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Full episode transcript via Apple Podcasts: 

00:00:06.650 –> 00:00:14.200
Roddy: Welcome to another episode of the Trusted Advisor Podcast 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.

00:00:23.620 –> 00:00:29.280
Roddy: As always, we talk with leaders in the Retail IT channel about their leadership journeys and what they’ve learned along the way.

00:00:29.680 –> 00:00:40.620
Roddy: In this episode, we’ll talk with Ashton Radican, who’s the Vice President of Sales in the Western Region for LANDI Global and the 2026 RSPA Women to Women Community Leader of the Year.

00:00:40.740 –> 00:00:50.680
Roddy: Ashton has over 17 years of professional experience in the payments, fintech and retail technology community, and she’s very active in that community.

00:00:50.760 –> 00:00:53.040
Roddy: She serves as the California Co-Chair for Paytech Women.

00:00:53.160 –> 00:00:58.800
Roddy: She’s also a member of the Advisory Board for the WSAA, that’s the Western States Acquires Association.

00:00:59.100 –> 00:01:03.420
Roddy: Ashton was recognized as an ETA 40 Under 40 Honoree in 2025.

00:01:03.820 –> 00:01:13.500
Roddy: She received the ETA Top Payment Sales Professional Award for 2026 earlier this year, and she was nominated as a Paytech Women’s Emerging Trendsetter.

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Roddy: Ashton, congratulations on all your awards, especially the RSPA Award, and welcome to The Trusted Advisor.

00:01:19.160 –> 00:01:20.260
Radican: Thank you so much, Jim.

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Radican: I’m so happy to be here.

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Radican: Pleasure.

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Roddy: Yeah, very happy to have you here.

00:01:24.560 –> 00:01:32.680
Roddy: I wanted to start by digging deeper into some really powerful things that you said on the RetailNOW 2026 stage this summer.

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Roddy: That’s the RSPA’s annual trade show in Las Vegas.

00:01:35.400 –> 00:01:39.140
Roddy: During your acceptance speech for the Women to Women Leader of the Year.

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Roddy: So I’ve pulled out a few excerpts of that, and I want to get your feedback on some of these.

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Roddy: So the first one, as you said, my power word is relationships.

00:01:47.460 –> 00:01:52.100
Roddy: Not because they’ve made my career easier, but because they’ve made it worthwhile.

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Roddy: Can you expand upon that, please?

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Radican: Absolutely, and when I think about my career, the accomplishments matter, but the people are really what make it most meaningful, and I chose the word relationships very intentionally.

00:02:06.700 –> 00:02:14.480
Radican: I can look back at the sales numbers, the titles, the companies, awards, and accomplishments, and I’m proud of those things.

00:02:14.760 –> 00:02:21.760
Radican: But when I think about what actually made my career worthwhile, I don’t think about a number, I think about the people.

00:02:21.960 –> 00:02:33.400
Radican: I’ve had customers become friends, competitors have become collaborators, people I met 10 to 15 years ago continue to show up in different chapters of my career.

00:02:33.820 –> 00:02:43.640
Radican: Sometimes they’re calling me with an opportunity, sometimes I’m calling them because I can help them now, and that’s really what makes this industry so special to me.

00:02:44.140 –> 00:02:50.380
Radican: Networking is knowing a lot of people, but relationships are knowing what matters to those people.

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Radican: And when I changed companies, I realized something really interesting, Jim.

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Radican: I wasn’t starting over.

00:02:57.600 –> 00:03:01.700
Radican: The logo on my email may have changed, but the relationships didn’t.

00:03:01.960 –> 00:03:05.160
Radican: That’s when you realize what you’ve spent your career building.

00:03:05.220 –> 00:03:11.760
Radican: And the funny thing is when you genuinely invest in those people, businesses often follow you.

00:03:11.840 –> 00:03:22.860
Radican: But if businesses only see one reason and they typically don’t, so business is the only reason you’re investing with them, then people can feel that too.

00:03:23.520 –> 00:03:24.280
Roddy: Yeah, for sure.

00:03:24.280 –> 00:03:26.380
Roddy: It’s not transactional, right?

00:03:26.380 –> 00:03:33.740
Roddy: That’s what it seems like a lot of folks come in and they see a person and they’re like, there’s a lead or there’s somebody who can buy from me.

00:03:33.740 –> 00:03:36.760
Roddy: If you walk in with that perspective only, you’re going to get out of it.

00:03:36.760 –> 00:03:38.820
Roddy: Only that is a transaction.

00:03:38.820 –> 00:03:40.400
Roddy: So is that along what you’re talking about?

00:03:40.400 –> 00:03:44.560
Roddy: Because you said not only because they haven’t made my career easier, they’ve made it worthwhile.

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Roddy: Is that really what it comes down to?

00:03:45.940 –> 00:03:52.620
Roddy: You want something that’s lasting, not just something that boosts up your numbers and then you move on to the next contact or prospect.

00:03:52.620 –> 00:03:53.920
Roddy: You want to work with a person.

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Roddy: Am I understanding that correctly?

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Radican: Absolutely.

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Radican: People buy from people is something that many have heard me dub.

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Roddy: Yes.

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Roddy: Michelle Sirwa, he was a board chair for the RSPA.

00:04:04.260 –> 00:04:08.040
Roddy: President of Blue Star Canada would say, we’re in B2B, but it’s really P2P.

00:04:08.100 –> 00:04:12.620
Roddy: It’s person to person and we just all happen to be representing businesses.

00:04:13.380 –> 00:04:14.300
Roddy: Absolutely.

00:04:14.300 –> 00:04:21.280
Roddy: You also said another quote is, relationships are built by investing in people without expecting something in return.

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Roddy: I was taught a long time ago to build relationships before you need them.

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Roddy: Is that what you’re saying?

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Roddy: Just help others for the sake of helping, instead of helping them expecting something in return.

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Radican: Absolutely.

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Radican: To be honest, I’d actually take it one step further because you don’t want to just build relationships because you might need them someday.

00:04:42.920 –> 00:04:46.040
Radican: Build it because people are worth investing in.

00:04:47.620 –> 00:04:51.060
Radican: But I might even remove the before you need them part.

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Radican: That’s really the specific piece I want to hone in on.

00:04:54.080 –> 00:05:03.880
Radican: Because if I’m only investing in someone because I think I might need them someday, it still seems a little transactional is what they’re going to get out of it.

00:05:04.540 –> 00:05:11.620
Radican: For me, investing in people can mean making an introduction where there’s absolutely nothing in it for me.

00:05:12.060 –> 00:05:23.500
Radican: Helping somebody find an opportunity, recommending someone for an award, giving someone a seat at the table they haven’t been invited to yet, sharing somebody else’s success story.

00:05:23.500 –> 00:05:25.820
Radican: We always love to celebrate our friends.

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Radican: Picking up the phone when somebody needs advice, sending businesses in someone else’s direction.

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Radican: I don’t want to keep a relationship scoreboard when it comes to that.

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Radican: If I’m in a position to open a door for somebody, I definitely want to open it because that generosity has come back to me throughout my career.

00:05:48.300 –> 00:05:53.700
Radican: Probably more times than I can even account, but that can’t be why you do it.

00:05:54.580 –> 00:06:00.080
Radican: That’s also what I love about organizations like RSPA and Paytech Women.

00:06:00.080 –> 00:06:10.260
Radican: These communities work because people volunteer, they mentor, they make introductions and create opportunities for people without asking, hey, what’s in it for me?

00:06:11.360 –> 00:06:11.560
Roddy: Right.

00:06:11.560 –> 00:06:13.860
Roddy: It’s just that’s how we roll in this community, right?

00:06:13.860 –> 00:06:15.640
Roddy: That’s how we help other folks.

00:06:15.640 –> 00:06:19.240
Roddy: I have a quote up on my bulletin board, and I think it aligns with what you’re saying.

00:06:19.240 –> 00:06:22.920
Roddy: It’s, if you’re good, help someone else get to good.

00:06:23.020 –> 00:06:28.840
Roddy: It doesn’t say, and if that person can help you out, you’re just, if you’re in a position where you can help somebody, you help them out.

00:06:28.840 –> 00:06:32.860
Roddy: Is that what you’re saying about investing in people?

00:06:33.060 –> 00:06:33.980
Radican: Absolutely.

00:06:34.040 –> 00:06:34.880
Radican: Absolutely.

00:06:35.860 –> 00:06:36.780
Roddy: Does this have it all?

00:06:36.780 –> 00:06:38.280
Roddy: Like you’re in the sales world, right?

00:06:38.280 –> 00:06:41.760
Roddy: A lot of folks listening to this, almost everybody’s in sales to some degree or another.

00:06:42.060 –> 00:06:48.760
Roddy: Is there any conflict with that at all when you’ve talked to people about that approach, where it’s relationships, forget about what you get in return?

00:06:48.900 –> 00:06:51.040
Roddy: Do you ever get any static on that?

00:06:51.040 –> 00:07:05.920
Roddy: Because the person who taught me to build relationships before you need them, I’ll never forget a colleague of mine in the sales world was saying, hey, you spend a lot of time with that person, but I don’t see them spending more money advertising in our magazine, so don’t talk to them anymore or not to that degree.

00:07:05.920 –> 00:07:09.820
Roddy: I was like, well, that’s not like I can’t, like you said, I’m not keeping score here.

00:07:09.900 –> 00:07:19.660
Roddy: So I guess, do you ever run into any conflict with anybody from a sales standpoint where they’re saying, no, you’ve always got to stick to people who are ready to buy from you today, tomorrow, and in the near future?

00:07:20.420 –> 00:07:22.460
Radican: I think to some degree, yes.

00:07:22.740 –> 00:07:28.680
Radican: But really what you have to think about it is they’re also on the other side of the fence cultivating relationships too.

00:07:28.720 –> 00:07:31.820
Radican: So they may run into somebody and they’re like, hey, you know what?

00:07:31.820 –> 00:07:33.300
Radican: I just had a conversation with Jim.

00:07:33.600 –> 00:07:35.580
Radican: I need to make an introduction.

00:07:35.580 –> 00:07:37.340
Radican: So it’s kind of two-fold really.

00:07:38.100 –> 00:07:38.380
Roddy: Yeah.

00:07:38.380 –> 00:07:39.900
Roddy: We call it, I can’t come up with a better name.

00:07:39.900 –> 00:07:40.900
Roddy: Maybe you can help me here, Ashton.

00:07:40.900 –> 00:07:48.500
Roddy: We call it Bank Shot Networking, where we tell people who join our community and they’re like, hey, can you answer this question for me?

00:07:48.500 –> 00:07:50.300
Roddy: Or can you find somebody who can answer this question?

00:07:50.300 –> 00:07:54.760
Roddy: A lot of times we can say, I don’t know, but let me put you in touch with three or four people.

00:07:54.760 –> 00:07:57.280
Roddy: If they don’t know, they’ll be able to direct you to somebody else.

00:07:57.280 –> 00:08:02.240
Roddy: So there’s almost like no downside unless you’re way too busy.

00:08:02.600 –> 00:08:04.980
Roddy: Otherwise, for the most part, you can find time to help people.

00:08:05.020 –> 00:08:06.400
Roddy: That’s kind of what you’re saying.

00:08:06.400 –> 00:08:07.860
Radican: We’ll alley-oop it together.

00:08:08.460 –> 00:08:08.760
Roddy: Good.

00:08:08.760 –> 00:08:09.220
Roddy: All right.

00:08:09.220 –> 00:08:09.880
Roddy: Very good.

00:08:10.860 –> 00:08:13.120
Roddy: Final quote of yours and I’m hoping you expand upon.

00:08:13.680 –> 00:08:17.740
Roddy: Also, I don’t know if you’re a big fan of Meet the Press, but the old Tim Resser Meet the Press, he was, oh, it’s all he did.

00:08:17.740 –> 00:08:19.140
Roddy: Let me read back this quote to you.

00:08:19.140 –> 00:08:21.820
Roddy: So I’m glad you have good quotes for me to read back to.

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Roddy: I don’t stand here because of what I’ve accomplished alone.

00:08:25.320 –> 00:08:32.360
Roddy: I stand here because of the people who have poured into me, believed in me and allowed me to do the same for them.

00:08:32.360 –> 00:08:38.200
Roddy: So what are some of the most important lessons that others have to use your phrase poured into you?

00:08:38.200 –> 00:08:44.900
Radican: I think there’s three lessons that I keep coming back to in my career, and we’ll outline them for everybody listening here.

00:08:45.060 –> 00:08:53.920
Radican: But the first one that we know goes right back to my word is that relationships are a long game and you’ve alluded to that a little bit throughout our conversation as well.

00:08:54.620 –> 00:08:58.180
Radican: Today’s customers might become tomorrow’s colleague.

00:08:58.180 –> 00:09:06.520
Radican: So maybe you have previously built up a rapport with somebody because you continue to pour and invest in them, even if just a conversation at a show.

00:09:07.260 –> 00:09:10.600
Radican: Today’s competitor might be tomorrow’s partner.

00:09:11.760 –> 00:09:17.080
Radican: Someone you meet today might come back into your life ten years from now in a completely different way.

00:09:17.340 –> 00:09:21.320
Radican: So never burn a bridge just because you don’t know where it leads to today.

00:09:22.220 –> 00:09:30.700
Radican: And the second lesson I would highlight for everybody is you can be ambitious and generous at the same time.

00:09:31.400 –> 00:09:35.400
Radican: Someone else’s success doesn’t take anything away from mine.

00:09:35.600 –> 00:09:43.200
Radican: I have some of the most incredible individuals in this industry that have become dear friends and we are constantly cheering each other on.

00:09:44.960 –> 00:09:49.080
Radican: And there’s really always enough room at the table for everybody.

00:09:49.500 –> 00:09:54.060
Radican: And honestly, if you don’t feel like there is, pull up another chair.

00:09:54.580 –> 00:10:00.800
Radican: I think that’s particularly important for women coming up in technology and payments.

00:10:00.860 –> 00:10:07.080
Radican: We should be creating opportunities behind us, not just celebrating what we made through the door for ourselves.

00:10:08.140 –> 00:10:12.360
Radican: And that third one that I’d really like to highlight is show up.

00:10:12.620 –> 00:10:19.720
Radican: Truth and trust in this industry isn’t usually built through one huge grand gesture.

00:10:20.060 –> 00:10:24.720
Radican: It’s built through hundreds of little moments, those tiny side conversations that we’ve talked about.

00:10:24.840 –> 00:10:26.500
Radican: Did you call when you said you would?

00:10:26.500 –> 00:10:28.100
Radican: Did you make the introduction?

00:10:28.200 –> 00:10:29.840
Radican: Did you follow up?

00:10:30.920 –> 00:10:33.960
Radican: Did you remember what mattered most to that person?

00:10:33.960 –> 00:10:39.640
Radican: I know my dad always taught me, you have two ears and one mouth for a reason, two more listening.

00:10:40.980 –> 00:10:44.000
Radican: And did you show up when there wasn’t anything in it for you?

00:10:44.460 –> 00:10:51.700
Radican: People may forget the deal that you closed together in this industry, but they’re never going to forget whether or not you showed up for them.

00:10:53.440 –> 00:10:53.640
Roddy: Love it.

00:10:53.640 –> 00:10:56.460
Roddy: Let me dig into almost everything.

00:10:56.500 –> 00:10:59.060
Roddy: You said there if you don’t mind, I took a bunch of notes.

00:10:59.260 –> 00:11:03.960
Roddy: I love we talked about relationships of a long game, and you brought up the bridges analogy.

00:11:03.960 –> 00:11:11.880
Roddy: What I always say, I’m hoping you can expand upon this is, in this industry, there are tons of bridges in the retail IT channel.

00:11:11.880 –> 00:11:15.320
Roddy: They’re all connected to some degree, and they’re made out of wood.

00:11:15.400 –> 00:11:20.460
Roddy: So if you go and burn one, you could set and burn the whole thing down.

00:11:20.520 –> 00:11:26.400
Roddy: Is that kind of how you see it in this space in terms of, there’s one way in the positive, hey, any connection can lead to something else.

00:11:26.420 –> 00:11:29.280
Roddy: But that’s why it’s even doubly important into this industry.

00:11:29.380 –> 00:11:34.400
Roddy: It’s not millions of people, it’s a smaller group and you’ve got to make sure your word is good.

00:11:34.400 –> 00:11:38.020
Roddy: Can you talk about that, like the whole bridges and that you do see them all connected?

00:11:38.340 –> 00:11:38.940
Radican: Absolutely.

00:11:38.940 –> 00:11:49.620
Radican: And not just burning the bridge and then kind of getting rid of the conduit that could bridge you to another partner or colleague, like looking, hey, I’m looking for somebody to hire.

00:11:49.920 –> 00:11:51.440
Radican: Like, do you know anybody over here?

00:11:51.900 –> 00:12:02.920
Radican: Something that I really like to lean into is ensuring you don’t burn those bridges because people might forget what you did, but they’re never going to forget how they made you feel.

00:12:03.200 –> 00:12:12.940
Radican: And sometimes you just have to trust your instincts and your gut feelings with people in this industry because they might put their best face forward.

00:12:13.080 –> 00:12:22.680
Radican: But once you talk to somebody and cultivate those relationships, like we’ve talked so much about, you’ll really find out who that person is and what kind of businesses they’re going to do.

00:12:22.680 –> 00:12:28.000
Radican: So make sure you are always treating people with kindness because you don’t want to burn any of those bridges.

00:12:28.800 –> 00:12:29.380
Roddy: 100%.

00:12:29.600 –> 00:12:36.380
Roddy: I won’t say the name of the person, and this is many, many years ago, but they left a company in the channel to go to another company in the channel.

00:12:36.380 –> 00:12:41.240
Roddy: When they left company A, they were like publicly, those guys stink, losers, terrible, awful.

00:12:41.240 –> 00:12:43.080
Roddy: So glad to be away from them.

00:12:43.360 –> 00:12:46.900
Roddy: Less than six months later, his old company acquired his new company.

00:12:46.920 –> 00:12:50.480
Roddy: He was all of a sudden like, well, I’ll just show myself the door here as well.

00:12:50.480 –> 00:12:54.540
Roddy: Like I said, you never know, there’s no reason to do that.

00:12:54.540 –> 00:12:57.640
Roddy: And that ties in with your second point here about being ambitious and generous.

00:12:57.880 –> 00:13:05.540
Roddy: Like a lot of times people think of, and you can see I try to use a lot of analogies, like it’s fighting over a limited piece of pie, right?

00:13:05.540 –> 00:13:08.740
Roddy: And what you were talking about is there’s more to go around.

00:13:08.980 –> 00:13:10.440
Roddy: Can you expand upon that a little bit?

00:13:10.440 –> 00:13:15.920
Roddy: For somebody who’s newer to this space, you might think, hey, I’ve got to be taking stuff away from my competition.

00:13:16.260 –> 00:13:31.120
Roddy: I guess, do you view it as the more that we work together, the more we’re going to bring into this whole value add, retail IT channel versus fighting with each other, and in that way, our competitor is stealing from us and from our industry.

00:13:31.160 –> 00:13:31.860
Roddy: How do you view that?

00:13:31.860 –> 00:13:33.780
Roddy: Can you expand upon that, Ashton?

00:13:34.100 –> 00:13:34.600
Radican: Absolutely.

00:13:34.600 –> 00:13:42.040
Radican: And it goes back to another piece we talked about, is not always focusing on the huge grand gesture or winning all of it.

00:13:42.040 –> 00:13:47.900
Radican: I think in this industry, you have to dip your toe in with some of these customers and start small.

00:13:48.620 –> 00:13:50.500
Radican: It’s all about building trust as well.

00:13:51.000 –> 00:13:53.620
Radican: That common denominator really is relationships.

00:13:53.620 –> 00:14:00.920
Radican: So they may not want to give you 100 percent of their business, but when you’re talking with them, you’re like, hey, how much of your business can we get today?

00:14:00.920 –> 00:14:02.880
Radican: And what can we do to get the rest of it?

00:14:02.920 –> 00:14:11.200
Radican: So you’re really building that trust and creating a foundation and making sure that it’s level, so that way you can onboard more of their business.

00:14:12.360 –> 00:14:12.780
Roddy: Very good.

00:14:12.780 –> 00:14:13.600
Roddy: Thank you for that.

00:14:13.980 –> 00:14:19.580
Roddy: And then the last part, you talked about showing up, and you said how important it is to make your word good, right, and do those things.

00:14:19.860 –> 00:14:22.540
Roddy: What do you do to help you make your word good?

00:14:22.540 –> 00:14:25.020
Roddy: Like, let’s get really tactful here if you don’t mind.

00:14:25.160 –> 00:14:27.660
Roddy: Can you share with folks, like, what do you do?

00:14:28.340 –> 00:14:34.840
Roddy: I guess I’m assuming you’re organized, like you and I aren’t like fast friends or something, but all my interactions with you, you’re not like off the cuff.

00:14:34.840 –> 00:14:36.600
Roddy: I’m just totally winging it, things of that nature.

00:14:36.600 –> 00:14:40.500
Roddy: You seem to be organized and prepared a little more than the average person.

00:14:40.940 –> 00:14:42.140
Roddy: I guess I’ll put you on the spot here.

00:14:42.140 –> 00:14:44.780
Roddy: What do you do to stay organized and make sure your word is good?

00:14:44.780 –> 00:14:47.240
Roddy: What are some of those tactics that you use if you don’t mind me asking?

00:14:47.640 –> 00:14:48.220
Radican: Absolutely.

00:14:48.220 –> 00:14:53.740
Radican: Well, I always take good notes, and I make sure that I’m taking action right away.

00:14:54.120 –> 00:14:58.000
Radican: Take your personal notes that you need for your follow-ups and set reminders.

00:14:58.300 –> 00:15:08.980
Radican: Go into your calendar invite, and even if it’s just a space where you show you’re free, so somebody can still plan a meeting if they need to bring you in, but set up those reminders.

00:15:09.620 –> 00:15:11.780
Radican: Blind copy yourself on emails.

00:15:11.780 –> 00:15:16.440
Radican: I know sometimes I’m like, oh shoot, I’ve sent so many emails, but what did I do today?

00:15:16.440 –> 00:15:17.900
Radican: What do I need to follow up on?

00:15:17.900 –> 00:15:25.400
Radican: So there’s little tips and tricks that you learn along the way, and I make sure to share those with people new coming in the industry.

00:15:26.480 –> 00:15:31.580
Radican: But also make sure that you say what you mean and you mean what you say kind of thing.

00:15:31.580 –> 00:15:35.980
Radican: It’s one of those golden rules that you kind of have to go back to on the foundation.

00:15:36.620 –> 00:15:46.500
Radican: But yeah, organization can come natural to some people, but it’s a learned behavior as well, and definitely share trade secrets when appropriate.

00:15:47.340 –> 00:15:48.040
Roddy: Great, and I’m going to get-

00:15:48.040 –> 00:15:49.980
Radican: Not from the industry, but from organization.

00:15:50.240 –> 00:15:51.140
Roddy: Sure, sure.

00:15:51.140 –> 00:15:52.060
Roddy: Well, let me ask you this.

00:15:52.060 –> 00:16:00.100
Roddy: So I’m going to get super tactical now, because here’s something that I struggle with is, I’m a big note taker, like if folks watch on YouTube, I’m taking notes all over the place.

00:16:00.280 –> 00:16:07.180
Roddy: My penmanship, I can get really sloppy with it, and sometimes I’ll look back and be like, oh my gosh, it’s like, what exactly is that?

00:16:07.180 –> 00:16:13.940
Roddy: Me, in fact, I have a meeting right after this one where I have to ask the group, like I took this note last week, I’m not sure what it means, can you maybe interpret it for me?

00:16:13.960 –> 00:16:15.260
Roddy: How do you take notes?

00:16:15.260 –> 00:16:17.540
Roddy: I’m just curious, like is it electronic?

00:16:17.540 –> 00:16:18.320
Roddy: Is it handwritten?

00:16:18.320 –> 00:16:19.240
Roddy: Is it a combination?

00:16:19.240 –> 00:16:19.720
Roddy: What do you do?

00:16:19.720 –> 00:16:23.740
Roddy: And again, I hope you don’t mind me getting super tactical, but this can help people make their word good.

00:16:24.140 –> 00:16:27.960
Radican: And I do a little bit of both, to be honest, because I’m still a little old fashioned.

00:16:27.960 –> 00:16:39.320
Radican: I feel like when I write it, I remember it kind of thing, but there’s so many different tools out there, like Fireflies and other agentic tools that people are really trying to lean into.

00:16:40.340 –> 00:16:45.500
Radican: Plod devices are good too, when you’re out on the show floor, I think people kind of clip them on their lapel.

00:16:46.000 –> 00:16:57.560
Radican: And it takes the notes and it can digest and consolidate and create follow-ups, which takes out some of the hours that you might be focused on, like, oh shoot, I got to do all this and then I got to write my email.

00:16:57.560 –> 00:17:05.780
Radican: So lean into little shortcuts when it comes to AI, and that can really help put your best fit forward from an organizational standpoint.

00:17:06.460 –> 00:17:06.880
Roddy: Perfect.

00:17:06.880 –> 00:17:07.400
Roddy: Thank you for that.

00:17:07.400 –> 00:17:23.320
Roddy: We’re going to pause for a little bit for commercial, but you’re doing a great segue in because the RSPA has an AI resource hub, and there’s lots of tools on there, some suggestions like you mentioned about Plaid and how a lot of our members are using that, and they’ve recorded a lot of videos in terms of what they do to have shortcuts.

00:17:23.320 –> 00:17:28.240
Roddy: So let’s pause here to let our listeners and viewers know about the Retail Solutions Providers Association.

00:17:28.500 –> 00:17:34.620
Roddy: The RSPA is North America’s largest community of retail technology bars, software providers, vendors, and distributors.

00:17:34.740 –> 00:17:42.500
Roddy: Members benefit from RSPA White Glove Service, which is provided by the member services team of Peggy Fry, Nicole Green, and Heather Broussard.

00:17:42.500 –> 00:17:56.040
Roddy: Instead of leaving you on your own to navigate our growing list of member companies, 760 as of this morning, Peggy, Nicole, and Heather will make warm one-on-one introductions to your fellow members who can accelerate your success.

00:17:56.040 –> 00:17:59.220
Roddy: To learn more, email membership at gorspa.org.

00:18:00.340 –> 00:18:07.080
Roddy: Also we want to thank these channel-focused companies who sponsored the RSPA community and make this podcast and video series possible.

00:18:07.200 –> 00:18:13.660
Roddy: Our gold sponsors are Blue Star, Cocard, Epson, Global Payments, and ScanSource.

00:18:13.660 –> 00:18:20.740
Roddy: And then finally, save the date for Inspire 2027, the Retail IT channel’s premier leadership conference.

00:18:20.880 –> 00:18:25.800
Roddy: RSPA Inspire is set for January 24th through 27th in beautiful and warm Puerto Rico.

00:18:26.040 –> 00:18:34.220
Roddy: For more information, visit gorspa.org/inspire so you can experience networking nirvana.

00:18:34.540 –> 00:18:35.020
Roddy: All right.

00:18:35.020 –> 00:18:36.520
Roddy: So let’s dive in.

00:18:36.520 –> 00:18:39.960
Roddy: And so thank you for reliving your acceptance speech.

00:18:39.960 –> 00:18:45.280
Roddy: Again, thanks for having a well-prepared acceptance speech for your Women to Women Award for RSPA.

00:18:46.140 –> 00:18:50.920
Roddy: Let’s talk about some experiences from early in your career that have really shaped you as a leader.

00:18:50.920 –> 00:18:58.220
Roddy: Can you tell us a learning experience or one story that’s really stuck with you for many, many years and shaped you as a leader?

00:18:59.220 –> 00:19:03.720
Radican: No, I’m going to kind of generalize it because I feel like you learn a little bit from each company that you’re with.

00:19:04.260 –> 00:19:10.300
Radican: But early on in my career, I thought being great at sales meant having the answer.

00:19:10.840 –> 00:19:18.460
Radican: And I’ve learned that with great leadership, it’s so much more about knowing when to bring the right people in.

00:19:19.980 –> 00:19:34.960
Radican: So thinking back to some of my earlier positions, as I dipped my toe into this crazy industry, I thought about where a customer needed or had an opportunity that required more than just selling.

00:19:35.160 –> 00:19:41.000
Radican: And something that I always try and do as a salesperson is talk about the heart of the organization.

00:19:41.200 –> 00:19:44.240
Radican: Sales really isn’t the hero of the deal.

00:19:44.240 –> 00:19:49.280
Radican: They may grab it and reel it in, but operations really matters.

00:19:49.300 –> 00:19:51.520
Radican: Implementation matters.

00:19:51.840 –> 00:19:53.260
Radican: Technology matters.

00:19:53.260 –> 00:19:59.480
Radican: And the partners that you bring in to the deal matter and can ultimately drive some of that success.

00:20:00.760 –> 00:20:03.500
Radican: So you don’t have to know all the answers.

00:20:03.780 –> 00:20:13.080
Radican: As my career progressed, I became much more interested in understanding how all those puzzle pieces worked and how you could bring them in together.

00:20:13.420 –> 00:20:18.100
Radican: So leadership truly isn’t about being the smartest person in the room.

00:20:18.360 –> 00:20:29.220
Radican: It’s about knowing how to get the right people in the room and making sure that, key here, they feel valued once they’re in there and once they have a seat at the table.

00:20:29.400 –> 00:20:33.020
Radican: And that lesson really stood with me throughout my career.

00:20:33.140 –> 00:20:34.820
Radican: I don’t need to know everything.

00:20:34.820 –> 00:20:40.940
Radican: I need to know when to listen, when to ask for help, and who needs to be a part of the conversation.

00:20:42.120 –> 00:20:42.500
Roddy: Got it.

00:20:42.500 –> 00:21:00.420
Roddy: So from my understanding, I’m hoping if you could explain this even further to me, what you’re saying is instead of, hey, I’m going to have all the answers here, it’s I’m going to bring the right people in, and I’m going to know when I’m providing the answer and when I’m almost providing an assistant, steering it over to them.

00:21:00.560 –> 00:21:07.220
Roddy: That’s more powerful to build a full whole brain solution rather than you just being the one person that they go to.

00:21:07.220 –> 00:21:08.520
Roddy: Is that kind of what you’re saying?

00:21:08.800 –> 00:21:09.660
Radican: Absolutely.

00:21:09.780 –> 00:21:20.780
Radican: Then oftentimes, I’ll take it a little nugget further and give them a little preview like, hey, here’s the customer, here’s the background, here’s what we’re trying to solve for, and I know you have the expertise.

00:21:20.980 –> 00:21:25.100
Radican: I guess what that comes back to is always have an agenda.

00:21:25.160 –> 00:21:31.120
Radican: Then I’ll tie back to even Sandy when she spoke on the RSPA stage this year.

00:21:31.520 –> 00:21:34.180
Roddy: Yes, Sandy Finley from PayState Associates.

00:21:34.200 –> 00:21:35.000
Radican: Absolutely.

00:21:35.000 –> 00:21:36.900
Radican: Her key word was time.

00:21:37.240 –> 00:21:42.340
Radican: And bringing in these experts, you need to make sure that you’re very cognizant of their time.

00:21:42.600 –> 00:21:48.600
Radican: And then bringing in the right people will wrap that relationship together and drive it across the finish line.

00:21:49.200 –> 00:21:49.740
Roddy: Amen.

00:21:50.080 –> 00:21:52.620
Roddy: Yeah, everything’s about people, right?

00:21:52.680 –> 00:21:57.720
Roddy: Really, what it comes out is like you said that right from the get-go, but it seems like every answer does filter into that.

00:21:57.720 –> 00:21:58.960
Roddy: I agree with you 100 percent.

00:21:58.960 –> 00:22:01.700
Roddy: So, all right, so let’s talk about, you’re talking about dishing it out.

00:22:01.700 –> 00:22:04.440
Roddy: Let’s talk about 100 percent ownership on something.

00:22:04.480 –> 00:22:08.240
Roddy: Tell us about a mistake that you made as a leader and what you learned from it.

00:22:08.240 –> 00:22:15.720
Roddy: It can be recent, it could be a long time ago, it can be a colossal disaster, or it can be a time where you fell short of your standards.

00:22:15.720 –> 00:22:18.240
Roddy: Tell us about one mistake that you made, what you learned.

00:22:18.600 –> 00:22:26.800
Radican: I think a mistake or maybe what can be seen as kind of a weakness that you can massage and get better at is that I moved fast.

00:22:27.080 –> 00:22:29.100
Radican: I’ve definitely learned this one the hard way.

00:22:29.800 –> 00:22:38.180
Radican: One mistake I’ve made is assuming that because I’m ready to run, everyone else has already had time to tie their shoes, I guess is the best way to say it.

00:22:38.860 –> 00:22:52.060
Radican: I’m naturally high energy, I get excited about an idea, I see where I want to go, and especially early on in my career, I think I’ve explained it well enough and that everybody understands it.

00:22:52.100 –> 00:22:53.740
Radican: I’m like, all right, let’s go.

00:22:54.360 –> 00:22:57.980
Radican: But people don’t always process information the same way.

00:22:58.340 –> 00:23:07.340
Radican: Some people need either more context about the deal, some people need the raw data because they really like to read it or interpret it another way.

00:23:08.400 –> 00:23:18.840
Radican: Some people need time to challenge the idea, and then some need to understand exactly where they fit into that puzzle piece, because it ties back to the time element.

00:23:18.880 –> 00:23:21.740
Radican: They need to make sure it fits into their day-to-day.

00:23:22.800 –> 00:23:27.220
Radican: I’ve learned that taking the time to bring the people along isn’t slowing the deal down.

00:23:27.380 –> 00:23:30.320
Radican: Sometimes, it’s actually the fastest way to get somewhere.

00:23:31.280 –> 00:23:39.280
Radican: It brings it back to communication isn’t what I said, communication is what the other person understood.

00:23:39.520 –> 00:23:42.160
Radican: That’s something I can continue to work on.

00:23:43.340 –> 00:23:43.620
Roddy: Great.

00:23:43.620 –> 00:23:43.980
Roddy: Yeah.

00:23:44.040 –> 00:23:47.320
Roddy: Clarity, like you can always be clear with what you do.

00:23:47.440 –> 00:23:50.300
Roddy: How do you overcome that and how have you overcome that?

00:23:50.300 –> 00:23:59.840
Roddy: Is it like a couple of tactics that I’ve seen is, at the end of the meeting, in fact, we have this for the RSPA in our weekly huddle, the last five minutes is all about closing a loop.

00:23:59.920 –> 00:24:08.840
Roddy: Here are things we said we were going to do last week, let’s make sure we did that, here are the takeaways for this week, and clarifying the takeaway so somebody could be like, well, was I supposed to do that?

00:24:08.840 –> 00:24:10.560
Roddy: That’s one tactic is closing loop.

00:24:10.580 –> 00:24:18.060
Roddy: The other is sometimes asking people, hey, say it back to me, like in your own words, say it back to me what you think your directive is here.

00:24:18.060 –> 00:24:23.260
Roddy: So, what do you recommend to make sure that folks aren’t walking away unclear?

00:24:23.260 –> 00:24:26.480
Roddy: Like again, I just threw out two that I’ve seen and used.

00:24:26.940 –> 00:24:28.380
Roddy: What works for you to overcome that?

00:24:28.580 –> 00:24:37.140
Radican: I love that second one, having people say it back to you, and then we start the meeting with an agenda, and then we kind of send like a next steps follow up.

00:24:37.300 –> 00:24:50.120
Radican: So, there’s always an opportunity, or I would hope there’d be an opportunity, if somebody’s not comfortable saying it back on the meeting, then they have the opportunity to like, hey, they’re more comfortable writing back for the next steps follow up.

00:24:50.760 –> 00:24:51.120
Roddy: Right.

00:24:51.120 –> 00:24:59.520
Roddy: One of my coworkers made fun of me because I was meeting with him, and then one of his colleagues, and we’re talking about what this colleague was going to do on some account.

00:24:59.520 –> 00:25:01.520
Roddy: It was a sales position.

00:25:01.600 –> 00:25:08.780
Roddy: So, we’re talking like three or four things, and he’s just nodding his head going, I’m like, you must be a genus, because I have no idea here you’re going to remember all this.

00:25:08.780 –> 00:25:13.080
Roddy: Like I’m taking notes and I can’t remember, and he’s like, I should probably get a piece of paper.

00:25:13.520 –> 00:25:15.020
Roddy: I was like, that would be great.

00:25:15.020 –> 00:25:17.500
Roddy: And my coworker was like, well, that wasn’t particularly subtle.

00:25:17.500 –> 00:25:18.720
Roddy: I’m like, why didn’t know?

00:25:18.720 –> 00:25:23.440
Roddy: Like, you know, sometimes people are, you know, work at a restaurant and they just are able to take the order of 12 people at a table.

00:25:23.440 –> 00:25:26.560
Roddy: I’m like, I thought maybe he had that background, but he didn’t.

00:25:26.560 –> 00:25:29.440
Roddy: And so again, pen and paper can be your friend.

00:25:29.440 –> 00:25:31.660
Roddy: So, it always downloads.

00:25:32.880 –> 00:25:35.680
Roddy: So, Ashton, can you talk about your leadership style?

00:25:35.860 –> 00:25:38.960
Roddy: How would you describe what your leadership style is?

00:25:38.960 –> 00:25:44.600
Roddy: And then what are some actions you take, you know, when you’re engaging with your colleagues to reinforce that approach?

00:25:45.060 –> 00:25:45.760
Radican: Absolutely.

00:25:45.760 –> 00:25:48.020
Radican: So again, going to go back to the energy.

00:25:48.320 –> 00:25:56.580
Radican: I like to get on the phone or the Teams or Zoom or whatever platform we’re using of the day and just really collaborate.

00:25:56.580 –> 00:26:02.160
Radican: It’s, you know, it’s kind of a reoccurring theme, that word, relationship driven.

00:26:02.700 –> 00:26:06.400
Radican: Hands on, get your hands dirty and be direct.

00:26:06.480 –> 00:26:13.840
Radican: Talk through things with people because to your point, not everybody understands what the project or outcome may be.

00:26:13.840 –> 00:26:17.400
Radican: So have that end goal and make sure everybody understands it.

00:26:17.600 –> 00:26:20.920
Radican: So I wouldn’t say I’m, hey, here’s your assignment.

00:26:20.920 –> 00:26:22.920
Radican: See you in 30 days kind of person.

00:26:23.600 –> 00:26:25.420
Radican: I like being with people.

00:26:25.680 –> 00:26:28.120
Radican: I like to ask a lot of questions.

00:26:28.480 –> 00:26:33.600
Radican: Definitely love making introductions and celebrating people’s wins publicly.

00:26:33.600 –> 00:26:37.240
Radican: And I love, love, love giving credit where credit is due.

00:26:37.300 –> 00:26:43.880
Radican: I’m very big on that because I’m sure we’ve all been in that situation where you’re like, hey, I helped you do that kind of thing.

00:26:43.880 –> 00:26:54.240
Radican: So I really like to lean in there and trying to understand what motivates somebody individually, just like interpreting what the outcome should be.

00:26:54.660 –> 00:26:56.720
Radican: Some people have different motivators.

00:26:56.780 –> 00:26:58.440
Radican: They might like public kudos.

00:26:58.440 –> 00:27:00.200
Radican: Some people might like a private note.

00:27:01.300 –> 00:27:15.680
Radican: I’m making sure that my colleagues know, hey, even if this is your partner, like I’m totally willing to jump on the phone, help support something if I’ve learned something or taking something away from another item within my career.

00:27:15.680 –> 00:27:17.780
Radican: Like I’m super happy to help.

00:27:18.100 –> 00:27:23.460
Radican: I want people to know that I’m accessible, but also expecting a little bit of accountability on their side.

00:27:23.460 –> 00:27:34.540
Radican: I don’t want to do the work for them, but always happy to collaborate because being relationship driven, it doesn’t mean avoiding difficult conversations if they need any assistance.

00:27:34.760 –> 00:27:37.100
Radican: I actually think it’s more the opposite.

00:27:37.520 –> 00:27:43.440
Radican: Strong relationships make honest conversations easier because you’ve already established the trust.

00:27:44.080 –> 00:27:52.560
Radican: If I can care about someone and support them and tell them when something isn’t working, that might be part of leadership collaboration as well.

00:27:53.140 –> 00:27:53.460
Roddy: Yeah.

00:27:53.460 –> 00:27:53.880
Roddy: Well said.

00:27:53.880 –> 00:28:11.540
Roddy: In our prior podcast, we interviewed Easton Bezoli, the head men’s basketball coach at my alma mater, Gannon University, and he talks about how much he loves his players, and then he talks about having hard conversations, and his rule was like, I don’t see how he can genuinely love somebody and not be willing to tell them the truth.

00:28:11.540 –> 00:28:14.280
Roddy: Even if the truth hurts or it might not feel good at the moment.

00:28:14.340 –> 00:28:18.360
Roddy: It sounds like you’re from his exact same school as well.

00:28:18.820 –> 00:28:20.880
Roddy: I wanted to follow up on something and I wrote it down.

00:28:20.880 –> 00:28:22.860
Roddy: It’s funny we were talking about, I couldn’t read my notes.

00:28:23.180 –> 00:28:27.460
Roddy: It says celebrate, I think, but celebrate and then give credit.

00:28:27.720 –> 00:28:31.120
Roddy: But you might have answered the question already, how do you do that?

00:28:31.120 –> 00:28:33.280
Roddy: But it sounds like you said it’s not a one-size-fits-all.

00:28:33.300 –> 00:28:38.680
Roddy: Some people like it public, other people prefer just a one-on-one private conversation.

00:28:38.760 –> 00:28:44.840
Roddy: What are some things that you do to help encourage people to do what they keep doing and celebrate and give credit?

00:28:45.400 –> 00:28:46.620
Radican: I’ll give little nuggets.

00:28:46.620 –> 00:29:07.780
Radican: I’ll send an overview email after a key client call and I’ll be like, hey, thanks, enter name here so much for calling this out, or we were able to have this call with a partner, we’re taking it across the finish line because X, Y, and Z individuals joined the call and they were able to support it with their expertise.

00:29:07.780 –> 00:29:15.500
Radican: But again, going back to relationships, learning how people want to be called out because I could do it just as a shout out on a call.

00:29:16.000 –> 00:29:27.360
Radican: But sometimes that subtle email is nice as well, where everybody can read it on their own time, but you’re not spotlighting people if that’s not the kind of individual they are.

00:29:28.020 –> 00:29:28.440
Roddy: Yeah.

00:29:28.440 –> 00:29:33.540
Roddy: So everything from what you’re saying doesn’t need to be like bringing a marching band and people doing cartwheels.

00:29:33.760 –> 00:29:37.960
Roddy: What people want to hear is you’re doing a good job and they want to hear specifically that thing you did.

00:29:37.960 –> 00:29:39.080
Roddy: Is that what you’re saying?

00:29:39.280 –> 00:29:40.140
Radican: Absolutely.

00:29:40.140 –> 00:29:50.760
Radican: If it’s something huge that maybe took the company to the next level, you can always do some small little gestures like send some flowers to the ladies or different things for the guys.

00:29:50.760 –> 00:29:52.600
Radican: But just nice to be thought of.

00:29:52.800 –> 00:29:53.220
Roddy: Yeah.

00:29:53.400 –> 00:30:02.240
Roddy: I had a co-worker one time, I called him out in front of the entire team, had him come up and present him with something, and afterwards he pulled me aside and he said, thanks, but don’t ever do that again.

00:30:02.580 –> 00:30:06.440
Roddy: It was not his speed whatsoever, so I kept that in mind.

00:30:07.080 –> 00:30:08.820
Roddy: Last couple of questions for you, Ashton.

00:30:09.740 –> 00:30:20.760
Roddy: It’s important as a leader, especially in this industry, things change and so you can’t, with the skills he had five years ago aren’t going to be enough to be a successful leader today.

00:30:20.860 –> 00:30:22.540
Roddy: How do you stay sharp as a leader?

00:30:23.140 –> 00:30:28.700
Roddy: What do you do to reinforce your current leadership abilities and also gain new leadership knowledge and skills?

00:30:29.880 –> 00:30:45.180
Radican: I think this can go from a leadership perspective and then just being an expert in your industry or not expert, really with what I’m going to explain here is I deliberately put myself around people who know things I don’t.

00:30:46.580 –> 00:30:50.260
Radican: Another thing is one of the biggest things I do is stay involved.

00:30:50.680 –> 00:31:01.680
Radican: A member of the RSPA, Paytech Women, Western States, having friends that are key leaders in the industry, participating in panels.

00:31:01.680 –> 00:31:03.460
Radican: I did that this year on RSPA.

00:31:03.460 –> 00:31:04.260
Radican: That was fun.

00:31:05.020 –> 00:31:09.620
Radican: Engaging with the customers, learning more about their products.

00:31:09.620 –> 00:31:15.760
Radican: And one thing that I always like to ask when I talk to customers is, hey, how can I help you as I’m talking to people?

00:31:15.760 –> 00:31:19.160
Radican: How can I bridge things that you’re trying to accomplish?

00:31:19.160 –> 00:31:23.000
Radican: So, leaning into the customer and what they have to offer.

00:31:23.300 –> 00:31:30.580
Radican: Your peers, you’re around all of these events and these associations, and lean into that.

00:31:30.580 –> 00:31:33.040
Radican: Bring them in if they’ve never been exposed to it.

00:31:33.100 –> 00:31:41.380
Radican: Maybe not bring them up on stage if they’re not comfortable with that, but make sure where they feel comfortable inserting themselves and bring them in.

00:31:42.280 –> 00:31:43.560
Radican: Technology teams.

00:31:43.560 –> 00:31:53.340
Radican: I’m constantly getting on the phone with my technical experts at my company and I’m like, hey, did I say this right or am I learning this right?

00:31:54.500 –> 00:31:56.360
Radican: I’m not afraid to say I don’t know something.

00:31:56.500 –> 00:32:03.360
Radican: I’ll lead with like, hey, I know just enough to be dangerous about this, but I know exactly who to bring in if we need to.

00:32:04.660 –> 00:32:20.180
Radican: In addition to putting myself around people that know a lot, I want to bring people in that are early in their career as well, because they might know more about AI or how to take notes, but they might not know as much as we do in our industries.

00:32:20.180 –> 00:32:24.800
Radican: So kind of bridging, hey, I’ll share stuff with you if you share stuff with me kind of thing.

00:32:26.040 –> 00:32:40.840
Radican: But yeah, surrounding myself with people who have been doing this longer is really where I think I can grow and learn where I’m really not an expert, because some of my best learning hasn’t been from informal leadership training.

00:32:41.180 –> 00:32:47.980
Radican: It’s happened when I’m sitting next to somebody at the dinner table asking like, hey, what are you seeing in the industry that maybe I’m not?

00:32:48.800 –> 00:33:00.800
Radican: Then staying close to the customers is incredibly important, because as you move further into leadership, it can become easy to get removed from what’s actually happening in the field, and I don’t want that.

00:33:00.800 –> 00:33:09.640
Radican: I want to continue hearing what customers are struggling with, what partners are seeing, and what younger professionals think about where the industry is going.

00:33:09.640 –> 00:33:20.760
Radican: Because the minute you decide you’ve arrived as a leader, it’s probably the minute you stop growing as one, and that’s one reason organizations like RSPA matter so much.

00:33:21.000 –> 00:33:29.300
Radican: You get access to the people at completely different stages of the business and their life cycle, and everybody has something to teach you.

00:33:29.860 –> 00:33:32.100
Roddy: Yeah, like education by immersion, right?

00:33:32.100 –> 00:33:41.460
Roddy: There’s so much you can tell about this industry, but until you throw somebody in there at a retail now for a few days, and they’re like, oh, now I see how it all fits together.

00:33:41.840 –> 00:33:46.260
Roddy: I’m going to go really tactical again, and I’m hoping you can help me out with this.

00:33:46.260 –> 00:34:04.380
Roddy: One thing we’re talking about planning for our Inspire Conference is I have a concern about leadership in our industry, but really in general, that a lot of folks are, I’m all for empowerment, but sometimes people get empowered to do stuff and they don’t have the depth of the principles underneath them.

00:34:04.500 –> 00:34:11.540
Roddy: So I’m curious to find out, it seems like what you talked about, there’s four ways that you learn stuff.

00:34:11.540 –> 00:34:12.460
Roddy: So I wrote these down.

00:34:12.840 –> 00:34:14.840
Roddy: Again, we’re going back to the note-taking thing.

00:34:14.940 –> 00:34:20.180
Roddy: Write books, you can see by the bookshelf, anybody on YouTube, like I’m an active reader, that’s a big way that I learned.

00:34:20.280 –> 00:34:28.700
Roddy: There’s also formal training like going to a class and learning about something and filling out workbooks and stuff like that.

00:34:28.720 –> 00:34:35.680
Roddy: There’s lighter things like podcasts or things of that nature, and then there’s vacuuming the brains of other people.

00:34:36.200 –> 00:34:38.560
Roddy: And so, can you talk about of those four?

00:34:38.800 –> 00:34:42.300
Roddy: From what I heard, it seems like vacuuming the brains is most of what you do.

00:34:42.600 –> 00:34:52.340
Roddy: I’m curious, is that like 100% of what you do, or how much do you do in terms of books or formal training, or listening to podcasts or reading other lighter things that aren’t books?

00:34:52.400 –> 00:34:59.480
Roddy: I’m just curious, if you don’t mind, Sharon, I’m trying to learn from people, how do they learn because I can’t just tell everybody, read books because it’s what I do.

00:35:00.540 –> 00:35:00.920
Radican: Right.

00:35:00.920 –> 00:35:04.240
Radican: I’d say earlier on in my career, I had more time to read books.

00:35:04.240 –> 00:35:06.240
Radican: I have three kids now.

00:35:06.620 –> 00:35:07.100
Roddy: Okay.

00:35:07.320 –> 00:35:08.960
Radican: That take a lot of my time outside.

00:35:08.960 –> 00:35:10.600
Roddy: You’re reading different books at this point.

00:35:10.600 –> 00:35:11.820
Roddy: I’m reading different books.

00:35:11.820 –> 00:35:12.220
Radican: Yeah.

00:35:12.220 –> 00:35:15.000
Radican: I have a senior in high school and then two in elementary school.

00:35:15.000 –> 00:35:17.040
Radican: So that’s a vast array of books.

00:35:17.480 –> 00:35:20.000
Radican: But definitely vacuuming the information.

00:35:20.000 –> 00:35:26.140
Radican: I like to learn by, hey, I’m going to sit next to or hey, can I join one of your calls kind of thing?

00:35:27.180 –> 00:35:31.560
Radican: In combination with the vacuuming of the information, I love taking notes.

00:35:31.920 –> 00:35:34.200
Radican: It’s that muscle memory kind of thing.

00:35:34.200 –> 00:35:40.860
Radican: I will still sometimes have a little bit of the AI background to catch stuff that maybe I’m not as fast anymore.

00:35:41.040 –> 00:35:45.120
Radican: I don’t want to be typing because I don’t want anything in the background of the meeting.

00:35:45.120 –> 00:35:50.620
Radican: But notes and vacuuming of the minds, I guess, is the best way for you to say it.

00:35:51.000 –> 00:35:51.460
Roddy: Got it.

00:35:51.460 –> 00:35:51.860
Roddy: Okay.

00:35:51.860 –> 00:35:52.200
Roddy: Yeah.

00:35:52.380 –> 00:35:52.920
Roddy: Thank you for that.

00:35:52.920 –> 00:35:55.440
Roddy: Because I’m always curious how folks do that.

00:35:55.440 –> 00:36:00.880
Roddy: Again, in our Inspire Conference, we’re planning on having a day dedicated to principled leadership.

00:36:00.880 –> 00:36:02.640
Roddy: Not just, hey, what’s your opinion on this?

00:36:03.840 –> 00:36:09.280
Roddy: But how do people acquire principled learning, if they can go and build that foundation on?

00:36:09.280 –> 00:36:10.560
Roddy: So that’s super helpful.

00:36:10.560 –> 00:36:13.600
Roddy: So Ashton, so we covered a lot today.

00:36:13.840 –> 00:36:17.280
Roddy: I’m curious, what would be your final advice for our audience?

00:36:17.280 –> 00:36:24.180
Roddy: So let’s say you have a three-minute ride share that you’re sharing with a small business leader like a VAR or ISV in this space.

00:36:24.300 –> 00:36:26.400
Roddy: What advice would you give to them?

00:36:27.600 –> 00:36:29.420
Radican: I’d give them three nuggets.

00:36:29.720 –> 00:36:32.240
Radican: And the first one would be, know your people.

00:36:32.560 –> 00:36:34.300
Radican: I know we’ve talked a lot about this one.

00:36:34.300 –> 00:36:38.820
Radican: So know your employees, know your customers, know your partners.

00:36:39.200 –> 00:36:44.400
Radican: And don’t only just know what they do for you, know what they’re trying to accomplish.

00:36:44.400 –> 00:36:49.040
Radican: Know what makes them sparkle, catch on fire kind of thing.

00:36:49.040 –> 00:36:53.780
Radican: Because when people feel like they’re noticed, they do better and they lean into you.

00:36:53.820 –> 00:36:56.580
Radican: And they send people to you if they ever leave.

00:36:56.900 –> 00:37:00.000
Radican: Because they’re like, hey, Jim’s always so awesome.

00:37:00.000 –> 00:37:02.260
Radican: Like you need to have a chat with him.

00:37:02.260 –> 00:37:06.420
Radican: Even if it’s just a personal career moment, we’re like, hey, he knows somebody over here.

00:37:07.280 –> 00:37:13.460
Radican: And I think the second piece that you really could lean into is do what you’re say you’re going to do.

00:37:14.120 –> 00:37:17.100
Radican: Reliability is incredibly underrated.

00:37:17.540 –> 00:37:19.380
Radican: Call when you say you’re going to call.

00:37:20.080 –> 00:37:22.200
Radican: Send what you say you’re going to send.

00:37:23.280 –> 00:37:25.340
Radican: Own it when you’ve made a mistake.

00:37:25.660 –> 00:37:28.320
Radican: People want to do business with people they trust.

00:37:29.340 –> 00:37:33.940
Radican: And I think the third item that I’d ring in is give before you need something.

00:37:34.000 –> 00:37:43.060
Radican: Make the introduction, share the opportunity, recommend somebody, mentor someone, and celebrate somebody else’s wins.

00:37:44.400 –> 00:37:54.220
Radican: Yeah, if I had only three minutes, I’d tell them this, build something bigger than a business, build a community of people who want to see each other succeed.

00:37:54.540 –> 00:37:57.840
Radican: Revenue matters, growth matters, results matter.

00:37:57.840 –> 00:38:03.000
Radican: But 20 years from now, you’re probably not going to remember your Q3 number.

00:38:03.340 –> 00:38:07.160
Radican: You’re going to remember who was sitting beside you while you were building it.

00:38:07.340 –> 00:38:09.620
Radican: And that’s why my word is relationships.

00:38:09.620 –> 00:38:12.020
Radican: They haven’t just helped me build a career.

00:38:12.420 –> 00:38:14.160
Radican: They’ve given my career meaning.

00:38:15.780 –> 00:38:16.280
Roddy: Excellent.

00:38:16.280 –> 00:38:16.880
Roddy: I love that.

00:38:17.200 –> 00:38:24.260
Roddy: And our over driver got stopped at a red light, so that gives me time to follow up on one thing that you said just to dive in a little bit.

00:38:24.260 –> 00:38:25.880
Roddy: You said about knowing your people.

00:38:25.980 –> 00:38:33.780
Roddy: It seems like sometimes leaders think, I know when my people are out sick or I know what their numbers are, I know what their job is or what their tasks are this week.

00:38:33.840 –> 00:38:38.920
Roddy: But I think you’re talking about something broader, like really know them as a human, what makes them tick?

00:38:38.920 –> 00:38:40.440
Roddy: What are their challenges in life?

00:38:40.520 –> 00:38:41.700
Roddy: What are their strengths?

00:38:41.760 –> 00:38:43.000
Roddy: Where do they need shored up?

00:38:43.000 –> 00:38:43.980
Roddy: Is that more of what you’re saying?

00:38:43.980 –> 00:38:46.720
Roddy: When you say know your people, can you expand upon that?

00:38:46.720 –> 00:38:49.640
Roddy: And we’re just turning green, so we’re heading to the airport here.

00:38:49.780 –> 00:38:50.860
Radican: Yeah, absolutely.

00:38:50.860 –> 00:38:52.160
Radican: So know your people.

00:38:52.160 –> 00:38:54.880
Radican: I think on a career level, yes.

00:38:55.140 –> 00:39:00.340
Radican: Then you know where their strengths, weaknesses are and where you can support them from a leadership perspective.

00:39:00.960 –> 00:39:12.600
Radican: A reoccurring theme that I’ve heard from so many of my leaders and that I’m also implementing into my conversations is don’t have the hard conversation, let me have it kind of thing.

00:39:12.600 –> 00:39:13.940
Radican: I’ll be the bad person.

00:39:13.960 –> 00:39:22.620
Radican: So bring me on a call, I’ll help support the opportunity, but I can be the one that says no kind of thing if there were ever an opportunity.

00:39:22.860 –> 00:39:37.360
Radican: But also on a personal level, somebody might have a family, they might have there’s something that they’re struggling with and you’re like, hey, something that the elementary, let’s go back to the elementary school teachers, they have these little cards and it’s like handle with care.

00:39:37.360 –> 00:39:41.940
Radican: If somebody’s having a hard day, you send your child to school with this handle with care.

00:39:42.760 –> 00:39:59.620
Radican: Then the teacher knows to be a little bit more, not necessarily attentive, but just know, hey, they might be struggling with somebody at home, I need to make sure that keep an eye on them, treat them with kindness kind of thing, maybe support them if they are struggling with an assignment in the classroom.

00:39:59.620 –> 00:40:01.520
Radican: But same thing with your career.

00:40:01.840 –> 00:40:04.780
Radican: As a leader, know when to give a little bit of leeway.

00:40:04.780 –> 00:40:12.700
Radican: Hey, I know that your child is performing at two o’clock on Thursday, why don’t you go ahead and end early and go see them?

00:40:13.280 –> 00:40:23.040
Radican: There’s a lot of flexibility in what we do in our careers today, and making sure that you do that as a leader will really build the rapport and keep your people happy.

00:40:23.420 –> 00:40:25.540
Roddy: Yeah, that really tethers you to them.

00:40:26.140 –> 00:40:36.260
Roddy: I had a colleague one time who I supervise, but she actually said to me, for some people, the most important thing in their life might be Aunt Martha’s big toe.

00:40:36.260 –> 00:40:39.040
Roddy: It’s causing a lot of stress for them and their family and all that stuff.

00:40:39.060 –> 00:40:46.640
Roddy: And so, you better care about Aunt Martha’s big toe if you care about that person, because that’s the number one thing in their life.

00:40:46.640 –> 00:40:48.000
Roddy: So I guess that’s almost what you’re saying.

00:40:48.000 –> 00:40:50.380
Roddy: It’s like whatever is important to them, it’s got to be important to you.

00:40:51.200 –> 00:40:52.080
Radican: Absolutely.

00:40:52.120 –> 00:40:59.100
Radican: And it doesn’t necessarily have to be important, but you have to at least know about it and know that it’s important to them, so you can support it.

00:40:59.620 –> 00:41:00.340
Roddy: Exactly.

00:41:00.580 –> 00:41:01.940
Roddy: Well said, great information.

00:41:01.940 –> 00:41:04.420
Roddy: Well, that does it for this episode of The Trusted Advisor.

00:41:04.480 –> 00:41:11.680
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.

00:41:11.760 –> 00:41:16.080
Roddy: Before we go, big thanks again to Ashton Radican for sharing her wisdom with us today.

00:41:16.320 –> 00:41:24.440
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.

00:41:24.560 –> 00:41:31.700
Roddy: Our goal at the RSPA is to accelerate the success of our members in the retail technology ecosystem by providing knowledge and connections.

00:41:31.780 –> 00:41:35.620
Roddy: For more information, please visit our website at gorspa.org.

00:41:35.860 –> 00:41:39.640
Roddy: Thanks for listening and goodbye everybody.