You started as Deputy Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) in 2012, before becoming Commissioner in 2017. What is the secret to your success from a leadership standpoint?

The best secret I can give you, as far as my success, is three words: I am blessed. I’m very fortunate to have had extremely caring parents, who early on taught me a lot of things. Most importantly, they taught me hard work and responsibility, as well as the desire to always help people. I think it’s through those basic three things that I’ve developed a leadership philosophy based on the idea that there’s not much you can do all by yourself, so I always strive to ensure that we have a team approach.

Regarding the importance of teamwork and team building, how does that translate to work done with DDS?

The team aspect doesn’t just start within the organization. It starts with a supportive leadership team from our governor’s office, which I have. I’m fortunate to have a governor who understands this process, understands this agency and supports it. Also, it helps to have a Georgia General Assembly, both senators and representatives, who also understand what it takes to be successful.

What are your current goals for your organization?

We are currently onboarding our card production system, which essentially is our ability to provide a new, secure credential to customers in Georgia. We’re about 26 working days until rollout at our pilot locations and we’re excited about the new opportunity.

And right behind that is our modernization project. In our state we call it DRIVES [Driver Record and Integrated Vehicle Enterprise System], and it is an awesome partnership with the Department of Revenue. It’s roughly a $100M project that will modernize our system. Sixty-one million records that we hold will be in a much more secure database system, which will allow us to have a better use of analytics, along with customer volume predictions, making us more efficient in the process.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

First, the establishment of DDS missions and goals. There are four general themes:

• Trusted service
• Ethical actions
• Accountable to all
• Motivated to excellence

If you were to look at those four points, you’d notice that they also spell out TEAM. When you don’t have a team, you typically don’t have success. You may have individual success, but as an agency you won’t excel very much. Our team has truly embraced the theme.

Another thing is being a part of our AAMVA leadership team. I happened to be selected as a member of the AAMVA Board of Directors this past year. That was an extremely proud moment for me.

What transportation issues are you most passionate about? Are there any things that keep you up at night in regard to motor safety?

There are two issues about which I have tried my best to become a national expert. Impaired driving is one of them, the other is occupant safety issues. I currently serve on the Georgia Board of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. I’m very passionate about ensuring that no one has to experience the loss of a family member due to an impaired driver. Equally, I’m very passionate about no one having to lose their life unnecessarily because they didn’t wear a safety belt or, for our children, they didn’t wear a child safety seat restraint.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I know it is very important to have a work-life balance. I’m a former athlete, so I still enjoy competitive play through golf. It’s a low-impact sport and it’s one I am able to play regularly, despite a history of sports-related injuries.

The second thing that I love to do is teach sports. My daughter just turned 14 and she is a softball player. And it just so happens she’s about as competitive as her dad. I really enjoy coaching her team. I spend a lot of time coaching, and it is an extremely rewarding and exciting opportunity to give back. To teach and mold, to help create some of that discipline and accountability that I feel helped propel me to the position that I hold. I hope I can continue to do it for many more years.

Featured image: In his spare time, Commissioner Moore coaches his daughter’s softball team, the Brookwood Red Flames.