Rod Scotland, CEO of Completely Managed, says great people are the foundation of any successful business. He credits his first job as a touring musician with teaching him to read personalities and communicate effectively, skills he now applies in leadership. The next-generation workforce equipped with modern tools is the most exciting trend in industrial automation.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
My name is Rod Scotland, and I'm the owner and CEO of a company called Completely Managed, and we service and our purpose for industrial automation environments, plant networks, and things of that nature.
Rod, it's a pleasure to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
By far the best thing about, I would say across all industries, but particularly IT and operational technology, is the emergence of the next generation worker, the youth worker that's now coming into the marketplace, into, again, I would say across all industries, but most importantly, their resourcefulness, the thinking, the difference in how they approach, and then equally the tools that are available to them. So I would say that it's those in combination that is most interesting to me to witness.
Oh, I like that, and I can hear the passion in your voice. It's so great. Question number 3, I have a fictitious book, With All the Answers for Business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Well, should there be a chapter on prioritization? And any entrepreneur or business owner always thinking about prioritizing and whatnot. I would say, you know, all but obvious, but people are key. The focus on having great people both in recruiting and retention. And then the second from that would be the prioritization of coming to profitability and all things relevant to that.
Very wise. Thank you for sharing that. Question number 4: Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
So, the interesting thing, you know, there's a lot of moving parts when it comes to running a business, owning a business, and operating a business. I would say that, you know, the advice would be, again, I can't stress enough that people are everything. I can tell you as an entrepreneur in a relatively new company, the people that we have on staff and their capabilities, the resourcefulness, all the things we just previously mentioned, all come into play. And I'll tell you, in brass tacks, it lets me sleep better at night. And again, it is about people. It really is. If you have good people, you'll have good customers and you'll have good success.
Absolutely. Good people will take care of your customers. That's what the old—
That's right.
That's great. Thank you for that. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Well, in particular, in the industry of automation, industrial controls, the industry that we serve, there's a gentleman by the name of Mo Girardi, and he has his own company. He's the CEO and owner of that organization, and he'd be an incredible resource to talk to, and I think would contribute greatly to, you know, some advice that might be reusable for your listeners.
Perfect. I'll reach out to him. Thank you for that referral. And our last question, question number 6: Please tell me about your first job.
First job, well, interesting job. I'm a musician, a professional musician, and growing up my first job was traveling and being a touring wannabe rock star. And I'll tell you, you know, when I look back at that, what's amazing is that's what gave me the street ability to understand people and understand, you know, it's amazing the type of characters good, bad, and everything in between that you meet as a musician, you know, performing and whatnot. And it readied me in diversity to be able to have different types of conversations and understand what things mean most to particular people. And it, as I said, I look back on it now and say it prepared me.
I love it. It's a great story. Thank you for sharing that. And Rod, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people—
Thank you. Well, you can find Completely Managed on LinkedIn. Obviously, we have a glowing website, completelymanaged.com. I think between both LinkedIn and our website, we're easy to get a hold of.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast.
