The Sales Evangelist Founder Donald Kelly shares why it is time to forget the Golden Rule and embrace the Platinum Rule: treat others the way THEY would like to be treated."   Sales success is all about the power of credibility that comes from referrals, but only 11% of sellers actually ask for them when 90% of customers are inclined to give them.  To stand out in hypercompetitive markets, establishing personal branding isn't optional, it is a must.  "No longer is it important to be the best in your industry.  Now it's more important to be the best known."  The bottom line is there are more people who need what you offer more than you think.  They just don't know you exist yet.

B2B Sales Impact - Donald Kelly

Join Nancy Ridge Founder of Ridge Innovative and Jessica McDowell for a great conversation on the evolving culture of distributor platforms. 

Jessica is responsible for driving the strategic direction of the high growth technology market segments within TD SYNNEX’s North American Advanced Solutions business unit, managing relationships and key deliverables for more than 120 vendor partners. McDowell and her team work to deliver innovative routes to market that address industry trends, enabling partners to leverage TD SYNNEX' exclusive tools and services, and execute a best-in-class level of customer service that has earned numerous awards and accolades. Her team is also responsible for streamlining operational efficiencies and delivering the highest level of customer care from pre-sales to post-sales delivery.

Prior to her current role, McDowell served as Vice President, Business Development within the Advanced Solutions practice from 2019 to 2022. She also held multiple leadership positions within the SYNNEX Corporation prior to its merger with Tech Data in September 2021, including as a Director, Business Development, from 2016-2019.

McDowell has over 15 years of channel experience and has been named a CRN Channel Chief 2023-2025, along with earning a place on CRN’s Women of the Channel list in 2022-25. She graduated from the University of Tennessee and is a Greenville, South Carolina, native.

Index
•	01:33 – Jessica McDowell’s Background
•	04:12 – Advancing from Field Rep to SVP: The Career Advantages Gained
•	06:11 – Culture, Innovation, and AI: Evolving How Customers Buy and Partners Sell
•	12:02 – Simplifying Complexity for a Better Customer Experience
•	14:21 – Leading with Purpose: Embracing Servant Leadership in a Bold Era
•	17:18 – Women in Tech: Advancing Leadership in a Challenging Landscape
•	27:41 – The innovation Jessica would most like to see gain adoption 

Links –
•	TD SYNNEX  - https://www.tdsynnex.com/ 
•	Jessica McDowell LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-mcdowell/ 
•	TD SYNNEX's annual Direction of Technology report - https://content.tdsynnex.com/dot/

If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to subscribe to us on Soundcloud for more episodes and write us a review! Share this episode with anyone interested in unconventional ideas.

Do you have questions, comments, insight on the topics discussed today? Send an email to support@ridgeinnovative.com with Subject: “Culture of Innovation E30”!

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Jessica McDowell: The Evolving Culture of Distributor Platforms | Ep. 30

Globe Ally President Katherine Melchior Ray shares brilliant insights from a new book she has co-authored "Brand Global, Adapt Local".   Culture is an iceberg, and it can literally sink brands seeking global impact.   Going beyond language, food, dress and art to consider more invisible values, assumptions and expectations is crucial.  Strategy trumps everything.  No matter how brilliant your business plan, it fails without understanding how culture affects it.  Use AI to deepen your brand story not replace it, and be proactive in your leadership to build Trust before anything else. "Ask for forgiveness rather than permission."

Brand Global, Adapt Local - Katherine Melchior Ray

ClientSuccess Chief Customer Officer Kristi Faltorusso admits a question that most customer success professionals can't answer:  "How is each of your customers measuring success with your partnership?"   Knowing what success looks like for your customers is fundamental to building meaningful relationships.  Stop designing FOR customers, start designing WITH them.  Ditch ego-driven playbooks.  View your team members as CEOs, not mere order-takers.  Your ulitmate impact as a leader is all about inspiring others to support your organization's mission.  "People want change to happen WITH them, not TO them."

Customer Success Isn't Optional - Kristi Faltorusso

Lighthouse Leadership Consultants Founder Kristi Straw shares what really makes the leadership difference:  it all starts with empathy and honesty. "Do not water yourself down just because the truth is hard to swallow.  And then I added on to it, yeah,  they can choke."   Culture is either an accelerant or literally sabotages long term success.  Empathy isn't soft.  It's strategic, profitable and the competitive advantage you may be ignoring. 

The Leadership Difference - Kristi Straw

The Sales-Led GTM Agency Founder Leslie Venetz, author of the upcoming book "Profit Generating Pipeline",  shares her evolution from a "me-first" leader to being an empowering leader who understands that excellence from your team doesn't come from first demanding it, you have to earn it.  True sales leadership, and sustainable success, is all about helping your team members achieve their personal best.   Stop making it about you, start making it about them.  "If you north star is your personal ego, sales leadership is probably not the right path for you."

Sales Acceleration - Leslie Venetz

TruVue Chairperson and CEO of The Culture Platform Ron Ricci welcomes leaders to "The Age of Uncertainty" that reflects the end of the traditional social contract that offered employees a simple deal:  work hard, and we'll give you a path up the corporate ladder.   We're now in the "career as a story" era  where from Millenials to GenZ and beyond, compelling new chapters of personal career stories are being written every day.  Exceptional leadership now means being "successful in the present while getting ready to execute in the future" by dealing with the world the way it is, not the way you wish it was. Get excited to enter a "golden age of imagination" where AI doesn't replace us, it simplifies human creativity and ingenuity. 

Leading In The Age Of Uncertainty - Ron Ricci

Join Nancy Ridge Founder of Ridge Innovative and Greg Sarafin for a great conversation rethinking GTM, from product push to platform power! 

Greg is the CEO of Sarafin Advisory, a firm that helps C-Suites and Boards navigate the opportunities and threats presented by the exponential growth of technology and AI.  Greg is four decades into a career that has included senior leadership roles at Razorfish, BearingPoint, IBM, and EY.

Index
•	00:53 – Greg Sarafin’s Background
•	01:42 – Unpacking the GTM Fallacy: It's Not Just Marketing or Sales
•	04:21 – Selling vs. Enabling: Rethinking the Role of Sales
•	17:47 – Moats Are Shifting—Is GTM Your New Defensible Edge?
•	23:41 – When You're Not the Platform: Evolving Beyond Traditional Channels
•	30:23 – From Founder to Flounder: The GTM Missteps to Skip
•	35:14 – The innovation Greg would most like to see gain adoption 

Links –
•	Greg Sarafin LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsarafin/ 

If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to subscribe to us on Soundcloud for more episodes and write us a review! Share this episode with anyone interested in unconventional ideas.

Do you have questions, comments, insight on the topics discussed today? Send an email to support@ridgeinnovative.com with Subject: “Culture of Innovation E31”!

Follow Us On:

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/culture-of-innovation/id1537650821 
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ce61f5ea-6e14-4056-bcf4-bdb2717eb9ca/culture-of-innovation Website: https://ridgeinnovative.com 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancy_ridge 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-ridge-085988a 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjEMawW6iUoDcQDjvtKTBzA 
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/culture-of-innovation 



Greg Sarafin: Rethinking GTM: From Product Push to Platform Power | Ep. 31

Board member, best-selling author and champion for Women in the C-suite Tracey Newell shares her own meaningful journey through what she calls the "jungle gym"  that is a career path.  She encourages all of us to think differently in recognizing that long-term success may mean sometimes going sideways and sometimes moving backwards as "detours" that give you experiences no one else has.  For women especially, It is all about avoiding overthinking, over-preparing and under-asking as you rewrite your internal narrative to be "ready" for that next role.  "We can accomplish so much more than we know and believe." 

Own Your Leadership Path - Tracey Newell

New Alvaria CX Chief Product Officer Chris Botting shows how current Gen AI disruption is changing the economics of what customers think is possible, accelerating the speed of tool ramp up from quarters to days or weeks.  Impactful leadership in times of dynamic transitions is all about remembering  leaders operate in fishbowls where "there is always someone watching."   Building a sustainable, healthy culture not about getting everyone to think the same way.  It is about agreeing on how people are going to work together to serve  a higher need.   Continuous improvement comes from the leadership courage of inviting constructive input from customers and your teams. "If you're not going to do anything with the answer then you shouldn't ask the question."

Disruptive Transitions - Chris Botting

Market Impact Insights provides the latest in business leadership perspectives.    Hear from global marketing and sales leaders on strategies, tactics and tips to help your business grow and succeed.

The Leadership Difference - Kristi Straw

Market Impact Insights

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