work assignment, as a creative approach more often than not provides strategy, insight and intuition—commodities that can lead directly (or indirectly) to solutions that a conventional and linear process may not otherwise have produced. On a personal basis, I am currently writing a novel and play guitar.
Question 30: How do you describe your personality?
Open-minded, fair, inquisitive, fast learner and intuitive, cosmopolitan and global in perspective, a risk-taker, spiritual and family-oriented, very social and a leader.
Question 31: What is your outside reading you do?
I am currently reading Lewis and Clark’s journals dating from 1804 to 1806 on their exploration of Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase of 1802. I just finished reading Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyer’s collaborative series of interviews, as reposed in The Power of Myth. I am reading Geeks & Geezers, as collaboratively authored by Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas. It is typical for me to usually have five to seven books going at the same time. I read widely and broadly on many subjects, with philosophy, leadership and human intelligence being at the forefront of these subjects. Additionally, I subscribe to and regularly read the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, Fortune and Forbes, as well as consult the Internet on a regular basis.
Question 32: What are some of your outside activities?
I am currently working on a novel and, as mentioned, I am reading four to five books. I regularly attend church and spend time with friends. Additionally, I play the guitar, write music, and help with community projects, such as Habitat for Humanity. "What are some of.... ?"
Question 33: Are you continuing your education?
While not formally at present, I am constantly pushing the envelope of my own learning curve by exposing myself to unfamiliar territory through reading, learning and traveling. I recently went to Costa Rica on a church mission trip and found myself having to exercise my Spanish-speaking skills, which are minimum at best. However, because of this experience, I am looking to improve my Spanish skills. As this example illustrates, I am constantly working on self-discovery and betterment of self regardless of the area or subject matter.
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