DIRECTOR'S CORNER

….. from John Halikowski

The new ADOT Strategic Plan was launched at the leadership conference in August. Management was tasked with working on action plans with their staff, due by the end of December. The actions plans show how each group works in support of the five strategic focus areas.

But why? Why a Strategic Plan, why a new one, and how does it affect each of you?

Through our communication with many of you, we heard that you didn't know the direction of ADOT. Some were unaware we had a Strategic Plan. Others said they didn't know how they fit into a plan. Clearly, we as the executive team, had work to do. Our strategies and tactics must be developed and implemented collaboratively. We must work on the action plans together to reach the results we all want. We all must know how we fit into the vision. 

Our new Strategic Plan is the outcome of this work and we have a set of decisions developed together moving forward. We are communicating, and we are working on all of it with all of you. Your role within the plan is key to our joint success.

Without a living plan it is difficult to achieve what is important. Everyone deserves to know the direction we are going and why we are going that direction. The culture we are embedding requires accountability, integrity and respect to achieve the results in the Strategic Plan.  Our behaviors and beliefs drive our actions that implement the Strategic Plan. It all fits together.

The Executive Team and I need you. Work together, collaborate, communicate, and use the Strategic Plan as your focus for success.  It is our blueprint to achieve great things like we have never done before.

The Strategic Plan is below for your review.

The ADOT Strategic Plan

Lunch and Learn

Education and enrichment brought to you by LEEP

The Leadership and Employee Engagement team invites you to attend the Tuesday, October 28,  Lunch and Learn  Forum, "An Overview of the ADOT Mentoring Program" to be held 12:00  – 1:00 P.M. in the Transportation Boardroom, 206 S. 17th Avenue in Phoenix.  Mentoring Program Manager Vincent LaBella will be leading the discussion. Our "Lunch and Learn" forums allow real-time exchange of knowledge and experience in a relaxed atmosphere, which promotes learning and collaborating. Feel free to bring your snacks or lunch for the meeting. To register, contact Vincent LaBella at [email protected].

Congratulations!

Promotions

At the suggestion of our readers, each future IGNITE issue will include promotions from the prior month. We currently receive updates from ITD regarding promotions, and would love to celebrate the success of employees from each division. Please include the IGNITE mail box in your promotion announcements.

the Districts

What's new in your neck of the woods?

IGNITE is here to celebrate and engage employees from all over ADOT. So, what's going on over in Kingman and Globe? Tell us all about Safford! Why is the Flagstaff District amazing? Send your news, accomplishments and challenges to the IGNITE mail box!

ADOT

Traffic Engineering Update

The Traffic Engineering Group has consolidated the traffic design teams from four to three. A map indicating the geographic boundaries of the new traffic design teams can be found on the Traffic Engineering's web page.

The new design teams are:

Northern Area, managed by Scott Nodes - Kingman, Flagstaff, Holbrook, and part of Globe Districts.

Southern Area, managed by Hasina Luna - Yuma, Prescott, Safford, and part of Globe Districts.

Urban Area, managed by Scott Orrahood- Phoenix Maintenance and Tucson Districts.

In addition, we have also bolstered our Traffic Standards team under Richard Moeur to include an additional engineer.

Traffic design projects that are currently underway will remain with the previously assigned traffic designer to ensure continuity. The Traffic Design Section looks forward to continued support of our internal and external partners in providing traffic engineering services.

Shout out this month to Thomas Branham and the ITG Security team. Thomas's recent email really shows the high level of commitment he and his team have to the ADOT staff. The tips not only help us keep ADOT data safe but speak to cyber security in all parts of our lives. If you missed the email, see what Thomas had to say right here.

The Internet is part of everyone's life, every day. We use the Internet at work, home, for enjoyment, and to connect with those close to us. However, being constantly connected brings increased risk of theft, fraud, and abuse.  No country, organization, community, or individual is immune to cyber risks. As a state agency, we face constant cyber threats.

Since much of our work depends on the digital technology that operates our services, cyber security is one of our priorities.

October 2014 marks the 11th Annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

This type of campaign is used to engage, educate and remind all of us that cyber security is a shared responsibility. As we do our work each day, please help us stay secure by:
1. Ensuring personally identifying information (Driver license, Social Security, Credit Card & Bank Account number):

• Is encrypted – if sent via the Internet (e.g., Email, Websites)

• Is only available to authorized individuals
• Is shredded (e.g., paper documents) before it is thrown away

 2. Ensuring sensitive ADOT information is not stored in the public Cloud (e.g., Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud) or on any personal devices.
 3. Ensuring suspicious computer security activities are reported immediately to the Service Desk at 602.712.7249.

Remember, safeguarding ADOT's information resources is the job of every individual. Our collective vigilance better assures protection of the public and their trust in us.

We wanted to share this great piece about the relationship between baseball and mentoring, by Management Mentors, Chestnut Hill, MA.

For baseball fans, April marks a new season and revived pennant dreams and next week will mark the 110th World Series. But the hard work doesn't begin when the players take to the field and fans fill the stands on opening day. That happens in the weeks and months leading up to the first pitch. That's right-we're talking about spring training.

So what does this have to do with mentoring? Well, mastery of anything-be it sport or art,business or personal-doesn't occur without hard work. The same holds true for your mentoring program.

How Your Mentoring Program Is Like a Baseball Team

Effective training up front ensures a solid "opening day," while special "mini-camps" throughout the year keeps your program focused on having a winning season. You are the owner of the team. Your program manager is, in essence, the skipper. Your players,-the mentors and mentees, look to the program manager for guidance,encouragement, and a game plan. Strong mentoring programs produce strong, loyal players while fostering and nurturing their talents. By investing in them, you invest in your team-or company-which spells championship to us.

So how should the mentoring training play out? Here are some guidelines.

Training Players-Mentors and Mentees

Ideally, mentors and mentees should be trained in a half-day session. Topics covered will include the following items:

• Partners' expectations
• How mentoring differs from other professional development relationships
• Relationship ground rules
• Negotiating the mentoring agreement

All come together for a combined session where the program manager goes over the game plan and eases everyone into their roles. The combined session starts with an icebreaker (think batting practice, warm-up pitches) so participants feel comfortable. This eventually leads into a complete communication instrument that helps determine how each person prefers to mentor or be mentored. Finally, the pairs negotiate their mentoring agreements, and then they are on their way.

Quarterly "Mini-Camps"

Each quarter, we recommend sessions with the mentoring program manager to meet with mentees and mentors separately for an hour. The goal of this meeting is to assess what's going on, see if further training is needed, and address any issues that have come up.

Playbooks

We provide a resource manual focused on developing mentor relationships. The manual includes myriad techniques and exercises. This, combined with a well-trained program manager, helps support team players throughout the year. Remember, no team wins a World Series without practice and tons of hard work. If your company invests the necessary hours and resources into its mentoring program, it can look forward to an exciting and rewarding season.

ADOT has drafted our team for the initial implementation of the formal mentoring program and the first pairs are stepping up to the plate for training this month.

Do you have questions about the ADOT Mentoring Program? Contact Vincent LaBella.

Many ADOT employees know and respect Win for his excellent work as Publisher of Arizona Highways Magazine. Lots of us even know him for his easy humor and skill as an event MC or for his gift at storytelling. Did you know that he is a local dignitary? People all over Arizona recognize Win as an ambassador for our beautiful state.

From the Championship Committee Press release of September 17:
The local organizing committee for Arizona's 2016 College Football National Championship Game today announced a leadership team with long experience in college football, tourism and events.

Committee co-chairs are Brad Wright, President of Nations Wright, and Arizona Highways Publisher Win Holden. They will head up a group of Arizona sports and community leaders hosting the College

Football National Championship Game, set for Jan. 11, 2016 at Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium. It will be the state's eighth national championship contest since 1987 and its first in the new College Football Playoff.

"The host committee will work to showcase Arizona and generate immense value for the state's economy," Holden said. "The game will reinforce Arizona's reputation as a premier destination for major sporting events."

Arizona's four BCS national championship games – in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 – generated a combined $646.2 million in economic impact, according to studies by ASU's W.P. Carey School. The state's first national championship game – Penn State over Miami in 1987 – remains the most-watched college football game in history. Its most recent national title contest – Auburn over Oregon in 2011 – is the most-watched cable television program of all time.

Congratulations on your appointment Win! ADOT is certainly proud to call you one of our own.

Did you know?

Did you know ADOT has Graphic Standards and tons of business document templates to help you create stellar power point presentations, meeting agendas, division specific letterhead, memo's and fax covers? You can download division specific ADOT logos and learn about all the Creative Services Products that Communications has to offer. Check them out on the ADOT Intranet , front page: Essential Documents, Guides, Manuals & Reports.

Several ADOT Divisions and Work Groups publish Newsletters specific to their area of work. Are you interested in what's going on around ADOT? Here is another avenue to explore.
MPD
ITD Highway Maintenance
ITG

Does your Division or Work Group publish a newsletter that we can provide a link to or info on where to find it? Send the details to the IGNITE mail box.

Celebration

Awards and Recognition

Monthly Service Awards

Each month this section features the 20+ year awards. Are you interested in seeing all the Service Award information? Awards beginning with 5 years of service are on the ADOT Intranet at ADOT Awards and Recognitions. Congratulations to all and thank you for your service!

20 Years

Employee	Division
Anthony P. Contreras	ITG

25 Years

Employee	Division
Alvaro O. Monteverde	ITD
Chris B. Serna	ITD
Donna R. Polnau	MVD
Dudley F. Heller	ITD
Gary E. Tone	MVD
Kenneth Akoh Arrey	ITD
Patrick E. Green	ITD

30 Years

Employee	Division
Silvia L. Gerdts	MVD

35 Years

Employee	Division
Danny R. Anderson	ITD
Janis R. Mills	MVD
Malia M. Gibson	MVD
Maximino J. Montoya

50 Years

Employee	Division
Adrian C. Gutierrez	ITD

At the October Ceremony

ADOT offers new specialty license plates:PIR, Girl Scouts and Suns designs

By Jennifer Thomas on azfamily.com

Posted on September 25, 2014

PHOENIX – Arizona drivers have a few more specialty license plates to choose from to help personalize and customize their vehicles.

  The new plates include a Girls Youth Organization plate to support the Girl Scouts, an Arizona Motorsports Commemorative plate for Phoenix International Raceway and a redesigned Phoenix Suns plate.

Like many of Arizona's specialty license plates, these three support specific charities, according to a news release from the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Read the full article here: http://www.azfamily.com/news/ADOT-offers-PIR-Girl-Scouts-and-Suns-license-plate-designs-277127981.html

MVD provided images of the new plates and also let us know that there is also a new Government Energy Efficient plate—available only to Government vehicles that qualify for an Energy Efficient plate.

What's new in Corporate Training?

ADOT Leadership Academy

This October, ADOT Corporate Training launches a new series of leadership workshops titled "Leadership – For Leaders, By Leaders." The workshops build upon the information, tools and techniques developed through the Leaders Retreats and the new ADOT Leadership Academy. Participants learn leadership from a practical point of view from ADOT's Executive Leadership and Senior Managers.

Titles include:

• Creating Accountability in the Workplace – Greg Hill/Dallas Hammit
• Transactional Leadership – Tim Tait
• Transformation Leadership – Julian Avila
• Coaching and Mentoring Employees – Scott Omer
• Building Interview Panels – Kerry Sikes, Jodi Ferreira, David Eagles
• Operations in a Service Industry – Chuck Saillant
• Leading Change – Terry Conner

Additional workshops are under development.

Workshops are open for self-enrollment through the ADOT Learning Center website.

Microsoft Computer Training

ADOT Corporate training is developing a new series of Microsoft Office training modules. The training will include beginner and intermediate modules for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Additional modules for other MS Office software programs will be added as the demand dictates. Look for the first MS Word beginner module this November.

New Email Address

ADOT Corporate Training's email address changed. Please send all requests training related request to [email protected].

Jesse Aguirre Retiring The one constant employees can count on when walking in the door at HRDC is seeing Jesse Aguirre at the front desk. As a valuable member of the Corporate Training team, Jesse helps trainers set up their rooms for classes and directs employees to where they need to go. On October 31, 2014, Jesse Aguirre is retiring from state service. Join us in thanking Jesse or 18 years of service and wishing him a relaxing and enjoyable retirement! Good luck Jesse.

Your chance to LEAD!

Check out these excellent opportunities to teach and grow.

Leadership Study Groups 2015 – Leadership and Employee Engagement (LEE) is looking for Division Leaders, Administrators, Managers and Supervisors with topic ideas to lead / moderate monthly 1.5-hr Study Groups for Management level employees. Contact Contact Mary Currie 602.712.4358.

Management for Non-Managers Study Groups 2015 – LEE is looking for supervisors and managers with topic ideas to lead / moderate monthly 1-hr Study Groups for Non-management level employees.  Excellent opportunity to teach and grow.  Contact Mary Currie 602.712.4358.

Research

The Right Way To Execute Your Strategic Plan

An article by Dorrie Clark and Bob Legge for Forbes Online

It's no secret that most strategic plans fail to deliver their intended results. Often, the problem isn't the strategy, but how it's implemented. Many leaders erroneously conclude that the answer is simply to drive the organization harder and 'put their feet to the fire.' But that risks burning out the very people you need to make the strategy happen and keep it moving. We've all either been in organizations where this is the case or have heard about them, and the toll on people is high. Here are three keys to successfully implementing strategy and achieving your goals without causing burnout.

Strengthen accountability for results.
Get people focused on the results they need to accomplish, instead of overloading them with activities and to-do lists. Start by looking at your organization's position descriptions. If they list 27 tasks and job responsibilities, your employees may be confused about which ones are most important and how to handle so many responsibilities. Instead, identify the 4-8 ongoing results the position is designed to accomplish and for which the person is accountable. When the desired results are clear, it brings tremendous focus. It also makes it far easier to set measures and evaluate performance.

Similarly, when organizations impose lengthy and bureaucratic procedures to get something done—think of project management—people lose sight of what the result is because they're forever following

process, getting signoffs and doing paperwork instead of focusing on results. And when that happens, you have busy people getting burned out without really accomplishing anything, and they confuse inputs with outputs. Put in place a clear system for setting accountability, establishing how results will be measured, and managing progress.

Strengthen accountability for behaviors. 
Any significant business strategy involves some degree of change – in direction, focus, structure, process, or a number of other factors. What makes it successful is how well it's sponsored by senior management, both in words and in actions.  A gas and electric utility Bob worked with was having a very difficult time implementing a companywide Enterprise Resource Planning system because employees at lower levels in the organization refused to use it.  But the problem wasn't the employees – it was senior management.  While each executive spoke of the project's overall strategic importance, when it came to setting work priorities for their people, the strategic project was bumped down the list.  "That's IT's project," they would tell their people, "and I need you to work on our projects." As a result, the strategy was in danger of failing. You need to make sure your accountability system reinforces the behaviors needed to implement the strategy.

Build an employee population that acts like owners. You don't see many people taking rental cars to car washes for a simple reason—they don't own the cars. Companies that are excellent at