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Merle Ray Company Name: Harris County Auditor’s Office Program Name: Auditor’s University Program Director: Merle Ray, Chief Human Capital Director & Strategist Address: 1001 Preston, Suite 800, Houston, TX 77002 Call: 713-755-2316 Email: [email protected] Website: www.harriscountytx.gov/Auditor/ default.aspx #AWorldInspired LEAD2016 Video 2016 What is the overall objective of your program? To align the daily activities and behavior of the managers and leaders of the Harris County Auditor’s Office with the mission and strategic objectives of the organization. Who do you impact with your program? All supervisors and above What are the lessons you’ve learned this year from facilitating your program? e most important lesson learned from implementing our new leadership de- velopment platform, Auditor’s University, is that the power of “Inspiring Leader- ship” cannot be overstated. As change becomes very difficult in organizations like ours going through transformation, especially leadership transformation, it’s much easier for some leaders to fight or flight. But when you have senior leadership that is inspiring, genuine, emotionally intelligent, have superior interpersonal skills, and who exemplify the courage and sheer grit that it takes to move forward, that makes the difference. is is because employees do what they see their role models do, and in Leadership Development, you are the role model. How do you measure the return on investment and success of the program? We measure the return on investment by the extent to which supervisors and above are able to apply the lessons taught in Auditor’s University to affect greater performance in their people and in their business goals. What lies ahead for the program and how it will continue to succeed? Auditor’s University is still in its formative stages and courses are continuously being developed to meet the needs of the mission. It is quickly becoming the place where employees who are becoming leaders can see, hear, practice, and perform great leadership. We take the same quality time, tools, and techniques demonstrated in the classroom and put them to work for our daily business and business processes. And because we are placing measurable targets to the competencies being developed, we are seeing success. For the first time in the organization, leaders are being challenged for example to step out of the status quo, and lead. We are now seeing leaders who are not just technically competent accountants and auditors, but who are becoming more aware of the importance of their personal effectiveness, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and judgment. is solidifies our County and its billions of dollars in assets; therefore, it preserves our taxpayers interests and well-being. Paving the Path for Great Leadership Our editorial team interviewed Merle Ray from Harris County Auditor’s Office at the Leadership Excellence Awards this past February. Here are some excerpts from the exclusive interview. Best Corporate University Leadership Excellence Rank 9 5
