Last week at Frito-Lay headquarters in Plano, Texas, Sid Goodfriend, former investment banker at Merrill Lynch and current president of American Corporate Partners (ACP), and Roger Enrico, former CEO of PepsiCo (Frito-Lay’s parent company) and current chairman of DreamWorks Animation SKG, presented to more than 70 military veterans and their mentors -– including many Frito-Lay/PepsiCo employees -- who are part of ACP’s mentoring program dedicated to helping veterans transition from military service to private enterprise. I was fortunate to attend the event and hear their words about leadership first hand. Pictured below: Sid (sitting) and Roger (at podium).
Sid explained that ACP’s program offers recently-discharged veterans free career counseling and mentoring through partnerships with corporations like PepsiCo, Campbell Soup Co. and Proctor & Gamble. He also mentioned that although the program has been active only a few years, it’s really taken off. In fact, the ACP is seeking more mentors to help returning veterans make the transition back to civilian life.
Roger, a Vietnam veteran, told the group that some of the best leadership training people can receive is in the military. Yet, he stressed that great leaders also need to be great managers -- as a leader, you set the vision, and as a manager, you empower your teams and eliminate obstacles so they can achieve the vision.
Frito-Lay partnered with ACP for the first time last year, and we already have 50 Frito-Lay/PepsiCo employees in Dallas and Chicago working as mentors. It’s just one of the ways we’re making progress on our commitment to foster diversity and inclusion at Frito-Lay/PepsiCo and to give back to our communities.
I recently added my name to the volunteer list at ACP -- both to mentor returning veterans and to recruit my fellow Frito-Lay/PepsiCo retirees in the Dallas area to volunteer. The program coordinators hope to match retirees with tenured veterans who leave the military after a long career and start to establish themselves in a new line of work -- an experience similar to what many retirees go through. (Shameless plug: If any PepsiCo retirees read this blog and are interested in becoming mentors, please contact me using the “Email Chief Blogger” link at the top of this page.)
By recruiting other Frito-Lay/PepsiCo retirees, I’ve also reconnected with people that I used to work with and respect. Three of my former colleagues signed up to be mentors.
I can't wait to receive my mentoring assignment at the end of June. I look forward to the challenge of being a mentor for two main reasons: I always found mentoring people at Frito-Lay to be very satisfying, and I believe that it is very important to support the men and women who serve in our military.
I’m certain volunteering with ACP will be a fun and worthwhile adventure. For more info about ACP, check out its Web site: http://www.acp-usa.org/#
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