From Route Inspector to Managing Director of Transport Authority

Ralston Smith has risen through the ranks from a Route Inspector in 1992, to become Managing Director (MD) of the Transport Authority (TA), just over 30 years later, fulfilling a pronouncement that was made over his life early in his career.

The Managing Director tells JIS News that he has spent his entire career at the TA and is proud to have the distinction of being the first Managing Director to begin as a Route Inspector and move up to the top of the organisation.

He says that when he joined the TA at 18 years old, he was fortunate to have a manager and mentor in the form of Neville Francis, who was then Regional Manager for the Western Region.

“At the time, I was an Area Supervisor and he told me that the order in his life is God, then work, then family. My response to him was that my order was different. I told him then that my order is God, family, work,” Mr. Smith adds.

“I understood later what he meant when he said that. I will not say that I have adopted it, but it has become the natural order in my life, based on the demands of the job,” he says.

Mr. Smith tells JIS News that it was a reality he had to face as he became even more immersed in his job, adding that he is always mindful of his “Source”.

“God is front and centre of everything that I do and as a young man, I was a vibrant Christian, so when it comes to my spiritual life, I am very anchored. I normally put God at the forefront of all and everything that I do,” the Managing Director says. He is resolute that diligence is an important component in the toolkit for success and his advice to young aspirants is that without dedication and commitment it is impossible to succeed.

Mr. Smith cites the famous quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night,” noting how important that level of dedication is to success.

“All of us must invest in our craft; we need to engage a culture of lifelong learning; we must study and develop ourselves, and we must expand our horizons. We must also be committed to our craft and,, therefore must dedicate time to learning and understanding our work,” the Managing Director notes.

“My pathway to success has been one of sacrifice, commitment, commitment, more commitment and hard work,” he adds.

Mr. Smith points out that the pathway to the pinnacle of the organisation was not always an easy one, but his industrious nature kept him moving, even when he did not want to continue.

His journey began in 1992 as a Route Inspector, although his mission at the time was to become a chartered accountant.

“So, even when I joined the TA, I went in blindly. I did not know what I had got myself into and there was a time that I decided to leave it. When I was in training school and recognised that I was going to be exposed to the elements, the sun, rain, dust and all the other things associated with the work of a route inspector, I opted to resign. I didn’t think that this was for me,” he recalls. Mr. Smith fondly remembers, with gratitude, the person who insisted that he reconsider his decision.

“Gloria Jack was the training coordinator who oversaw the training school at the time. When I took the resignation letter to her, she sat me down and refused to accept it,” the Managing Director says.

“Young man, I have seen enough in you to tell me that you will become a future leader for the Authority,” she said to me, Mr. Smith recalls.

He adds that she was strident in her position, pointing out to him that the person who was Managing Director at the time, Wilbert Bowes, had joined the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) at the same age of 18, and informed him that Mr. Bowes left the JCF as the Commissioner of Police.

Mr. Smith says that upon graduation, the Training Coordinator and his colleagues all agreed that he would be one of the first Route Inspectors to climb the managerial ranks of the organisation and that this was noted in the graduation publication.

“Similarly, it was my mentor, Neville Francis, when he came to the Western Region in 1997, who told me that I am going to lead this organisation someday. He is still one of my biggest supporters today, and we still have a very strong bond and good friendship,” he notes.

Mr. Smith, who also served as Regional Manager for the Western Region, says that he is grateful for the journey and that he would not change anything.

“I normally say that my godfather in the TA is hard work, and wherever you are, whatever you put in you will get back, sometimes tenfold, because the Bible says that Paul plants, Apollos waters and God blesses the increase,” he says.

“Therefore, if you have done the kind of investment worthy of climbing the ladder, God will see to it that it happens. I have always been a reliable and committed soldier for the TA and I believe that God has honoured my sacrifice,” Mr. Smith adds.