Craig Harper called it decades ago.
Last month, J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell announced Shelley Simpson would become the company’s CEO July 1. Simpson, closing in on three decades with J.B. Hunt, has served in executive roles that include president (her current position), chief commercial officer, president of Integrated Capacity Solutions and Truckload and chief marketing officer.
Harper, J.B. Hunt’s longtime COO who retired this year after 31 years, told Simpson years ago she could be CEO of the company someday.
Not bad for someone who started at the company as an hourly employee in 1994 because it paid $2 more an hour than the child care job she was working.
Colleagues say it was immediately apparent that J.B. Hunt had hired someone special.
Harper had a front-row seat for Simpson’s ascent. He is the boss who persuaded Simpson to stay with the company after she told him she was considering leaving after giving birth to her first child in 2001.
Harper arranged a flexible schedule for her and then, after Simpson later gave birth to twins, a part-time arrangement that lasted two years before she returned to full-time work.
“I couldn’t be more proud of her for what she has been able to accomplish, starting out in an hourly position and working her way through the maze and excelling at every position she was given,” Harper said.
“She earned respect at each one of those positions, and it has been fun for me to watch. I’ve never seen anybody who could balance so many different things at one time and dig into the details.
“People, you lead by example and it is very impressive to watch her work. She has earned the total respect of that entire management team.”
A trip to New Jersey sealed Harper’s faith in Simpson. Harper and Simpson were visiting company facilities to do financial reviews, and she knew every detail and every question that needed answering, Harper said.
“She left an indelible impression on me by the way she conducted that meeting,” Harper said.
“She was in that room full of truckers, male managers in quotation marks, and the way she was able to professionally and effectively control that room and navigate through the issues in that room, I could see this was a lady that was not only intelligent but had remarkable people skills.
“I remember coming back and telling Kirk Thompson I need her on my team. She knew her stuff. Those guys weren’t going to pull anything over on her.”
Thompson served as the company’s CEO from 1987 to 2010 and will step down as chairman of the board to become an honorary adviser. John Roberts, whom Simpson will replace as CEO, will become chairman after serving as CEO for 13-plus years.
“She is going to fall into place with the other great leaders that J.B. Hunt has had, and I have known them all,” Harper said. “I think she is going to work hard to maintain the culture that has been built there and expand on it. She will leave her own mark. The proof is in the pudding.
“I am a firm believer in her abilities. I told her a long time ago that she could be CEO of the company some day.”
Simpson, for her part, has repeatedly said how important Harper was to her career successes. In a LinkedIn post when Harper retired, Simpson said Harper “influenced my career more than anyone else did for the 10 years that I worked for him.”
“It was at a time when that was kind of out of the norm,” Harper said. “You didn’t hear a lot of people talk about work-life balance, but I felt it would be the best move for all of us. Thankfully it has proved out to be that.”
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