Meet Kate Kennedy
Tell us a little about yourself and your role at PRADCO.
Well here I am with the honor of being the first at PRADCO to blog. I think it’s a good choice actually. Although I’ve never blogged or even journaled before, I’ve been at PRADCO long enough to be at least a little involved in almost everything. I joined PRADCO over 20 years ago , so I’ve paid my dues when it comes to understanding job requirements, how companies operate and how to assess candidates that will fit well and excel at their jobs (or not!) Now as Project Director, I have some discretion to spend my time on really cool activities like Executive Coaching, managing some large accounts and doing research projects that interest me. I hope these will interest many of you, too, because these are the kinds of things I’ll probably blog about in the month ahead.
What do you like best about your job?
I could list lots of things like great co-workers, a friendly, pleasant environment, interesting problems to analyze and people to figure out, but I most appreciate two things: one is the knowledge that people trust me and rely on my judgment – and I’m talking about some pretty high-powered people. Second is the variety – I have a pretty low boredom threshold, so I love knowing I can switch from writing to listening to coaching to reading to research and back again and never run out of things to do.
Tell us something about yourself that even your co-workers don’t know.
Something most of my co-workers don’t know about me is that I used to be a professional singer. I was trained operatically from 13 to 18. Then I did some summer stock in New York, where I come from, and sang with a band until I was about 22. I still love opera, but only to listen to or watch. I still sing along too, but it’s not always pretty.
What is your favorite travel destination?
As much as I want to tell you that my favorite travel destination is to visit my kids and grandkids, I love going to Europe and sightseeing more than anything. I’ve always read lots of history and European literature, so England and Italy are my favorites. A couple of years ago I did a two week cruise around the Mediterranean – about 15 ports. It was magical!
What are you currently working on?
I recently completed two white papers based on research done here at PRADCO. One is on helping a company reduce turnover; another is on identifying management behaviors that lead to success. I’m also starting a research project on women in leadership positions which I hope will lead to doing more coaching and development work with women. I’ll talk about all of these in upcoming posts.
