In Episode 122 of “The Trusted Advisor,” RSPA CEO Jim Roddy sits down with Mike DeGuibert, North America Sales Manager for Epson, about his leadership journey and lessons learned. Among the topics discussed are filling the shoes of industry legend Linda Sudderth, best practices for leading a remote team, how taking notes makes you a more effective leader, and how veteran leaders can improve their skills. 

 “The Trusted Advisor,” powered by the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA), is an award-winning content series designed specifically for retail IT VARs and software providers. Our goal is to educate you on the topics of leadership, management, hiring, sales, and other small business best practices. For more insights, visit the RSPA blog at www.GoRSPA.org.  

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Full episode transcript via Apple Podcasts:

00:00:07.375 –> 00:00:14.955
Jim Roddy: Welcome to another episode of The trusted Advisor Podcasts and Video Series, powered by the Retail Solutions Providers Association.

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Roddy: Our goal on the pod is to accelerate the success of today’s and tomorrow’s leaders in the retail IT industry.

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Roddy: I’m Jim Roddy back with you again.

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Roddy: Thank you so much for joining us.

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Roddy: So throughout the year, we’re talking with leaders about their leadership journeys and what they’ve learned along the way.

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Roddy: And our guest today is Mike DeGuibert, North American sales manager for Epson, where he’s been part of the team for 10 years.

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Roddy: Mike has many years of experience in the retail technology industry, including sales and leadership roles at NCR, Intermec and Fujitsu.

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Roddy: Mike, welcome to The trusted Advisor.

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DeGuibert: Good morning.

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DeGuibert: Thanks for having me, Jim.

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Roddy: No, it’s my pleasure to get to know you better today.

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Roddy: So again, we are going to discuss at length your leadership journey.

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Roddy: But first, if you give some context to our audience, can you share with us your career journey and what was the path that led you from where you were to become Epson’s North America sales manager?

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Mike DeGuibert: Yeah, it’s kind of funny.

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DeGuibert: So I got into the point of sale business at a very early age.

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DeGuibert: Came from a family that was in the restaurant business.

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DeGuibert: So I was integrated into hospitality at the age of 12, which hanging around the restaurant doing things for my parents.

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DeGuibert: And so it was kind of a unique start.

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DeGuibert: So go off to college and get into computers because computers interested me and got a computer informations degree.

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DeGuibert: And get out of college, you’re like, what am I going to do with this?

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DeGuibert: because I liked programming, but I just could not see sitting at a desk programming for 8, 10 hours a day.

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DeGuibert: And back in the 90s, how did you find a job?

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DeGuibert: You opened a paper.

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DeGuibert: And I was living in Charlotte at the time and found an ad for Century Data Systems.

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DeGuibert: They said retail bar for hospitality grocery.

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DeGuibert: I’m like, I don’t really know what that is, but I know hospitality.

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DeGuibert: I’m going to give this a shot.

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DeGuibert: So gave them a call, went in an interview, got hired that day, and that’s kind of started my journey.

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DeGuibert: So Century Data was probably my first lead in to ICRDA.

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DeGuibert: Early on, I was going to the ICRDA meetings every year, golf outings, being in Charlotte, and the roots being there and in North Carolina.

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DeGuibert: Clarence Wiggins and Wayne Williams were our leaders at the time, and they were highly involved.

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DeGuibert: I think we were doing the computers at the time.

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DeGuibert: They actually branded their own computer that resellers sold.

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DeGuibert: So yeah, I’ve got a long history with RSPA.

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Roddy: Yeah.

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Roddy: I was going to say, for folks who aren’t familiar, ICRDA was the Independent Cash Register Dealers Association.

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Roddy: That was the forerunner to the association, and Clarence Wiggins is certainly legendary in this space.

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Roddy: I’m curious, can you go in a little more detail about your family restaurant, like what kind of restaurant was it?

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Roddy: You said you started there at age 12.

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Roddy: What were you doing at age 12?

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DeGuibert: At 12, I was washing dishes and busing and just running around and being a 12-year-old kid.

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DeGuibert: Grew up in a small town in North Carolina called Trion.

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DeGuibert: It’s near Hendersonville, Asheville, Greenville area, kind of a horse country.

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DeGuibert: So it was steak, seafood.

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DeGuibert: This was before the days of chilies and applebees.

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DeGuibert: People would come to Trion to go to my parents’ restaurant Friday and Saturday nights, where just people from 30, 40 miles away would come to have dinner.

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DeGuibert: So it was interesting.

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DeGuibert: So growing up, I was into sports and things like that, or the whole Western North Carolina area, and knew a lot of people from that, and they would literally start coming to my parents’ restaurant.

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DeGuibert: So it was interesting.

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DeGuibert: So it really was a family type business back then, a little different.

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Roddy: tremendous.

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Roddy: Yeah, certainly the landscape of restaurants has changed significantly.

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Roddy: So let’s talk about today.

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Roddy: So Epson’s prior North America sales manager was Linda Sudderth, someone who many RSPA members knew well and greatly respected.

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Roddy: So Linda retired, but before that, she was Women to Women Leader of the Year in the RSPA.

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Roddy: She was a mentor to many folks in the industry.

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Roddy: She volunteered her time super sharp, like great business acumen as well.

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Roddy: So can you talk about how you’re going about stepping into the role of somebody who left very big shoes to fill, right?

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Roddy: It’s way different from stepping into a role where you have to turn things around or you’re starting completely fresh.

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Roddy: So talk about following the great Linda Sudderth.

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DeGuibert: It’s funny because when I went through the interview process, I heard those very same things from some of our leaders and they chuckled when they said it because my introduction into Epson was with Fujitsu.

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DeGuibert: We were a partner of Epson, they were our print solution.

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DeGuibert: So I had met Linda over the years and Tim Latta over the years and had a lot of good relationships with Epson.

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DeGuibert: It was funny when I first interviewed with her, she’s like, what would you want to do when you come to Epson?

00:05:03.895 –> 00:05:06.095
DeGuibert: I was like, I want to go there and try to help grow your business.

00:05:06.095 –> 00:05:09.835
DeGuibert: I said, my one concern is we’re a print solution.

00:05:09.835 –> 00:05:17.915
DeGuibert: Fujitsu, I sold people, services, everything you can think of when it came to the retail industry.

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DeGuibert: Linda was like, well, I’ll challenge you with that.

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DeGuibert: You’re going to have other opportunities, you’re going to have other things you can do here.

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DeGuibert: It’s not just a printer and it optimized a lot of things because of her leadership skills and the way she communicates.

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DeGuibert: When I first came on board, it was nice because Linda empowered you to do things.

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DeGuibert: She mentored me for 10 years working directly for her.

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DeGuibert: I would say the last three years, she got me ready for this role.

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DeGuibert: We had a lot of discussions about where the channel as a whole is going, not just with Epson, but you see all the changes that have happened over the last five years with the payment companies and the different ISVs that have come into the market.

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DeGuibert: It’s evolving so that we’ve got to be a little better with our customers to be able to meet their challenges.

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DeGuibert: I would say that I’ve taken that approach.

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DeGuibert: It’s different walking into a team.

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DeGuibert: The one day I was a team leader and a mentor on our team, to now I’m leading the team, which was a little unique.

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DeGuibert: And we had a lot of conversations about that and what that would look like.

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DeGuibert: So I’ve tried to take her piece of the channel, which if you talk to Linda, it’s integrity, it’s partnerships, it’s all the things that make a strong channel.

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DeGuibert: And I’m just trying to leverage those because she did an unbelievable job in 25 years.

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DeGuibert: Here’s Epson leading this channel.

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DeGuibert: And then she also gave me some things that she saw coming with these changes around payments and other things, and things that we need to do as a channel to change it.

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DeGuibert: And we’ve already started trying to look at those and start to implement those over the next 12 to 24 months.

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DeGuibert: So she’s still leaving her legacy with a footprint of things she saw and the challenges she saw coming.

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DeGuibert: So far, it’s been great.

00:07:05.815 –> 00:07:06.615
Roddy: Right.

00:07:06.615 –> 00:07:18.255
Roddy: And talk about that, if I can just follow up on one point of that, is a lot of times when folks think about delegating, they think about, here’s these 10, 20, 30, 40 tasks that I need to show somebody how to do.

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Roddy: But you went out of your way a couple of times to mention, we talked about the channel as a whole, we talked about the changes in the industry.

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Roddy: Can you talk about how important that is?

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Roddy: Talk to our audience about when they are delegating to somebody.

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Roddy: You’re not just teaching about the task, you have to talk about the whole concept.

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Roddy: Can you talk about how that has helped you move into Linda’s role and really develop and be ready for this?

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DeGuibert: Yeah, because it’s going from tactical to strategic.

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DeGuibert: We need to take that one layer back and look at the channel as a whole, because the way Linda set up our channel, and it’s funny, she did it purposefully.

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DeGuibert: We’ve got our OEM VAR segment, we’ve got our ISV segment, and then we’ve got our traditional VAR segment.

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DeGuibert: And they are unique and they are merging, right?

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DeGuibert: So I think the biggest thing I’ve tried to do now with my team is just because you’ve been a traditional VAR manager for the last 10 years, you now have OEM customers.

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DeGuibert: You have people that want private label, they want branding, that you need to look at the bigger picture of what can we be to them to be more strategic, and look at other pieces of their business that we do well, but you haven’t really integrated in that to your customer because we’ve lost some customers because we didn’t look at that foresight of where are they going, and we weren’t really listening to the customer.

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DeGuibert: We were kind of doing our day-to-day and you get so wrapped up into the day-to-day that you forget that there’s a bigger component here with what’s changing in industry.

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DeGuibert: So that’s kind of what I’ve tried to do is start integrating that into my team because I do have a unique background.

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DeGuibert: If you looked at the channel back in the 90s when I worked at NCR, they were a channel leader.

00:09:02.275 –> 00:09:11.935
DeGuibert: I mean, they went from, they had protected territories and the loyalty that they had and the partnerships that they created were so strong.

00:09:11.935 –> 00:09:14.115
DeGuibert: And by the year 2000, that was gone.

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DeGuibert: because of changes in the industry and the way the corporation thought they should change that.

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DeGuibert: So I’m trying to take some of those into my business as well.

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DeGuibert: And Linda, I’ve talked about it.

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DeGuibert: She’s kind of taken my lead on some of them.

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DeGuibert: because those relationships you build with partnerships, they last forever.

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DeGuibert: And if you do one bad thing, they can be gone.

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DeGuibert: So it’s continuing to build upon that.

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DeGuibert: And I think that’s what I’ve tried to do over the last six months with the team, as far as now as the leader in the prior 10 years as a mentor and a teammate.

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Roddy: Yeah.

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Roddy: And there’s recognizing that your organization with, like you said, the day to day, it has an inertia that’s moving in a certain direction.

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Roddy: And it’s very, very difficult to make any tweaks and changes.

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Roddy: because man, that inertia is strong.

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DeGuibert: Oh, it is strong.

00:10:04.455 –> 00:10:05.835
Roddy: Yeah, no matter what size company.

00:10:06.835 –> 00:10:10.455
Roddy: So there’s another dynamic in terms of Linda was based in Texas.

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Roddy: You’re based in Florida.

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Roddy: Can you talk about that dynamic of now you’re leading a team, and everyone isn’t in the same room or the same building together 40 hours a week?

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Roddy: How does that change the way you act as a leader?

00:10:26.775 –> 00:10:28.495
DeGuibert: And this is where I think I got lucky.

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DeGuibert: Right?

00:10:28.995 –> 00:10:33.235
DeGuibert: So if you look at before the pandemic, what did we all do?

00:10:33.455 –> 00:10:43.055
DeGuibert: We all got together for our quarterly meetings and our bi-yearly meetings, and everybody tried to get together when you could and go into trade shows.

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DeGuibert: You just hopped on a plane, right?

00:10:44.835 –> 00:10:50.455
DeGuibert: So in my career, I have worked virtually for 25 years.

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DeGuibert: And it was a challenge, right?

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DeGuibert: When even when you’re on a team or trying to lead a team, then the pandemic comes along and we’re all sitting in an office.

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DeGuibert: And Zoom and Teams and all these tools came to us that we never had before really, right?

00:11:04.415 –> 00:11:06.495
DeGuibert: They were there, but people didn’t really use them.

00:11:07.235 –> 00:11:11.715
DeGuibert: If you got on to a Zoom call, not everybody turned on their cameras.

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DeGuibert: Well, when the pandemic started, one thing our CEO did, Keith Kratzberg, he said, guys, cameras on.

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DeGuibert: We’ve got to be in front of our customers and this is the only way to be in front of our customer is using the camera.

00:11:23.895 –> 00:11:27.995
DeGuibert: He said, and I don’t care if the customer doesn’t have theirs on, yours is going to be on.

00:11:27.995 –> 00:11:29.695
DeGuibert: If we’re in internal meetings, I want them on.

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DeGuibert: Now, he goes, I understand, there might be a meeting morning that you’ve worked out and you’re not fresh, you’re not ready to jump on camera.

00:11:36.115 –> 00:11:37.135
DeGuibert: That’s fine.

00:11:37.635 –> 00:11:40.175
DeGuibert: But the thing is be in front of your customer.

00:11:40.175 –> 00:11:44.555
DeGuibert: Now, we’ve got the ability as a leader to be in front of our team.

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DeGuibert: I’m on Zoom calls every day with one of my team members.

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DeGuibert: We’re on bi-weekly calls, monthly calls.

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DeGuibert: We get together and it might be the first piece, let’s get the business stuff out, but hey, how are you guys doing?

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DeGuibert: Let’s go home to your family.

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DeGuibert: There’s more interaction you can have today in this virtual world than we’ve ever had before.

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DeGuibert: I think as a leader, you need to leverage that and leverage it with your customers.

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DeGuibert: because I think pretty much all my customers now when they get on that didn’t put their cameras on, now they want to get on.

00:12:14.415 –> 00:12:16.795
DeGuibert: They want to see, hey, what do you got in the background?

00:12:16.815 –> 00:12:19.755
DeGuibert: I’ll put different things up in the background to see if people notice.

00:12:19.755 –> 00:12:23.295
DeGuibert: I’ll change stuff around and then you just have a conversation.

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DeGuibert: It’s definitely changed, but I think people need to embrace it.

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Roddy: Yeah, so it sounds like what you’re saying is, there’s like core leadership principles that no matter what the tools are, like core leadership principles, but you’ve got to make sure you really use the tools that are available to you, and not just halfway, but use the tools all the way and use them frequently in order to have them, enable you to be a leader in today’s day and age.

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DeGuibert: Absolutely.

00:12:49.935 –> 00:12:51.255
DeGuibert: I agree 100 percent.

00:12:51.255 –> 00:12:52.235
Roddy: Yeah.

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Roddy: Is there anything you miss about not being in an office?

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Roddy: I’m saying like you personally, but you as a leader that you’re like, man, I’m not going to understand that.

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Roddy: Part of the reason I’m asking is selfishly, the RSPA, we’re a team of 10, we’re all virtual as well.

00:13:07.835 –> 00:13:11.255
Roddy: I’ve been in this office here now, moved to Raleigh, North Carolina two and a half years.

00:13:11.255 –> 00:13:15.055
Roddy: Not one of my coworkers has ever stepped foot in this office before.

00:13:15.055 –> 00:13:19.775
Roddy: I only see them on the screens or like I said, when we cross paths at trade shows.

00:13:19.775 –> 00:13:26.875
Roddy: I’m just curious about what do you see as like, here’s something that I know is a gap because we’re not in the office all the time.

00:13:26.875 –> 00:13:32.095
DeGuibert: Yeah, I think some things get missed from not being in the office and in front of people.

00:13:34.055 –> 00:13:37.855
DeGuibert: One of my roles was a hired role where I was going to an office and not in an office.

00:13:37.855 –> 00:13:41.255
DeGuibert: The time that you can get in front of a person, and it’s the same thing with customers.

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DeGuibert: I talked to my team and I was like, anytime a customer gives you the opportunity of doing a Zoom call or you fly in to see them, you fly in and see them.

00:13:49.455 –> 00:13:55.355
DeGuibert: The conversations you have one-on-one, like we’re doing right now, is great.

00:13:55.355 –> 00:13:59.235
DeGuibert: But now get a Zoom call where you’ve got six people on it.

00:13:59.235 –> 00:14:04.595
DeGuibert: How many times do you see you’ve got one person, you’re not sure if they’re looking at the screen or if they’re reading e-mail.

00:14:04.795 –> 00:14:12.035
DeGuibert: What they’re doing, they turn right here like, oh, my camera is on and you know and you pick up on it.

00:14:12.055 –> 00:14:15.435
DeGuibert: One thing I’ve tried to do in those calls is, hey, Steve, what do you think about that?

00:14:15.435 –> 00:14:16.735
DeGuibert: Try to get pulling back.

00:14:16.735 –> 00:14:18.775
DeGuibert: When the office is a little different, it’s face-to-face.

00:14:18.775 –> 00:14:20.355
DeGuibert: Hey, what did you do this weekend?

00:14:20.355 –> 00:14:21.275
DeGuibert: What about this?

00:14:21.275 –> 00:14:27.495
DeGuibert: Hey, I saw so-and-so up front, did they get this done for our project?

00:14:27.495 –> 00:14:32.135
DeGuibert: You have more of that interaction where you can go get things done quick.

00:14:32.135 –> 00:14:44.015
DeGuibert: One thing we do, I probably get out to our corporate office about once a quarter, and you just walk the halls, you go see the product managers, you go see the marketing folks, you go see the VPs and have the conversations.

00:14:44.015 –> 00:14:55.055
DeGuibert: It’s just face-to-face interaction is still never going to replace by Zoom, but it’s still very important because you have conversations you’d never have unless it’s one-on-one like this.

00:14:55.055 –> 00:15:00.095
DeGuibert: You and I will probably get into conversations that if there was a team, we’d never get there.

00:15:00.095 –> 00:15:05.835
DeGuibert: That’s why I try to do one-on-ones with my team at least once a month for an hour, where we just have this conversation.

00:15:05.835 –> 00:15:15.115
DeGuibert: because you start talking about things that you forgot about, or, hey, we put that as a goal we’re going to do, and where are we?

00:15:15.115 –> 00:15:17.475
DeGuibert: You can have those handy conversations one-on-one.

00:15:18.235 –> 00:15:25.195
DeGuibert: That’s the part I miss is it’s more the cooler talk and bringing in and getting things done a lot quicker when you’re face-to-face.

00:15:25.935 –> 00:15:34.375
Roddy: We’ve actually added into our agenda for our weekly team meeting and lead off with it, personal and professional best news for the week.

00:15:34.375 –> 00:15:38.215
Roddy: because we know we don’t, usually you bump into someone in the hallway, how’s it going?

00:15:38.215 –> 00:15:41.435
Roddy: Hey, I got to tell you this story, or something of that nature.

00:15:41.435 –> 00:15:46.015
Roddy: We don’t have that naturally happening, and no one’s going to be on a Zoom call and be like, let me tell you what I did this weekend.

00:15:46.015 –> 00:15:47.275
Roddy: Okay, bye.

00:15:47.295 –> 00:15:49.735
Roddy: So we actually integrate that into our agenda.

00:15:49.735 –> 00:15:52.755
Roddy: Like I said, we start off with it to make sure that we’re getting that.

00:15:52.755 –> 00:16:00.135
Roddy: because without that, it just becomes a bunch of, it’s a transactional relationship, because everybody is just doing those things.

00:16:00.475 –> 00:16:03.895
DeGuibert: Yeah, and you’re like, all right, once this call over, so I can go get my work done.

00:16:03.895 –> 00:16:04.435
Roddy: Yes.

00:16:04.435 –> 00:16:06.195
DeGuibert: Yeah, on to the next thing.

00:16:06.715 –> 00:16:12.075
Roddy: Or like you said, in the middle of the call, doing your work, sneaking off to the side, it’s just a team of nature to do it.

00:16:12.075 –> 00:16:14.055
Roddy: All right, so that was some of the technical stuff.

00:16:14.055 –> 00:16:18.755
Roddy: Let me, we’re going back and forth, had you start at the beginning and then jump in today.

00:16:18.755 –> 00:16:22.695
Roddy: I want you to go back to early in your career, in your leadership journey.

00:16:23.135 –> 00:16:33.215
Roddy: So, can you talk about a learning experience early on that has stuck with you for years and decades and influences you as a leader today?

00:16:33.215 –> 00:16:33.935
DeGuibert: Yes.

00:16:33.935 –> 00:16:35.755
DeGuibert: So, I’ll pull in Mr.

00:16:35.755 –> 00:16:36.715
DeGuibert: Krogh on this one.

00:16:36.715 –> 00:16:40.815
DeGuibert: So, one of my sales leaders at NCR, Mark Krogh.

00:16:40.815 –> 00:16:41.975
DeGuibert: Don’t know if you know Mark.

00:16:41.975 –> 00:16:49.115
DeGuibert: He’s been on the direct selling in the Minnesota area for 30, 40 years, but very dynamic guy.

00:16:49.355 –> 00:17:02.475
DeGuibert: But one thing he taught me really early on was because I was younger at the time, in my 20s, and I would get kind of uppity and hot-headed about stuff like, no, we got to go do this, we got to do it now.

00:17:02.515 –> 00:17:03.975
DeGuibert: He’d be like, no, let’s bring this back.

00:17:03.975 –> 00:17:06.975
DeGuibert: He goes, Mike, start writing things down.

00:17:06.975 –> 00:17:10.715
DeGuibert: He goes, you need to level set with what you’re really looking for.

00:17:10.715 –> 00:17:18.135
DeGuibert: Write it down, walk away from it, come back and revisit it, and then continue that writing and then act upon it.

00:17:18.535 –> 00:17:22.355
DeGuibert: So his whole thing was, don’t do things he did.

00:17:22.355 –> 00:17:31.315
DeGuibert: Make sure you think it through, and then revisit it before you actually make it an actionable and purposeful statement that you’re trying to do.

00:17:31.315 –> 00:17:34.315
DeGuibert: He goes, just come in here, tell me you need that.

00:17:34.315 –> 00:17:36.915
DeGuibert: Well, that doesn’t really give me the full story.

00:17:36.915 –> 00:17:41.075
DeGuibert: You and I got 10 or 15 minutes for this conversation, it’s on to the next thing.

00:17:41.075 –> 00:17:44.395
DeGuibert: So that’s stuck with me real early on.

00:17:44.395 –> 00:17:48.935
DeGuibert: His next big thing was, when you do write it down, read through it.

00:17:49.095 –> 00:17:53.195
DeGuibert: Don’t just go through and like, yeah, I got it, because look in today’s age.

00:17:53.195 –> 00:17:59.175
DeGuibert: I mean, some of the IMs we get in the text messages, it’s like, did people really think through that before they sent it?

00:17:59.175 –> 00:18:05.335
DeGuibert: because the way I’m reading it is not the way they sent it, and you kind of read through it.

00:18:05.335 –> 00:18:08.735
DeGuibert: So it’s kind of especially with the digital age, it helps.

00:18:08.735 –> 00:18:18.455
DeGuibert: I don’t want to send an email to you that doesn’t really hit the points we’re looking for, and then I can do the friendly fluff at the end, but hit up front the concise piece you’re trying to get to.

00:18:18.455 –> 00:18:32.395
DeGuibert: because when you’re dealing with the nice piece, when I worked at Vagitsu, was calling on C-level leaders, you’re going to get them in the first paragraph, our first two sentences, and everything else, it’s gone.

00:18:32.395 –> 00:18:36.015
DeGuibert: So if you didn’t get your point across, you’ve lost them.

00:18:36.015 –> 00:18:42.455
DeGuibert: So he taught me that really early on, so as my career advanced, that you really try to be purposeful in everything you do.

00:18:44.995 –> 00:18:59.915
DeGuibert: Mark was a good mentor, a good friend, so it goes back to when you sent the list of questions we might talk through, and you start thinking about those memories, you’re like, God, that was nice when we get to your point, face-to-face and have those meetings.

00:19:02.795 –> 00:19:10.395
Roddy: So I am thrilled to hear you share this because before my role, I would do a lot of team training, customer service training.

00:19:11.035 –> 00:19:29.255
Roddy: And one of the notes was when you’re handling an upset customer to actively listen and to support your act of listening, take notes, like as many notes as you can, because there’s just something about human nature where you can’t yell back at somebody as you were writing down and taking notes, where it has some level setting from an emotional standpoint to it.

00:19:29.255 –> 00:19:32.075
Roddy: So did it have that effect on you right away?

00:19:32.075 –> 00:19:33.915
Roddy: Or were you like, this is, I’m not going to do this.

00:19:33.915 –> 00:19:35.955
Roddy: Why would you like, can you talk about that?

00:19:35.955 –> 00:19:37.535
Roddy: Like, did it have an immediate impact on you?

00:19:38.535 –> 00:19:50.055
DeGuibert: It did because when he was giving me this coaching advice, we were doing with a pretty upset customer that wanted to go in a certain direction that wasn’t our direction, and I just wanted to solve it.

00:19:50.055 –> 00:19:51.675
DeGuibert: I wanted to make it happen.

00:19:51.675 –> 00:19:56.095
DeGuibert: So it did stick with me because it was a large customer at the time for NCR.

00:19:56.095 –> 00:20:01.515
DeGuibert: It was something that I felt if we don’t do this, we’re going to lose them.

00:20:01.515 –> 00:20:02.715
DeGuibert: He’s like, wait a minute.

00:20:03.135 –> 00:20:05.195
DeGuibert: Let’s see what they’re really trying to get to.

00:20:05.195 –> 00:20:06.475
DeGuibert: It did stick with me.

00:20:07.035 –> 00:20:14.515
DeGuibert: But to your point, when you write it down, and you think it through, and you get the emotion out of it, you have a much better outcome.

00:20:15.095 –> 00:20:18.355
DeGuibert: I see myself now as I start writing things down.

00:20:18.355 –> 00:20:23.915
DeGuibert: By the time I answer something that’s important like that, it’s way different from where I started.

00:20:23.915 –> 00:20:24.655
Roddy: Yes.

00:20:25.635 –> 00:20:28.355
DeGuibert: Yeah, it stuck with me early on.

00:20:28.355 –> 00:20:36.875
Roddy: Yeah, have the mindset of a neutral investigator trying to fully understand the situation as opposed to someone who’s just reacting or I got to give an answer.

00:20:36.995 –> 00:20:44.395
DeGuibert: I got to give an answer because that’s one thing I’ve done as a mentor over the years, is sometimes less is more.

00:20:44.395 –> 00:20:45.555
DeGuibert: Let the customer talk to you.

00:20:45.555 –> 00:20:46.795
DeGuibert: Let them talk through there.

00:20:46.795 –> 00:20:52.455
DeGuibert: They have an aggravation for a reason, and they’re not asking you to solve it this very second.

00:20:52.615 –> 00:20:56.355
DeGuibert: They’re wanting you to hear what’s going on.

00:20:56.355 –> 00:21:02.435
DeGuibert: Take that time because sometimes a knee-jerk reaction loses its fizz anyway, because you didn’t think through that.

00:21:02.435 –> 00:21:03.755
DeGuibert: You didn’t go work with your team.

00:21:04.375 –> 00:21:07.715
DeGuibert: So I think it’s just a good lesson.

00:21:08.855 –> 00:21:16.675
DeGuibert: I had an interview with a college student about six months ago, and he was asking me some of those questions.

00:21:17.135 –> 00:21:28.255
DeGuibert: That was my coaching to him is, less is more because as soon as you and I got on this conversation, you wanted to talk, and it’s about a conversation.

00:21:30.215 –> 00:21:39.135
DeGuibert: Those are the things you want to do for the next generation coming up, so they understand it’s not all about talking, it’s about listening, especially when it comes to relationships.

00:21:39.135 –> 00:21:41.375
Roddy: Yes.

00:21:41.375 –> 00:21:41.995
Roddy: Well said.

00:21:41.995 –> 00:21:44.135
Roddy: That was a lesson early in your career.

00:21:44.135 –> 00:21:47.475
Roddy: Can you talk about a learning experience maybe later in your career?

00:21:47.475 –> 00:21:53.475
Roddy: There was maybe a difficult time that you ended up overcoming and what you learned from that.

00:21:53.475 –> 00:21:55.515
DeGuibert: I think we can all relate to this, the pandemic.

00:21:56.915 –> 00:22:02.035
DeGuibert: The supply chain issues that were caused through the pandemic were unfathomable.

00:22:02.355 –> 00:22:07.775
DeGuibert: We’re still dealing with it today, some of the effects that happened to us four years ago.

00:22:08.795 –> 00:22:21.995
DeGuibert: Early on when it started getting to that point, because my role being a little different dealing with our OEMs, our large customers are doing millions and millions of dollars of business a year, that we’re only a part of the solution here at Epson.

00:22:22.635 –> 00:22:31.555
DeGuibert: We’re a key part, but we’re a small part when you look at the overall solution that goes into a grocery store, a restaurant, or a retail store.

00:22:37.915 –> 00:22:40.175
DeGuibert: Trying to see the word for it.

00:22:40.175 –> 00:22:43.995
DeGuibert: It’s just critical to be able to react to what they need.

00:22:43.995 –> 00:22:50.295
DeGuibert: When we started with the supply chain, we’re looking at three to six month lead times now.

00:22:50.415 –> 00:22:51.255
DeGuibert: We got this.

00:22:51.255 –> 00:22:55.375
DeGuibert: I went to my customers earlier and said, look, I need six to 12 month POs from you.

00:22:55.375 –> 00:22:57.655
DeGuibert: We need to look through your historicals.

00:22:57.655 –> 00:22:59.555
DeGuibert: Let’s get ahead of this.

00:22:59.555 –> 00:23:02.215
DeGuibert: Let’s get inventory coming in.

00:23:02.215 –> 00:23:10.335
DeGuibert: Two of my largest customers up until the last couple months, they didn’t feel the pain of some of our other customers did because they didn’t react to it.

00:23:10.335 –> 00:23:16.235
DeGuibert: They’re like, well, yeah, we’ll keep relying on the distributor to have product for us.

00:23:16.235 –> 00:23:23.155
DeGuibert: They’re like, well, you might not be able to rely on that because we’re going to have to just spread around what we have.

00:23:23.155 –> 00:23:32.755
DeGuibert: So I think being proactive taught me a lot of things using that proactiveness upfront, talking to your customers, letting them know, this could get really bad, guys.

00:23:32.755 –> 00:23:35.355
DeGuibert: I mean, you’ve got a rollout coming up.

00:23:35.355 –> 00:23:40.675
DeGuibert: If you don’t have the print solution, you can’t rollout or you don’t have the handheld or you don’t have the cash drawer.

00:23:40.675 –> 00:23:43.215
DeGuibert: All the components to go together to make the solution.

00:23:43.215 –> 00:23:49.775
DeGuibert: So I think there are a lot of conversations had around the pandemic that we’ve never had before as a salesperson.

00:23:51.435 –> 00:24:00.015
Roddy: Frank conversation, it sounds like what you’re saying, there’s an element of being proactive, but then also making sure the active part of that isn’t a half step.

00:24:00.015 –> 00:24:02.295
Roddy: It’s really making sure you’re going.

00:24:02.295 –> 00:24:05.635
Roddy: My old boss used to say, kill an ant with an anvil.

00:24:05.635 –> 00:24:11.595
Roddy: just don’t squash it with your finger like, boom, you are making sure that this is not going to be a problem.

00:24:11.595 –> 00:24:21.735
Roddy: My understanding, that’s the lesson was be proactive, but just don’t fall short, like making sure that the proactive action that you’re taking really gets the job done and then some.

00:24:21.735 –> 00:24:21.955
DeGuibert: Yeah.

00:24:21.955 –> 00:24:26.755
DeGuibert: I mean, it’s okay to have a stern conversation with your customer like, we got to do this.

00:24:26.755 –> 00:24:30.475
DeGuibert: I mean, I know this is outside the norm, but we don’t have a choice.

00:24:30.475 –> 00:24:31.155
DeGuibert: Yeah.

00:24:31.155 –> 00:24:38.595
DeGuibert: Having those conversations early on definitely help, but that proactiveness is something that I still teach to my team.

00:24:39.175 –> 00:24:44.415
DeGuibert: Even the last couple of months, I’m like, guys, I need to be able, especially with some of the change that we have now, right?

00:24:44.415 –> 00:24:47.035
DeGuibert: So you had that whole build up to the pandemic.

00:24:47.035 –> 00:24:59.435
DeGuibert: Well, the market softened because all that money and everything they had to spend, it’s gone, and now we’re back to 2017, 2018 type levels because that bubble is gone.

00:24:59.435 –> 00:25:16.155
DeGuibert: So you need to be proactive in front of your customer so that our competitors aren’t in there poaching some of the business that you think is good, but it may not be because they might be watching their nickels and dimes and trying to figure out where they can save a little money for the same type of solution.

00:25:16.155 –> 00:25:20.635
DeGuibert: So proactiveness is key in this channel business.

00:25:20.635 –> 00:25:21.715
Roddy: Reminds me of two quotes.

00:25:21.715 –> 00:25:25.975
Roddy: There’s no substitute for a competent person getting closer to a situation.

00:25:25.975 –> 00:25:29.515
Roddy: If you think you’re close, you’re maybe not close enough, like get even closer.

00:25:29.515 –> 00:25:40.335
Roddy: Then when my wife and I, we have one daughter, and when my wife is pregnant, always asking her OB questions, and her OB would say, a little neurosis never hurt anybody.

00:25:40.335 –> 00:25:47.135
Roddy: It’s good to act and make sure and ask the question as opposed to, I’m sure everything’s fine and reacting from there.

00:25:47.135 –> 00:25:49.415
Roddy: So we can learn from anywhere in this world.

00:25:49.415 –> 00:25:56.935
Roddy: So well, let’s pause here for a quick message to let our listeners and viewers know about the Retail Solutions Providers Association.

00:25:56.935 –> 00:26:03.055
Roddy: The RSPA is North America’s largest community of retail technology, VARS, software providers, vendors and distributors.

00:26:03.055 –> 00:26:10.815
Roddy: Members benefit from RSPA White Glove Service, which is provided by the member services team of Peggy Fry, Nicole Green and Ashley Nagy.

00:26:10.815 –> 00:26:20.875
Roddy: Instead of leaving you on your own to navigate our growing list of member companies, Peggy, Nicole and Ashley will make warm one-on-one introductions on your behalf to fellow members who can accelerate your success.

00:26:20.875 –> 00:26:24.395
Roddy: To learn more, email membership at gorspa.org.

00:26:25.755 –> 00:26:30.475
Roddy: Now, this next commercial mark is going to include a quiz for you.

00:26:30.475 –> 00:26:36.655
Roddy: So it’s thanking the RSPA sponsors who support our community and make this podcast and video series possible.

00:26:36.655 –> 00:26:43.995
Roddy: Our Platinum sponsors, Bluestar, our Gold sponsors, our Cochard, Heartland, ScanSource and can you name the fourth company?

00:26:44.055 –> 00:26:45.355
DeGuibert: That’d better be Epson.

00:26:45.355 –> 00:26:46.195
Roddy: It is Epson, yes.

00:26:46.195 –> 00:26:49.895
Roddy: That would be really awful if I turn the tables on you and it wasn’t.

00:26:49.895 –> 00:26:50.095
Roddy: Yeah.

00:26:50.095 –> 00:26:55.135
Roddy: So thanks to Cochard, Epson, Heartland, ScanSource and Bluestar for sponsoring this podcast.

00:26:55.335 –> 00:27:02.115
Roddy: Finally, registration is now open for Inspire 2025, the Retail IT Channel’s premier leadership conference.

00:27:02.115 –> 00:27:06.575
Roddy: RSPA’s Inspire is set for January 26th through 29th in Curaçao.

00:27:06.575 –> 00:27:14.655
Roddy: For more information, visit gorspa.org/inspire so you can experience networking nirvana.

00:27:14.655 –> 00:27:19.015
Roddy: So let’s talk now, we talked about some experiences that have taught you.

00:27:19.015 –> 00:27:21.535
Roddy: Let’s talk about some of the people who have taught you.

00:27:21.535 –> 00:27:26.235
Roddy: Who are some leaders that you look up to as mentors and have helped you shape your leadership approach?

00:27:26.235 –> 00:27:31.515
Roddy: And then who are they and what specifically did they do that’s had a lasting impact on you?

00:27:31.515 –> 00:27:32.955
DeGuibert: Yeah, we kind of talked through Linda.

00:27:32.955 –> 00:27:41.155
DeGuibert: I mean, she’s definitely had a huge, huge help to my career and the things I’ve done at Epson.

00:27:41.155 –> 00:27:48.695
DeGuibert: But when I go back through my NCR days, NCR was a great leadership training platform.

00:27:48.815 –> 00:27:53.735
DeGuibert: I mean, you went to educations up in SugarCamp, up in Dayton.

00:27:53.735 –> 00:27:59.555
DeGuibert: And from that, the leaders that you dealt with were just fantastic.

00:27:59.555 –> 00:28:12.475
DeGuibert: Gordy Meister and Dave Strawler, don’t know if you know those names, they were kind of icons the way they set up their channel and the way they did the events and how they got people engaged.

00:28:12.615 –> 00:28:15.595
DeGuibert: And when you looked at all the people that work for them, they bought into it.

00:28:16.295 –> 00:28:18.715
DeGuibert: And from that, the partners bought into it.

00:28:18.715 –> 00:28:24.575
DeGuibert: So I got to do a lot of traveling with Dave Strawler.

00:28:24.575 –> 00:28:27.235
DeGuibert: Luckily enough, now I get to work with Doug Strawler, his son.

00:28:27.235 –> 00:28:28.335
DeGuibert: He actually works at Epson.

00:28:28.335 –> 00:28:32.795
DeGuibert: And Doug and I have known each other for 25 years.

00:28:32.795 –> 00:28:34.435
DeGuibert: Goes back to the relationship piece, right?

00:28:34.435 –> 00:28:38.795
DeGuibert: So Dave had a high impact on the way I did things.

00:28:38.795 –> 00:28:42.455
DeGuibert: He was such a, I mean, same thing, purposeful.

00:28:42.455 –> 00:28:46.635
DeGuibert: When he talked to you, you want to have a good conversation, he wanted to listen to you.

00:28:46.635 –> 00:28:51.375
DeGuibert: He wasn’t a dictator that told you, this is the way things are going to be done.

00:28:51.375 –> 00:28:53.835
DeGuibert: He’s like, oh, what are you doing with this partner?

00:28:53.835 –> 00:28:55.235
DeGuibert: Why are you doing it that way?

00:28:55.235 –> 00:28:56.775
DeGuibert: Well, have you thought about this?

00:28:56.775 –> 00:29:04.915
DeGuibert: So for him, it was always developing and working through the conversations to make sure that the partner was getting everything they needed from us.

00:29:04.915 –> 00:29:10.215
DeGuibert: And starting at Sentry Data, being a partner and seeing how I was treated by the different OEMs.

00:29:11.795 –> 00:29:15.775
DeGuibert: And NCR, the reason I went from Sentry Data to NCR was because of that.

00:29:15.775 –> 00:29:21.775
DeGuibert: The way they treated the partners and you got on the phone with them, and they cared about what you were asking about.

00:29:21.955 –> 00:29:25.115
DeGuibert: And all that came from Gordy and Dave, which is kind of funny, right?

00:29:25.115 –> 00:29:36.095
DeGuibert: So the experiences that I had at Sentry Data were reflected from the work they had done years and past to get their channel the way it was.

00:29:36.095 –> 00:29:42.255
DeGuibert: So they definitely had, from a channel perspective, had a huge impact on me and my career.

00:29:44.035 –> 00:29:49.995
DeGuibert: Another NCR guy, Dale Grant, he ran more of our direct side of the business.

00:29:49.995 –> 00:29:53.275
DeGuibert: So through my career, I worked both channel and direct.

00:29:53.275 –> 00:29:58.515
DeGuibert: So I’ve had a unique perspective, channel direct, ISV, OEM.

00:29:58.515 –> 00:30:00.695
DeGuibert: I’ve done the whole gamut.

00:30:02.135 –> 00:30:03.435
DeGuibert: And Dale was the same way.

00:30:03.595 –> 00:30:07.175
DeGuibert: He was challenging as far as, why are you doing that for your account?

00:30:08.235 –> 00:30:09.015
DeGuibert: So let me talk.

00:30:09.015 –> 00:30:13.695
DeGuibert: And so he could see and critique that way as opposed to, you should do in this way.

00:30:13.695 –> 00:30:16.135
DeGuibert: And I think that’s the one thing I got from NCR.

00:30:16.135 –> 00:30:22.035
DeGuibert: There was a lot of conversations, not a lot of dictatorship where you’ve got to do it this way.

00:30:22.035 –> 00:30:28.275
DeGuibert: There was the NCR sales way, but they want to make sure that you’re thinking outside the box.

00:30:28.275 –> 00:30:40.875
DeGuibert: So I got a lot of good mentors when it came to, I think of all the sales leaders that I had from Mark Crowe to Dale Grant, to Gordy and Dave and Mike Webster.

00:30:40.875 –> 00:30:45.835
DeGuibert: I don’t know if you knew Mike for the Oracle for years as well as NCR.

00:30:45.835 –> 00:30:53.515
DeGuibert: Mike, he was such a good leader because his belief was, you’d be early, you’d be prepared.

00:30:53.515 –> 00:31:07.775
DeGuibert: What he meant by that is, you get to a customer 30 minutes early to their office, you’re going to see somebody in the waiting room that’s either a competitor or somebody you should be partnering with to help you in that account.

00:31:07.775 –> 00:31:08.895
DeGuibert: Be prepared.

00:31:08.895 –> 00:31:15.155
DeGuibert: If you’ve got an hour presentation, you better be working five or six hours on that presentation before you actually present.

00:31:16.235 –> 00:31:24.195
DeGuibert: It’s just those type things that my career at NCR really got me ready for when I changed over to Intermect and the things I did at Fujitsu.

00:31:24.195 –> 00:31:27.495
DeGuibert: Then now here at Epson, it gave me a pretty good base.

00:31:27.495 –> 00:31:31.315
DeGuibert: So I’d say my early mentorships probably lasted the longest.

00:31:32.535 –> 00:31:39.535
DeGuibert: Then Linda is probably the most impactful because she’s got me ready for this next chapter of my life and running the channel here at Epson.

00:31:39.535 –> 00:31:40.255
Roddy: Yeah.

00:31:40.255 –> 00:31:40.955
Roddy: No, thank you for that.

00:31:40.955 –> 00:31:42.815
Roddy: A lot of great lessons out of that.

00:31:42.815 –> 00:31:44.615
Roddy: First, just a personal point.

00:31:44.615 –> 00:31:49.655
Roddy: Doug Strawler was one of the first people I met in this industry.

00:31:49.655 –> 00:31:56.055
Roddy: The first event I attended was, it wasn’t even called Inspire back then, but it was 2006, the RSPA Winter Conference.

00:31:56.155 –> 00:32:01.435
Roddy: It was in Jamaica, and instead of hotels, they put everybody like in these villas is what it was.

00:32:01.435 –> 00:32:06.635
Roddy: You were sharing breakfast and lunch in the villas with a half dozen other people.

00:32:06.635 –> 00:32:09.515
Roddy: Doug Strawler was with APG CashDrawer at the time.

00:32:09.515 –> 00:32:15.975
Roddy: He and Mark Olson were in my villa, and that has changed the trajectory of my career.

00:32:15.975 –> 00:32:21.215
Roddy: Mark was very helpful in introducing me to people, and Doug was like, you want to talk about the unvarnished truth.

00:32:21.215 –> 00:32:26.415
Roddy: Doug was very much in terms of, like, hey, here’s how it is, like, here’s the reality of it.

00:32:26.415 –> 00:32:29.195
Roddy: So awesome that we have that our paths have crossed there.

00:32:29.195 –> 00:32:32.795
Roddy: I do want to ask you to expand on one point that you had in there.

00:32:32.795 –> 00:32:40.535
Roddy: I always love when people bring up, leadership isn’t about just a bunch of tactics and techniques and manipulation tools.

00:32:40.535 –> 00:32:48.455
Roddy: It starts with genuinely caring about the people that you’re leading, and it seems like you touched on that and you learned that from all these leaders.

00:32:48.455 –> 00:32:50.935
Roddy: It seems like it has a very similar through line.

00:32:51.015 –> 00:32:57.015
Roddy: Can you expand upon that in terms of like, when somebody wants to lead, really care about your people and that you can build upon that.

00:32:57.015 –> 00:32:59.175
Roddy: But if you don’t have that, it’s not going to work.

00:32:59.175 –> 00:33:06.075
Roddy: It sounds like the folks who you learn from, they very much believe that, lived it, preached it.

00:33:06.075 –> 00:33:07.275
DeGuibert: You have to care about the people.

00:33:07.755 –> 00:33:16.855
DeGuibert: If you look at, because I’ve managed people in the past, you end up building both a personal and a business relationship.

00:33:16.855 –> 00:33:18.655
DeGuibert: It’s key that you learn both.

00:33:18.655 –> 00:33:21.775
DeGuibert: How is this person personally as well as how are they in business?

00:33:21.775 –> 00:33:23.315
DeGuibert: Why do they do what they do?

00:33:23.955 –> 00:33:32.735
DeGuibert: I think that builds a trust and the type of influence you can have on them and the things they’re doing, comes from that trust.

00:33:32.735 –> 00:33:36.275
DeGuibert: Building a relationship is probably number one.

00:33:37.255 –> 00:33:44.355
DeGuibert: I think everybody I’ve ever worked with, you know that personal side and the business side, but you got to separate them.

00:33:44.355 –> 00:33:46.935
DeGuibert: I think some leaders fall into that and I’ve seen it.

00:33:48.075 –> 00:33:50.615
DeGuibert: We’re a little too buddy-buddy and friendly.

00:33:50.615 –> 00:33:54.775
DeGuibert: The people that they’re leading when it comes to the daily conversations.

00:33:54.775 –> 00:33:57.875
DeGuibert: But soon as five o’clock comes, you can talk about the next game.

00:33:57.875 –> 00:34:03.555
DeGuibert: You can jump into, why are you a Falcons fan and all the different things that you do outside of work.

00:34:03.555 –> 00:34:06.695
DeGuibert: You separate the two, but the two do coincide.

00:34:07.575 –> 00:34:15.415
DeGuibert: And it’s key to that relationship building piece, that you’ve got to learn about people to get the trust from the people.

00:34:15.415 –> 00:34:18.955
DeGuibert: And yeah, I learned that very early on.

00:34:18.955 –> 00:34:31.615
DeGuibert: A lot of late night sitting, having a couple of pops at the bar or long round of golf, and you start learning this manager’s, he’s really there for you, even though he might be real pain than you know what sometimes.

00:34:31.615 –> 00:34:34.915
DeGuibert: He’s doing it for a reason because you’ve built that trust.

00:34:35.275 –> 00:34:39.115
DeGuibert: And now he’s got the influence over you from doing that trust.

00:34:39.115 –> 00:34:39.735
Roddy: Yeah.

00:34:39.735 –> 00:34:48.195
Roddy: That’s why I like a long, in-depth interviewing process, free employment interviewing process, to really get to know the person, not just what’s on their resume.

00:34:48.195 –> 00:34:52.395
Roddy: because like you said, you’re managing the whole person, you’re not just managing an automaton, right?

00:34:52.395 –> 00:34:55.875
Roddy: Who’s in here to perform a certain job, you’re managing people.

00:34:55.875 –> 00:34:59.155
Roddy: So, and can we talk about how you manage people?

00:34:59.155 –> 00:35:01.435
Roddy: How would you describe your leadership style, right?

00:35:01.435 –> 00:35:08.275
Roddy: Are there a few overarching words or phrases that represent what you’re striving for as a leader?

00:35:09.095 –> 00:35:11.055
DeGuibert: So, this one will kind of be near and dear to your heart.

00:35:11.055 –> 00:35:15.315
DeGuibert: I mean, my management style is kind of a coaching style.

00:35:15.315 –> 00:35:23.875
DeGuibert: You know, coach has to do a game plan, they’ve got to do recruitment, they have to do everything to get ready for that game.

00:35:23.875 –> 00:35:27.375
DeGuibert: Well, every customer, every meeting, you have to get ready for it.

00:35:27.375 –> 00:35:33.575
DeGuibert: So, I’ve tried to do more the coaching piece of it, to where you empower your people that work for you.

00:35:33.575 –> 00:35:35.375
DeGuibert: You build that trust.

00:35:35.375 –> 00:35:48.695
DeGuibert: You look at what you’re doing with your customers, that the relationship is being built, and it’s built off of trust, and all the pieces that you think are probably second nature, oh, this should just happen.

00:35:48.695 –> 00:35:49.755
DeGuibert: It doesn’t just happen.

00:35:49.755 –> 00:35:53.155
DeGuibert: You have to think through and be purposeful of what you’re doing.

00:35:53.155 –> 00:35:56.515
DeGuibert: So, I try to take that coaching style.

00:35:56.655 –> 00:36:05.275
DeGuibert: You’re building a team, you’re taking that team, whatever team that is because it changes everything, the environment changes, the market changes.

00:36:05.275 –> 00:36:07.775
DeGuibert: Heck, people’s daily lives change, right?

00:36:07.775 –> 00:36:17.795
DeGuibert: You’ll have people on your team that they’re going through some personal things that could affect their work if you don’t properly look at it, and how are we going to make this work for you as a person?

00:36:17.795 –> 00:36:19.795
DeGuibert: And then I’ll tell you how it’s going to work for Epson.

00:36:19.795 –> 00:36:27.175
DeGuibert: because if you don’t get them in playing with what they need to be doing, the work is going to be hurt by it.

00:36:27.715 –> 00:36:30.275
DeGuibert: So sometimes stepping away is not a bad thing.

00:36:30.275 –> 00:36:31.275
Roddy: No.

00:36:31.275 –> 00:36:31.715
Roddy: Excellent.

00:36:31.715 –> 00:36:32.495
Roddy: No, thank you for that.

00:36:32.495 –> 00:36:37.695
Roddy: My last question for you is, and I’ll put in the context of what folks have heard throughout this interview, right?

00:36:37.695 –> 00:36:41.395
Roddy: You and I are able to talk about, oh, the ICRDA, right?

00:36:41.395 –> 00:36:44.235
Roddy: And Sugar Camp and Gordy Meister, right?

00:36:44.235 –> 00:36:47.155
Roddy: It’s great to have his name on your Dave’s Trawler, right?

00:36:47.155 –> 00:36:48.435
Roddy: Going back in time.

00:36:48.435 –> 00:36:54.835
Roddy: So some folks might think, well, Mike’s been leading for a long time, he doesn’t have to learn anymore.

00:36:55.015 –> 00:37:03.055
Roddy: But are there things you do today to keep your leadership skills sharp and then also improve on your leadership skills?

00:37:03.055 –> 00:37:06.055
Roddy: Can you talk about that development isn’t just a thing in the past?

00:37:06.055 –> 00:37:08.635
Roddy: What do you do today to continue to develop as a leader?

00:37:08.635 –> 00:37:09.115
DeGuibert: It’s not.

00:37:09.115 –> 00:37:11.655
DeGuibert: So I’ll give you a couple of tools, right?

00:37:11.655 –> 00:37:18.075
DeGuibert: So as soon as I got this job, this is the first book I bought because I was like, you know what?

00:37:18.075 –> 00:37:22.955
Roddy: So for those who are just listening on audio, it’s called The First 90 Days.

00:37:22.955 –> 00:37:24.015
DeGuibert: So it’s a great read, right?

00:37:24.115 –> 00:37:28.295
DeGuibert: I mean, a lot of these books, you read through them, you’re like, oh, that’s common sense.

00:37:28.295 –> 00:37:33.275
DeGuibert: But it gives you some steps that you should be looking for.

00:37:33.275 –> 00:37:40.935
DeGuibert: What should I do to prepare myself for now taking a team that I used to work with, and now leading the team?

00:37:40.935 –> 00:37:44.475
DeGuibert: How do I get the same influence I’m looking for that Linda had?

00:37:45.495 –> 00:37:48.575
DeGuibert: How do I make it Mike’s team and not Linda’s team?

00:37:49.175 –> 00:37:52.735
DeGuibert: because the first few months, oh yeah, this is Linda’s replacement.

00:37:52.735 –> 00:37:52.935
Roddy: Yeah.

00:37:52.935 –> 00:37:56.895
DeGuibert: Well, that’s great, but there’s a little more to it than that.

00:37:56.895 –> 00:38:09.895
DeGuibert: So the one nice thing about this book, it talks about influence and how you work through preparing, and how you look at your team, and goes back to writing things down, evaluate the first 90 days.

00:38:09.895 –> 00:38:11.855
DeGuibert: Don’t jump in and try to change something.

00:38:11.855 –> 00:38:16.075
DeGuibert: Don’t try to put your influence of how you think the organization should look.

00:38:17.015 –> 00:38:20.375
DeGuibert: So I would say the key is reading.

00:38:20.375 –> 00:38:26.455
DeGuibert: Another one that I’m getting ready to read, because we’ve had a couple bumps at work.

00:38:26.455 –> 00:38:31.415
DeGuibert: It’s like how you can lose credibility.

00:38:31.415 –> 00:38:37.435
DeGuibert: For this one, this one is a little shiny, but it’s called So Smart Butt.

00:38:37.435 –> 00:38:37.975
Roddy: Okay.

00:38:37.975 –> 00:38:40.035
Roddy: It’s with one T just for everybody.

00:38:40.175 –> 00:38:41.035
Roddy: That’s why the butt is ready.

00:38:43.815 –> 00:38:47.815
DeGuibert: But it’s talking about how you can lose credibility and how you gain it back.

00:38:47.815 –> 00:38:54.635
DeGuibert: I think just reading through it, because it hasn’t really happened to me, but I’ve seen it happening.

00:38:54.635 –> 00:38:57.695
DeGuibert: Actually, Doug Strawler gave me this book because he read it.

00:38:57.695 –> 00:39:01.395
DeGuibert: He goes, hey, because he had a couple of challenges, and he’s trying to overcome some.

00:39:01.635 –> 00:39:02.595
DeGuibert: He started reading this to get Mikey.

00:39:02.595 –> 00:39:05.335
DeGuibert: He goes, some of the points in this book are just spot on.

00:39:05.335 –> 00:39:09.695
DeGuibert: Then he goes, it might be one or two sentences, you get out a whole book, but it’ll be worth to read.

00:39:10.755 –> 00:39:14.195
DeGuibert: I think it’s just reading, staying up on things.

00:39:14.195 –> 00:39:18.235
DeGuibert: I’m sure since you love podcast, you like getting involved with things like that.

00:39:18.235 –> 00:39:27.475
DeGuibert: I’m sure you watch other guys on podcast and how they do things, and what are some of the question types that they want to do to get the right response.

00:39:27.475 –> 00:39:36.815
DeGuibert: I just say, don’t just rely on the past, because the past is great, but the market is changing, the channel is changing.

00:39:36.815 –> 00:39:39.195
DeGuibert: Change is one thing that’s going to be constant.

00:39:39.195 –> 00:39:40.675
Roddy: Yeah, and the people are changing.

00:39:40.675 –> 00:39:51.815
Roddy: The experiences of employees now is, for folks who came out of college in the last 10 years, is way different from the experiences that you and I had, and so you’ve got to make sure you understand what those are.

00:39:51.815 –> 00:39:52.955
DeGuibert: Right.

00:39:52.955 –> 00:39:54.875
DeGuibert: To my point, how did I find my first job?

00:39:55.115 –> 00:40:01.035
DeGuibert: A paper, as opposed to today.

00:40:01.035 –> 00:40:05.175
DeGuibert: Jump on LinkedIn and you could find about any contact or job you want to look at.

00:40:05.175 –> 00:40:08.355
DeGuibert: So it’s a different world we live in.

00:40:08.355 –> 00:40:10.255
Roddy: In fact, I was just communicating with one of my own.

00:40:10.255 –> 00:40:16.135
Roddy: I used to work in the magazine industry for many, many years and talking about how different that is.

00:40:16.195 –> 00:40:22.375
Roddy: Like the newspaper industry, it was incredibly profitable, very stable until it wasn’t, and then it just blew up.

00:40:23.635 –> 00:40:29.555
Roddy: I know that might scare folks to think like, what we’re doing now, it could all blow up, but that’s the reality of it.

00:40:29.555 –> 00:40:34.055
Roddy: We’ve got to make sure as leaders, we’re not doing it based on old information.

00:40:34.055 –> 00:40:40.175
Roddy: There are lessons that last forever and ever, the principles, but to your point, there’s a lot that change.

00:40:40.175 –> 00:40:53.095
Roddy: I guess if you want to give the final word, I said my final question, but if you want to give the final word in terms of keeping ahead of change and how important that is for you as a leader, and for Epson as a company because of how different the hardware game has changed.

00:40:53.095 –> 00:40:53.335
DeGuibert: Yeah.

00:40:53.755 –> 00:40:55.815
DeGuibert: We’re going through it right now.

00:40:55.815 –> 00:40:58.195
DeGuibert: The market is changing.

00:40:58.995 –> 00:41:00.915
DeGuibert: I discussed it early on.

00:41:01.255 –> 00:41:06.235
DeGuibert: The payments industry has brought themselves into the point of sales space heavily.

00:41:07.115 –> 00:41:13.555
DeGuibert: You’ve got the shift fours of the world and Toast and all these guys that are doing different things.

00:41:13.555 –> 00:41:18.035
DeGuibert: And they were not really a competitor 10 years ago.

00:41:18.035 –> 00:41:21.655
DeGuibert: Five years ago, they started to be, well, now they’re front and center.

00:41:22.335 –> 00:41:25.795
DeGuibert: I think Toast is up to something like 11 percent market share.

00:41:25.795 –> 00:41:31.615
DeGuibert: And an NCR, an HP, or an IBM, Toshiba, they look back that they would have never saw that coming.

00:41:32.115 –> 00:41:37.535
DeGuibert: Like, there’s the payment guys, they do their thing, we’ll integrate with them and move on.

00:41:37.535 –> 00:41:52.555
DeGuibert: But I think that’s what my team and I are trying to do is, what is changing in the market with the payment guys, with the ISVs, with the integration pieces that we as a printer company never dealt with in the past, and try to stay ahead of it.

00:41:52.935 –> 00:41:55.715
DeGuibert: because change is one thing that’s constant.

00:41:55.715 –> 00:42:00.855
DeGuibert: And if you’re not looking at the next thing that’s coming, you’re going to get left behind.

00:42:01.315 –> 00:42:01.675
Roddy: That’s right.

00:42:01.675 –> 00:42:03.955
Roddy: And then those are great questions to ask.

00:42:03.955 –> 00:42:06.135
Roddy: They’re not easy questions to answer.

00:42:06.135 –> 00:42:11.795
Roddy: But if you don’t try your best to answer them, someone else is going to fill in the blank for you, and you’re going to be left behind.

00:42:11.795 –> 00:42:12.975
DeGuibert: Right.

00:42:12.975 –> 00:42:13.335
Roddy: Excellent.

00:42:13.335 –> 00:42:15.775
Roddy: Well, that does it for this episode of The trusted Advisor.

00:42:15.775 –> 00:42:22.875
Roddy: If you enjoyed our discussion, be sure to subscribe to the RSPA YouTube channel and The trusted Advisor podcast so you never miss an episode.

00:42:22.875 –> 00:42:29.255
Roddy: And if you’d like to learn more best practices for VARs and ISVs in the retail technology industry, check out the RSPA blog.

00:42:29.355 –> 00:42:33.875
Roddy: You can find it at gorspa.org and then clicking on RSPA blog.

00:42:33.875 –> 00:42:38.455
Roddy: Before we go, big thanks again to Mike DeGuibert for sharing his wisdom with us today.

00:42:38.455 –> 00:42:46.655
Roddy: Thanks also to RSPA Marketing Director Chris Arnold for his production work, Joseph McDade for our music, and last but not least, thanks so much to you for listening.

00:42:46.655 –> 00:42:53.955
Roddy: Our goal at the RSPA is to accelerate the success of our members in the retail technology ecosystem by providing knowledge and connections.

00:42:53.955 –> 00:42:57.315
Roddy: For more information, visit our website at gorspa.org.

00:42:57.695 –> 00:43:01.055
Roddy: Thanks for listening and goodbye everybody.

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