Episode 9: The Path to Authenticity feat. Nicko Roussos

What a great conversation with Nicko Roussos, joyful father, evolving human, Vice President, TD Synnex. Nicko offers such vulnerable insight into his journey and what he has learned along the way. His focus on leading others in an authentic way to provide care and a safe space for them to show up authentically is the call to action! The conversation is vulnerable, evolving and depicts the journey so many of us are on around finding our authentic self.

Angela McCourt 0:00
Let's get ready for some serious shift. This is a podcast shifting Inside Out hosted by your quantum shifter Angie McCourt, we are diving into ways to empower and enable a quantum shift. Inspiring topics hacks and guest speakers take us on a journey around authenticity, challenging status quo, personal power and living a purpose filled life.

So I have a conversation with Nicko Roussos about authenticity. There are a lot of other topics that we cover as well. But it's really interesting to hear his journey and his own self deep dive journey of his discovery of authenticity. And it's also been a really great experience, just from my perspective to watch him over the past dozen years or so, be able to not only leverage authenticity and trusting relationships that he's had in the business world, but also to be able to really bring his gifts to the table and he's loaded with gifts. He is actually one of the people that I modeled the logician gift after and the logician gift has attributes including the three intelligences which are practical, analytical and creative, and how he is able to leverage not only his education and his experiences, but also passions and desires to be able to build the story to get others involved in on board with his ideas. So join me in this episode, it'll be really fun to hear from Nico. Your thoughts on this episode as you listen you can find me on LinkedIn @AngiebeltzMcCourt on Instagram @Angie_McCourt on Twitter @McCourtAngie. So without further ado, let's hear from Nicko.

Nico, welcome to shifting inside out. I'm so grateful to have you on this episode. We are here today with Nicko Roussos. And I'd like for him to just give yourself a quick introduction.

Nicko Roussos 2:12
Yeah, absolutely. Angie, thanks so much for having me. I am so glad you're taking on this effort such a huge opportunity. Nicko Roussos holding a career at TD Synnex have been 16 and a half years in the in the profession of it. And my roots come from from Greece and in the Bahamas. But happy to be living in Tampa, Florida working in the IT industry.

Angela McCourt 2:39
Very good. Awesome. And you have two little ones as well. So you're a dad. Oh my god, they're so cute G & D. And we've known each other a very long time. So I was able to see you have your children and see them grow and see you grow in your or in your career as well. So because others in the audience may not know you very well, we're gonna do a quick round of questions. Yes. So first question, what is your morning ritual or routine?

Unknown Speaker 3:15
That's a great question. So try to start off the morning on a good note. So I get up around 4:30 In the morning, have a brief breakfast. And then I hit either the YMCA for a gym burnout gym, or I do pilates workout. So I typically try to make my way back home by seven to 8am to plug in for work. Wether taking kids to school, and jump in the routine. But that usually sets me off on a good note for the day.

Angela McCourt 3:43
Very good. That's awesome. At 430 in the morning, what time do you go to bed?

Nicko Roussos 3:49
At 10pm or so? Wow.

Angela McCourt 3:53
For you, that's still like only six and a half hours of sleep. Okay, how do you renew your energy then?

Nicko Roussos 4:02
You know, I've, I've learned to master decompression. So I've tried to build in my schedule throughout the day. You know, working in corporate America can be very hectic and demanding. So just kind of learning from mentors along the way. I've kinda instead of 30 minute meetings, I try to create 25 minute meetings instead of an hour long meeting 45 minute meetings and that 5-15 minutes really goes a long way to kind of get up stretch, grab a snack, clear the head. So that's typically how I kind of manage and cope.

Angela McCourt 4:37
That's excellent. That's called Managing Your energy for sure. I love it and and taking control of your day. You know, there's no no written word that says we have to have our long meetings or a certain set timeframe. So what is your guilty pleasure?

Nicko Roussos 4:52
So going back to decompression typically at the end of the day. I'll usually kind of binge watch some Netflix So whether it's schitz creek or new girl or I'll jump over to HBO, Max and watch Friends for four hours at a time, sometimes just a mindless TV, to kind of let myself let myself go.

Angela McCourt 5:13
That's awesome. I love it. Yep, I do that I call I need to veg.

Unknown Speaker 5:17
Exactly, exactly.

Angela McCourt 5:20
Well, Nicko, you know, I can absolutely say with 100% certainty that you are like one of the most authentic people, I think I've ever met, I've had the pleasure of being friends with and working with, and, you know, there's an amazing, I would say benefit to you, but also to others around you, because of the way that you show up as your full self. And as your true self. You know, the authenticity can be such a struggle, you know, not just in the workplace, but in other areas of our lives to, and being able to be our true selves without fear without feeling pressure that we have to conform to something around us. And so, I would just, I've never really asked you this, but I would love to hear, you know, what do you think, kind of set you on your path? And they this may even go back to where you were raised, and your family? But, you know, why do you feel like you can do that where you know, others can listen to your story. And maybe think, wow, you know, I didn't really have that. So maybe it's something that I can can overcome. What's your story, like,

Nicko Roussos 6:35
glad to share, and I appreciate the sentiment, and it's very kind of you. But it wasn't always that way, right. And it wasn't that I was trying to build a false facade, it's more so kind of what you always allude to, like in your book in terms of like, you almost become robotic throughout life, where you follow societal norms, and you conform to what you're supposed to do. So that's typically how I, my earlier is really tracked in that trajectory. And I kind of just followed that path. And it's not until you had that moment of reflection that you realize that they could be a different way. But, you know, kind of going back to my roots, I alluded to the fact that I grew up in the Bahamas, well, my parents were Greek, and they migrated to the Bahamas, of the ages of 17 and 21. Neither one of them had a high school diploma. So obviously, not neither a college education. But father was very a blue collar kind of guy, and always had a tremendous work ethic. And, you know, the old school mentality in terms of a provider for the family, he would work kind of the long hours to do so. And that's kind of I kind of witnessed that in my adolescence, and kind of grew up with that mentality in terms of being the provider. And then my mom, on the other hand, was probably a polar opposite, but more of an entrepreneur, she had a shoe store, and, and she'd tend to be more risky and creative. Whereas my dad was the more risk averse conservative, but I got the the ability to kind of see both. So I kind of grew up in, in that aspect to older brothers. You know, being the youngest, I get to see a lot of failures, right. And I learned from other people's mistakes. But you know, I was, it was cool, because once I graduated high school, I was the first to go to college in my family. So it started in the Bahamas. And you know, I had no intentions of ever living in the US. But it was a friend of mine that actually tapped me on the shoulder, a buddy that I grew up with in the Bahamas, and he said, Hey, why don't you come to Tampa? And finish off your education? I was like, never thought to do so. But gladly, right. So, you know, I applied to USF became a bull. And, you know, fast tracked a bachelor's degree in six years. But, you know, ultimately, I graduated and landed on a finance degree I found my passion, or what I thought was my passion at the time, I thought I'd get into investment management and banking and things of that nature, and ultimately enter back in offshore banking in the Bahamas. That obviously didn't play out. But there was a there was a company at the time. I don't even know if it still exists. monster.com I posted my resume out there. Thought I'd get some international experience before I head back to the Bahamas. And I think her name is Stephanie Depu she was in HR. She was a recruiter, she called me and I had never heard of Tech Data. And she she gave me an opportunity for an interview and it was awesome because they got to kind of step in, you know, 60 and a half years later, I'm still at a store with the company. It's been it's been an amazing journey. So to kind of kind of just step you through, right? It's just been an amazing sequence of events because I want to get back to authenticity but again, I came in with a very programmatic mindset, like, I'm going to work nine to five, get a paycheck, learn what I can learn and walk away. And he over time, like I just became consumed with the corporate life. And I just got very involved in this routine. And that whole mechanical, robotic aspect of life just kicked into high gear. And I got consumed in this in the corporate America. So as I kind of grew up in the organization, you start to build personal relationships. You know, I met my mother, the mother of my kids at Tech Data, we got married, we had two beautiful kids. And, you know, that really became my identity. And honestly, it's it's like the moments that matter are kind of like the coaching opportunities that I grade leadership. Like Angie, I talk about you to this day, in high esteem. But people like Chuck barlett, Tina Bellin, Joe Uracco, like all these folks, and it was amazing, have leadership like that, that really kind of, I made a lot of mistakes along the way. But I had great coaching and mentorship to kind of steer me along the path. But I also had some really humbling moments in my personal life, right, I, you know, I failed my marriage, like, my lack of inability to communicate effectively and managed through tough situations, they led me down a very humbling path. But you know what, man, I am better for it today. Because

I found myself always isolating myself and blaming the world, for all of my problems, where was everyone else's issue? Never took accountability. But it was because I had all these blind spots, and I traded all these stories about what life was supposed to be who I was supposed to be. And, you know, once I started going into therapy, like it this, this individual, my therapist has become like my best friend, I still check in with him. Because I kind of like empty my cup, as we call it, right? You kind of get overwhelmed in the day to day. And it's just, it's so enlightening when you can just kind of offload everything that you want to on someone. And it's really uplifting. And that's when I really started to realize, like it's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to be transparent, and show people who you are. And quite frankly, again, to go back to where I started. It wasn't because I was trying to create a facade. It was because I was so robotic and mechanical, I didn't even know who I was. So having moments to kind of sit with myself, and figure out who I was, what my passions were what I was happy about. Man, that's when I really kind of had a breakthrough in in my personal life. And I realized that you don't really delineate your personal life and your professional life. They're one. And so I, I slowly became the same person, no matter where I was, with friends, with my colleagues, with family, I became the same person and everybody knew. And to this day, everybody knows who I am, I'm an open book. And I mean, I have aspirations to to inspire, just like you do, obviously, in my own small scale, I don't think I'll ever be as prominent as you, that's why I applaud you, Angie. But I'm gonna try and make an impact, just telling my story, because I think being authentic and kind of failing fast and being okay with failing, is, is in hopefully it kind of cascades.

Angela McCourt 13:31
I would say that probably 70-80% of the listeners listening to this podcast have felt that way, at some point or other in their life, I think we do get on that train, you know, it just keeps going and you know, expectations plays such a big role, having that expectation of head of household or, or, you know, income earner, or responsible for children or responsible for whatever we take on those identities, and think that those are the expectations that we have as well and it gets really hard to get off the train. So I applaud you so much for one, you know, going and and saying I want something different, I need to figure this out, I want to find myself and doing the therapy, you know, in therapy is not a one or twice once or twice type of situation. I mean, it's a journey, and it's as far as you want to take it right. And I think it's such a great opportunity, not just when you know, there's something that you want to fix, but like in your case you were wanting to evolve, and you're wanting to take yourself to the next level. And it's such a great opportunity for people to be able to do that and not feel like it's you know, it's there's something wrong with it or something wrong with me because I'm doing it now it actually will make you a better and happier person. No matter what, even if you have the worst therapist, you're probably will still end up finding some great, you know, improvement enhancement or nuggets there. So, I think that, that is really amazing. And I love your vulnerability around your story. The one thing that I've seen from you in the workplace in the environment, is how you build trust, because of your authenticity because of your transparency. And, and also not just trust in you, and collaborating with you and working with you and knowing that you're a good partner, but in trusting your ideas, and trusting what you bring to the table, and you have brought some major innovation to the table at vita during my time at Tech Data. What did you did you to end up doing the quiz for the book? You take the quiz, what was your What was your primary archetype?

Nicko Roussos 16:00
Is it evocateur? Am I pronounce? Yeah, okay.

Angela McCourt 16:04
Evocateur is the visionary. Well, what's interesting about that, like if you put your email address in, you can get the, the secondary and then supporting gifts and archetypes as well, they'll come to you to take the quiz again, if you want. But what's amazing when I view you, I view so many of these gifts. And by the way, the gifts are not like one size fits all. You have the evocateur or the visionary, right, you can actually, you know, kind of take these big ideas, you could take these futuristic ideas and pull them in. You're also an edgeWalker, an edgeWalker is one who you have one foot in today, you have one foot in the future, and you're this bridge, you're able to communicate to people your vision in a way that they can get on board with. And then also I think you're a storyteller, like I've seen you present ideas over and over again, where you can tie it all together so that it's not choppy. It's not just about the numbers. It's not just about the technology. It brings all pieces together. And storytelling is super important for creators, which you are also. And then I would say you're the logician. So you have so many of the gifts that I showcase. And the logician is one I actually modeled off of you. So the logician is kind of the archetype and gifts around risk intelligence that uses you know, all three intelligences, including the practical, analytical and the creative. And I've seen this over and over and over and over and over again with you. What I would love for you to share with the audiences, you know, what drives you to use all of your gifts and not be afraid to do that and bring your ideas forward? Because I see it in a fearless way all the time with you

Nicko Roussos 17:52
know, it's interesting timing, because I had a conversation with a mentee today. And I was kind of talking them through my current tech data, which has been really colorful, you know, I talked about leadership. In the past, and actually reference, there was a story that you'll, you'll remember. But it like when we talk about moments that matter, they were there were key scenarios that occurred along the way. So if you look at just the journey on Cisco, when I when I first joined the team, Eric buck, he just kind of threw me in the deep end and was like, go figure it out. And I was I was an analyst, I, I knew Excel, like that's, that was that was the extent of my capabilities. And he wanted me to figure out the most complex process with Cisco, and I don't even know, I had no business context at all. And it was, like I learned very quickly, it was about following the breadcrumbs. Right. And it was, so I would talk to individual number one, and they would kind of tell me their story. And then I would stitch it together and be like, what happens next? What happens next? And overtime, I kind of got this. And and perspective, right? And, you know, I reflect now and that was a great foundation, he really kind of threw me in the deep end. But it was a great way to kind of get me to adapt to the environment we live in, but also build a new skill set. And then what follow it, you know, this is the, the meeting we were at when we flew up to Atlanta for that customer visit. You know, and you know, I had after we get rain for about an hour, I had to raise my hand and I walked to the whiteboard, and that became the genesis of, of how we can enable our partners right, but that was predicated on the fact that I understood process and how to follow the breadcrumbs. So it was a matter of just adapting that kind of mindset to this customer use case. And then you know, if you think about the different exposures I had, like people took risks on me they did you know, everybody, you you took a risk on me. Everybody took a risk on me in terms of give me different opportunities. I never did any marketing. I never did any business development, but you gave me an opportunity to fly up to Atlanta on a monthly basis engaging with business units. I didn't know what I was doing, right? Yeah. But I was learning along the way. So it was leadership taken risks of me and given me the exposure. So what I have, you know, like, good to answer your question, I think what I've been able, I've been privileged to have a career where I had leadership that trusted me, where I could explore different facets of because I didn't know what skill sets I had. Again, when I came in, I thought I was really good at Excel. And that was kind of the extent. But over time, I started to develop certain crafts, I got certain disciplines, I realized that I had certain raw skill sets around like critical thinking and process and things like that. And, and to kind of pull it all together, put the wrapper around it, I've just been really passionate about what customers think of us, right? I want to, I want to be more than just a distributor, viewed more than just, you know, a corporate entity actually want to make a difference in whatever, whatever that means, right. And, you know, if I have one career, to have in my life, let it I want to make an impact. And so that kind of keeps me honest. Right. So it's, to me, like, the way I think about it is, I see an immense amount of opportunity. Like we live in a great age where digital transformation means a lot is changing the way we live, work and play. And I see an immense amount of opportunity when it compare what happens outside of the purview of my career, and the ability for that to influence our lives. And so I'm trying to bring it all in together. So I'm not some, some genius, but it's more so just the ability to kind of step out of step off the train, take a step back, look at the world for what it is, and maybe connect some dots. And so that's maybe like, where maybe the vision as you call it comes into play. But then again, all the skill sets that I learned along the way through people like you, that's what really helps kind of round out the ability to also execute on that vision. And that's kind of where I'm trying to really help the team, like, elevate and kind of think along the same, same lines.

Angela McCourt 22:10
Yeah, and you know, that it's a great point of what the intent is that you have going into each of these, you know, I would say situations, whether it's with a customer, or it's just trying to find, what's the next thing is you care, you care, and you're curious. And those are, those are two super important pieces. And I've seen you showcase that all the time. And I think where you immediately build trust is in both of those. It's not that you're pitching, which I hate that word, by the way, please stop using that word people out there. You're not pitching something you're exploring, and you're trying to find what really is the opportunity, not just what are they telling me is their problem? How far can we actually go with this. And that whiteboard session in Atlanta, you literally asked three questions, and you figured out where the root cause of the issue was. And you were able to turn the customer from being very upset with the time to actually very open and trusting of you, because you showed them visibly, and visually, what the solution could look like. And I think you you handle every opportunity, including this constant continuous vision building, like you don't just finish with a big project and you say, Okay, that's it, like you've already started working on what's the extension to that, or where's the next one, that you you have care around you, you care about it, you care about our cutting, you know, the customers you care about our world, you care about the community. And I think that really comes through in a very authentic way. You're not and that's that's key.

Nicko Roussos 23:53
And I don't know if I coined the phrase, but something I say all the time, right, to like mentees, and the team is like, if you believe in what you're doing, you'll never sell a day in your life. Right? It's cuz I like to be in front of customers, but I will never consider myself a sales sales guy. And it's not to, like be condescending to the, to the discipline. It's not about that it's more so like people that are in sales, or they have a mission. They they are they're representing something and ideal to really help make an impact. And that's, that's essentially what we're trying to do. So storytelling is just a very compelling and interesting way to kind of connect the dots between where that customer lives today and where you want to take them.

Angela McCourt 24:37
So, so that's fantastic in the in the Evocateur. I think we talked a bit about vision already and kind of where you come to that, but how you share the idea and the vision with others. You do this great job of you have your analytical background, you have this creative approach of establishing that big picture connecting the dots. and tying it to, here's what the pain point is, here's what the solution will solve for. I talk us through those are all keys to the logician, gift in the book, talk us through, you know, what, what are some of the tools you use? What are some? What's the process you use around that? Do you have a process? You I've seen you do it so fast too? Like, it's, it's imprinted in you, whatever this this gift you have overall, is imprinted in you. And it works.

Nicko Roussos 25:30
Yeah, I don't know if it's innate or if it's developed, but I, one thing I realized about myself, it is I, I love chaos. And I like to jump into the middle of chaos and create structure around it right. And so there's, there's, I guess there's a method to my madness. But the one thing that I think I benefit from in terms of having a finance background in terms of education, is I'm grounded on numbers and facts and process like, I, if I, if I'm going to set a proposal forward, like, there's no way you can stump me, right, because I'm going to look at the numbers, I'm going to be very fact based. But it's not just about regurgitating numbers, it's about being able to kind of read between the lines and understand exactly what the numbers are telling you. Because, you know, 10, people can look at the numbers and probably derive something very different from them. So I try to, I guess, one gift that I maybe do have is being able to kind of understand the numbers and kind of abstract it and kind of tell the story of what of what it means. So really, truly, there is there has never been a plan that I've done, where I didn't start by understanding context, like, to me context is important. And I want to understand the world that we live in. And then I can start to kind of figure out exactly how we kind of digest and and start to execute toward a goal. And so once you're grounded on on that principle, like it's, it's been very effective for me. And for the for the team that we're that we lead to, to be able to execute on a very chaotic, a lot of change.

Angela McCourt 27:11
Okay, I'm gonna switch gears a little bit. Yeah. So when one thing that as we try to move, move towards this revolution of authenticity in the workplace, and people actually being able to show up as themselves. You've been there you you've gone down this shifting path. What happens when you end up working with someone who isn't showing up as their authentic self? How does that make you feel? And like, what do you try to try to run away? Or to do just struggle? Does it use a lot of energy? Like, what what is the situation with you in that?

Nicko Roussos 27:47
Yeah, I mean, there's been moments as of late where trust is, is really important. So when, when I bring my authentic self, and I'm vulnerable, I'm putting a lot of trust in the other individual. And, you know, I typically operate from a point of trust first, until someone kind of gives me a reason to take it away. And so there's been there's real circumstances in life scenarios where I put my faith in folks, and you know, they don't follow through, and I pretty much will pull back. But it, we live in a world where we have to interact with different colleagues and what have you. And it's just, you know, exactly how to manage certain situations and certain relationships. And what I find is that, folks that are willing to be vulnerable, with me, that we can, we can flourish, right? Like we can create some, some relationships and some unbreakable bonds, where I can open up and they can open up and we can share our flaws and share opportunities, and they will hold it against you, they will try to, like help you through it, and they will try to set you up for success. And that's where, you know, I'm privileged enough where I guess I'm mature enough now where I can kind of see the difference between the two. And I think, you know, for many years, I probably couldn't tell the difference. But now because I'm so I think the glasses are off, I can kind of see people for what they are. And it's kind of like, you know, they like when I interview someone I can know within five minutes if I'm gonna film gonna hire them or not. It's kind of the same kind of principle.

Angela McCourt 29:32
So, um, how does intuition play with you? Do you do you leverage your intuition? I'm sure you do. You may not realize it, but

Nicko Roussos 29:44
I don't know what to call it to be honest. I am. I wake up in the middle of the night. I'll have these early morning and he's like revelations, these ideas just pop in my head. Right and they'll, they'll keep me up through the night and I've got to get them pen to paper. Otherwise, I'll forget in the morning. So I don't know how to identify what that is. But that happens very frequently, where again, two, three o'clock in the morning, I wake up and like the best idea will pop in my head, and I'll get it down on paper, and then I kind of run with it in a materialize into something that feels like feels good, but does maybe take a step back and be like, what is that? I still I still haven't gotten my arms around what that is so intuition. Yeah, I could be.

Angela McCourt 30:29
So those are your muses. As your muse as you probably have it, when you're speaking as well, or even presenting ideas, all of a sudden, you'll just literally channel that you're like, I have no idea where that came from, but it sounded really good. Yeah. And you're very open to receiving the downloads the messages, creators, definitely have that messengers have that gift transmitters have that gift? And in the Creator world, and, and even the transmitter world, and those gifts in those archetypes, you know, what I found over the years, is that, and I think, uh, oh, gosh, what's her name? Elizabeth Gilbert puts this very well, in her book called Big Magic, is when you're handed the opportunity to do something with that idea, you only have a certain amount of time to to actually take action on it. And you know, at the same time, like the generator gift, they have to diffuse, you know, being overwhelmed by too many things too many, you know, and their gift is being able to identify what to actually take and work on. Because we do get a lot of ideas. And sometimes it can be very overwhelming. But the gift alone of being able to receive like that is amazing. And the fact that you actually write them down, and I know you do take action on them. Because you'll have a PowerPoint done by the time you get in the office. Sometimes when you do that. I have I have witnessed that. But it's amazing, because you're the you're the one that takes the action. A lot of people get the ideas, they don't take the action. And when you don't take the action, you don't do something with the idea, guess what, it now gets folded over to someone else, it gets transferred. And I love her. Like I would say, you know, kind of explanation of this. And she's seen it happen so many times in her own life as a writer. But the interesting part two that is, you know, we all say, you know, oh man, I see you know, you see something on TV, and it's this new invention. And you're like I had that idea five years ago, you didn't do anything about it? Yeah. So how do you then prioritize all of these different ideas? Or do you mash them together? What have you found works for you?

Nicko Roussos 32:46
Yeah, whatever. So if I look at my list right now, it's probably about 15. Deep. So the position I'm in, I'm privileged enough to have a team capable team. So I kind of get to pick and choose. So like some things that I'm super passionate about, and I have a mission to drive maybe it hasn't materialized to where I can start the storytelling influence others, I kind of own it my own until it gets to a point of maturity, where I think it's worth sharing. And I can influence folks. And then other things that are more mature, I probably kind of start to delegate to appropriate individuals that I think could really kind of take it and run. So got a diverse team diverse skill sets. So it's kind of like I get to kind of plant the seeds were in the best soil that were that get that in flourish, right? And, and this is still a work in progress, right? This is this is in motion right now. So but it, it also proves to be a test, right? Because I know where I want to see it through. But I'm really trying to understand, give them an opportunity, same way I was given opportunities to see what creativity they will bring to it because I only have a certain vantage point and a certain view of what I want the outcome to be. And I want to maybe plant the seed but then let them take it on its own journey and see where it goes. So that's kind of like how I'm able to scale a little better than maybe before where I burned myself out trying to do everything.

Angela McCourt 34:21
Okay, I love that. And I love the fact that you're you know, you trust your team, and you believe in their abilities. And even if they haven't done it yet, doesn't mean they can't do it right and being able to give them that opportunity, you know, which really gives them probably much more enjoyment in their day and in their work and fulfillment from a purpose perspective and just being able to do something that's, you know, revolutionary in the environment or in the industry. That's significant, you know, to just day to day working.

Nicko Roussos 34:58
I just keep telling my team like I I literally talk about you all the time. And I always I always say, I feel the need to pay it forward, like, leaders like Angie did so much for me in my career, like I feel obliged to do the same for for others that I get the privilege to lead. So I'm going to do exactly what Angie and others did for me. No, I'm serious. Yeah, we have an offside last week, and I brought you up, you know, I mean, there isn't a week that goes by where you don't come up.

Angela McCourt 35:26
No, thank you. That's awesome. But you know, I've had great leaders too. And I think you're right, it's, we're all paying it forward. You know, that's fantastic. So on the on the front of, of authenticity, kind of circling it back and rounding out the interview and the conversation, I would say, from an authentic perspective, and being able to show up your authentic self, like, what ways do you support your team in doing that, as a leader? You know, what would you say actually gives them that sense of comfort and safe space, to be able to also show up as their authentic self?

Nicko Roussos 36:05
Yeah, I try to do it in small ways. So I try to be very intentional about one on one time. And I try not to placate or anything like that, and it's more I want to like understand the personal aspects of, of their life. You know, we came in through a very interesting time with COVID, everybody's remote, we're not in the office anymore. So very different dynamic in terms of relationship building, I've got completely new team members that I'm building relationships with. But very quickly, I kind of show up and kind of tell them my story. And they can see that I don't have a hidden agenda. I'm very real with them. And I think they can see that intuitively. And it seems to resonate, and they kind of reciprocate kind of their vulnerability. So it's very interesting, I acquired maybe like, 30-40, new team members, and I've gotten to know all of them already. And, you know, it's like, I knew them for years. So it's like, it's, it's just been really cool. It's like, we can all get caught up in the day to day in the business and things like that. But it's really the people that make the difference in what we do. And this is something I had to learn, I didn't always do this. But I'm starting to pay attention more and more to the team, and the pulse of the team COVID There's different stresses of work life balance and things like that. And, you know, there was a note that I sent at the end of quarter end. And this was this was cool. This felt good. So I sent a note on a quarter end Friday, which is, you know, typically the most chaotic time of the year. And I told the team, I was like, hey, it's going to be a stressful time. Walk away when you need to, I need to decompress, relax, tension, stress is going to be high. Just walk away and do what you need to do. Take care, make sure you have the balance in place. And somebody responded, this is I've only known her for two weeks, she responded, she's like, in my 17 years, this is the first time a leader is ever told me to decompress and stay away from my screen for a period of time. And you know, what's interesting about that is like, that makes them want to do more. It's just, it's just the dynamic and it's so it's, it's been really cool to kind of see that if you pay attention to people invest in people and come across as who you are, they will naturally just open up and be themselves as well.

Angela McCourt 38:42
Yeah, I think the the word that pops into my head a lot as we are making this shift in the workplace, and, and trying to balance, you know, with all the different additional stresses everyone's dealing with, is real. Like I think the more real leaders are, it allows the colleagues just to really be able to be real as well. And you know, I remember for so many years saying you don't have to ask permission to take your child to the doctor or go pick them up from daycare early. You don't have to, you know, sit there and stress and suffer in silence, like say, Hey, I'm overwhelmed. Tell me what the big priorities are. And let's go through it. And it's amazing that having to really focus on giving permission to people to do those things is sad, because that's that's where we are in the corporate environment, especially. But I think it's the opportunity for leaders to really pay attention, appreciate, be in tune, be compassionate, and be real, to the point that you know, and this goes for, you know, leaders who like to send emails at 11 o'clock at night or three in the morning. Like, stop, stop doing that because what you're doing is you're you're not breaking the chain, you're not being real You're you're basically saying I'm stressed and I can't sleep. So you should be to. Enough is enough. So let's do something different. So, I love the fact that you know, you're, you're already making that shift and you're finding, presence, appreciation, compassion, nurturing, being real, I think are all really key components to the new leadership that we need for the future.

Nicko Roussos 40:27
I'll try my best learning something new every day. Yeah,

Angela McCourt 40:31
that's awesome. I love it. Okay, that was fantastic. Thank you so much, Niko. There were a lot of great, great nuggets that people will get out of that. And I think, relatable stories too. So I have a quick ask, Do you have any call outs that you'd like to make, whether it's company books, courses, organizations, nonprofits or products.

Nicko Roussos 40:55
So everybody buy your book. Um, next in line, that's my big call out, like the mission that you're on. You know, like, there's this movement of enlightenment. I call it like, you know, the Jay Shetty and Tony Robbins on the world that was all lost on me, before I kind of went on this, this journey. And I realized that, you know, there's this freeing that can occur and allow people to kind of be themselves. And it's, it's not just about them, it's about being a better parent. Like, I found myself being a better parent because of it. And, and I'm not perfect. I got a lot of room to improve. But the way I communicate in the way I'm teaching life lessons to my kids, and the way the partner I am to my fiance, like, everything's completely transformed, because of this enlightenment and removal of these blind spots in the stories that I created. So I'm jumping on board, big shout out to you, Angie, I am buying your book. And I, I hope everybody does, because I think what you're trying to do for society at large is is much needed. I think, a bunch of robots just marching. And I think we need to kind of break the mold and kind of be ourselves. Oh, thank

Angela McCourt 42:05
you so much. Yes, you totally get the message. Yes, exactly. And honestly, that that's the path to joy and happiness and feeling and living, I would say more fulfilled, and fulfilling life. Thank you. All out. I appreciate it. Thanks for hanging out. Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us. And I hope you have a really wonderful day. I know you're super super busy. So I totally appreciate it. Thanks.

Unknown Speaker 42:32
Thank you anytime. Take care of you. Alright, take care.

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