Describe your current job role and the parts that are somewhat challenging?
My current role as Business Unit Manager is to decide on the strategy and the execution method of each vendor in my various business units, to achieve both the vendor and Axiz’s revenue and channel growth objectives.
When you look back at your career what has been the most memorable achievement?
My rapid ascension of the corporate structure in a very short time frame within Axiz is a memorable achievement for me, this was largely due to great mentorship and an extremely energetic work ethic.
What made you think of a career in technology?
For me, technology started as a gaming hobby during school in the early 90’s. Due to the lack of skills, or an ICT market that thrived in the consumer space, if you were a PC owner you had to know the hardware, the operating systems and some of the scripting and code of DoS at that stage. The interest then set my decision-making process to be extremely tech driven in every aspect of my life – personal and professional. It does not matter what role I will have in the future I will firstly be a technologist.
What style of management philosophy do you employ at your current position?
My management philosophy is trust based enablement, empowering staff and giving them the freedom to execute on our strategy with their own flavour and in their own style.
What is your style as a team leader?
Lead by example, if you’re not the hardest worker in the room, why should any of your staff be.
What do you think will be the hot technology talking point of 2019?
There are many, the tech that I am really keeping tabs on is the coming of age of Industrial IoT solutions. This will drive massive changes in the way that industries create new profit pools and how executives will focus their energies in creating new revenue streams out of data. This will even rejuvenate some industries that have been disbanded due to labour, legal and profitability problems in the past.
What are your personal interests and where do you like to spend most of your time after work?
I am firstly a family man, but also a military man. My personal life is mostly spent engaging in activities surrounding these two factors.
How do you cope with stress and demands of your career?
The hardest part of my career so far is finding the right mix of staff, funding, support, sales and operational strategies to make new vendors thrive within the Axiz ecosystem. The best way for me to handle this is by working harder at problems and trying different angles until we find the right solution. Being idle creates even more negative stress for me personally.
What gives you great job satisfaction?
Job satisfaction is seeing my staff members turn from introverted beginners to professional business owners. Each staff member is given the opportunity to run their vendor as if it were own business. This gives them a great understanding of why management asks the things that they do and how to really get under the hood of the business. Inclusion is a winning strategy in my team.
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