By: Jim Roddy, President & CEO at the RSPA  

I’ve always eschewed the trappings of a fancy office. I don’t care what status my office communicates to others; I care what my office says to me every day. I want my office to keep me on track and improving as a leader.

Let me share with you the content on the walls of my 12.5-foot by 18-foot office at RSPA headquarters in Raleigh, NC.

Bulletin Board #1

• RSPA’s Mission and Vision along with two handwritten notes:
  • “Mobilize the expertise of others”
  • “Share collective wisdom”
• Guidance I gleaned from member and staff conversations during my first full year as RSPA CEO (2022-23):
  • Aim for steady, incremental, organic growth
  • Keep our niche value proposition
  • Keep our personal-touch value proposition
  • Choose how much we grow, choose how large we want to be
  • We want safe, consistent, and profitable long-term clients
• A list of key company goals and my areas of improvement for the current RSPA fiscal year
• A note saying “DTSF/DTSL.” A reminder to the occasionally long-winded me to “Don’t Talk So Fast” and “Don’t Talk So Long.”
• “If you’re good, help someone else get to good.”
• Large 2026 wall calendar showing all industry events, my travel schedule, U.S. holidays, and Canadian holidays.

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Bulletin Board #2

• A printed copy of this 2025 LinkedIn post from Erik Anderson, owner of RSPA VAR member Electronic Office in Iowa. It reminds me why we do what we do at RSPA. Excerpt: “Six years and two days ago, my father passed away – accelerating our plans of me taking over the business. Saying I didn’t know what I was doing or that I wasn’t at all prepared would be quite an understatement. … I am grateful to be a part of this (RSPA) community. Because after over 6 years owning this business I can confidently say that I still don’t really know what I’m doing. But I am also confident that the RSPA will continue to provide a road map for success and the community will continue to provide motivation to do our part to keep the industry and channel strong.”
• The 5 steps to The Walk-On Method To Career & Business Success, the book I published in 2020. It serves as motivation for me. (Plus it would be kind of embarrassing if I couldn’t name the 5 steps to my own book.)
• My Strengthsfinder 2.0 My top strengths are Responsibility (takes ownership of what they say they will do), Relator (finds deep satisfaction working hard with friends to achieve a goal), Learner (has a great desire to learn), Individualization (has a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively), and Achiever (has a great deal of stamina and works hard). Having these posted reminds me to lean into my strengths.
• “I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I’m praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.” St. Mother Teresa
• “Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” Albert Einstein
• “When we subordinate our moral principles for what we perceive to be business interests, it is ultimately bad for business and bad for society.” Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation
• “If you’re good, help someone else get to good.” (Yes, repeated for emphasis.)
• “Do Something GREAT”
• Note from a fortune cookie: “You will soon embark on a successful business venture.”
• Pictures of my daughter
• Meredith College mini pennant (my daughter’s college)
• Pins collected at industry events

White Board

• Lots of open space for ideation
• RSPA membership goals for the fiscal year
• RSPA fiscal year results for the recent past (FY24-FY26) and current period (FY27). I track revenue, assets, working capital, and net surplus/deficit to keep me focused on the big picture direction and health of the organization.
• “I did not come back from hell with empty hands.” André Malraux, French writer. I wrote that over a half decade ago and don’t plan on ever erasing it. This reminds me that when I’m going through something bad personally or professionally to make sure I learn from the experience.
• Fun scribblings from my daughter when she was much, much younger. I don’t plan on ever erasing those, either.

Bonus: Quote Plaques

When my family moved from our home several years ago, we didn’t have room for these plaques in our new living quarters, but I had an open spot on my office wall:

• The best journeys answer questions you didn’t even think to ask.
• If you’re going to be passionate about something, be passionate about learning.
• We don’t stop laughing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop laughing.
• When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed they are not it.
• Life is short. Play with your dog.

What is your office saying to you?

Be sure to save the date for the retail IT channel’s #1 trade show, education conference, and networking event: RetailNOW 2027, July 25-27 at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas