Avionics News July 2016 - 52

AVIATION ACES

Continued from page 51

"I felt like the quarterback in the fourth quarter of a championship game," he said. "We're about to score the go ahead
touchdown, and the coach pulls me out of the game and tells me
to take off my uniform."
The job was presented as lasting for 12 to 18 months, which
turned into four years. In retrospect, Olson said, "It was a valuable experience, and I had the opportunity to work a fiscal year's
worth of work with four separate general managers."
In 2011, following a short assignment back in program
management, he was asked to relocate to Portland, Oregon,
which Olson described as "one of the most rewarding assignments ever." He was site leader for Rockwell Collins' Head-up
Guidance Systems.
"Not only is the technology incredible, but I was the site leader
for a stand-alone facility and was responsible for business development, service, support and manufacturing," he said. "We had
600 people, and it was a terrific assignment."
Then in January 2014, it was back to Cedar Rapids and
Olson's current position as vice president and general manager
of Business and Regional Systems. "At Rockwell Collins, the
general manager has full profit-and-loss responsibility," he noted.
His responsibilities include business area growth, strategic
planning, customer satisfaction, profit and loss, and advanced
product development program performance for the Business and
Regional Systems unit of Commercial Systems.
Part of the corporate culture of Rockwell Collins is to be
a good member of the Cedar Rapids community. That means
encouraging employees to volunteer in local activities. In fact,
each year Rockwell Collins hosts a volunteer fair for employees
where local nonprofits set up tables to recruit new volunteers.
Olson got hooked on Junior Achievement in 1997 when the
woman staffing the booth literally pulled him aside. The woman,
now chief executive officer of Junior Achievement of Eastern
Iowa, explained its purpose. Olson said, "Junior Achievement
focuses on economics for the personal and professional lives of
young people, tailored to their individual ages."
Since his son was just starting kindergarten, Olson volunteered
to speak at his son's class on behalf of Junior Achievement. That
seemed like an easy task until his assignment was changed to
speaking to a senior economics class in high school.
"I fell in love with the opportunity to work with young adults,
and did that for 14 years until I moved to Portland," he said.
When he returned to Cedar Rapids, Junior Achievement
called on him again - this time to serve on its board of directors.
Olson's volunteering expands beyond Junior Achievement, too.
He serves on the board of directors for Orchestra Iowa and the
University of North Dakota's College of Engineering and Mines.
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When he is not working, volunteering or traveling for
work, Olson said he "reintroduces myself to my darling wife,
Minny." Now they are empty nesters, with his son Rajin, 24,
about to become a lawyer and daughter, Ria, 22, pursuing a
career as a financial advisor.
In addition to his family, Olson has another passion: participating in triathlons - where the person swims, bikes and
runs. He finds competing a "decompression of work life" and
appreciates that for 12 hours, he is "in the zone" and totally
unconnected from his work and can't be contacted.
When he began competing, Olson took part in seven to 10
events each year. Now, he said, "I struggle to get one or two
in." However, last year, to commemorate turning 50 years old,
he took part in his 20th Ironman - and this was a special one -
the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
"My entire family was there and made it a special event,"
he said. "My body took a beating that day, but I've learned that
competing is only half physical; it's also half mental. Knowing
my family was there helped get me to the finish line."
If there is a theme in Olson's development at Rockwell
Collins, he said he has learned the importance of developing
a highly collaborative team. "We have each other's back, and
we love what we do," he said.
Olson has learned that it is critically important for a large
organization to clearly establish a vision and set direction for
a team - "and then to communicate it like crazy," he added.
"People rally around that singularity of what and where the
organization is going. We invite our team to be part of the
discussion. Every employee wants to know they have the
opportunity to make a difference, be recognized and be given
an opportunity to grow. When the team is functioning well,
I firmly believe that an organization can accomplish almost
anything."
Looking back, Olson chose one word to define his life so
far: gratitude. He first mentions his wife.
"She helped me open my eyes to the rest of the world," he
said. "When we met, I was a simple North Dakota kid who'd
never been outside of the U.S. other than to Canada."
His wife was born in India and later raised in Canada. He
said that being married to someone from a different part of
the world has served him well throughout his life, especially
working for Rockwell Collins, which Olson describes as
"clearly a global company."
In exchange for what Minny has given him, Olson said he
has developed a four-word mantra shared by many married
men: Happy wife, happy life.
He added that he has "profuse gratitude" for his career at
Rockwell Collins. He said, "The company has provided a
level of stability, excitement, energy and opportunity throughout my career." In short, he concluded, "I'm grateful." q

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