Gregory Kalescky,
President and CEO,
Transport Funding

Unlike most finance professionals who end up in equipment finance, Gregory Kalescky, president and CEO of Transport Funding, knew he wanted to pursue a career in banking and lending from an early age. Using this early direction to fasten himself to the industry, Kalescky has built a more than 37-year career in equipment finance and has seen nearly every product type out there. First, Kalescky spent 10 years working in sales for companies including CIT, Mitel and Heidelberg Harris, gaining additional responsibilities in credit, operations, customer service, collections, asset management and workouts along the way. From there, Kalescky spent 22 years working for captive finance companies including Siemens Medical, Canon Financial Services and Volvo Financial Services. This wealth of experience prepared him for his current role at Transport Funding.

Kalescky believes that if you take care of your team members, your team members will take care of your customers. Having worked for smaller captive finance companies and departments, Kalescky says teamwork is a key element of success and he works to promote collaborative environments wherever and whenever possible. Cross-training and having people who can fill in wherever necessary is also an important factor for a successful team, according to Kalescky, who leads by example.

Having worked for many successful companies and alongside many industry titans, Kalescky believes a change in leadership style has occurred over the last few years, causing companies to shift from an individual- focused model to using leadership to grease the wheels of client experience and innovate ways to retain customers. This promotion of customer-first thinking has changed the industry for the better, Kalescky says.

The next change coming to the industry, and therefore the next challenge to company leadership across the globe, according to Kalescky, will be the ability to keep up with IT requirements and the continued march toward automation. “Driving automation is and has been a key to success for some time,” Kalescky says. “IT and automation for driving originations will be a key component for our sales efforts in the years to come. Not falling behind and staying ahead of our competitors will be paramount.”

“I believe in leading by example and will at all times roll up my sleeves daily and perform any operational task in any department as required in order to help our people and the business.”