Leadership In Action

When asked how the Leadership in Action principle “Be the leader, employee, and supplier you wish you had” comes to life in CMS, Brewster points to her team’s unwavering professionalism, accountability, and integrity as evidence of their dedication to the principle, their customers, and company colleagues.

Which is why one of Brewster’s most memorable examples of this principle is quite surprising—and has an unexpected twist. “In the end, I had to fire them.”

Brewster describes herself as an open book. With a matter-of-fact approach, she believes in honest conversations, critical thinking, and creating systemic learning opportunities.  “My purpose is to help my team members be successful so that they, in turn, can help others be successful.”  She continues, “To do this, we need to be real. We need to build a culture of trust and fairness through simple, candid, real conversations.”

Admittedly, the truth can be hard to hear—and even harder to deliver.  Yet Brewster, an admitted straight-shooter, has a different perspective on bearing bad news.  Leaning into “Be the leader you wish you had…,” Brewster recalls a situation that could have gone very badly but instead has become a proud memory. 

“I was working with an employee who was not performing well at all. Despite coaching, mentoring, and improvement plans, I ultimately had no choice but to terminate them.”  It’s an unfortunate situation that many managers face at some point during their careers, however few have had the outcome that Brewster experienced.

She explains, “Even though it wasn’t going to work out, I felt an obligation to be the leader that person deserved. They deserved the chance to learn and improve. They deserved honest feedback and truthful recommendations. They deserved to walk away with their dignity intact.”  

Fast forward several years, that former employee—and a few others—have continued to reach out to Brewster for support and mentoring.  She maintains that, even though it wasn’t the right fit for those workers, there is always opportunity for learning and improvement. 

After nearly 20 years with Lewis Services, Brewster’s path to vegetation management could be described as both straight and circular.  Brewster fondly recalls working on a farm when she was 14 years old, which she continued until she was 21.  She remembers working side-by-side with Spanish-speaking coworkers and figuring out how to communicate with each other despite the language differences. Brewster loved being outside on the farm, and she spent her free time snowmobiling in the winter and 4-wheeling in the summer.  She was interested in zoology and forestry, and even considered being an arborist.

Despite these earlier experiences and interests, Brewster’s track to vegetation management wasn’t immediate. Before joining Lewis, her professional path included stints in nonprofit and private equity sectors. Upon learning about the position at Lewis, she wasn’t familiar with the company name but was quickly intrigued by what the company did.  The more she learned, the more excited she became.

“I immediately felt connected with the distributed, diverse workforce in Operations at Lewis,” Brewster explains. Harkening back to her years on the farm, she appreciated the way the various departments used problem-solving skills to reduce barriers and work together in pursuit of success for the customer and the company. With a bachelor’s degree in business administration, experience in finance, and a desire for a leadership role, the opportunity in CMS checked all the boxes.

Two decades later, Brewster still regards her role at Lewis as a perfect fit and points to the CMS Mission as her source of daily inspiration: “We are the trusted team who unites departments, customers, and the field, and provides support and meaningful, accurate data that aids in the success and sustainability of the enterprise.”

The CMS mission is not new. For years, the team has rallied around the firm belief that partnership is paramount to their overall success and the success of their partners.  That said—to be a trusted partner to numerous internal and external groups—CMS staffers must continuously build strong relationships across the board and seamlessly toggle between being a leader, an employee, and a supplier—Agility + Ability at its best. 

Being everything to everyone can be daunting. So how does Brewster position her team, and aspiring leaders, to achieve maximum success? Brewster recommends getting back to the basics. “Find out what your partners need. Be inquisitive. Get to know your coworkers and customers. Build your army of teammates.”  And when things occasionally veer off-course?  “Use it as a learning opportunity for all. We engage the After Action Review model to assess expectations, analyze what happened, discuss surprises, and share learnings. In CMS, we wear many hats, so we need to continuously work together to remain trustworthy and dependable for all of our partners.”

The CMS team is proud to be the central place where customers and colleagues alike come for help. “Operations relies on us to provide the best customer service.  Customers rely on us for accurate and timely invoicing.  Coworkers rely on us for reliable data and resources.”  Brewster continues, “To successfully serve these important stakeholder groups, we must always strive to be the best leader, the best employee, and the best supplier possible. In essence, we need to BE this principle. And we ARE.”