November 16, 2023 • 49 mins
Imagine the world of technology as a vast ocean, and navigating through it is this episode's guest, Michael Smith, an award-winning global business IT executive. His journey through diverse industries — healthcare, global manufacturing supply chains, and consulting — has equipped him with a deep understanding of global teams and the importance of aligning with different cultures. From the intricacies of technology implementation to leveraging his analytical skills from criminology in his IT career, Michael's insights shed light on the art of possibility thinking that can open new doors.
Curious about the leap from corporate to entrepreneurship? Michael paints a vivid picture of his transition from a Fortune 250 company to founding his own company, Partner for Success. His current role as the CIO of a microbiology start-up adds another layer to his impressive portfolio. Here, he emphasizes the contribution of their products to environmental sustainability by validating the purification of wastewater. We also delve into the realm of Artificial Intelligence, engaging in a thoughtful exploration of its potential and ethical implications.
The episode wraps up with a powerful recounting of Michael's early career days when a simple email to the CIO of Sprint PCS opened avenues of mentorship that shaped his career. His story evokes the transformative power of mentorship and the importance of paying it forward. He also shares his experience navigating the challenges of transitioning from the business side of IT to the technical side, and his use of social media for personal growth. Join us for a captivating conversation with Michael Smith, threading the intersections of technology, entrepreneurship, and personal growth.
Guest Website: https://www.fortiumpartners.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
All right, everybody.
Hello and welcome to thePossibility Mindset podcast.
I'm your host, devon Henderson,and I believe that something
greater is always possible foryou, all right.
Well, hello, michael Smith.
How are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Great, great.
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Doing great.
You can see I missed the dresscode memo.
We're going business today.
Michael had a chamber eventbefore this.
He's always looking good, butis he always looking this snazzy
is what I want to know.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Probably not.
Okay, but I knew I was meetingwith Devon, so I had to dress up
.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
That's right.
They had nothing to do with thechamber, that was all for now.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, there you go, yeah, okay awesome.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, before we get into who Michael is and what he
does, I just want to say thanksonce again to our incredible
ongoing sponsor, egcedra Shawnee, who provides this wonderful
space for us and typicallybreakfast, but you had breakfast
today at the chamber, so todaywe're just doing coffee, yeah.
So let me ask you so far, how'sthe coffee tasting?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Great, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
And they give it to you in these awesome little
perisi mugs right, these lookpretty classic, man.
You got Egcedra on that sideshowing the perisi side, so very
nice man, so we do appreciatethat.
Thank you to Shannon, themanager, and Sonya, our server.
It's always a wonderfulexperience here, so all right.
Well, before I introduce youspecifically, first of all, we
(01:30):
have a long history together,right?
So Michael has hired me formany different types of events
everywhere, from like kids,church events to like corporate
events with your fellow peersand everything, and then also
your company.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Right.
So we've done pretty mucheverything under the sun, and so
I was excited we had thisopportunity to sit down today
and find out more about you, solet's jump into it, man.
And if there's any time where Isay something that's a little
bit off, you'd just be like, oh,let's correct that, ok, because
bottom line, michael is an ITexpert and so I am not right.
(02:07):
A lot of my guests so far havebeen like other speakers, other
magicians, and now it's likethis realm where it's like well,
I feel like I am going to learnsomething today at a whole new
level, so I'm excited, so let'sget into it.
So Michael Smith is atransformative and award winning
global business IT exec withthe history of significant
(02:29):
experience enhancingorganizational growth and
creating sustainableprofitability.
How am I doing so far?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Great, great, ok, good deal.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
As if somebody wrote that I know you would think like
man, this was like writtenbefore me and I wasn't residing
this from memory.
But I like that, thesustainable profitability.
We got to be making money,otherwise what's the point?
Ok, that's great.
Now your experience you've gotlike a whole broad in terms of
industries, a whole broadspectrum, everything from.
I've got like health care,global manufacturing supply
(03:02):
chain, which of late that's beenquite a challenge, right Supply
chain I know we've had issuesthere and logistics fulfillment.
And your significant experiencelies in the area of global ERP
processes, processes orprocesses.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Either way, either way.
Now, if you're over in the UK,it's probably processes.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
OK, you say it a different way.
Now I don't know what ERPprocesses are.
Should we get to that later.
Do you want to explain that now?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, erp is just a platform that many manufacturing
companies use to manage thewhole supply chain.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Oh, ok, ok.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
From the inventory management to the sales,
fulfillment and shipping andinvoicing and all that Got it.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
OK, the whole thing, man, ok.
And then also you haveextensive consulting experience.
People coming to you being likeeverything from our computers
are down to hey, we need a wholenew system overload here for
our supply chain.
Start to finish.
Ok, Awesome man.
So Michael also is known for astrategic understanding of best
practices.
(03:58):
Is that ethics and professionaluse of tools?
Hopefully ethics yeah, that'spart of it being a very ethical
person, but that's kind of agiven in this right.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
But best practices on just how to have an
organization that's running athigh efficiency and productivity
.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
OK, got it, and that's for implementing and
maintaining technology toaddress all kinds of challenges
that organizations face today,which there's too many to try to
list right here right now.
It just goes on and on, somaybe we'll hit some of those.
As a talented executive leader,he thrives on changing and
challenging environments.
Do environments really change?
Are they really challenging?
(04:38):
I don't know if I buy this,yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well, one thing that's always constant is change
.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
There you go.
I like that.
Ok, perfect.
So that's a business experience.
So you're drawing for.
You mentioned the UK.
Yeah, do you travel?
Yeah, I used to.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I used to, so I worked for a Fortune 250 company
in the life sciences industryand was responsible for a global
team Just a little over athousand individuals that were
across North South America,europe and Asia.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
OK, wow, wow.
So how many continents have youbeen to?
Have you been to all Seven?
No, I've been to Antarctica.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
But yeah, been to North and South America, been to
Europe.
I haven't been to the MiddleEast or to Russia, but to Asia
and so to China, Japan, HongKong, Singapore, Malaysia, the
Philippines.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Well, so, before I go on there, what do you have like
a significant internationalexperience where, because you
went international and openedyour eyes to something big in
terms of IT, oh yeah.
You didn't know until you gotthere for some reason.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, I don't know if it'd necessarily be with IT
because, again, when you thinkabout technology, how it's
implemented and utilized is verysimilar.
It doesn't matter really whatthe industry is Granted.
There's different applicationsfor different industries and
companies.
But probably the biggestchallenge was just understanding
the culture when you go into anorganization.
(06:06):
So, case in point, when I waswith that Fortune 250 company
and fortunately for me, I wasn'toverseeing this team, but a
team implemented SAP in Japan,and one of the cultural items in
Japan is that when you'remeeting with any individuals
from that country, they'll nodtheir head.
Yes, that means that they hearwhat you're saying.
(06:28):
Doesn't mean they agree ordisagree, they just you know.
That is their way ofdemonstrating that I hear what
you're saying.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
And I understand it, but I'm not necessarily agreeing
or disagreeing.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
While the individuals that were implementing, of
course, were from the US, andwhenever they had asked a
question, the person would sayyes, so they thought that's the
answer.
So, of course, what theyimplemented was nothing of what
the organization needed and itwas an absolute disaster and
they had to send in a wholeanother team to start from
scratch, and it was probably a15 month delay because they just
(07:02):
didn't understand the cultureof working with individuals from
that country.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Also then to learn from that experience, when that
is, now that you know that's thecultures, whose responsibility
then is it, once they realizeokay, now this information is
absorbed.
Now, how do we make surewhether they accept or decline?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Right, right, because that's what was missing, yeah,
exactly exactly, and I mean thebest practice that I always use
with my teams is it's everyone'sresponsibility.
If you're going to go now,granted the company that you're
working for.
If you're going into anothercountry, a lot of larger
companies have divisions thatwill kind of help prepare you
for the culture you're goinginto.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Okay, and kind of go through some types of training
and stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Not everyone, but there's a lot of companies that
do that.
But yeah, I think it'severybody's responsibility, is
that?
You know?
I think US citizens sometimescan be very arrogant when they
go to other countries thateveryone is just like them.
And I think we have to haverespect for the cultures we go
into and definitely understandhow to interact and communicate
with them.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Okay, I've never been abroad, but even I know that we
can be arrogant.
I've been to Canada and Mexico,but I have not yet been
overseas.
Well, thank you for the insight.
I appreciate that, which, bythe way, and yes, this is us
still working through your bioand your intro Longest bio ever.
But I like it because I didn'tjust want to read through it and
(08:25):
then just miss a bunch ofawesome things, because I know
there's gold even in this, sogood as a launchpad.
So you know, when some peoplethink it, they think of the
person in the back room, rightlike working.
No personality.
I'm just saying generalstereotypes here from what I've
heard, you know I've spoken to alot of different groups, but
(08:45):
I've met a lot of it people.
They do not fit that stereotype, the ones that I mean, and for
sure you don't meet that.
So do you ever feel like you'reunder that stereotype and what
would you say to people whobelieve that way?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, well, I can tell you that when I went to
college, the one degree that Iknew I did not want was computer
science, and the reason why isa lot of the students and of
course I graduated in 1993 fromcollege and a lot of the
students that were in computerscience it was kind of in the
very latter stage of many of thetraining, still being on card
(09:19):
readers.
So you would actually work on amainframe.
It would you generate cards andthen you'd have to put the
cards in a specific order so itwould compile an application.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Wow.
Very very archaic if we thinkabout that now.
Some of the people in their 20sright now are going like what,
what is a card?
What is a card?
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So, but all the students many of them had long
hair, were very introverted,enjoyed talking to machines more
than people, and they wouldgenerally work in an area where
there wouldn't be any windows,because, of course, all the
machines were taking up theentire room, and so when I would
look at that I was like, well,I have a very outgoing
personality.
I think I'm an extrovert and Ienjoy being around people and I
(10:01):
like sunlight.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
And so.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I just thought, you know that's not for me.
And so I ended up majoring in anumber of, or taking a number
of different classes, buteventually majoring in
criminology.
And I just happened to fallinto the IT industry about four
years outside of college.
That worked at a bank where Iwas kind of responsible for it
(10:25):
sounds more important than itwas but responsible for the
automated clearinghouse.
This would be where all thewire transfers are coming in,
where a lot of largetransactions are being processed
, when people would be movingmoney around from one account to
the next, and so my job was tokind of monitor that to see if
any type of money laundering orany type of investment was
occurring.
And pure signs of that would beyou'd have a large transaction
(10:47):
and lots of smaller transactionsgoing to all these different
accounts.
So it just kind of raises a redflag while money is moving
around that face.
And so one of the banks I workedat they had a OS2 operating
system running on an AS400mainframe You'd probably call it
a mini-frame at that pointbecause, again, this was the
latter stage of the mainframeand there was this administrator
(11:10):
that would come in and drive anhour and a half two hours from
the area where they were at towork on an issue that had taken
about 30 minutes.
And they did it probably five orsix times a year.
And so one day they were thereand I said, look, I don't have a
clue what you're doing, but whydon't you just give me a call?
You can walk me throughwhatever you need me to do.
Even if it takes us an hour,you save the hour and a half two
(11:32):
hours on the road.
In essence, three to four hoursround trip.
Of course they love the idea.
So we did that and the firstfew times I didn't realize this
is what IT was about and I thinkhaving that degree in
criminology where it was aroundproblem solving and very
analytical mind, really kind ofaligned well with what IT does,
(11:54):
and then I discovered thatthere's a lot of extroverts that
work in the.
IT industry and it's not what Iassumed it was when I was in
college.
So, I went back to school andMicrosoft was really up and
coming at that point.
I got a number ofcertifications and never looked
back, and now I've been in theIT industry a little over 27
years.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Well seeing.
This is why it's great we'rehaving you on the possibility
mindset podcast, because I knowyour journey.
I mean, you've already kind ofshared part of it with how you
got into, how your mind waschanged.
You had one paradigm, just interms of what IT meant and what
it was and the kind ofpersonalities that fit that mold
, and something greater isalways possible.
When you have the possibilitymindset, you say what else is
(12:35):
possible?
And you just kind of fell intothat right, like you just went
one area and it opened you up tonew things.
So we're pretty much into itnow.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
So the bio is kind of .
Speaker 1 (12:45):
But so, yeah, I mean that is the thing.
I mean I don't know how muchwe're going to learn about IT
specifically, and that's notnecessarily why I brought
Michael on here to be like, hey,teach us about information
technology.
It was more like I want to hearyour story and how you got to
where you are, because you'rehighly successful, you're highly
celebrated, award winning.
I mean so many people trust you, you've been abroad and so
(13:06):
that's why I just wanted toreally focus on you know your
story and next level success andall that.
So we're into it, just so youknow.
I may come back to some of thisbecause there's some things
worth mentioning on here that Idon't want to miss.
But when you said you went tothat other country and there was
a communication barrier, I meanthat's why I'm saying like that
(13:26):
you know, when you're on IT, ittakes communication skills, it
takes people skills.
I mean to really operate at ahigher level like you do.
You have to be that peopleperson and know about
communications and cultures andeverything.
So I think that's great, that Imean you found your calling,
obviously.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Yeah, I couldn't imagine being in another
industry than I do.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Absolutely love it.
So you worked, you said, forthe 250 Fortune Fortune 250
company for a while.
Now eventually you kind of gotoff and let me, you started your
own company at some point.
So tell us kind of that journeyto becoming more of an
entrepreneur minded ITprofessional.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yeah.
So after coming out of theFortune 250 space, had a period
of time I was working for theAmerican Academy of Family
Physicians, and it's anassociation that's just geared
to supporting family physicians.
Some people might see that asprimary care direct care.
And so about 78% of practicingfamily physicians in the United
(14:27):
States are a member of theAmerican Academy of Family
Physicians, and Kansas City justhappens to be the home of the
headquarters.
Oh, all right, with a hub, yeah, nice.
So, in matter of fact, thereare one of the very few
associations that's notheadquartered in Washington DC,
because most of them are therebecause of all the regulatory
and just requirements andcompliance that the government
(14:48):
has related to the industry thatthey support.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Okay, so you're talking most of the associations
based on some kind ofhealthcare.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
No, associations in general.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Really.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Majority of them are headquartered in Virginia,
washington DC area.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
You know what also is headquartered here, the
National Auctioneers.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Association who I spoke for.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Did you know about?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
them.
I did, I spoke for them manyyears ago.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
So they're another one that's headquartered here.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Anyway, I just happened to know that Now did
they talk, really fast.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah, I didn't even understand a word.
They said I was just going likethis.
Yeah, but I'm not absorbingwhat you're taking, but I'm
impressed.
That's what my nodding meant.
Okay, awesome, so you're partof the.
Say it again.
The A, the F.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Well, it used to be the American Academy of Family
Physicians, the American Academyof Family Physicians, the
acronym is AAFP.
So their headquarters is justright there on Tomahawk Creek
Parkway in Leewood, betweenCollege Boulevard and 119th
Street.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I mean just almost right there in the middle, If
you didn't catch it.
Michael is a Kansas City guyhere with me on the.
Kansas side, so on the goodside.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Whatever, okay, awesome.
So you're working with the AAFP, all right.
And how'd that go?
How was?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
that it was great.
I mean, that was where I mean,I had a lot of success with
Thermo Fisher Scientific, whichwas the Fortune 250 company
they're the largest lifesciences company in the world
and so that's where I had theopportunity to travel all over
the world and managed a largeglobal team.
But yeah, when I came to AFP,it was a culture shock in itself
(16:12):
because, coming from publiclytraded companies, very profit
based companies into anassociation that's non-profit
and is more mission driven, thenit took a while to just kind of
adjust, but once I was able toadjust, it probably ended up
being one of the best companiesI've ever worked for oh, wow,
yeah, and it's just family basedand really enjoyed it.
And that's where we were ableto.
(16:34):
My team was able to drive anentire end to end transformation
in the organization and we wereproviding a number of awards
based on the work that we did,being recognized not only
nationally but also globally.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Oh, wow.
So yeah, it was great.
It was great.
Congratulations on that, man.
That's great.
So I know you have thistrajectory for where you are now
.
So during this whole process,were you consciously thinking
what's the next level ofgreatness for me, like, where
can I extend my impact?
Did you just kind of follow upon these things and people
started asking you forconsulting?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
work.
Yeah, no, it was probably thelatter of kind of looking at
what's the next challenge that Iwould like to tackle, and so,
through the latter part of mytime with AAFP, I decided that I
wanted to start my own company,and so my company is.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Is that terrifying?
It is To make that to okay, allright.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, and started a company's name, p4s so.
Partner for Success.
So it's initial P number fourletter S Okay.
And so it's an LLC company andprovides strategic technology
advisory and transformation andfractional CIO work, and then
(17:47):
also had the opportunity to joinFordium Partners they're the
largest service in the countrythat provides fractional CIO
services.
But also I'm involved with amicrobiology startup company and
was brought on as their CIO andI started in March of 2022, and
they're based in Drexel,missouri, and they have just an
(18:09):
absolutely amazing story wherethey've been around since 2009,
predominantly with the military,department of Defense, nasa,
and they're in the sample prepindustry.
The products they produce aresample air quality samples fluid
samples, so it could be water,beverage wastewater.
(18:30):
So they provide their productsin a lot of municipalities with
wastewater treatment facilities,because I assume most people
know this but maybe they don'tyou take a shower, you turn on
your faucet, you even flush yourtoilet.
All of that is going into atreatment center somewhere.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
A facility Specifically in an urban setting
.
Yeah, but I was like inenvironmental science in Johnson
County Community College.
They took us to the wastewatertreatment plant.
I still have nightmares aboutit.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
So everything is coming into there and then they
go through a purificationprocess where they can recycle
that and push that water backinto residential homes.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
That water is coming back too upside, but it's all
clean, right.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
In most cases, it's probably what you're going to
have in your shower or yourtoilet and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Well, because there's the wastewater treatment plant,
but then there's the watertreatment plant.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
And then it was kind of going through a two-step
filter trick.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Correct, I mean it's basic.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yes, when everything is said and done, you can drink
and it's healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yes, but where they use our products is through the
process of validating thepurification.
So they'll do a sample of thatwastewater to make sure that all
the bacteria, pathogens,viruses that may be in the waste
itself then is all been removedand now it's safe for
consumption once again.
(19:46):
And then it's recycled.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Wow, so it's working up like well whoop my water so
what was that like?
What kind of things did youfind?
Were there a lot of times whereit didn't pass the test.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Oh no, I mean, our products have been incredibly
accurate.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Okay, so it was your products that was doing the
cleaning.
I thought you were just testing.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
No, no no, Our products oh, you're talking
about when?
it depends on what's phase andwhat stage, but I don't know if
there would be any surprises,because they'd have multiple
stages of that testing.
Sure, so you would expect inthat first stage you're still
going to find paths, pathogensand bacteria, but they're going
through a quality test to makesure that everything that is
designed to purify the water isactually happening.
(20:26):
So then, when it comes to thefinal stage, then it should be
able to strike a result thatwould say, okay, this is now
safe for consumption.
So, if somebody were to ingestthat water right and drink it,
then they wouldn't get sick andthey wouldn't die.
And so, yeah, we're in there.
We also have customers in thebeverage industry.
(20:49):
So Molson Cores is one of ourcustomers, where they utilize
our products on their QC line totest the batch of beer before
they then go into massproduction to make sure it meets
all of the requirements of whatthey have.
That needs to be achieved,which I'm not an expert in all
of that.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So, when it's all said and done, you're testing
things.
People drink yeah, yeah, is thewater coming back?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And that's one side, but the other side is then air.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Air okay.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
So we'll have a lot of scientists that will utilize
our products in the field and doan air sample again.
It could be around pollution.
It could be around picking upany type of viruses or pathogens
in the air During COVID it wasused a lot and being able to
test the air quality inbuildings different things like
that.
Okay, one of the really neatand cool stories of an over prep
(21:40):
is that our products are on theInternational Space Station.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Oh wow, remember that .
Speaker 2 (21:44):
So NASA uses our products to do sample testing as
well as air quality testing forthe astronauts, wow, and part
of that is to kind of drive justthe understanding of how
bacteria and viruses live inzero gravity.
Because the goal for NASA is tobuild manned stations on the
moon and, of course, you cannotjust automatically create
gravity on the moon.
(22:04):
Right, you can create pseudogravity within the buildings
that they've established, butwhen you have bacteria and
viruses that are floating aroundin zero gravity, nasa wants to
understand how long do theyremain do?
They stay intact?
Do they kind of come apartbecause of zero gravity?
So yeah, they do lots ofdifferent tests on the
(22:25):
International Space Station withtheir products for that.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Are you going to get to go to space anytime soon?
No, probably not.
No, Would you go if they didn'tsit here?
Oh, they would yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
I think so.
I mean there's a lot of risk.
But yeah, I think that would beincredible.
It would be amazing they mightneed you up there, I know we
need your help.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
We need you on the field, in the field.
I don't know if you're in thefield anymore, if you're on the
moon, no, no.
It's a different term for that,I'm sure.
Okay, great.
So it sounds like right now youhave your own company, but
you're also part of a bunch ofother things right.
So I mean, are you justincredibly busy?
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Oh, yeah, yeah, but I enjoy the challenge and that's
what I think.
That's what's kept me involvedin IT.
Yeah, I'm not in the weeds asmuch as I used to be from a
technology perspective, becauseit was sort of like keeping up
with where technology was movingand it was constantly evolving.
Sure, it was sort of like beingin a rat race, right.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
So you're on that wheel that's just constantly
spinning, and so I had anopportunity to move into
leadership roles, probably closeto 18 years ago, and then been
more so in the leadership side.
But I still feel like I canhold my own with a technical
person, and I have to take someof those roles with the startup
company that I'm with, becauseit's still a relatively small
(23:46):
company.
So, even though I'm the CIO andestablishing the technology
strategy, sometimes I have toalso be involved in addressing
and correcting and designing andimplementing things as well,
okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
So you got a couple awards here that I want to
mention because these are toogood to pass up.
I think 2020, there's a yearfor you.
Michael was named one of the100 most innovative CIOs
globally by CIO ExecutiveCouncil.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
That's amazing 100 globally, wow.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Cio, chief Information Officer.
Correct, okay, perfect, well,that's great, congratulations,
thank you.
The year after that, in 2021,your team was recognized as one
of the 100 best organizations towork for in IT in the US by
Insider Pro and Computer WorldMagazine.
That's incredible, wow,congratulations on that too.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
In that year we were the only company you recognized
in Kansas City.
Is that right Across thecountry?
So yeah, it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
So not only are you able to do this IT work, you're
able to build a team of peoplewho love the culture and want to
follow you and believe in thework that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I mean that's what's always right there.
No, I've been very fortunateand blessed no-transcript.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Okay so, and then in 2021, youwere also a finalist for
finalists for CIO of the Year inKansas City by Inspire CAO and
the Orbea Awards.
That's amazing.
Oh man, congrats, that's sogreat.
Thank you.
So let's make sure that we getthe best parts of the story here
, because I know you could talkto us all day about your journey
.
You know where are you now.
(25:16):
What are you excited about?
What's new?
What's shaken?
Yeah, what's next?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, for me.
I've just I've never been atechnical person that really
loved the widgets, and you'llfind a lot of IT individuals
that love gaming and stuff likethat.
Sure, that just has never beensomething that I've been really
interested in.
I think what drew me into ITand I think part of that was I
started my career outside of ITand then moved into IT, so I was
(25:43):
more on the business side andthen moved over to IT Was how
technology can transformorganizations, and so every
single company requires sometype of technology to run their
company, but not every companyis successful in how they
utilize technology.
And so that's where my passionhas been and every organization
(26:03):
I've been at I've had theopportunity to be a part of or
lead a significanttransformation in the
organization, taken advantage ofhow technology can not only
drive efficiencies andproductivity but can reduce
costs, increase revenue and makethe organization not only poise
for growth but for significantprofitability as well.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I think from what you just said, I found a parallel
between your work and my work.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And that is the sense that you said you weren't into
widgets.
You're more abouttransformation and helping
create transformation.
For me, when I'm speaking onstage to an audience, my widgets
might be a magic trick, a joke,a story, right, but really it's
that stuff is met, it'snecessary, but it's really meant
to serve the audience.
Like, how are these experiencesthat I'm, that I'm showing you
(26:49):
right now, going to help youtransform the work that you do
in your organization as a whole?
So me, I don't.
This is my behind the scenesecret.
I'm not that into magic anymore, it's okay, but I do it because
I know how it makes people feeland how it's a great metaphor
for how people can be amazing intheir work and break past
mental illusions that arekeeping them from next level
(27:10):
greatness.
So I can relate to you on thatlevel where it's like, yeah,
there's this great stuff, thatwe have stuff, but we're not.
It's just not about the widget,it's about what kind of impact
are we making?
And that's, I think, why you'veseen such success, because
people, you're making changehappen.
I mean, you're part of NASA.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
That's so awesome so but you are an incredible
magician, Well thank you.
And, like, like Devan hadmentioned in the intro, we'd
known each other for a number ofyears.
But yeah, when my two boys thatare now grown and married when
they were young kids, wehappened to be in one of the
places where Devan wasperforming and that's how we got
to know him and, yeah, our kidswere absolutely flabbergasted
(27:52):
and amazed at some of the tricks, and I have to say, my wife and
I were too.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Yeah well, thank you, and I mean we.
That was back in the days whenI was working at Fizzoli.
That was one of my firstrestaurant gigs.
And I'm finishing my 20th yearperforming and speaking
professionally.
So that had to be close to 20years.
Oh yeah, 19, 20 years, which iswild to me.
You know that's and then at thelast performance you had, you
had me right after COVID, Ithink, at your church maybe
(28:17):
during, and I met.
Quinn, I think your oldest wasthere and I was like you know,
it's just one of those like wow,I just remember you being this
little yeah, I think we met youoriginally, even before you were
married.
Oh, oh, yeah, for sure, yepdefinitely I've been married 17
years, so yeah, before that man.
So wow, yeah, that's, that'swild man.
So okay, so what you know, whatwould you offer to people then
(28:42):
like from your story, from your,I mean, you've obviously have
there been big setbacks.
You know things that have madeyou go.
Maybe I, maybe this isn't forme, maybe I should quit or maybe
I don't have what it takes.
How did you work past that?
You know, because anyone canrelate to that story.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Yeah, I think they have a term for is called
imposter syndrome.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Ah, yes.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
And so you know you're always going to find
people that are much moretalented than you are in
whatever your expertise is.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
And so, yeah, there were times where I'd find myself
that, you know, am I reallyactually good enough to be able
to do what I'm doing?
And you really have to fightthat battle that mental battle
of the fact that something hasgot you to this point, and it
wasn't just luck.
Right, there was, there wasskill and and the ability to
connect either to what you'redoing in my case, technology but
(29:37):
also to connect with people andmake sure that the people that
you were supporting understoodthe technology that they were
using.
And and with any industrythere's there's the risk that
you're going to go in and you'regoing to start talking in a
language that individuals don'tunderstand.
So if you're dealing with anexecutive and you're trying to
talk about, you know why thetoken ring is not working and
(30:04):
DNS is not being able to beresolved and you don't have the
correct IP address scheme or thesubnets it's like you may as
well be telling me all thatthey're talking right over the
head, and one of the bestadvices that I ever received
from an executive early in mycareer was that they said make
sure you know who your audienceis when you're communicating
(30:24):
with them, because not only isit going to establish
credibility that you cancommunicate to them in a way
that they understand it, but notto do it to.
It makes it look like you'retalking down to them, yes, or?
making them feel inferior ordumb, because they may not
understand that.
Because all of us were in aposition where some point in our
life we didn't understandsomething, we had to be educated
(30:46):
and trained.
And so, yeah, I think, justfighting through that imposter
syndrome to know that you knowif you've been successful, you
have had a part in doing thatand, granted, there's lots of
other people that have helpedyou be successful and for me,
I'm very strong in my faith thatGod's blessed me incredibly.
(31:07):
But you just have to fight thaturge that says you are good
enough to do what you're doingand accept it, adopt it and have
that mindset that you aresuccessful.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Yeah, well, and there's another parallel between
you and me, you know, knowingyour audience.
Now, not that I'm ever speakinga language that people, like we
, don't understand these terms,because mine aren't technical
like yours but it's importantfor me to know, because when I'm
speaking and telling maybe thesame story to a group of
educators, and then go tell thatsame story to a group of health
care professionals, there'sgonna be a little bit of a
(31:43):
different twist on what thismeans for them, right?
So so, yeah, that's huge.
So do you remember any any bigmoments where the imposter
syndrome hit you in a way thatparalyzed you?
Or was it just kind of anongoing slow grade, like, okay,
always overcoming this every day, or what did that look like?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yeah, I don't know if it would be every day, but for
sure every position.
Okay, so every position that Ihad, even though I'd be promoted
in that position.
So apparently there were peopleabove me that felt like I was
qualified to do that jobotherwise I wouldn't be promoted
, unless I was only one thatapplied and they were desperate.
But yeah, I think, going intoany new position, new
(32:21):
opportunity, you fight that urgeof saying am I good enough to
actually do this?
And if you fight through thatand show up every single day to
do what you're hired to do, youmight surprise yourself that
you're actually far moreTalented than you even realized
yeah, you know, we were talkingabout this right before before
(32:41):
we hit the record button.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
That, um, you know I told you I had my having my best
speaking year ever, but thatyou never.
When do you feel like you'vearrived?
And I remember I asked aspeaker who was years ahead of
me.
I was like, when did you arrive?
Because in my eyes he hadarrived and he goes.
I'll let you know what I do.
Yeah, and it kind of just mademe realize, you know, we arrive
when we decide we have arrived,you know, and when we, when we
(33:05):
say hey, I'm, I'm happy, I Ifeel gratitude for where I'm at.
Like you said, enjoy thejourney, enjoy the process.
So I think there's always thisdeeper part of me that's like
when is this gonna stop?
One of the calls for speakingengagement is gonna stop coming
in it.
No, man, even the things aregoing really well right now that
that can still kind of hit you.
Oh yeah, every position.
You experience that.
(33:27):
So you know, I know thelisteners, you know maybe
thinking like, how do you, howdo you demonstrate that kind of
Resilience?
You know, for you you said wasjust an awareness, right, right,
just just remembering that.
You know, like you said, youhad faith in God that he put you
in this position.
So you're, you're equipped, oryou will become equipped, for
this, and I might sound like abroken record to some of the
audience, but I call it theillusion of insignificance, when
(33:50):
you feel like someone else isfurther along than what you're
doing.
But but the whole idea of it isthat's just an illusion, right,
you still can have Impact,mm-hmm, where you are, you know.
And so it's like, let them begood at who they are, be good at
who you are, and don't worryabout being the best.
Just be your best, because yourbest is the best of the people
that you're meant to serve.
(34:11):
Yeah and it seems like that'sthe possibility might say you've
demonstrated, you've looked atwho's the audience at hand.
How can I best createtransformation with this crowd?
Using with this organizationRight, I say crowd because I'm a
speaker, that's about it butusing your skills.
So, so that's great.
So what would you say?
Like is your top?
Like people come to you forthis over and over again, like
(34:32):
this is your deepest area ofexpertise within the IT space.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Well, if it's in an industry, it's going to be in
manufacturing or healthcare.
Okay, if it's in technology.
It's going to be aroundTransforming how an organization
utilizes technology right.
So you can.
You can implement thetechnology and, again, all the
widgets that go with that andand go through the practice of
(34:56):
utilizing that technology onday-to-day.
But if you don't understand whythis technology is being
implemented to meet whatever thebusiness is trying to achieve
and their objectives, then youknow it's going to do what it is
designed to do, but it's nevergoing to be able to achieve any
more than that.
Okay, versus if you go in andhelp an organization Develop an
(35:18):
IT strategy, a roadmap, and thenalso look at just the
transformational side of howtechnology can change how an
organization operates, and, andI would say Across all
industries and across the UnitedStates, there's probably about
30% of companies that actuallydo this.
Well, the other 70% of thecompanies they have technology
(35:39):
because they have to havetechnology, but they're really
not utilizing it to its fullpotential.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
Well, you know, I'm actually support.
To me, 30 sounds high.
Yeah, to be honest, I thought ifyou would have been like 15, 20
billion?
Yeah, that's probably right,because I know for me I'm not
using technology to the best ofits ability, you know.
So, which takes me to thequestion I it's hard to have you
on here not ask you about AI,where things are going, how
that's impacting you.
I mean, I don't even know withthe best specific question to
(36:07):
ask on that, but what do you?
What are your thoughts on AI?
That's my question, um.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Well, first of all, most people don't realize AI has
been around since the 1950s.
Yes, it's just popularized now.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
I just learned that from listening to.
Sadie St Lawrence, who was akeynote speaker.
I just don't know if you'veheard of her, but yeah, I just
learned that.
So no, it's been around fordecades.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
But machine learning has as well right.
I mean in the early years ofmainframe.
You know the mainframe was hadopportunities where there no
computer or machine and knock onwood is ever gonna become
self-aware right, so don't worryabout the Terminator movies and
everything.
Whatever you mean, there's okay,not whatever humans put in and
program for a machine to do.
(36:50):
That's what that machine isgoing to do.
Okay, now there's aresponsibility by mankind to
make sure that what's beingentered in there right is being
used for purposes of good Rightand not nefarious or evil
purposes.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Is that supposed to bring me some kind of peace?
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Oh, Well, hopefully man, I know hopefully mankind
will do the right things andthere's lots of consortiums now
that have been established tokind of establish ethical rules
around Utilizing AI.
Yeah, but probably theexplosion has been in the last
few years that, even though AIhas been around for the fifth
since the 50s, it's been more inthe back office and in the
(37:26):
machines where now that powerhas been given into the hands of
individuals through chat, gbt,other other front-end interfaces
of where You're allowing the,the machine, to make predictive
Decisions right based uponhistorical data right, yes, so
whatever it's been able towhatever you fed in there from a
(37:46):
Dataset perspective and itlooks at that from a trending
perspective, whether that is tomake a decision specifically
around analytics or to make adecision that looks like there's
some cognitive ability.
It's all going back to data andwhat's happened historically and
what that machine is predictingit's gonna happen in the future
.
Yeah and so?
So, yeah, I think AI isextremely Important in the next
(38:13):
phase of evolution withintechnology.
But, like every othertechnologist, come before
there's again the ethical sideof making sure that we're
governing that technologyEffectively and in a in a right
way.
So how?
Speaker 1 (38:28):
confident are you that we are governing, governing
that in an effective andethical way?
Speaker 2 (38:36):
I'm pretty confident.
I think we do have a smallpercentage of the world's
population, and some peoplemight call that as the dark web.
Okay, the bad actors of theworld right that would look to
take advantage of some of thattechnology to To do things that
would make them much moreProsperous, whether that be in
(38:57):
in wealth, whether that be inpower, whether that be in
anything.
But I think for the majority ofthe world's population it's
people like you and I right veryethical people that are going
to make the right decisionsMajority of the time and even if
they make the wrong decision,they're making the wrong
decision with the bestintentions right, they're not
(39:17):
taking it right to say why Iwant to do something to really
hurt this person or this groupof people, so I think mankind
will ultimately come out on top.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
As it relates to the ethical Behavior, yeah, I don't
want to get too far down the AIrabbit hole because I know
that's not.
I want to hear more, couple,more things about your story,
but I know one thing Sadie stLawrence said who's a keynote
speaker, focuses on AI is thatthere was some kind of test.
I can't remember the name ofthe test, but the test was once
(39:47):
you start talking to a computerand feel like it's a human
talking back to you, then it,then it passed whatever test
that was, and we feel like we'vemade some headway with AI and
they just passed that.
And I Don't know the lastcouple years, maybe the last
decade, so I thought that wasinteresting.
But thanks, thanks for lettingme take you down that little
Side.
Travel, I mean, it's thehottest thing right now.
(40:07):
Everyone.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Oh, yeah, so so what if?
Speaker 1 (40:09):
what if we miss what significant holes that we leave
in your story about your journeyto getting into what you do, or
what, or anything about yourpassion, about now as we wrap
anything that you want to share?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Yeah, I think one would be, because I've spoke at
a number of events and one ofthe topics that I've spoke on is
this concept of Pay it forward,right?
So how do you prepare the nextgeneration of leaders to come in
and and to take over the mantle, when Myself and other peers,
you know, kind of exit out ofour careers and stuff?
Yeah right and one of the beststories that ever had is I.
(40:43):
My first job in IT was in 1997and it was for a company that
doesn't exist anymore but peoplewould probably remember is
sprint PCS.
Okay so this was the cell phoneside of sprint, and so Sprint
PCS and sprint organization,next telling all that kind of
created the original CMDAtechnology.
(41:04):
That's what cell phones use,right?
So they were the first tomarket, and so I had an
opportunity to go and work forsprint PCS, but I was not an
employee.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
I Wasn't a contractor , I was a subcontractor.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
So, I'm like multiple levels removed from the PCS
culture.
So I was hired by this companythat the prime contractor was
EDS, and this is when EDS wasowned by Ross Perot, okay, and?
And so they owned the contractto build out the overall
infrastructure Networkinfrastructure connecting
(41:39):
computers and locations to eachother by EDS was doing that
leading, and so EDS then had alot of subcontractors that also
helped them in that area.
And so if my first job was inhelp desk and decide support,
now I've always felt I'm apretty confident person and I
would be willing to step out ofmy comfort zone to do something.
(41:59):
And I knew that if I went intothis industry of IT, I wanted to
eventually get into a positionwhere I could drive change right
, even though I was young, very,yeah, wet behind the ears.
I knew that right, and so I.
I made a dare to myself that Iemailed the CIO for Sprint PCS
and this individual his name wasGlenn Toward at the time and he
(42:22):
was the CIO for PCS.
Now I was expecting to get noresponse because, number one,
I'm not an employee at PCS, I'mnot even employed by EDS, which
is the prime contract.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
I'm the snow-named small organization that is a
subcontract.
It's a bold move.
I like that.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Well, I did get a response two days later from
this gentleman, and the questionI'd asked is that hey, I'm new
to the IT industry, but at somepoint in my career I'd like to
do what you're doing as a CIO.
Can you give me any advice onwhat I should do and what I
should focus on in my career?
So he responded.
Not only did he respond, hesaid yeah, I'll be happy to talk
(43:01):
to you.
He scheduled a 30-minutemeeting for me to come to where
his office was at.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Yeah, because this is before the days of Zoom you
actually had to go meet withChris.
Oh yeah, you had to physicallygo.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
We did have phones, but my communication device was
a pager.
You'd get a page, then you'dhave to go to a phone to make a
call, and so I went into hisoffice, and not only did I meet
with him for 30 minutes, heended up meeting with me for two
hours.
Speaker 1 (43:28):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
And he shared with me , kind of like this is the
roadmap you really need to kindof focus on taking, and if you
want to move into leadershiproles, you're going to have to
get your MBA.
And so that was one of my goals.
So in 2006, I started my MBA,finished in 2008.
And it was an executiveleadership.
And then he also said wheneveran opportunity comes up, take
(43:50):
advantage of that opportunity.
You may not think that that'sreally what you want to do, but
you never know what avenue thatopportunity takes you to
ultimately get to where you wantto go.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
You just may not see it at this very point in time.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
And so I have followed a lot of his advice and
here back when I was withThermal Fisher Scientific was a
what they would kind of considera divisional segment CIO, based
on how they were structured,and then took over my first
full-time CIO role when I waswith the AAFP and have been a
CIO since Wow.
And so I think about the amountof time that that individual
(44:29):
invested in me and I rememberwalking out of his office and
saying if I'm ever in aleadership position, I want to
be a leader like that, and soI've always kind of talked about
that pay it forward type mantrathat when there is individuals
that are new into the career,whatever that career is then
when you have an opportunity tomentor them and to really kind
(44:50):
of share with them what you'velearned throughout your career,
take advantage of that, becauseit will reap a massive amount of
benefits.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
I love that story and my question in is let's say, if
someone's not as ambitious asyou are to reach out and go out
on a limb and reach out to youknow, a head honcho like the CIO
of.
Sprint PCS right.
Did I get that right?
Speaker 2 (45:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was probably crazy and young and
dumb, but it worked.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
Well, what if you see , as a leader, potential in
someone else who does not cometo you do?
You draw them in and say, hey,meet with me, I see something in
you.
Yeah, right, would that be theanswer?
Yeah, because and again.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
It's kind of looking for those opportunities.
If you're not a mentor and youhave an opportunity to be a
mentor, become a mentor.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
And there's tons of organizations out there that
provide that ability for you toget connected with young
professionals that are in searchof a mentor.
But, yeah, if you work in acompany and you lead individuals
and you see that there'ssomeone that's very promising to
move into a leadership role atsome point in their career then,
take them under your wing andgive them that opportunity,
because at some point you'regoing to end your career and
(45:58):
you're going to retire.
And if there weren't people likethat long before my time then
maybe I wouldn't have theopportunities that I have in my
career, because other peoplekind of blaze that trail and
mentor other individuals tobecome great leaders.
Because I've had an opportunityto work for a lot of bad
leaders and bad managers, butI've also had an opportunity to
(46:19):
work for some pretty remarkableones that have molded my career.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
Yeah, yeah, that's interesting.
Both have made you who you areright the good and the bad.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I can relate to your story onmany levels.
I've had people pouring to me,some that just sought me out and
some that I sought out, and Ithink if you are younger and
you're going to seek someone out, you're not always going to get
the positive response that youdid, where the person goes above
and beyond.
(46:43):
But does that mean?
Quit there?
Go to the next person right.
Find the next person who iswilling to invest.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
So that's great man.
Thank you for that story.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
Any other closing thoughts or anything big we
overlooked?
Speaker 2 (46:56):
No, no, I think the only thing.
I would add again my love andpassion for technology.
I also would love to help otherorganizations, to be able to
help them achieve what they'retrying to accomplish through the
use of technology and, like Isaid, one of the organizations I
work for, fortium Partners, isa company in the United States
(47:16):
of the largest company thatprovides fractional CIO, cto and
CISO services.
So definitely reach out to meif you're in need of any type of
fractional advisory technologyservices.
Speaker 1 (47:29):
Okay, great, and what's the best way they can get
a hold of you for that, michael, if they need your services,
yeah, so the best way ismichaelsmith at
fortiumpartnerscom.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
I know that's kind of a long name.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
Okay, and we'll leave the website for sure, but so
that website will be in there,and then it's just michaelsmith
at, and then the website.
Okay, perfect.
Well, if you need Michael,there you go, you have it.
He's the man for the job, he'sat the goal and he's qualified.
That's great.
Okay, and you said that youlove technology, so I think we
(47:59):
should end with one of myfavorite quotes about loving
technology, right after I saythank you again to etc for
sponsoring this episode, thankyou to Shane and the manager,
sonia, our server and all of thesupport staff, and the coffee
was great.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
So we appreciate that .
Hey, by the way, if you wereinspired at all today in any way
about Michael, please let usknow in the comments you can go
to.
I'm on Instagram, I don'tFacebook YouTube, you know.
When you see this post just atDevon Henderson Speaker, let us
know what are you going to dodifferently?
Maybe because of something youheard, maybe you're going to pay
it forward, maybe you're goingto seek out a mentor.
(48:38):
So, yeah, please let us know.
Remember to also go to YouTubeat Devon Henderson Speaker,
subscribe so you never miss anepisode.
And with that we do believesomething greater is always
possible.
But I want to end with myfavorite quote about technology,
and here it is.
It's Kip from Napoleon Dynamite.
I love technology, but not asmuch as you, you see, but still
(49:04):
I love technology, always andforever.
All right, thanks so much.
See you next time.
All right, everybody.
Hello and welcome to thePossibility Mindset podcast.
I'm your host, devon Henderson,and I believe that something
greater is always possible foryou, all right.
Well, hello, michael Smith.
How are you today?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Great, great.
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Doing great.
You can see I missed the dresscode memo.
We're going business today.
Michael had a chamber eventbefore this.
He's always looking good, butis he always looking this snazzy
is what I want to know.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Probably not.
Okay, but I knew I was meetingwith Devon, so I had to dress up
.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
That's right.
They had nothing to do with thechamber, that was all for now.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Yeah, there you go, yeah, okay awesome.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, before we get into who Michael is and what he
does, I just want to say thanksonce again to our incredible
ongoing sponsor, egcedra Shawnee, who provides this wonderful
space for us and typicallybreakfast, but you had breakfast
today at the chamber, so todaywe're just doing coffee, yeah.
So let me ask you so far, how'sthe coffee tasting?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Great, all right.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
And they give it to you in these awesome little
perisi mugs right, these lookpretty classic, man.
You got Egcedra on that sideshowing the perisi side, so very
nice man, so we do appreciatethat.
Thank you to Shannon, themanager, and Sonya, our server.
It's always a wonderfulexperience here, so all right.
Well, before I introduce youspecifically, first of all, we
(01:30):
have a long history together,right?
So Michael has hired me formany different types of events
everywhere, from like kids,church events to like corporate
events with your fellow peersand everything, and then also
your company.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Right.
So we've done pretty mucheverything under the sun, and so
I was excited we had thisopportunity to sit down today
and find out more about you, solet's jump into it, man.
And if there's any time where Isay something that's a little
bit off, you'd just be like, oh,let's correct that, ok, because
bottom line, michael is an ITexpert and so I am not right.
(02:07):
A lot of my guests so far havebeen like other speakers, other
magicians, and now it's likethis realm where it's like well,
I feel like I am going to learnsomething today at a whole new
level, so I'm excited, so let'sget into it.
So Michael Smith is atransformative and award winning
global business IT exec withthe history of significant
(02:29):
experience enhancingorganizational growth and
creating sustainableprofitability.
How am I doing so far?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Great, great, ok, good deal.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
As if somebody wrote that I know you would think like
man, this was like writtenbefore me and I wasn't residing
this from memory.
But I like that, thesustainable profitability.
We got to be making money,otherwise what's the point?
Ok, that's great.
Now your experience you've gotlike a whole broad in terms of
industries, a whole broadspectrum, everything from.
I've got like health care,global manufacturing supply
(03:02):
chain, which of late that's beenquite a challenge, right Supply
chain I know we've had issuesthere and logistics fulfillment.
And your significant experiencelies in the area of global ERP
processes, processes orprocesses.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Either way, either way.
Now, if you're over in the UK,it's probably processes.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
OK, you say it a different way.
Now I don't know what ERPprocesses are.
Should we get to that later.
Do you want to explain that now?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, erp is just a platform that many manufacturing
companies use to manage thewhole supply chain.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Oh, ok, ok.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
From the inventory management to the sales,
fulfillment and shipping andinvoicing and all that Got it.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
OK, the whole thing, man, ok.
And then also you haveextensive consulting experience.
People coming to you being likeeverything from our computers
are down to hey, we need a wholenew system overload here for
our supply chain.
Start to finish.
Ok, Awesome man.
So Michael also is known for astrategic understanding of best
practices.
(03:58):
Is that ethics and professionaluse of tools?
Hopefully ethics yeah, that'spart of it being a very ethical
person, but that's kind of agiven in this right.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
But best practices on just how to have an
organization that's running athigh efficiency and productivity
.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
OK, got it, and that's for implementing and
maintaining technology toaddress all kinds of challenges
that organizations face today,which there's too many to try to
list right here right now.
It just goes on and on, somaybe we'll hit some of those.
As a talented executive leader,he thrives on changing and
challenging environments.
Do environments really change?
Are they really challenging?
(04:38):
I don't know if I buy this,yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well, one thing that's always constant is change
.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
There you go.
I like that.
Ok, perfect.
So that's a business experience.
So you're drawing for.
You mentioned the UK.
Yeah, do you travel?
Yeah, I used to.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
I used to, so I worked for a Fortune 250 company
in the life sciences industryand was responsible for a global
team Just a little over athousand individuals that were
across North South America,europe and Asia.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
OK, wow, wow.
So how many continents have youbeen to?
Have you been to all Seven?
No, I've been to Antarctica.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
But yeah, been to North and South America, been to
Europe.
I haven't been to the MiddleEast or to Russia, but to Asia
and so to China, Japan, HongKong, Singapore, Malaysia, the
Philippines.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Well, so, before I go on there, what do you have like
a significant internationalexperience where, because you
went international and openedyour eyes to something big in
terms of IT, oh yeah.
You didn't know until you gotthere for some reason.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, I don't know if it'd necessarily be with IT
because, again, when you thinkabout technology, how it's
implemented and utilized is verysimilar.
It doesn't matter really whatthe industry is Granted.
There's different applicationsfor different industries and
companies.
But probably the biggestchallenge was just understanding
the culture when you go into anorganization.
(06:06):
So, case in point, when I waswith that Fortune 250 company
and fortunately for me, I wasn'toverseeing this team, but a
team implemented SAP in Japan,and one of the cultural items in
Japan is that when you'remeeting with any individuals
from that country, they'll nodtheir head.
Yes, that means that they hearwhat you're saying.
(06:28):
Doesn't mean they agree ordisagree, they just you know.
That is their way ofdemonstrating that I hear what
you're saying.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
And I understand it, but I'm not necessarily agreeing
or disagreeing.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
While the individuals that were implementing, of
course, were from the US, andwhenever they had asked a
question, the person would sayyes, so they thought that's the
answer.
So, of course, what theyimplemented was nothing of what
the organization needed and itwas an absolute disaster and
they had to send in a wholeanother team to start from
scratch, and it was probably a15 month delay because they just
(07:02):
didn't understand the cultureof working with individuals from
that country.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Also then to learn from that experience, when that
is, now that you know that's thecultures, whose responsibility
then is it, once they realizeokay, now this information is
absorbed.
Now, how do we make surewhether they accept or decline?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Right, right, because that's what was missing, yeah,
exactly exactly, and I mean thebest practice that I always use
with my teams is it's everyone'sresponsibility.
If you're going to go now,granted the company that you're
working for.
If you're going into anothercountry, a lot of larger
companies have divisions thatwill kind of help prepare you
for the culture you're goinginto.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Okay, and kind of go through some types of training
and stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Not everyone, but there's a lot of companies that
do that.
But yeah, I think it'severybody's responsibility, is
that?
You know?
I think US citizens sometimescan be very arrogant when they
go to other countries thateveryone is just like them.
And I think we have to haverespect for the cultures we go
into and definitely understandhow to interact and communicate
with them.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Okay, I've never been abroad, but even I know that we
can be arrogant.
I've been to Canada and Mexico,but I have not yet been
overseas.
Well, thank you for the insight.
I appreciate that, which, bythe way, and yes, this is us
still working through your bioand your intro Longest bio ever.
But I like it because I didn'tjust want to read through it and
(08:25):
then just miss a bunch ofawesome things, because I know
there's gold even in this, sogood as a launchpad.
So you know, when some peoplethink it, they think of the
person in the back room, rightlike working.
No personality.
I'm just saying generalstereotypes here from what I've
heard, you know I've spoken to alot of different groups, but
(08:45):
I've met a lot of it people.
They do not fit that stereotype, the ones that I mean, and for
sure you don't meet that.
So do you ever feel like you'reunder that stereotype and what
would you say to people whobelieve that way?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, well, I can tell you that when I went to
college, the one degree that Iknew I did not want was computer
science, and the reason why isa lot of the students and of
course I graduated in 1993 fromcollege and a lot of the
students that were in computerscience it was kind of in the
very latter stage of many of thetraining, still being on card
(09:19):
readers.
So you would actually work on amainframe.
It would you generate cards andthen you'd have to put the
cards in a specific order so itwould compile an application.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Wow.
Very very archaic if we thinkabout that now.
Some of the people in their 20sright now are going like what,
what is a card?
What is a card?
Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So, but all the students many of them had long
hair, were very introverted,enjoyed talking to machines more
than people, and they wouldgenerally work in an area where
there wouldn't be any windows,because, of course, all the
machines were taking up theentire room, and so when I would
look at that I was like, well,I have a very outgoing
personality.
I think I'm an extrovert and Ienjoy being around people and I
(10:01):
like sunlight.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
And so.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
I just thought, you know that's not for me.
And so I ended up majoring in anumber of, or taking a number
of different classes, buteventually majoring in
criminology.
And I just happened to fallinto the IT industry about four
years outside of college.
That worked at a bank where Iwas kind of responsible for it
(10:25):
sounds more important than itwas but responsible for the
automated clearinghouse.
This would be where all thewire transfers are coming in,
where a lot of largetransactions are being processed
, when people would be movingmoney around from one account to
the next, and so my job was tokind of monitor that to see if
any type of money laundering orany type of investment was
occurring.
And pure signs of that would beyou'd have a large transaction
(10:47):
and lots of smaller transactionsgoing to all these different
accounts.
So it just kind of raises a redflag while money is moving
around that face.
And so one of the banks I workedat they had a OS2 operating
system running on an AS400mainframe You'd probably call it
a mini-frame at that pointbecause, again, this was the
latter stage of the mainframeand there was this administrator
(11:10):
that would come in and drive anhour and a half two hours from
the area where they were at towork on an issue that had taken
about 30 minutes.
And they did it probably five orsix times a year.
And so one day they were thereand I said, look, I don't have a
clue what you're doing, but whydon't you just give me a call?
You can walk me throughwhatever you need me to do.
Even if it takes us an hour,you save the hour and a half two
(11:32):
hours on the road.
In essence, three to four hoursround trip.
Of course they love the idea.
So we did that and the firstfew times I didn't realize this
is what IT was about and I thinkhaving that degree in
criminology where it was aroundproblem solving and very
analytical mind, really kind ofaligned well with what IT does,
(11:54):
and then I discovered thatthere's a lot of extroverts that
work in the.
IT industry and it's not what Iassumed it was when I was in
college.
So, I went back to school andMicrosoft was really up and
coming at that point.
I got a number ofcertifications and never looked
back, and now I've been in theIT industry a little over 27
years.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Well seeing.
This is why it's great we'rehaving you on the possibility
mindset podcast, because I knowyour journey.
I mean, you've already kind ofshared part of it with how you
got into, how your mind waschanged.
You had one paradigm, just interms of what IT meant and what
it was and the kind ofpersonalities that fit that mold
, and something greater isalways possible.
When you have the possibilitymindset, you say what else is
(12:35):
possible?
And you just kind of fell intothat right, like you just went
one area and it opened you up tonew things.
So we're pretty much into itnow.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
So the bio is kind of .
Speaker 1 (12:45):
But so, yeah, I mean that is the thing.
I mean I don't know how muchwe're going to learn about IT
specifically, and that's notnecessarily why I brought
Michael on here to be like, hey,teach us about information
technology.
It was more like I want to hearyour story and how you got to
where you are, because you'rehighly successful, you're highly
celebrated, award winning.
I mean so many people trust you, you've been abroad and so
(13:06):
that's why I just wanted toreally focus on you know your
story and next level success andall that.
So we're into it, just so youknow.
I may come back to some of thisbecause there's some things
worth mentioning on here that Idon't want to miss.
But when you said you went tothat other country and there was
a communication barrier, I meanthat's why I'm saying like that
(13:26):
you know, when you're on IT, ittakes communication skills, it
takes people skills.
I mean to really operate at ahigher level like you do.
You have to be that peopleperson and know about
communications and cultures andeverything.
So I think that's great, that Imean you found your calling,
obviously.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Yeah, I couldn't imagine being in another
industry than I do.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Absolutely love it.
So you worked, you said, forthe 250 Fortune Fortune 250
company for a while.
Now eventually you kind of gotoff and let me, you started your
own company at some point.
So tell us kind of that journeyto becoming more of an
entrepreneur minded ITprofessional.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yeah.
So after coming out of theFortune 250 space, had a period
of time I was working for theAmerican Academy of Family
Physicians, and it's anassociation that's just geared
to supporting family physicians.
Some people might see that asprimary care direct care.
And so about 78% of practicingfamily physicians in the United
(14:27):
States are a member of theAmerican Academy of Family
Physicians, and Kansas City justhappens to be the home of the
headquarters.
Oh, all right, with a hub, yeah, nice.
So, in matter of fact, thereare one of the very few
associations that's notheadquartered in Washington DC,
because most of them are therebecause of all the regulatory
and just requirements andcompliance that the government
(14:48):
has related to the industry thatthey support.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Okay, so you're talking most of the associations
based on some kind ofhealthcare.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
No, associations in general.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Really.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Majority of them are headquartered in Virginia,
washington DC area.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
You know what also is headquartered here, the
National Auctioneers.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Association who I spoke for.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Did you know about?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
them.
I did, I spoke for them manyyears ago.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
So they're another one that's headquartered here.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Anyway, I just happened to know that Now did
they talk, really fast.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Yeah, I didn't even understand a word.
They said I was just going likethis.
Yeah, but I'm not absorbingwhat you're taking, but I'm
impressed.
That's what my nodding meant.
Okay, awesome, so you're partof the.
Say it again.
The A, the F.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Well, it used to be the American Academy of Family
Physicians, the American Academyof Family Physicians, the
acronym is AAFP.
So their headquarters is justright there on Tomahawk Creek
Parkway in Leewood, betweenCollege Boulevard and 119th
Street.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I mean just almost right there in the middle, If
you didn't catch it.
Michael is a Kansas City guyhere with me on the.
Kansas side, so on the goodside.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Whatever, okay, awesome.
So you're working with the AAFP, all right.
And how'd that go?
How was?
Speaker 2 (15:51):
that it was great.
I mean, that was where I mean,I had a lot of success with
Thermo Fisher Scientific, whichwas the Fortune 250 company
they're the largest lifesciences company in the world
and so that's where I had theopportunity to travel all over
the world and managed a largeglobal team.
But yeah, when I came to AFP,it was a culture shock in itself
(16:12):
because, coming from publiclytraded companies, very profit
based companies into anassociation that's non-profit
and is more mission driven, thenit took a while to just kind of
adjust, but once I was able toadjust, it probably ended up
being one of the best companiesI've ever worked for oh, wow,
yeah, and it's just family basedand really enjoyed it.
And that's where we were ableto.
(16:34):
My team was able to drive anentire end to end transformation
in the organization and we wereproviding a number of awards
based on the work that we did,being recognized not only
nationally but also globally.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Oh, wow.
So yeah, it was great.
It was great.
Congratulations on that, man.
That's great.
So I know you have thistrajectory for where you are now
.
So during this whole process,were you consciously thinking
what's the next level ofgreatness for me, like, where
can I extend my impact?
Did you just kind of follow upon these things and people
started asking you forconsulting?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
work.
Yeah, no, it was probably thelatter of kind of looking at
what's the next challenge that Iwould like to tackle, and so,
through the latter part of mytime with AAFP, I decided that I
wanted to start my own company,and so my company is.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Is that terrifying?
It is To make that to okay, allright.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, and started a company's name, p4s so.
Partner for Success.
So it's initial P number fourletter S Okay.
And so it's an LLC company andprovides strategic technology
advisory and transformation andfractional CIO work, and then
(17:47):
also had the opportunity to joinFordium Partners they're the
largest service in the countrythat provides fractional CIO
services.
But also I'm involved with amicrobiology startup company and
was brought on as their CIO andI started in March of 2022, and
they're based in Drexel,missouri, and they have just an
(18:09):
absolutely amazing story wherethey've been around since 2009,
predominantly with the military,department of Defense, nasa,
and they're in the sample prepindustry.
The products they produce aresample air quality samples fluid
samples, so it could be water,beverage wastewater.
(18:30):
So they provide their productsin a lot of municipalities with
wastewater treatment facilities,because I assume most people
know this but maybe they don'tyou take a shower, you turn on
your faucet, you even flush yourtoilet.
All of that is going into atreatment center somewhere.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
A facility Specifically in an urban setting
.
Yeah, but I was like inenvironmental science in Johnson
County Community College.
They took us to the wastewatertreatment plant.
I still have nightmares aboutit.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
So everything is coming into there and then they
go through a purificationprocess where they can recycle
that and push that water backinto residential homes.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
That water is coming back too upside, but it's all
clean, right.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
In most cases, it's probably what you're going to
have in your shower or yourtoilet and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Well, because there's the wastewater treatment plant,
but then there's the watertreatment plant.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
And then it was kind of going through a two-step
filter trick.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Correct, I mean it's basic.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yes, when everything is said and done, you can drink
and it's healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yes, but where they use our products is through the
process of validating thepurification.
So they'll do a sample of thatwastewater to make sure that all
the bacteria, pathogens,viruses that may be in the waste
itself then is all been removedand now it's safe for
consumption once again.
(19:46):
And then it's recycled.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Wow, so it's working up like well whoop my water so
what was that like?
What kind of things did youfind?
Were there a lot of times whereit didn't pass the test.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Oh no, I mean, our products have been incredibly
accurate.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Okay, so it was your products that was doing the
cleaning.
I thought you were just testing.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
No, no no, Our products oh, you're talking
about when?
it depends on what's phase andwhat stage, but I don't know if
there would be any surprises,because they'd have multiple
stages of that testing.
Sure, so you would expect inthat first stage you're still
going to find paths, pathogensand bacteria, but they're going
through a quality test to makesure that everything that is
designed to purify the water isactually happening.
(20:26):
So then, when it comes to thefinal stage, then it should be
able to strike a result thatwould say, okay, this is now
safe for consumption.
So, if somebody were to ingestthat water right and drink it,
then they wouldn't get sick andthey wouldn't die.
And so, yeah, we're in there.
We also have customers in thebeverage industry.
(20:49):
So Molson Cores is one of ourcustomers, where they utilize
our products on their QC line totest the batch of beer before
they then go into massproduction to make sure it meets
all of the requirements of whatthey have.
That needs to be achieved,which I'm not an expert in all
of that.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So, when it's all said and done, you're testing
things.
People drink yeah, yeah, is thewater coming back?
Speaker 2 (21:13):
And that's one side, but the other side is then air.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Air okay.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
So we'll have a lot of scientists that will utilize
our products in the field and doan air sample again.
It could be around pollution.
It could be around picking upany type of viruses or pathogens
in the air During COVID it wasused a lot and being able to
test the air quality inbuildings different things like
that.
Okay, one of the really neatand cool stories of an over prep
(21:40):
is that our products are on theInternational Space Station.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Oh wow, remember that .
Speaker 2 (21:44):
So NASA uses our products to do sample testing as
well as air quality testing forthe astronauts, wow, and part
of that is to kind of drive justthe understanding of how
bacteria and viruses live inzero gravity.
Because the goal for NASA is tobuild manned stations on the
moon and, of course, you cannotjust automatically create
gravity on the moon.
(22:04):
Right, you can create pseudogravity within the buildings
that they've established, butwhen you have bacteria and
viruses that are floating aroundin zero gravity, nasa wants to
understand how long do theyremain do?
They stay intact?
Do they kind of come apartbecause of zero gravity?
So yeah, they do lots ofdifferent tests on the
(22:25):
International Space Station withtheir products for that.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Are you going to get to go to space anytime soon?
No, probably not.
No, Would you go if they didn'tsit here?
Oh, they would yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
I think so.
I mean there's a lot of risk.
But yeah, I think that would beincredible.
It would be amazing they mightneed you up there, I know we
need your help.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
We need you on the field, in the field.
I don't know if you're in thefield anymore, if you're on the
moon, no, no.
It's a different term for that,I'm sure.
Okay, great.
So it sounds like right now youhave your own company, but
you're also part of a bunch ofother things right.
So I mean, are you justincredibly busy?
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Oh, yeah, yeah, but I enjoy the challenge and that's
what I think.
That's what's kept me involvedin IT.
Yeah, I'm not in the weeds asmuch as I used to be from a
technology perspective, becauseit was sort of like keeping up
with where technology was movingand it was constantly evolving.
Sure, it was sort of like beingin a rat race, right.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
So you're on that wheel that's just constantly
spinning, and so I had anopportunity to move into
leadership roles, probably closeto 18 years ago, and then been
more so in the leadership side.
But I still feel like I canhold my own with a technical
person, and I have to take someof those roles with the startup
company that I'm with, becauseit's still a relatively small
(23:46):
company.
So, even though I'm the CIO andestablishing the technology
strategy, sometimes I have toalso be involved in addressing
and correcting and designing andimplementing things as well,
okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
So you got a couple awards here that I want to
mention because these are toogood to pass up.
I think 2020, there's a yearfor you.
Michael was named one of the100 most innovative CIOs
globally by CIO ExecutiveCouncil.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
That's amazing 100 globally, wow.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Cio, chief Information Officer.
Correct, okay, perfect, well,that's great, congratulations,
thank you.
The year after that, in 2021,your team was recognized as one
of the 100 best organizations towork for in IT in the US by
Insider Pro and Computer WorldMagazine.
That's incredible, wow,congratulations on that too.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
In that year we were the only company you recognized
in Kansas City.
Is that right Across thecountry?
So yeah, it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
So not only are you able to do this IT work, you're
able to build a team of peoplewho love the culture and want to
follow you and believe in thework that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I mean that's what's always right there.
No, I've been very fortunateand blessed no-transcript.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Okay so, and then in 2021, youwere also a finalist for
finalists for CIO of the Year inKansas City by Inspire CAO and
the Orbea Awards.
That's amazing.
Oh man, congrats, that's sogreat.
Thank you.
So let's make sure that we getthe best parts of the story here
, because I know you could talkto us all day about your journey
.
You know where are you now.
(25:16):
What are you excited about?
What's new?
What's shaken?
Yeah, what's next?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, for me.
I've just I've never been atechnical person that really
loved the widgets, and you'llfind a lot of IT individuals
that love gaming and stuff likethat.
Sure, that just has never beensomething that I've been really
interested in.
I think what drew me into ITand I think part of that was I
started my career outside of ITand then moved into IT, so I was
(25:43):
more on the business side andthen moved over to IT Was how
technology can transformorganizations, and so every
single company requires sometype of technology to run their
company, but not every companyis successful in how they
utilize technology.
And so that's where my passionhas been and every organization
(26:03):
I've been at I've had theopportunity to be a part of or
lead a significanttransformation in the
organization, taken advantage ofhow technology can not only
drive efficiencies andproductivity but can reduce
costs, increase revenue and makethe organization not only poise
for growth but for significantprofitability as well.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I think from what you just said, I found a parallel
between your work and my work.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
And that is the sense that you said you weren't into
widgets.
You're more abouttransformation and helping
create transformation.
For me, when I'm speaking onstage to an audience, my widgets
might be a magic trick, a joke,a story, right, but really it's
that stuff is met, it'snecessary, but it's really meant
to serve the audience.
Like, how are these experiencesthat I'm, that I'm showing you
(26:49):
right now, going to help youtransform the work that you do
in your organization as a whole?
So me, I don't.
This is my behind the scenesecret.
I'm not that into magic anymore, it's okay, but I do it because
I know how it makes people feeland how it's a great metaphor
for how people can be amazing intheir work and break past
mental illusions that arekeeping them from next level
(27:10):
greatness.
So I can relate to you on thatlevel where it's like, yeah,
there's this great stuff, thatwe have stuff, but we're not.
It's just not about the widget,it's about what kind of impact
are we making?
And that's, I think, why you'veseen such success, because
people, you're making changehappen.
I mean, you're part of NASA.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
That's crazy.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
That's so awesome so but you are an incredible
magician, Well thank you.
And, like, like Devan hadmentioned in the intro, we'd
known each other for a number ofyears.
But yeah, when my two boys thatare now grown and married when
they were young kids, wehappened to be in one of the
places where Devan wasperforming and that's how we got
to know him and, yeah, our kidswere absolutely flabbergasted
(27:52):
and amazed at some of the tricks, and I have to say, my wife and
I were too.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Yeah well, thank you, and I mean we.
That was back in the days whenI was working at Fizzoli.
That was one of my firstrestaurant gigs.
And I'm finishing my 20th yearperforming and speaking
professionally.
So that had to be close to 20years.
Oh yeah, 19, 20 years, which iswild to me.
You know that's and then at thelast performance you had, you
had me right after COVID, Ithink, at your church maybe
(28:17):
during, and I met.
Quinn, I think your oldest wasthere and I was like you know,
it's just one of those like wow,I just remember you being this
little yeah, I think we met youoriginally, even before you were
married.
Oh, oh, yeah, for sure, yepdefinitely I've been married 17
years, so yeah, before that man.
So wow, yeah, that's, that'swild man.
So okay, so what you know, whatwould you offer to people then
(28:42):
like from your story, from your,I mean, you've obviously have
there been big setbacks.
You know things that have madeyou go.
Maybe I, maybe this isn't forme, maybe I should quit or maybe
I don't have what it takes.
How did you work past that?
You know, because anyone canrelate to that story.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
Yeah, I think they have a term for is called
imposter syndrome.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Ah, yes.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
And so you know you're always going to find
people that are much moretalented than you are in
whatever your expertise is.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
And so, yeah, there were times where I'd find myself
that, you know, am I reallyactually good enough to be able
to do what I'm doing?
And you really have to fightthat battle that mental battle
of the fact that something hasgot you to this point, and it
wasn't just luck.
Right, there was, there wasskill and and the ability to
connect either to what you'redoing in my case, technology but
(29:37):
also to connect with people andmake sure that the people that
you were supporting understoodthe technology that they were
using.
And and with any industrythere's there's the risk that
you're going to go in and you'regoing to start talking in a
language that individuals don'tunderstand.
So if you're dealing with anexecutive and you're trying to
talk about, you know why thetoken ring is not working and
(30:04):
DNS is not being able to beresolved and you don't have the
correct IP address scheme or thesubnets it's like you may as
well be telling me all thatthey're talking right over the
head, and one of the bestadvices that I ever received
from an executive early in mycareer was that they said make
sure you know who your audienceis when you're communicating
(30:24):
with them, because not only isit going to establish
credibility that you cancommunicate to them in a way
that they understand it, but notto do it to.
It makes it look like you'retalking down to them, yes, or?
making them feel inferior ordumb, because they may not
understand that.
Because all of us were in aposition where some point in our
life we didn't understandsomething, we had to be educated
(30:46):
and trained.
And so, yeah, I think, justfighting through that imposter
syndrome to know that you knowif you've been successful, you
have had a part in doing thatand, granted, there's lots of
other people that have helpedyou be successful and for me,
I'm very strong in my faith thatGod's blessed me incredibly.
(31:07):
But you just have to fight thaturge that says you are good
enough to do what you're doingand accept it, adopt it and have
that mindset that you aresuccessful.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Yeah, well, and there's another parallel between
you and me, you know, knowingyour audience.
Now, not that I'm ever speakinga language that people, like we
, don't understand these terms,because mine aren't technical
like yours but it's importantfor me to know, because when I'm
speaking and telling maybe thesame story to a group of
educators, and then go tell thatsame story to a group of health
care professionals, there'sgonna be a little bit of a
(31:43):
different twist on what thismeans for them, right?
So so, yeah, that's huge.
So do you remember any any bigmoments where the imposter
syndrome hit you in a way thatparalyzed you?
Or was it just kind of anongoing slow grade, like, okay,
always overcoming this every day, or what did that look like?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yeah, I don't know if it would be every day, but for
sure every position.
Okay, so every position that Ihad, even though I'd be promoted
in that position.
So apparently there were peopleabove me that felt like I was
qualified to do that jobotherwise I wouldn't be promoted
, unless I was only one thatapplied and they were desperate.
But yeah, I think, going intoany new position, new
(32:21):
opportunity, you fight that urgeof saying am I good enough to
actually do this?
And if you fight through thatand show up every single day to
do what you're hired to do, youmight surprise yourself that
you're actually far moreTalented than you even realized
yeah, you know, we were talkingabout this right before before
(32:41):
we hit the record button.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
That, um, you know I told you I had my having my best
speaking year ever, but thatyou never.
When do you feel like you'vearrived?
And I remember I asked aspeaker who was years ahead of
me.
I was like, when did you arrive?
Because in my eyes he hadarrived and he goes.
I'll let you know what I do.
Yeah, and it kind of just mademe realize, you know, we arrive
when we decide we have arrived,you know, and when we, when we
(33:05):
say hey, I'm, I'm happy, I Ifeel gratitude for where I'm at.
Like you said, enjoy thejourney, enjoy the process.
So I think there's always thisdeeper part of me that's like
when is this gonna stop?
One of the calls for speakingengagement is gonna stop coming
in it.
No, man, even the things aregoing really well right now that
that can still kind of hit you.
Oh yeah, every position.
You experience that.
(33:27):
So you know, I know thelisteners, you know maybe
thinking like, how do you, howdo you demonstrate that kind of
Resilience?
You know, for you you said wasjust an awareness, right, right,
just just remembering that.
You know, like you said, youhad faith in God that he put you
in this position.
So you're, you're equipped, oryou will become equipped, for
this, and I might sound like abroken record to some of the
audience, but I call it theillusion of insignificance, when
(33:50):
you feel like someone else isfurther along than what you're
doing.
But but the whole idea of it isthat's just an illusion, right,
you still can have Impact,mm-hmm, where you are, you know.
And so it's like, let them begood at who they are, be good at
who you are, and don't worryabout being the best.
Just be your best, because yourbest is the best of the people
that you're meant to serve.
(34:11):
Yeah and it seems like that'sthe possibility might say you've
demonstrated, you've looked atwho's the audience at hand.
How can I best createtransformation with this crowd?
Using with this organizationRight, I say crowd because I'm a
speaker, that's about it butusing your skills.
So, so that's great.
So what would you say?
Like is your top?
Like people come to you forthis over and over again, like
(34:32):
this is your deepest area ofexpertise within the IT space.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
Well, if it's in an industry, it's going to be in
manufacturing or healthcare.
Okay, if it's in technology.
It's going to be aroundTransforming how an organization
utilizes technology right.
So you can.
You can implement thetechnology and, again, all the
widgets that go with that andand go through the practice of
(34:56):
utilizing that technology onday-to-day.
But if you don't understand whythis technology is being
implemented to meet whatever thebusiness is trying to achieve
and their objectives, then youknow it's going to do what it is
designed to do, but it's nevergoing to be able to achieve any
more than that.
Okay, versus if you go in andhelp an organization Develop an
(35:18):
IT strategy, a roadmap, and thenalso look at just the
transformational side of howtechnology can change how an
organization operates, and, andI would say Across all
industries and across the UnitedStates, there's probably about
30% of companies that actuallydo this.
Well, the other 70% of thecompanies they have technology
(35:39):
because they have to havetechnology, but they're really
not utilizing it to its fullpotential.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
Well, you know, I'm actually support.
To me, 30 sounds high.
Yeah, to be honest, I thought ifyou would have been like 15, 20
billion?
Yeah, that's probably right,because I know for me I'm not
using technology to the best ofits ability, you know.
So, which takes me to thequestion I it's hard to have you
on here not ask you about AI,where things are going, how
that's impacting you.
I mean, I don't even know withthe best specific question to
(36:07):
ask on that, but what do you?
What are your thoughts on AI?
That's my question, um.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Well, first of all, most people don't realize AI has
been around since the 1950s.
Yes, it's just popularized now.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
I just learned that from listening to.
Sadie St Lawrence, who was akeynote speaker.
I just don't know if you'veheard of her, but yeah, I just
learned that.
So no, it's been around fordecades.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
But machine learning has as well right.
I mean in the early years ofmainframe.
You know the mainframe was hadopportunities where there no
computer or machine and knock onwood is ever gonna become
self-aware right, so don't worryabout the Terminator movies and
everything.
Whatever you mean, there's okay,not whatever humans put in and
program for a machine to do.
(36:50):
That's what that machine isgoing to do.
Okay, now there's aresponsibility by mankind to
make sure that what's beingentered in there right is being
used for purposes of good Rightand not nefarious or evil
purposes.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Is that supposed to bring me some kind of peace?
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Oh, Well, hopefully man, I know hopefully mankind
will do the right things andthere's lots of consortiums now
that have been established tokind of establish ethical rules
around Utilizing AI.
Yeah, but probably theexplosion has been in the last
few years that, even though AIhas been around for the fifth
since the 50s, it's been more inthe back office and in the
(37:26):
machines where now that powerhas been given into the hands of
individuals through chat, gbt,other other front-end interfaces
of where You're allowing the,the machine, to make predictive
Decisions right based uponhistorical data right, yes, so
whatever it's been able towhatever you fed in there from a
(37:46):
Dataset perspective and itlooks at that from a trending
perspective, whether that is tomake a decision specifically
around analytics or to make adecision that looks like there's
some cognitive ability.
It's all going back to data andwhat's happened historically and
what that machine is predictingit's gonna happen in the future
.
Yeah and so?
So, yeah, I think AI isextremely Important in the next
(38:13):
phase of evolution withintechnology.
But, like every othertechnologist, come before
there's again the ethical sideof making sure that we're
governing that technologyEffectively and in a in a right
way.
So how?
Speaker 1 (38:28):
confident are you that we are governing, governing
that in an effective andethical way?
Speaker 2 (38:36):
I'm pretty confident.
I think we do have a smallpercentage of the world's
population, and some peoplemight call that as the dark web.
Okay, the bad actors of theworld right that would look to
take advantage of some of thattechnology to To do things that
would make them much moreProsperous, whether that be in
(38:57):
in wealth, whether that be inpower, whether that be in
anything.
But I think for the majority ofthe world's population it's
people like you and I right veryethical people that are going
to make the right decisionsMajority of the time and even if
they make the wrong decision,they're making the wrong
decision with the bestintentions right, they're not
(39:17):
taking it right to say why Iwant to do something to really
hurt this person or this groupof people, so I think mankind
will ultimately come out on top.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
As it relates to the ethical Behavior, yeah, I don't
want to get too far down the AIrabbit hole because I know
that's not.
I want to hear more, couple,more things about your story,
but I know one thing Sadie stLawrence said who's a keynote
speaker, focuses on AI is thatthere was some kind of test.
I can't remember the name ofthe test, but the test was once
(39:47):
you start talking to a computerand feel like it's a human
talking back to you, then it,then it passed whatever test
that was, and we feel like we'vemade some headway with AI and
they just passed that.
And I Don't know the lastcouple years, maybe the last
decade, so I thought that wasinteresting.
But thanks, thanks for lettingme take you down that little
Side.
Travel, I mean, it's thehottest thing right now.
(40:07):
Everyone.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Oh, yeah, so so what if?
Speaker 1 (40:09):
what if we miss what significant holes that we leave
in your story about your journeyto getting into what you do, or
what, or anything about yourpassion, about now as we wrap
anything that you want to share?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
Yeah, I think one would be, because I've spoke at
a number of events and one ofthe topics that I've spoke on is
this concept of Pay it forward,right?
So how do you prepare the nextgeneration of leaders to come in
and and to take over the mantle, when Myself and other peers,
you know, kind of exit out ofour careers and stuff?
Yeah right and one of the beststories that ever had is I.
(40:43):
My first job in IT was in 1997and it was for a company that
doesn't exist anymore but peoplewould probably remember is
sprint PCS.
Okay so this was the cell phoneside of sprint, and so Sprint
PCS and sprint organization,next telling all that kind of
created the original CMDAtechnology.
(41:04):
That's what cell phones use,right?
So they were the first tomarket, and so I had an
opportunity to go and work forsprint PCS, but I was not an
employee.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
I Wasn't a contractor , I was a subcontractor.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
So, I'm like multiple levels removed from the PCS
culture.
So I was hired by this companythat the prime contractor was
EDS, and this is when EDS wasowned by Ross Perot, okay, and?
And so they owned the contractto build out the overall
infrastructure Networkinfrastructure connecting
(41:39):
computers and locations to eachother by EDS was doing that
leading, and so EDS then had alot of subcontractors that also
helped them in that area.
And so if my first job was inhelp desk and decide support,
now I've always felt I'm apretty confident person and I
would be willing to step out ofmy comfort zone to do something.
(41:59):
And I knew that if I went intothis industry of IT, I wanted to
eventually get into a positionwhere I could drive change right
, even though I was young, very,yeah, wet behind the ears.
I knew that right, and so I.
I made a dare to myself that Iemailed the CIO for Sprint PCS
and this individual his name wasGlenn Toward at the time and he
(42:22):
was the CIO for PCS.
Now I was expecting to get noresponse because, number one,
I'm not an employee at PCS, I'mnot even employed by EDS, which
is the prime contract.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
I'm the snow-named small organization that is a
subcontract.
It's a bold move.
I like that.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Well, I did get a response two days later from
this gentleman, and the questionI'd asked is that hey, I'm new
to the IT industry, but at somepoint in my career I'd like to
do what you're doing as a CIO.
Can you give me any advice onwhat I should do and what I
should focus on in my career?
So he responded.
Not only did he respond, hesaid yeah, I'll be happy to talk
(43:01):
to you.
He scheduled a 30-minutemeeting for me to come to where
his office was at.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Yeah, because this is before the days of Zoom you
actually had to go meet withChris.
Oh yeah, you had to physicallygo.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
We did have phones, but my communication device was
a pager.
You'd get a page, then you'dhave to go to a phone to make a
call, and so I went into hisoffice, and not only did I meet
with him for 30 minutes, heended up meeting with me for two
hours.
Speaker 1 (43:28):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
And he shared with me , kind of like this is the
roadmap you really need to kindof focus on taking, and if you
want to move into leadershiproles, you're going to have to
get your MBA.
And so that was one of my goals.
So in 2006, I started my MBA,finished in 2008.
And it was an executiveleadership.
And then he also said wheneveran opportunity comes up, take
(43:50):
advantage of that opportunity.
You may not think that that'sreally what you want to do, but
you never know what avenue thatopportunity takes you to
ultimately get to where you wantto go.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
You just may not see it at this very point in time.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
And so I have followed a lot of his advice and
here back when I was withThermal Fisher Scientific was a
what they would kind of considera divisional segment CIO, based
on how they were structured,and then took over my first
full-time CIO role when I waswith the AAFP and have been a
CIO since Wow.
And so I think about the amountof time that that individual
(44:29):
invested in me and I rememberwalking out of his office and
saying if I'm ever in aleadership position, I want to
be a leader like that, and soI've always kind of talked about
that pay it forward type mantrathat when there is individuals
that are new into the career,whatever that career is then
when you have an opportunity tomentor them and to really kind
(44:50):
of share with them what you'velearned throughout your career,
take advantage of that, becauseit will reap a massive amount of
benefits.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
I love that story and my question in is let's say, if
someone's not as ambitious asyou are to reach out and go out
on a limb and reach out to youknow, a head honcho like the CIO
of.
Sprint PCS right.
Did I get that right?
Speaker 2 (45:12):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was probably crazy and young and
dumb, but it worked.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
Well, what if you see , as a leader, potential in
someone else who does not cometo you do?
You draw them in and say, hey,meet with me, I see something in
you.
Yeah, right, would that be theanswer?
Yeah, because and again.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
It's kind of looking for those opportunities.
If you're not a mentor and youhave an opportunity to be a
mentor, become a mentor.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
And there's tons of organizations out there that
provide that ability for you toget connected with young
professionals that are in searchof a mentor.
But, yeah, if you work in acompany and you lead individuals
and you see that there'ssomeone that's very promising to
move into a leadership role atsome point in their career then,
take them under your wing andgive them that opportunity,
because at some point you'regoing to end your career and
(45:58):
you're going to retire.
And if there weren't people likethat long before my time then
maybe I wouldn't have theopportunities that I have in my
career, because other peoplekind of blaze that trail and
mentor other individuals tobecome great leaders.
Because I've had an opportunityto work for a lot of bad
leaders and bad managers, butI've also had an opportunity to
(46:19):
work for some pretty remarkableones that have molded my career.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
Yeah, yeah, that's interesting.
Both have made you who you areright the good and the bad.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I can relate to your story onmany levels.
I've had people pouring to me,some that just sought me out and
some that I sought out, and Ithink if you are younger and
you're going to seek someone out, you're not always going to get
the positive response that youdid, where the person goes above
and beyond.
(46:43):
But does that mean?
Quit there?
Go to the next person right.
Find the next person who iswilling to invest.
Speaker 2 (46:49):
So that's great man.
Thank you for that story.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
Any other closing thoughts or anything big we
overlooked?
Speaker 2 (46:56):
No, no, I think the only thing.
I would add again my love andpassion for technology.
I also would love to help otherorganizations, to be able to
help them achieve what they'retrying to accomplish through the
use of technology and, like Isaid, one of the organizations I
work for, fortium Partners, isa company in the United States
(47:16):
of the largest company thatprovides fractional CIO, cto and
CISO services.
So definitely reach out to meif you're in need of any type of
fractional advisory technologyservices.
Speaker 1 (47:29):
Okay, great, and what's the best way they can get
a hold of you for that, michael, if they need your services,
yeah, so the best way ismichaelsmith at
fortiumpartnerscom.
Speaker 2 (47:38):
I know that's kind of a long name.
Speaker 1 (47:39):
Okay, and we'll leave the website for sure, but so
that website will be in there,and then it's just michaelsmith
at, and then the website.
Okay, perfect.
Well, if you need Michael,there you go, you have it.
He's the man for the job, he'sat the goal and he's qualified.
That's great.
Okay, and you said that youlove technology, so I think we
(47:59):
should end with one of myfavorite quotes about loving
technology, right after I saythank you again to etc for
sponsoring this episode, thankyou to Shane and the manager,
sonia, our server and all of thesupport staff, and the coffee
was great.
Speaker 2 (48:16):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
So we appreciate that .
Hey, by the way, if you wereinspired at all today in any way
about Michael, please let usknow in the comments you can go
to.
I'm on Instagram, I don'tFacebook YouTube, you know.
When you see this post just atDevon Henderson Speaker, let us
know what are you going to dodifferently?
Maybe because of something youheard, maybe you're going to pay
it forward, maybe you're goingto seek out a mentor.
(48:38):
So, yeah, please let us know.
Remember to also go to YouTubeat Devon Henderson Speaker,
subscribe so you never miss anepisode.
And with that we do believesomething greater is always
possible.
But I want to end with myfavorite quote about technology,
and here it is.
It's Kip from Napoleon Dynamite.
I love technology, but not asmuch as you, you see, but still
(49:04):
I love technology, always andforever.
All right, thanks so much.
See you next time.
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