The winners of the 2018 Dynamic Leader and Government Leader of the Year honors – Jim Hallett of KAR Auction Services and Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush, respectively – share at least one common attribute: a strong determination to succeed.

The pair will be among those honored at the Indiana Chamber’s 29th Annual Awards Dinner on November 13 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis. Read the September 11 press release about Hallett and the September 18 announcement about Rush’s honor. Purchase your table or tickets.

The irony of Hallett growing up without a family car is obvious.

KAR – the company that Hallett runs as chief executive officer and chairman of the board – sold 5.5 million vehicles to the tune of more than $40 billion in 2017. Employing 17,500 around the world and 1,600 in Indiana, KAR is the 12th largest public company in the state.

It was in a rural Canadian village (south of Ottawa) where he grew up that Hallett gleaned many of the values that have brought him to his successful career today. Those include boundless energy and enthusiasm (passed down from his mother), the desire to work hard and passion for anything he does.

Hallett understands technology is one of the keys to success in today’s business world and that making a decision quickly and moving on that choice is paramount. He points to words of wisdom from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to explain how he envisions the future of KAR Auction Services.

“Wayne Gretzky had a quote, ‘I never go to where the puck is, I always go to where the puck is going.’ As I think about our business, I’m not that interested in where the business is, I’m much more focused on where the business is going,” Hallett explains.

Rush also has focused on expanding technology as the leader of Indiana’s judicial branch. She was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court in November 2012 before being named chief justice less than two years later. This came after 15 years at a Lafayette law firm and service as a Superior Court judge in Tippecanoe County.

By the June 30, 2018 close of the state’s fiscal year, 83 of 92 counties had implemented e-filing in their courts. More than 6 million documents had been e-filed statewide. Data from nearly 80% of the state’s caseload was available in the Odyssey Case Management System. The bottom line: a more effective and efficient court system.

Rush is also co-chair of the National Judicial Opioid Task Force. Deborah Taylor Tate, the Tennessee state court administrator, is the other leader of that effort.

“What has really been most notable for me is that she (Rush) has this real sense of service – not just to be the chief justice of a state court system but to use that for good,” Tate shares. “She is always bringing to the forefront that we can make a difference down at the individual child or family level. At every level, she has seen this as a road to improving people’s lives. It’s been an inspiration to me.”

Rush also emphasizes a team effort with the other justices on the Supreme Court, which received 845 cases in the 2017-2018 fiscal year. It disposed of 851 cases, which included 56 oral arguments and 71 majority opinions.