By Mary Knickerbocker
Even though he grew up as the fifth of eight children in a single-parent home in Littlefield, Texas, Michael insists he was alone much of the time. His siblings teased him about “being adopted” because he was quiet, busy thinking about and analyzing things he had read or heard. He was a natural problem solver. For example, when a neighbor asked his mother if he could give Michael a used bicycle, which amounted to little more than a broken-down frame with no tires or handle bars, Michael was too busy figuring out how to make it work to be upset about its dilapidated condition.
He earned money to fix it up by doing chores and even convinced his uncle to give up parts from his bicycle. The challenge was to meld all of these disparate parts into a bike that would not only work, but be the coolest set of wheels in the neighborhood. It took several months of experimentation and tinkering before Williams achieved a workable configuration. With patience, tenacity and a new coat of paint, Williams had a bike that was, in his mind, the coolest on his block.
He says, “I was able to see potential in what others saw as junk [beyond repair].” Today this outlook is reflected in his proven success as a team builder/trainer and as an operations troubleshooter.
For a company interested in tweaking their business approach, Williams is a person who can accomplish the following:
- recognize and extract value from what is perceived as hackneyed,
- reduce operating expenses,
- implement successful, diversity recruitment plans,
- infuse optimism and a competitive spirit into on-site employee teams and
- increase sales and profit.
As a youth, Williams loved numbers, and often entertained himself by playing “banker.” He was a frugal child squirreling away every penny of his allowance earned by washing the car and taking out the trash. He went on to earn a B.B.A. in Finance at Angelo State University, San Angelo, Texas.
It’s the discipline learned as a youth that serves him well today in the following professional roles:
- retail store manager,
- human resources recruiter,
- operations manager,
- general manager,
- training and development coach, or
- buying agent.
