In Episode 143 of “The Trusted Advisor,” RSPA CEO Jim Roddy sits down with Ansley Hoke, Senior Vice President of the Integrated Solutions Group at ScanSource, to discuss “stickier” solutions that VARs and ISVs can offer to merchants. Among the topics discussed are connected devices, IT aggregation, AI, and mobile device management. Hoke also shares insights into her leadership journey including how leaders need to understand “the power of pause.” 

“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:

00:00:07.190 –> 00:00:14.630
Roddy: Welcome to another episode of the Trusted Advisor Podcast and Video Series, powered by the Retail Solutions Providers Association.

00:00:14.630 –> 00:00:20.030
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: As always, we talk with leaders in the retail IT channel and seek advice from them.

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Roddy: And in this episode, we’ll talk about actions VARs and ISVs can take to provide stickier solutions to their merchants.

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Roddy: Our guest today is Ansley Hoke, the Senior Vice President of the Integrated Solutions Group at ScanSource.

00:00:41.250 –> 00:00:47.050
Roddy: Ansley has over 25 years experience in the retail IT channel, the past 23 with ScanSource.

00:00:47.050 –> 00:00:54.190
Roddy: Ansley has served ScanSource as SVP of Worldwide Marketing, and she’s held leadership roles on the sales and supplier teams.

00:00:54.190 –> 00:01:03.850
Roddy: Ansley has received several awards, including being recognized as a channel chief by CRN, and receiving a channel marketing excellence icon award from the Channel Marketing Association.

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Roddy: Ansley, I always enjoy talking with you.

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Roddy: It is great to have you as a guest on The Trusted Advisor.

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Hoke: Well, thank you so much, Jim.

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Hoke: It’s always a pleasure chatting with you about new and different things happening in technology.

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Roddy: Right back at you.

00:01:16.590 –> 00:01:19.730
Roddy: There’s always something new and exciting happening in technology.

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Roddy: It’s just up to us.

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Roddy: Are we paying attention to it?

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Roddy: Are we doing something about it?

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Roddy: I’m very interested to hear what you have to say today about technology and leadership.

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Roddy: That’s what we’re going to do.

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Roddy: Our interview is going to be in two parts.

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Roddy: First, talking about stickier solutions for VARs and ISVs.

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Roddy: Then Ansley, hopefully, we can talk about your leadership journey and lessons you’ve learned along the way.

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Roddy: First, can you share with us to give some folks some background, some context?

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Roddy: Can you share some details about the formation of the new integrated solutions and services group at ScanSource?

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Roddy: It looks to me like it’s a model that’s both services first and also gears toward generating recurring revenue.

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Roddy: Can you share the backstory to the group and then also how VARs and ISVs have embraced the group since he first launched in 2024?

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Hoke: Absolutely.

00:02:07.170 –> 00:02:22.390
Hoke: Jim, you have been a great partner of ScanSource for many years, and we have always looked at solution selling and how we educate the channel more on the different opportunities, from vertical markets to different solutions.

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Hoke: The Integrated Solutions Group, quite frankly, was formed to make sure that we formalize that a little bit better for the channel community, meaning that technology is fast changing over the years.

00:02:39.190 –> 00:02:58.110
Hoke: This group was dedicated to make sure that we were able to more clearly showcase all of the different software services and recurring revenue opportunities that we have for our community in the technology segments that we serve.

00:02:58.110 –> 00:03:21.530
Hoke: So again, ISG was built, it’s now been a little over a year ago, to make sure that we are pulling through for our VARs, even more technology devices, software services, and even recurring revenue from things that overlay on top of it, such as wireless activations, different pieces like that.

00:03:21.650 –> 00:03:26.170
Hoke: And overall, it has been received very, very well.

00:03:26.170 –> 00:03:50.130
Hoke: We have gotten a lot of great feedback and tons of leads from our VAR community over this past year in trying out and understanding a little bit better how they can utilize the ScanSource resources and technology partners to be able to be additive and get additional margin opportunities in their end customers.

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Roddy: Got it.

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Roddy: Thank you for that.

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Roddy: Like you alluded to, like I’ve been shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow with the ScanSource team for almost over 25 years, I guess we can say at this point.

00:04:01.370 –> 00:04:11.950
Roddy: That always seems to be a thing is helping steer these VARs from what they’re currently offering to adding more in terms of adjacent technologies.

00:04:11.950 –> 00:04:14.650
Roddy: Now, the big thing is also having a recurring revenue.

00:04:14.650 –> 00:04:20.230
Roddy: Is that the big driving force behind this is, you know that VARs can’t sit still.

00:04:20.230 –> 00:04:23.190
Roddy: If they do, the world is going to pass them by.

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Roddy: Is that really the driver behind setting this up and having it in an easier to navigate fashion with all the new technologies and solutions?

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Hoke: It really is.

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Hoke: That was well said.

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Hoke: Truly, yes.

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Hoke: ISG, it really was last year.

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Hoke: We did have an acquisition of Advantix, and that is for our wireless connectivity to make a more formalized program, to make it easier for our VAR channel to be additive on a lot of the WAN-enabled products, not only in point of sale and payments in the retail area, but also from security, networking, you name it, be able to easily add recurring revenue in wireless activations and connectivity within the verticals that they serve.

00:05:12.490 –> 00:05:24.570
Hoke: Really, having that easy button by using distribution and the channel to be able to scale that is honestly what ISG charter is.

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Hoke: Then also from the Avantix acquisition, but also our POS portal acquisition from years gone by, also rolling into this ISG or the Integrated Solutions grouping of offerings with more of the hands-on deployment services for scalability, not only for payments and key injections, but also the kitting, customization and hot swap of warranty repair and repair, making sure that we are understanding and managing our partner’s inventory for very customized opportunities to be able for our partners to be able to scale even better.

00:06:09.150 –> 00:06:44.190
Hoke: So, also with the proliferation of even more from a software perspective, I know every time I come to RetailNOW, we’re always talking about the ISV landscape, especially from a FinTech perspective and a point of sale in retail, making sure that ISG within ScanSource can make that easy for a bundling for the ISV and the VAR, whether they’re partnering or whatnot, making sure that all of those things are loaded on any kinds of device that they might need for their deployment.

00:06:44.190 –> 00:06:45.250
Roddy: No, thank you for that, Ansley.

00:06:45.250 –> 00:06:49.950
Roddy: I was actually just talking to RSPA member ISV this morning about new technologies.

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Roddy: The great thing is for resellers, they don’t have to build it from a blank sheet of paper.

00:06:54.630 –> 00:07:02.570
Roddy: They can lean on their ISVs, they can lean on their vendors, they can lean on their distributors in order to make things happen.

00:07:02.590 –> 00:07:04.550
Roddy: That’s what it seems like this is all about.

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Roddy: So, thank you for that background.

00:07:06.170 –> 00:07:08.350
Roddy: Let’s talk Sticky Solutions.

00:07:08.350 –> 00:07:19.830
Roddy: So, I want to hear what’s working best for your partners, and maybe if you can share the top two or three actions that you see ScanSource, VARs and ISVs taking to provide stickier solutions.

00:07:19.830 –> 00:07:26.830
Roddy: So, if you had to list three, what would be the first action that you’d want to talk about, stickier solutions provided by your community?

00:07:26.830 –> 00:07:53.410
Hoke: Well, I would definitely give the advice for all of our VARs, and quite frankly, what we hear from a lot of our channel community back to us is, hey, help us more since devices, everything that we sell and a lot of what the VARs purchase from us are connected devices that need some sort of network to be able to make them work.

00:07:53.410 –> 00:07:54.570
Hoke: That is where we start.

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Hoke: We are seeing a lot of sticky services on being able to be additive to our VARs in the network, whether it be the Wi-Fi network, the cabled network within the building, Wi-Fi, if it’s private cellular network, if it is WAN enabled cellular network, you name it, really starting with that, with our partners.

00:08:20.710 –> 00:08:50.250
Hoke: A lot of our partners already have the network and the devices that are a part of that connected network and solution, but if not, having those partnerships and the ability to utilize a distribution partner like ScanSource to be able to scale that, educate, you can either partner, you can do a wholesale type of sales motion with connectivity, or you can do more of a retail or commission model.

00:08:50.250 –> 00:09:01.950
Hoke: It’s dependent upon what the end user is wanting, how comfortable the VAR is at getting more, or deep, more deeply connected in the network or not.

00:09:01.950 –> 00:09:14.690
Hoke: And I will just say that we have seen that that sticky service really helps our VAR partners stay in the core of that particular solution, quite honestly.

00:09:14.690 –> 00:09:18.010
Hoke: Especially in retail, I mean, retail even more so.

00:09:18.010 –> 00:09:51.270
Hoke: Now we’re seeing that, you know, a lot of the end customers want that whole connected device, a lot of the, hey, bringing your own device into a store, a location, going outside of the four walls with hospitality and having that connectivity not only in the four walls, but outside as well, especially with delivery models too, within the retail space is always a great way to help VARs be sticky.

00:09:51.270 –> 00:09:56.350
Hoke: And we can give many, many different offerings and consumption models in that space.

00:09:56.350 –> 00:10:05.630
Hoke: So that would be the number one first route that I would suggest that the VARs really utilize their partnerships.

00:10:05.630 –> 00:10:05.990
Roddy: Got it.

00:10:05.990 –> 00:10:06.530
Roddy: Thank you for that.

00:10:06.530 –> 00:10:08.230
Roddy: So connected devices.

00:10:08.230 –> 00:10:18.470
Roddy: So before we talk about the next action, I’m thinking and just knowing the RSPA membership, we have a lot of folks at their core, like they were cash register guys, right?

00:10:18.470 –> 00:10:24.890
Roddy: And then they moved into point of sale, and then everything that is connected to that.

00:10:24.890 –> 00:10:34.950
Roddy: But maybe for some folks listening, like you said the cable networking, the Wi-Fi, the WAN, that might be a couple steps outside of what they currently provide.

00:10:34.950 –> 00:10:44.170
Roddy: So I guess what would you say to somebody who’s VAR, they’re doing well, they’re successful, but they’re like, boy, that would be a big step for me to start getting into that.

00:10:44.170 –> 00:10:45.510
Roddy: I don’t have a giant staff, right?

00:10:45.510 –> 00:10:47.030
Roddy: I’m limited with my resources.

00:10:47.430 –> 00:10:50.950
Roddy: Maybe I should just go add some other services to what I’m doing.

00:10:50.950 –> 00:10:55.110
Roddy: What would be your guidance for them in terms of to be able to get into connected devices?

00:10:55.110 –> 00:11:00.830
Roddy: How high is the barrier for them to integrate this into their offering?

00:11:00.830 –> 00:11:05.470
Hoke: I would say it’s as high or low as they would like for it to be.

00:11:05.470 –> 00:11:40.990
Hoke: How much time they have to dedicate to doing it themselves versus utilizing their network and utilizing themselves more as a lead source to be able to, hey, come to your trusted partner, ScanSource, and we can help be that extension for them in the way of wireless activations, being able to get those partnerships if they don’t want to necessarily go all in and get additional staff to be able to configure and quote that piece of it.

00:11:41.490 –> 00:11:49.130
Hoke: We have those teams within the Integrated Solutions Group that can help them do that.

00:11:49.130 –> 00:12:04.850
Hoke: Easier entry, once you get a couple of wins under you from that extending out into the network and the connectivity, then the VAR can decide, hey, I want to do some more on my own, or keep going like we’re going and get more in the way of leads.

00:12:04.850 –> 00:12:22.030
Hoke: But I’m telling you, if, I think that’s a great way that they can really keep that pulse on their end customer on what they’re needing, because a lot can be seen from how many and types of devices are connected to that network, so we can help.

00:12:22.030 –> 00:12:22.410
Roddy: Thank you.

00:12:22.410 –> 00:12:23.570
Hoke: Use your resources.

00:12:23.570 –> 00:12:27.310
Hoke: That’s what I always tell my kids too, utilize the resources.

00:12:27.310 –> 00:12:31.050
Hoke: You don’t have to be the one that does everything, just know where they are.

00:12:31.050 –> 00:12:36.410
Hoke: And we at ScanSource can help guide them in different paths.

00:12:36.410 –> 00:12:40.090
Roddy: Yeah, you don’t have to start with a blank sheet of paper and say, I got to figure this out on my own.

00:12:40.090 –> 00:12:49.150
Roddy: So what your answer makes me think of two RSPA members that I’ve heard from one was at RetailNOW, Anthony Presley from Timeforge was talking about partnerships.

00:12:49.150 –> 00:12:53.990
Roddy: And he had a really good thing where he said, if it’s core to you, consider yourself a reseller of it.

00:12:53.990 –> 00:13:02.470
Roddy: But if it’s not core, maybe you should take on more of that referral model where somebody like you’re doing the sales, but somebody else is doing a lot of the other work.

00:13:02.470 –> 00:13:04.570
Roddy: And then I also think of almost in the name of the reseller.

00:13:04.570 –> 00:13:07.370
Roddy: But they said before they were like, hey, I’m a POS person.

00:13:07.450 –> 00:13:08.690
Roddy: I don’t do Wi-Fi.

00:13:08.690 –> 00:13:11.810
Roddy: And then he said some other IT person came in, they offered the Wi-Fi.

00:13:11.810 –> 00:13:17.090
Roddy: Then next thing you know, they were pitching them on the point of sale and the payments and their company got moved out of.

00:13:17.090 –> 00:13:20.910
Roddy: There was a restaurant reseller and he’s like, I will never let that happen again.

00:13:20.910 –> 00:13:24.430
Roddy: So even if you’re listening to this and you’re like, do I really want to get into these things?

00:13:24.430 –> 00:13:29.350
Roddy: It could be a really good defensive position for you as well, in addition to adding recurring revenue.

00:13:29.350 –> 00:13:29.650
Roddy: All right.

00:13:29.650 –> 00:13:33.130
Roddy: So connected devices, that was one sticky solution.

00:13:33.130 –> 00:13:39.970
Roddy: What’s another action that results in stickier solutions that you’ve learned from your partner network has been effective?

00:13:39.970 –> 00:13:50.670
Hoke: Well, the one thing that we do a lot of different studies, external studies of the market at ScanSource, and we do a lot of polling of our different types of partners.

00:13:50.670 –> 00:14:04.030
Hoke: One thing that is quite apparent is that aggregation of IT here recently, where that seamless connected experience is very, very high for that end customer.

00:14:04.510 –> 00:14:29.450
Hoke: And as I see that, what partners are saying, especially in retail that maybe used to only be focused in on payments or only on barcode scanning or point of sale, now we’re seeing that that end customer wants the payments, the point of sale, the scanning, they want them networking, the reporting, the, you know, that single cohesive experience.

00:14:29.950 –> 00:14:50.450
Hoke: So, what in unifying these types of critical systems, a lot of our partners are looking for services, deployment services, monitoring services, you know, mobile device management services, making sure activation services, cellular activation services.

00:14:50.450 –> 00:15:16.270
Hoke: So, utilizing and outsourcing some of those to a distribution partner or even to another partner is key on helping them scale that, especially when the end customer is wanting that as their overall experience and VARs don’t want the end user shopping for others, they can be that sole provider of it by outsourcing that.

00:15:16.270 –> 00:15:21.470
Hoke: So, I would just say there are a lot of partnerships out there.

00:15:21.470 –> 00:15:46.810
Hoke: Within our solutions group, Integrated Solutions Group, we do have a deployment services several that can help, depending on what kind of technologies that a partner is trying to get that seamless connected experience and making sure that the use of data in those solutions is also helping the end users.

00:15:46.810 –> 00:15:50.790
Hoke: That’s another thing that we’re hearing a lot of from the monitoring side of it.

00:15:50.790 –> 00:15:57.210
Hoke: It used to be, hey, we just needed to get the devices, kit them and ship them out.

00:15:57.210 –> 00:16:01.090
Hoke: Now, it’s more of making sure the right kind of software is on there.

00:16:01.090 –> 00:16:03.410
Hoke: Hey, do we have enough from the monitoring?

00:16:03.410 –> 00:16:19.250
Hoke: Can we actually help our partners with getting nice reports out and helping them be stickier in showing analytics and things to the end customers within whatever vertical they’re looking at?

00:16:19.250 –> 00:16:25.690
Hoke: That’s another piece that is very helpful and we can definitely help in that area.

00:16:25.690 –> 00:16:29.510
Hoke: So that’s another sticky thing, making sure that you stay on top of that.

00:16:29.510 –> 00:17:00.550
Hoke: I will say that’s where a lot of questions come back to us from an AI perspective, like, hey, AI software, oftentimes, especially in the retail segment, what we’re finding is a lot of the end users there are just wanting our partners to help them get their data clean, make sure that we can potentially use AI in helping getting that data more organized for external use.

00:17:00.550 –> 00:17:28.330
Hoke: So I really, really stress to our partners out there listening that AI is not just utilized for, you know, external end user customers consumption, it’s oftentimes you can make a lot of money and usage on making sure that you use an AI on the data, because garbage in, garbage out, AI is only as good as the data that it’s pulling from to be able to help in getting to buy more or sell more.

00:17:28.330 –> 00:17:41.450
Hoke: So anyway, just a few little tidbits there on another sticky subject that we’re looking at, that integration of IT, those deployment services and software services on making sure.

00:17:41.450 –> 00:17:42.050
Roddy: Got it.

00:17:42.050 –> 00:17:42.950
Roddy: So thank you for that.

00:17:42.950 –> 00:18:14.850
Roddy: You and I will have to talk offline because the RSPA is putting together an AI advisory group and so we want to get, you know, some of our top thinkers and the top experience folks in AI to help build out some roadmap that sounds like a little bit too prescriptive, but at least showing the different paths for data monetization or AI from a recurring revenue standpoint as opposed to just, you type this thing into ChatGPT or Gemini or something, and the internal operations or something like that, like really at the higher level.

00:18:14.870 –> 00:18:32.710
Roddy: And that I guess ties in with when you’re talking about IT aggregation, it just made me think to be a total solution provider, the goal is still the same, but boy does that get more complex every year that goes by, but that’s why the total solution provider doesn’t have to be an expert in everything.

00:18:32.710 –> 00:18:38.310
Roddy: They almost have to act more as a general contractor to coordinate everything and all their different suppliers.

00:18:38.310 –> 00:18:49.510
Roddy: So I guess do you have that same take in terms of to be the aggregator, it’s not be all things to all people that you’re providing yourself, it’s being more that general contractor, the conductor of an orchestra?

00:18:49.510 –> 00:18:49.970
Hoke: Correct.

00:18:49.970 –> 00:18:52.030
Hoke: That is absolutely key.

00:18:52.030 –> 00:18:58.370
Hoke: I mean, we have said, hey, we can help you be that contractor because you don’t have to be all things to all people.

00:18:58.370 –> 00:18:59.470
Hoke: It’s hard to keep up.

00:18:59.470 –> 00:19:02.270
Hoke: Technology is changing so quickly.

00:19:02.270 –> 00:19:08.850
Hoke: And you might think that you’re on top of it one quarter, and the next thing you know, it’s like, oh, this has come out, this has come out.

00:19:09.390 –> 00:19:25.630
Hoke: You have to definitely utilize a lot of the educational pieces that we have been working on to help in that area, as well as making sure that you’re staying on top of it and utilizing the channel to help you do that.

00:19:25.630 –> 00:19:35.770
Hoke: So we do have a lot of different resources that can be used by our VARs on helping from a prioritization.

00:19:35.770 –> 00:19:51.570
Hoke: That’s why I say in the channel, and being a distributor, it’s always interesting just being in the middle and seeing all the different things that different suppliers are doing, different kinds of VARs and partners and agents are participating in.

00:19:51.570 –> 00:20:03.590
Hoke: And the one thing, I think the hardest thing in the channel is making sure that you are prioritizing what will actually move the needle and focusing in on that and going all in there.

00:20:03.650 –> 00:20:10.170
Hoke: We can help, I know our VARs are all, you know, have different skill sets and different technologies they serve.

00:20:10.170 –> 00:20:15.030
Hoke: And I would just say, utilize those resources and ask questions.

00:20:15.030 –> 00:20:15.850
Roddy: Amen.

00:20:15.850 –> 00:20:16.190
Roddy: Amen.

00:20:16.190 –> 00:20:19.290
Roddy: And just so you bring it up, the unique perspective that distributors have.

00:20:19.290 –> 00:20:25.910
Roddy: So I’ve been in this industry since 1998 with first a trade magazine and then the last six years with the RSPA.

00:20:25.910 –> 00:20:30.890
Roddy: And that’s why I think it’s always fun to talk to the distributors because it’s been that neutral position.

00:20:31.350 –> 00:20:41.970
Roddy: If I can say where you do get to see inside of a lot of reseller businesses or VAR businesses or MSPs or ISVs throwing all the different acronyms around there, but it’s an interesting perspective.

00:20:41.970 –> 00:20:46.730
Roddy: So again, folks lean on your distributor because they can certainly help you with that.

00:20:46.730 –> 00:20:47.050
Roddy: All right.

00:20:47.050 –> 00:20:50.050
Roddy: So you’ve talked about connected devices, IT aggregation.

00:20:50.110 –> 00:20:57.050
Roddy: Is there one final action that we’d put in the top three for helping VARs and ISVs create stickier solutions?

00:20:57.050 –> 00:20:57.570
Hoke: Correct.

00:20:57.570 –> 00:21:10.010
Hoke: I would say really just having unique, adding at least one new unique offering to help differentiate within the technology you serve.

00:21:10.010 –> 00:21:24.930
Hoke: I’m not saying go way over here to some wild adjacent technology just to have something new, but within the different technologies that a VAR serves today, just adding one unique item on there.

00:21:24.930 –> 00:21:37.030
Hoke: And I will say, I’m going to actually give a little plug for, under ISG, we have just talked about launching our new division, ScanSource Launch Point.

00:21:37.030 –> 00:21:50.270
Hoke: And this Launch Point Division is really bringing in more of those cutting edge adjacencies to different technologies, particularly different verticals within those technologies.

00:21:50.270 –> 00:21:54.710
Hoke: So for retail, it might be the hospitality side of retail.

00:21:55.190 –> 00:22:14.650
Hoke: And bringing in maybe an AI or a new type of robotics or new different types of hardware, software and services that we can offer up to help partners be a little stickier within their current technology stack.

00:22:14.650 –> 00:22:17.970
Hoke: So I would say be open to that.

00:22:17.970 –> 00:22:25.390
Hoke: One of the easiest things to be additive with is software, quite frankly, within the pieces.

00:22:25.390 –> 00:22:48.010
Hoke: And we have added and are continuing to add within our LaunchPoint division of ISG even more new and cutting edge offers that won’t be such a huge stretch, and I know I’m talking more retail, in the retail vertical market by engaging with that group.

00:22:48.010 –> 00:22:57.830
Hoke: And oftentimes, again, you don’t necessarily have to sell it, not sell it, but you don’t have to manage it or support it.

00:22:57.830 –> 00:23:06.610
Hoke: You could offer it up and you could potentially get the recurring model of the software depending on usage.

00:23:06.610 –> 00:23:10.190
Hoke: Install it and then you get that mailbox money.

00:23:10.190 –> 00:23:11.130
Roddy: Interesting, interesting.

00:23:11.130 –> 00:23:14.870
Roddy: Yeah, and like what you’re saying is to compete against the 800 number guys, right?

00:23:14.870 –> 00:23:16.210
Roddy: The one size fits all.

00:23:16.210 –> 00:23:17.650
Roddy: You can’t be a one size fits all.

00:23:17.650 –> 00:23:19.850
Roddy: You have to be unique in that regard.

00:23:19.990 –> 00:23:24.890
Roddy: So before we go to a commercial break, and then I want to ask you some leadership questions.

00:23:24.890 –> 00:23:33.030
Roddy: So we talked about wireless, we talked about connectivity, and then, hey, that you don’t need specialized skills.

00:23:33.030 –> 00:23:47.690
Roddy: But if there’s any gap, is that what somebody needs to do is just come to the table and say, here’s my expertise, here’s my history, here’s what I have, here’s what I don’t have, and that way then the vendor, the distributor is going to be able to know where to fill in those gaps.

00:23:47.790 –> 00:23:59.270
Roddy: Is that, again, I’m thinking a lot from a point-of-sale provider’s standpoint, if they want to get into that, is that simply what it is that you talk about, not just the product and the end user, but talk about the VAR and where they might have gaps?

00:23:59.270 –> 00:24:01.350
Roddy: Is that the guidance you would give?

00:24:01.530 –> 00:24:02.150
Hoke: I would.

00:24:02.310 –> 00:24:03.190
Hoke: That’s well said.

00:24:03.190 –> 00:24:07.770
Hoke: I would just say stress to the VARs where it comes to connectivity.

00:24:07.770 –> 00:24:10.570
Hoke: A lot of people are like, that’s not for me.

00:24:10.570 –> 00:24:13.990
Hoke: Don’t be afraid to ask the question.

00:24:13.990 –> 00:24:16.650
Hoke: Future-proof your solution.

00:24:17.070 –> 00:24:23.630
Hoke: They might not be outside the four walls today with their point of sale in that example, but they could be.

00:24:23.630 –> 00:24:31.370
Hoke: Try to go ahead and sell them a WAN-enabled device for failover or power goes out.

00:24:31.370 –> 00:24:36.490
Hoke: Hey, you could still have a connected device so you don’t lose a sale, that kind of thing.

00:24:36.490 –> 00:25:03.370
Hoke: Don’t be afraid to ask for that future-proofing and then gather the information from a connectivity standpoint and you can always send it over and we can get experts that are from Advantix or within ISG to be able to go in with you and make an offering and help you make it easy, especially from the first, the second one until you get ready to go on your own.

00:25:03.370 –> 00:25:23.290
Hoke: But I would just say the number one advice is don’t be afraid to ask about connectivity, even if it will even help you if you never even sell any kind of wireless infrastructure at all, it’ll help you understand a little bit more about other devices that are utilizing their network as well.

00:25:23.290 –> 00:25:23.710
Roddy: Yeah.

00:25:23.710 –> 00:25:28.370
Roddy: I promised to go to commercial, but I do ask one more follow-up thing because some things had triggered two thoughts.

00:25:28.370 –> 00:25:30.110
Roddy: Both came out of RetailNOW.

00:25:30.110 –> 00:25:35.530
Roddy: One was the focus group that we did with the RSPA board talking about the AI advisory group.

00:25:35.950 –> 00:25:46.170
Roddy: One thing they said is, before you tell people, here’s exactly what you can do to implement AI, you have to get them to, it says, dispel the idea, this isn’t what we do.

00:25:46.170 –> 00:25:47.530
Roddy: First, you have to have that mindset.

00:25:47.570 –> 00:25:54.010
Roddy: Then also Dan Bratland from Cokart, who was just a recent guest on the Trusted Advisor podcast here.

00:25:54.010 –> 00:26:05.690
Roddy: He said, a lot of business owners, business leaders, solution providers, they get this figment of their mind of the biggest they can be, and they grow only to that, and they don’t go beyond it because they just didn’t think beyond that.

00:26:05.690 –> 00:26:09.230
Roddy: That sounds like it’s what you’re saying in terms of all these other things you can do.

00:26:09.610 –> 00:26:21.470
Roddy: But first step has to be, just because I’ve been a POS provider, I can get into connectivity and wireless and Wi-Fi and things of that nature, like, if I’m understanding correctly, that’s what you’re saying.

00:26:21.910 –> 00:26:23.310
Hoke: You are absolutely right.

00:26:23.310 –> 00:26:47.870
Hoke: We have the resources, we are investing, and we can help our partners get to that next level, no matter what path they want to, but specifically from a connectivity perspective, I’m telling you, that is where I think a lot of our VARs need to focus a little bit more on, just because it showcases all of the devices within any organization are connected in some way.

00:26:47.870 –> 00:26:57.130
Hoke: So, just even asking the question will even help you understand more of the opportunity within whatever end customer or vertical you’re going after.

00:26:57.130 –> 00:26:58.690
Hoke: So, anyway.

00:26:58.690 –> 00:27:08.150
Roddy: I said many years ago, Ansley, when I was in the magazine publishing industry, I’m a print guy, maybe a radio guy, not TV, and here we are on the RSPA YouTube channel.

00:27:08.250 –> 00:27:09.730
Hoke: Never say never, right?

00:27:09.730 –> 00:27:11.130
Hoke: Never say never.

00:27:11.130 –> 00:27:13.770
Roddy: You never know what things are going to lead to.

00:27:13.770 –> 00:27:20.270
Roddy: So, speaking of RSPA, let’s pause here to let our listeners and viewers know about the Retail Solutions Providers Association.

00:27:20.270 –> 00:27:26.590
Roddy: The RSPA is North America’s largest community of retail technology, VARs, software providers, vendors, and distributors.

00:27:26.590 –> 00:27:32.450
Roddy: To accelerate your success through an RSPA membership, email membership at gorspa.org.

00:27:32.450 –> 00:27:37.690
Roddy: Also, thanks to these companies who support the RSPA community and make this podcast and video series possible.

00:27:38.070 –> 00:27:44.830
Roddy: Our Platinum Sponsors, Blue Star, our Gold Sponsors, our Co-Card, Epson, Heartland, and ScanSource.

00:27:44.830 –> 00:27:50.910
Roddy: Finally, save the date for Inspire 2026, the Retail IT Channel’s Premier Leadership Conference.

00:27:50.910 –> 00:27:56.070
Roddy: RSPA Inspire is set for February 1st through 4th on the island of Kauai, Hawaii.

00:27:56.070 –> 00:28:04.050
Roddy: For more information, visit gorspa.org/inspire so you can experience networking nirvana.

00:28:04.050 –> 00:28:04.310
Roddy: Great.

00:28:04.310 –> 00:28:06.210
Roddy: So thanks for all the advice on Sticky Solutions.

00:28:06.590 –> 00:28:08.630
Roddy: Let’s talk about your leadership journey.

00:28:08.690 –> 00:28:12.810
Roddy: I want to focus in on what we’ve alluded to, managing change.

00:28:12.810 –> 00:28:22.050
Roddy: So over the past 25 years, technology certainly has changed, ScanSource has changed, the channel has changed, even the way that we work has changed.

00:28:22.050 –> 00:28:29.550
Roddy: You and I are not recording this in a studio, we’re just connected through our laptops and headsets, and microphones and teams.

00:28:29.550 –> 00:28:37.750
Roddy: So what actions do you take as a leader to make sure you’re staying at least one step ahead of change?

00:28:37.750 –> 00:28:42.810
Hoke: I would say the number one thing is always ask questions.

00:28:42.810 –> 00:28:46.690
Hoke: I always say keep a pulse on the partner.

00:28:46.690 –> 00:29:05.630
Hoke: And as any individual moves up in their careers and jobs, always make sure that you’re talking to the partners and keeping that pulse on what is going on out in the industry from the people that you are selling to and servicing.

00:29:05.630 –> 00:29:09.930
Hoke: I would definitely say, you know, just constant learning.

00:29:09.930 –> 00:29:13.490
Hoke: I always said never underestimate training.

00:29:13.490 –> 00:29:23.390
Hoke: So keeping, you know, ahead of change, not only making sure that you’re keeping yourself educated, but also training people on your team on what’s going on.

00:29:23.390 –> 00:29:27.330
Hoke: It’s all right if you understand it, but if you’re not communicating that out.

00:29:27.330 –> 00:29:31.830
Hoke: So I would just say, and make sure that you are partnering to stay ahead of change.

00:29:31.830 –> 00:29:35.250
Hoke: Like we said earlier, technology changes so quickly.

00:29:35.250 –> 00:29:39.690
Hoke: You might think that you’re the leader of the pack in some area this quarter.

00:29:39.690 –> 00:29:45.290
Hoke: Well, then you look around and it’s like, okay, well, that’s that might be, you know, last year’s thing.

00:29:45.290 –> 00:29:47.290
Hoke: Now let’s try to do something else.

00:29:47.290 –> 00:29:50.470
Hoke: So partnering, you don’t have to do everything on your own.

00:29:50.890 –> 00:29:58.450
Hoke: Now, more than ever, it’s more widely accepted, I think, to make sure that everyone is partnering.

00:29:58.450 –> 00:30:07.210
Hoke: And it’s okay because at the end of the day, the end user expects more and demands more each and every day and quarter.

00:30:07.210 –> 00:30:15.810
Hoke: So not one person can typically, typically, no, never say never, do everything, be everything for every one of their end customers.

00:30:15.810 –> 00:30:16.990
Hoke: So partner there.

00:30:16.990 –> 00:30:18.050
Hoke: That is what I would say.

00:30:18.050 –> 00:30:19.610
Hoke: Make sure you keep an open mind.

00:30:21.190 –> 00:30:22.070
Hoke: Keep changing.

00:30:22.190 –> 00:30:25.050
Hoke: I would just say never stay stagnant.

00:30:25.050 –> 00:30:30.330
Hoke: Always know that you need to at least change a little bit to be able to stay relevant.

00:30:30.330 –> 00:30:32.350
Hoke: So that’s my advice there.

00:30:32.350 –> 00:30:33.170
Roddy: So I agree with that.

00:30:33.170 –> 00:30:39.790
Roddy: I want to dig in a little bit because one thing, I’ve been going to the NRF, National Retail Federation show for many, many years.

00:30:39.790 –> 00:30:47.730
Roddy: And when you would go to those vendor booths, oftentimes it was our software does everything, our solution does everything.

00:30:47.730 –> 00:30:49.030
Roddy: You don’t have to talk to anybody else.

00:30:49.150 –> 00:30:50.230
Roddy: You just come to us.

00:30:50.230 –> 00:30:51.370
Roddy: We’re the best.

00:30:51.370 –> 00:30:54.550
Roddy: We’re the all in one that you need.

00:30:54.550 –> 00:31:02.070
Roddy: What I found at this year’s show was vendors openly saying, oh, we’re easy to partner with.

00:31:02.070 –> 00:31:05.790
Roddy: We’re happy to work with other people to provide the solution.

00:31:05.790 –> 00:31:09.970
Roddy: I almost saw none of that in the years before, and then I saw a ton of it in 2025.

00:31:09.970 –> 00:31:16.650
Roddy: I don’t know if you’re seeing the same thing where it seems like before only a handful were open to partnering, and the biggest of the big weren’t.

00:31:16.990 –> 00:31:26.530
Roddy: Now, it seems like everybody realizes we cannot keep up with this rate of change on our own, and the easier we are to work with and partner with, that’s how we’re going to win.

00:31:26.530 –> 00:31:28.330
Roddy: I guess, are you seeing it that same way?

00:31:28.330 –> 00:31:31.010
Roddy: Is that one of the changes that you’ve experienced over time?

00:31:31.010 –> 00:31:31.810
Hoke: Absolutely.

00:31:31.810 –> 00:31:49.790
Hoke: I mean, we have tons of supplier partnerships at ScanSource in many of our different divisions, and even having more open platforms within, it used to be very, you know, this was my platform, you’ve got to conform to the way that we do it.

00:31:49.790 –> 00:32:00.710
Hoke: Now, it’s much more open platform, a lot more third-party plug-ins are acceptable because the end customer is demanding a lot more.

00:32:00.710 –> 00:32:25.230
Hoke: And as software, quite frankly, is leading more in that customization, the devices and hardware are absolutely still extremely, extremely critical, but having more customized software and interfacing, it has absolutely caused that, I think, and making sure that you can’t keep up with all the different options now.

00:32:25.230 –> 00:32:25.950
Hoke: You just can’t.

00:32:25.950 –> 00:32:32.170
Hoke: You’ve got to be more open and being able to have that more seamless customer experience.

00:32:32.170 –> 00:32:34.170
Hoke: It’s all about CX at the customer.

00:32:35.050 –> 00:32:36.490
Roddy: So, yeah.

00:32:36.490 –> 00:32:36.970
Roddy: Very good.

00:32:36.970 –> 00:32:38.330
Roddy: So that was change management.

00:32:38.330 –> 00:32:43.950
Roddy: Let’s talk about some experiences or an experience from early in your career that have shaped you as a leader.

00:32:43.950 –> 00:32:51.870
Roddy: Can you share with us a learning experience or one story that’s really stuck with you from early in your career and shaped you as a leader?

00:32:51.870 –> 00:33:03.490
Hoke: Well, I will say, goodness, it’s hard to pick just one, but I will say as I’m definitely a people person, I love having teams.

00:33:04.030 –> 00:33:21.350
Hoke: But I will say as I have grown in the ranks over my career in the channel, one thing that I’ve always been told and have seen is always make it a safe space for people to ask questions.

00:33:21.350 –> 00:33:36.410
Hoke: I know that one of my early managers said, hey Ansley, as you are, even within ScanSource, I used to be an individual contributor and I have developed and grown over my career.

00:33:36.410 –> 00:33:52.590
Hoke: And it’s like once you get up to certain levels, you have to realize people might not tell you, not the truth, I’m not saying the truth, but not tell you everything once you get to a certain level because they’re afraid they don’t want to disagree with you or whatnot.

00:33:52.590 –> 00:34:13.430
Hoke: So always making sure that you have those open lines of communication and that it’s okay for your team to debate you or question you, or oftentimes I’ll say, all right, we’ll say, you know, try to find holes in what we’re trying to do in this strategy, just so that we can have open dialogue and conversations.

00:34:13.430 –> 00:34:16.690
Hoke: And I will say that that has been helpful over the career.

00:34:16.690 –> 00:34:33.750
Hoke: I mentor a lot of different people inside this organization and outside in the technology community, and always making sure that from a leadership perspective, you are easy to talk to and you’re open to new and different ideas.

00:34:33.750 –> 00:34:42.610
Hoke: And by the way, to lead, you don’t necessarily, I was a leader for many years without leading actual people from an HR perspective.

00:34:42.610 –> 00:34:48.370
Hoke: You can actually be an extremely effective leader of leading projects and programs.

00:34:48.370 –> 00:34:58.230
Hoke: So oftentimes when I’m leading younger folks that are just out of school, they’re like, okay, I’m ready to be a vice president and lead tons of people.

00:34:58.230 –> 00:35:02.150
Hoke: It’s like, you can be a leader now in the projects that you’re doing.

00:35:02.150 –> 00:35:10.050
Hoke: I mean, definitely strive for that if that’s what you’d love to do, but that’s not necessarily the end-all be-all from a leadership perspective.

00:35:10.050 –> 00:35:15.450
Hoke: So anyway, open forum for communication and asking questions.

00:35:15.450 –> 00:35:16.270
Roddy: So thank you for that.

00:35:16.270 –> 00:35:17.310
Roddy: I agree.

00:35:17.310 –> 00:35:22.490
Roddy: Can you share, what are some things that you do to make it a safe space for questions?

00:35:22.830 –> 00:35:24.490
Roddy: Or what are some things you don’t do?

00:35:24.490 –> 00:35:37.070
Roddy: Like I think about a colleague I used to work with, she said she knew she had to leave her employer when she disagreed with the owner, and she said she had all the data and he paused and said, which one of us has the MBA?

00:35:37.070 –> 00:35:37.730
Roddy: That’s right.

00:35:37.730 –> 00:35:38.950
Roddy: It’s not you, it’s me.

00:35:38.950 –> 00:35:39.890
Roddy: We’re going to go with mine.

00:35:39.950 –> 00:35:41.530
Roddy: She realized like, oh my God.

00:35:41.530 –> 00:35:43.890
Roddy: So don’t do things like that.

00:35:43.890 –> 00:35:50.710
Roddy: Can you share with us, are there things that you consciously do or don’t do to make sure that some more open environment people feel safe?

00:35:51.130 –> 00:35:54.010
Roddy: Asking you questions, because you’ve been with ScanSource now for 25 years.

00:35:54.010 –> 00:35:56.750
Roddy: So people will be like, well, who am I to ask Ansley a question?

00:35:56.750 –> 00:35:58.930
Roddy: So what are some things you do?

00:35:58.930 –> 00:36:06.190
Hoke: I will always say, I think that communication is key on what we are trying to solve for.

00:36:06.190 –> 00:36:12.530
Hoke: So typically I’ll say, hey, we’re going to, we’re solving for this, or we’re going after this particular opportunity.

00:36:12.530 –> 00:36:16.630
Hoke: And I ask my team, how would you do it?

00:36:16.630 –> 00:36:24.070
Hoke: Meaning, hey, I wouldn’t necessarily say, we’re going to have to do it this way to be able to hit this end result.

00:36:24.070 –> 00:36:28.770
Hoke: First, asking the team, how would you go about solving for it?

00:36:28.770 –> 00:36:36.950
Hoke: And then learning a lot around, you know, in that, and then it’s more of a collaborative way that we get to the end result.

00:36:36.950 –> 00:36:43.790
Hoke: Or with that, it might have changed my mind on what I thought we should be doing to be able to get to that end result.

00:36:43.790 –> 00:36:45.870
Hoke: I will say, but you will know your audience.

00:36:45.870 –> 00:37:09.250
Hoke: I will stress to anybody, you know your management team better than I do, but sometimes there are certain ways that you can express ideas and offer up, you know, ways of doing things in a way that isn’t necessarily so direct or whatnot in just making sure that you come back with facts.

00:37:09.250 –> 00:37:24.030
Hoke: Oftentimes fact-based things of asking the partner or asking whoever and coming back with data really, really helps in trying to make sure that you are communicating, hey, why or not.

00:37:24.030 –> 00:37:26.190
Hoke: I would just say keeping it open.

00:37:26.190 –> 00:37:29.390
Hoke: And I always ask my team, like, how would you do it?

00:37:29.390 –> 00:37:30.850
Hoke: This is my idea.

00:37:30.950 –> 00:37:32.530
Hoke: Let’s poke holes in it.

00:37:32.530 –> 00:37:36.010
Hoke: And I mean, seriously, it’s like, hey, what if we did the opposite?

00:37:36.010 –> 00:37:43.850
Hoke: And that gets people talking to, especially if as a leader, you are saying, all right, let’s try to debate this together.

00:37:43.850 –> 00:37:44.170
Roddy: Yes.

00:37:44.170 –> 00:37:50.910
Roddy: So make sure that you sometimes are the last voice in the room filling in gaps, as opposed to the first, get people to share their plan first.

00:37:50.910 –> 00:37:52.470
Hoke: Correct.

00:37:52.470 –> 00:37:52.830
Roddy: All right.

00:37:52.830 –> 00:37:56.550
Roddy: So my goal Ansley, I know we have just a few minutes left, but I wanted to get to this question.

00:37:56.550 –> 00:38:02.250
Roddy: My goal in 2025 is to be brave enough to ask this question to like every leader who appears on this podcast.

00:38:02.250 –> 00:38:07.150
Roddy: So can you tell us about a mistake that you made as a leader and what you learned from it?

00:38:07.150 –> 00:38:08.310
Roddy: It can be recent.

00:38:08.310 –> 00:38:09.410
Roddy: It can be a long time ago.

00:38:10.010 –> 00:38:15.090
Roddy: It can be a colossal disaster or it could be something that just fell short of your standards.

00:38:15.090 –> 00:38:19.290
Roddy: Can you talk about a mistake that you made and what you learned from it as a leader?

00:38:19.290 –> 00:38:29.030
Hoke: I would probably say being a leader, this one’s hard to do, being a leader, especially of people.

00:38:29.890 –> 00:38:38.550
Hoke: To me, the team is my number one priority, making sure that I’m helping be there for them and guide them.

00:38:38.690 –> 00:38:44.570
Hoke: I’m always like, I’m not your boss, I’m just one of the team members that is helping guide.

00:38:44.570 –> 00:38:52.410
Hoke: I would say early on in my management career, well, probably not early, it’s probably midway through.

00:38:52.410 –> 00:39:02.110
Hoke: In technology, we all know, probably most of the people that are listening to this are A-type personalities that love to learn and are just going, going fast-paced.

00:39:02.110 –> 00:39:10.350
Hoke: In building teams, making sure that you have diversity in skill sets.

00:39:10.350 –> 00:39:13.390
Hoke: Not only, I’m not just talking about age, race, that kind of stuff.

00:39:13.390 –> 00:39:22.090
Hoke: I’m talking about skill sets of the A-type personality versus maybe the over-thinker being on there.

00:39:22.090 –> 00:39:29.250
Hoke: Early on, I was just always like, okay, well, I get a lot of stuff done, and let me hire people that are more like me.

00:39:29.250 –> 00:39:46.550
Hoke: And then I realized, oh my goodness, not having such a diverse enough team oftentimes doesn’t, we’re good at getting this done, but maybe we’ve left out over here really thinking through new additive things that we can do.

00:39:46.550 –> 00:39:57.970
Hoke: So early on, that was a mistake because we were hitting numbers, but we were not necessarily doing some of the things that we should have been doing from the team that I was leading, and I realized, well, you know what?

00:39:57.970 –> 00:40:01.430
Hoke: Because I don’t have enough people saying, hold on, have we thought about this?

00:40:01.430 –> 00:40:02.990
Hoke: Or have we thought about this?

00:40:02.990 –> 00:40:19.590
Hoke: So I would just stress that was something that I realized, probably middle of my management career that, hey, I need to just stop for a second and just try to hire more diverse skill sets of talents within.

00:40:19.590 –> 00:40:40.330
Hoke: So I know that looking at profile XTs and different types of Myers-Briggs and things like that, it really does help make sure that you have different thinking styles within your teams because it really does help as a leader, make sure that we’re thinking through really good growth strategies.

00:40:40.330 –> 00:40:46.350
Roddy: Yeah, like you mentioned, those personality tests, the ones I’m most familiar with is DISC, and then the higher C is compliant.

00:40:46.350 –> 00:40:59.670
Roddy: If you’re very compliant and all you do is hire a bunch of other people who are compliant, everyone’s just going to be like, so we should keep on the same path, of course, because you don’t have somebody in the room who’s more of an innovator saying like, throw out what we’re doing.

00:40:59.670 –> 00:41:03.070
Roddy: I can tell you, just thinking back to my own career, that can be very challenging.

00:41:03.070 –> 00:41:10.550
Roddy: I remember hiring somebody one time who is less of compliant, and everything that’s been a rule for 10 years or more is obsolete.

00:41:10.550 –> 00:41:13.610
Roddy: I’m like, the Ten Commandments seem like they’ve held up over time.

00:41:13.610 –> 00:41:18.010
Roddy: But it was good to have him question, are you sure we should keep doing it that way?

00:41:18.150 –> 00:41:23.510
Roddy: But if everybody was the same rule follower, then you just get everybody who’s nodding and keeping the same thing.

00:41:23.510 –> 00:41:35.750
Roddy: Is that what you’re saying there is make sure that you have folks who are, whatever you are, making sure that there’s somebody who’s different from you or multiple people different, so you’re getting a different set of eyes on it, a different set of brains on it.

00:41:35.750 –> 00:41:39.290
Hoke: It’s something that no one ever really told me to do.

00:41:39.290 –> 00:41:45.030
Hoke: It was just, I realized it and then it was like, okay, well now, what do I do?

00:41:45.030 –> 00:42:07.010
Hoke: I still had a great team, but just really thinking through that as people left or building new teams or as I moved around, just always looking to see, hey, if I have the luxury of being additive to a group, let’s just make sure that we have those differences within the group.

00:42:07.010 –> 00:42:07.510
Roddy: Got it.

00:42:07.510 –> 00:42:10.890
Roddy: We only have a couple minutes left and we’re going to try to squeeze in two questions for you.

00:42:10.890 –> 00:42:14.210
Roddy: So one is you mentioned mentoring, that you do a lot of that.

00:42:14.210 –> 00:42:17.350
Roddy: I’m sure you’ve been on the receiving end from a mentoring standpoint.

00:42:17.350 –> 00:42:26.050
Roddy: What have those leaders, those mentors, what have they said to you or done that have had a lasting impact on you positively as a leader?

00:42:26.050 –> 00:42:34.510
Hoke: I will say, yes, I have been mentored by many different types of folks over the years and still to this day, we can always learn.

00:42:34.510 –> 00:42:44.810
Hoke: The number one piece of advice that one of my mentors gave me early on was the power of pause.

00:42:46.870 –> 00:42:59.790
Hoke: We’re high output, making sure we’ve got numbers to hit, things to do, way too many things on our list as leaders to get through in a given day or week or month, but that’s okay.

00:42:59.790 –> 00:43:05.330
Hoke: You need to be able to take the power and pause, think, reflect.

00:43:05.330 –> 00:43:08.310
Hoke: Otherwise, you can’t see the force for the trees.

00:43:08.310 –> 00:43:12.610
Hoke: You really can’t see the strategy because of the tactics.

00:43:14.530 –> 00:43:18.190
Hoke: That is advice that I still use today.

00:43:18.190 –> 00:43:36.050
Hoke: Anytime that leaders might get overwhelmed, I can always, me myself, anytime I feel like, oh my gosh, there’s so much to do, pause for a minute because you just really need to figure out, what are the top things that really need to be done?

00:43:36.050 –> 00:43:44.010
Hoke: I mean, it’s like we’re all very important in doing great things, but at the end of the day, what are the most important things?

00:43:44.010 –> 00:43:49.670
Hoke: Focus on that and the rest of it can be, it’s more of the opportunity noise, I call it.

00:43:49.670 –> 00:44:17.570
Hoke: There’s so many different opportunities that we can go after and oftentimes that can be the downfall because it’s so much noise, you’ve just got to focus, prioritize and go all in on those two or three things as a leader and you will be respected, I believe, by the teams that you are leading because you can be the best leader from a textbook standpoint, but if you have no one that’s wanting to follow you, then it’s all for naught.

00:44:17.570 –> 00:44:21.970
Hoke: So that was another great advice that another mentor gave me.

00:44:22.310 –> 00:44:30.710
Hoke: You’ve got to be human, you’ve got to be able to have your one-on-ones with your team, but don’t only talk about business, talk about life.

00:44:30.710 –> 00:44:45.890
Hoke: Because business is oftentimes personal because you spend so much time with the people that you work with, and making sure that you take that time, power of pause, and that communication flow, you should be golden.

00:44:45.890 –> 00:44:47.230
Roddy: Yeah.

00:44:47.230 –> 00:44:51.050
Roddy: You’re leading human beings, you’re not leading employees.

00:44:51.050 –> 00:44:54.750
Roddy: Boy, I really love, I wrote that down, but a big asterisks to the power of pause.

00:44:54.750 –> 00:44:56.190
Roddy: I haven’t heard her put that way before.

00:44:56.410 –> 00:44:57.950
Roddy: That’s super helpful.

00:44:57.950 –> 00:44:59.070
Roddy: Last question for you.

00:44:59.070 –> 00:45:02.370
Roddy: So what would be your final leadership advice for audience?

00:45:02.450 –> 00:45:10.910
Roddy: So let’s say you’re at the Greenville South Carolina Airport, where ScanSource is headquartered, you’re walking from security to your gate, so that means you only have three minutes.

00:45:10.910 –> 00:45:13.470
Roddy: That’s one thing I love about the Greenville Airport.

00:45:13.470 –> 00:45:16.670
Roddy: It’s a nice compact airport, love flying in and out of there.

00:45:16.670 –> 00:45:22.470
Roddy: What advice would you give somebody in two or three minutes who says, give me some top of mind leadership advice.

00:45:22.470 –> 00:45:24.250
Roddy: What would you say to the Mansley?

00:45:24.290 –> 00:45:31.390
Hoke: I would say, leadership advice for me is try, a positive attitude is key.

00:45:31.390 –> 00:45:32.990
Hoke: Keep a positive attitude.

00:45:32.990 –> 00:45:38.650
Hoke: You can be, you’re gonna have to problem solve and not everything’s gonna be rosy, but keep that positive attitude.

00:45:38.650 –> 00:45:50.430
Hoke: And in my career as a leader, anytime there has been any kinds of issues, it usually comes down to one of two things, communication or process.

00:45:51.250 –> 00:46:05.710
Hoke: So if anything is going wrong or even right, but mainly wrong, it’s either you haven’t had, you’ve had too much communication on the wrong thing or not enough, or the processes are not clear.

00:46:05.710 –> 00:46:07.030
Hoke: They are broken.

00:46:07.030 –> 00:46:12.170
Hoke: Someone doesn’t understand it and it can be fixed with communication or process.

00:46:12.170 –> 00:46:15.050
Hoke: That would be, and that’s less than a minute right there.

00:46:15.050 –> 00:46:18.270
Hoke: I mean, positive attitude, communication and process.

00:46:18.890 –> 00:46:23.470
Hoke: Make sure those things are clearly defined, everything should be good.

00:46:23.470 –> 00:46:27.150
Roddy: And we still have time to get a cup of coffee before we board at our gate.

00:46:27.710 –> 00:46:28.830
Hoke: There we go.

00:46:28.830 –> 00:46:33.390
Hoke: Now we can talk about fun stuff like where you’re going, where you’re flying to.

00:46:33.390 –> 00:46:34.150
Roddy: Very good.

00:46:34.150 –> 00:46:34.630
Roddy: I love that.

00:46:34.890 –> 00:46:38.030
Roddy: That’s really good in terms of communication and process.

00:46:38.030 –> 00:46:41.130
Roddy: So, well folks, that does it for this episode of The Trusted Advisor.

00:46:41.130 –> 00:46:48.370
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.

00:46:48.370 –> 00:46:52.590
Roddy: Before we go, big thanks again to Ansley Hoke for sharing her wisdom with us today.

00:46:52.590 –> 00:47:00.570
Roddy: Thanks also to RSPA Marketing Director Chris Arnold for his production work, Joseph McDave for our music, and last but not least, thanks so much to you for listening.

00:47:00.570 –> 00:47:07.550
Roddy: Our goal at the RSPA is to accelerate the success of our members in the retail technology ecosystem by providing knowledge and connections.

00:47:07.550 –> 00:47:11.290
Roddy: For more information, please visit our website at gorspa.org.

00:47:11.290 –> 00:47:14.810
Roddy: Thanks for listening and goodbye everybody.