Executive MBA Helps Shane Sullivan Gain New Heights in Aviation Leadership
By Lauren Lesmeister
After exploring online MBA options in Washington state, Sullivan found the Carson College’s Executive MBA Online (EMBA) program, offered through WSU Global Campus, to be a good fit for his professional aspirations.
“From my online research, recommendations of the overall program and veteran support were the main drivers for choosing the Carson College,” he says.
Growing beyond expectations
Sullivan began the program with clear goals: to advance his career and strengthen his knowledge of finance and business language. He was pleasantly surprised to find the program also helped him build valuable connections and sharpen his leadership skills.
“I personally benefited from expanding my professional network,” he says. “The program also helped me develop the critical thinking and planning skills necessary to propel businesses forward and deliver value for customers and shareholders.”
With more than 20 years of leadership experience, Sullivan was uncertain what more he could learn from his leadership class, but it turned out to be his most challenging and rewarding course. Specifically, he was able to look at leadership from a different perspective than he did during his time in the military. Transitioning out of the Navy and learning leadership principles outside of military process was beneficial. The heavy reading load in particular posed a significant challenge, but support from his section instructor helped him develop a plan and press on.
“Looking at leadership from a non-military perspective was quite beneficial,” he says. “A memorable moment was realizing there is always something to learn even around subject matters where you have a lot of experience.”
Sullivan says balancing coursework with a demanding career and family life was not easy. His advice for future students is to find ways to buy time back from other areas in life to make room for school. For him, that meant relying on a few more frozen meals from Trader Joe’s and leaning on the support of his wife.
Career Impact
After graduation, Sullivan was quickly promoted from general manager at Aero-Flite Aerial Firefighting to vice president of operations at its parent company, Conair Aerial Firefighting.
Today, as vice president of operations at SKYTRAC, he continues to apply his EMBA skills. One of his key accomplishments was streamlining the sales inventory operations planning process. The process involved the sales team sharing demand signals with the operations team to ensure operations knew how many units needed to be assembled to meet shipment quotas. The system in place upon Sullivan’s arrival was not scalable as the company grew, and a lack of communication between sales and operations resulted in an $18 million backlog. Sullivan led the improvement effort by clarifying team roles and responsibilities as well as opening lines of communication, enabling the team to eliminate the backlog within a year.
“Now we’ve streamlined that process so that we’re not making too much inventory, and the sales team is clearer on where sales will occur, so we can be effective at getting products out to customers as efficiently as possible,” he says.
Sullivan recognizes that fine-tuning new operational practices takes time and credits the EMBA program with teaching him how to accelerate progress. The program equipped him with the skills to accurately assess operations, identify opportunities for improvement, and guide teams through change using strategic thinking and leadership.
“Combining my military experience with my EMBA has been very beneficial,” he says. “It’s allowed me to develop strategy to drive real results within the organization.”