Do you know IT? Yeah. You know, well, it was a couple people I would say. So, so I'm a mechanical engineer by training. So that's what I went to Rolla for. And, you know, in my classes, I I guess I just I always had an affinity for more of the automation programming side. So, we did Fortran as mechanical engineers. I I think they still do some of that, you know, today. But, you know, I had Infiniti for that. And then, my first internship was was with factory automation. So doing PLC programming, HMI, and I I just I just really liked it. You know, it was just something that you could you could do something and see the results right away. You know, I would say probably the reason why I landed in IT as a career would be my wife, to be honest with you. So, we started dating in, in college at Rolla And, we wanted to be together, you know, after that. And she was, one of her dreams was to work for Accenture. So she was in engineering management and she wanted to be in the consulting lifestyle. So I said, sure. I'll I'll interview with them as well. And, you know, it just it just kinda clicked as I talked with them. I just fell in love with the idea of, you know, traveling places. You know, again, seeing those results, you you know, you you design something, you put it in place, you get to see it right away. And, and that's where and and that's that's how it happened. So that's how we got our start, and, that's the reason why I moved nineteen.

I love that. Well and it's a great place to start. I love I oh my goodness. Some of the best leaders I know, seriously, Chris started, like, the centers of the world. Like Yeah. I think and I tell young people, it's just like with accounting. I was an accounting major, and I did corporate accounting for the Dallas. But I said, if you really are wanting to go that track, there's nothing like working for an or a Deloitte or in a really because you get to see across many different sectors and industries. Right? Yeah. You get to see lots of different leadership styles, lots of different challenges. Right? Because every client has different challenges. Yeah. So

Yeah. And I would I would say the other thing, you just you you learn a methodology. You know, that, like, you you learn how to I mean, you know, it's we we would always joke it's almost like brainwashing in a sense. You know, with Accenture, it was four weeks in the office where everybody learned, you know, basic. At the time, it was c programming. But then you go Accenture had a a college campus up in Saint Charles, Illinois just outside Chicago, and, you were kind of indoctrinated. You know, they brought they brought, you know, new recruits from all over the world, and you learn their methodology. How about how how to go about it, kind of the culture, lifestyle. And, yeah, it's just served me well. I just, you know, just kinda early on just kinda teaches you how to how to engage in a project, drive things. And, yeah, there's no substitute. I I I recommend that to people all the time as well if they wanna get into this line of work. It's a great place to start.

I agree. I agree. Well, tell me this. Were there some like, early in your career, we're gonna get into what you've done. But are there some, like, people that stood out to you, Chris, like mentors? Because, you you know, we talk about mentorship is so important. I always say you need to be mentoring someone, and you need to men you need to be mentoring somebody, and you need to be mentored because we never reach the summit. Right? There's always a next level of leadership. Were there some particular people that really stood out to you that were influential in your career?

Yeah. I would say, I mean, quite a quite a few. I you know, and the one I was thinking about this because I know you asked about these questions on this pipe. I, you know, I have to tell you, you know, honestly, I would say I have learned something from every leader that I've worked for, you know, whether it's something I don't wanna do, you know, as a leader or but, you know, in many cases, you know, kinda snippets. Everybody's got something to kinda kinda add. But I would say, you know, the the big ones. I mean, I start with, you know, Mark Jordan. I I think you're, doing him well. And, you know, I think early on, you know, Mark was a believer in me. He really gave me opportunities. I would say that's that's something that, you know, really resonates with me with with the mentors I've had is, you know, not only did they give you advice and kind of sound bite forms so you could remember it and it, you know, it made sense. It was practical. But they, but they believed in you. You know, they gave you a chance. So, you know, Mark was one of those that early on my career, you know, really gave me a chance to do more. And, you know, it was clearly believed in me. It was, you know, it was great. I mean, Aldo Noceda is another one. Believed in me in opportunities. Jim's I know you're a friend of Jim Swanson. Jim, the same. I mean, I, you know, I could go on. But, that's what's really, you know, really resonated, you know, with me, you know, you know, from all the all the people I've worked with and mentors. But, there's a long list of many of them I still, you know, is still in contact with today for their for their advice.

And you could pick up the phone, Chris.

Yeah. Exactly.

And call any of them. Right? You know, and they would be willing to to lean in and to to speak into whatever challenge you're going through. Yeah. I I'm the same way. I mean, I could I could name them, for you. But, it's so important, and I just I want our listeners just to understand that you never get to the point where you don't need somebody like that in your life. And if you have been mentored and you've got these people that saw something in you and called that out and gave you a chance, we need to be doing the same thing for others.

Yeah. Absolutely. You know, and I I know we we've caught up before this, so you you you kinda know it. I, you know, I recently made a change, you know, with companies, and that was a big change for me. I mean, I was with Monsanto Bayer for twenty years. And, you know, just the idea of looking for something and, you know, just, you know, just kinda regain that confidence and how to go about it. I mean, it's a real asset to have people that, you know, you can again, you just call and they pick up the phone. They give you advice. And I remember that's and even they'll connect you with new people that do the same. You just grow the network. But I I remember that from the conversations with several people as they talked about how, you know, they just wanna give back because people were so gracious with their time and and just advice and connections and anything. And, and yet something, you know, when you go through some you know, when you're looking for something that's really new and challenging and and you get that, it's it it really hits home that, yeah, you gotta do that for other people too. It's it's, it's it's needed.

It's a gift. We need one another. That's what I always say. We were never meant to do this life alone. Exactly. Alright. Well, very good. I love all of that. You know, how would you so so you did. You spent twenty years twenty years at Mont Saint Aubert. You also spent some time in Singapore

Yes.

In Pacific Asia. What, tell me what you did there. What were you what were you sent there to do?

Yeah.

And then what did you learn? Because I bet you learned a lot. I bet your perspective broadened a little bit, Chris.

Do you like that to say? Yeah. I it was one of those kinda life changing moment. You you know, you just you learn so much. I you know, I would say first off, just going on a sign and and my family went with me. My kids at the time were eight and five. And just going through that together, it it just, you know, it's it's stressful because, you know, new place, you got, you know, everybody's going through a different thing, whether it's new school, new friends, you know, new new job. But, you know, you you work through it together. And it does just helps you I mean, it just grows you as a person. You can you can handle more. You learn things and, you know, I I think we got a lot closer as a family too going going through it. But I was I was sent over to lead, our IT department for Asia Pacific. It kinda started small, you know, not to bore you with the details, but, you know, at the time, Monsanto had three Asia regions. We had Southeast Asia, which was Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia. We had India. India and Pakistan was second, and then China was the third. So I came over to lead the Southeast Asia, IT department, from Singapore. The previous lead had left. They need a new leader. Again, you know, people saw something in me and wanted to take a chance. This was Rick Pulaski. I don't know if you know Rick, but, you know, he recommended me. And, so I went over there and, and really my responsibilities grew. So, eventually, I took over all of Asia, all all IT for all the Asia departments. You know, as far as as far as learning, I you know, it was it was really a CIO position. You know? So, it was a fantastic opportunity because, you know, we relied on the shared services from Monsanto IT, but you were you know, it was a fourteen hour time difference. You were on your own pretty much. And we had a whole host of challenges that were different than what, you know, we were facing other parts of the the world. So, it was all in. It was help desk, infrastructure. We implement CRM systems, ERP. I also had, the shared services. We had to follow the sun method on support. So, you know, eventually, I had, oversight of our shared services center in Bangalore. But, yeah, I mean, where do I begin? You know, tech professionally, it was great because just leadership and development, working with other cultures. I think that was a huge learning for me and, you know, just, you know, where people are the same and maybe where they think different and, you know, how you how you understand that or work with that. You know, I think, my gosh, new technologies. I I I would also say, you know, really probably the biggest thing, that's really where I kinda fell in love with with what Monsanto did and and then Bayer in the in the ag side because, I had the opportunity to go out in the field and visit with our sales teams and others, you know, really sit in the living rooms of farmers, you know, across Southeast Asia, India, and just see what we do as a company. And, you know, and and and what we did was really I mean, it was a game changer for them, you know, the quality seed that they were using to make a living with. And that's that's you know, I tell people that's probably the biggest thing I took away from it is just, you know, how IT really enables supports a business, how much it's needed, and how much fun it can be. You know, if you really get more, you know I mean, IT IT is fun, but, you know, to me it's more fun to understand what your business is doing and how can you help make those

steps. Connect it to the vision and the mission. Right? And you were able to do that when you saw the farmers. Yeah. Yeah. I've always I I just I remember just learning, you know, that the mission was to feed the world. And I'm like, what better mission could you have than that? Right? You know, that's what can get you up out of bed in the mornings, I think. So

Yeah. We had one, you know, just to fill you in my probably the the key projects. One of the one of the ones I'm really proud of. We call it, well, it's for a smallholder farmer population. So, we call it FarmRise, as a solution. It's still in use today by by Bayer, but, you know, the basic idea was we were offering a a pretty high quality seed to farmers. And these are smallholder farmers. So they're farming two hectares. It's like two football fields put together. That's it. And, you know, the one of the challenges in that part of the world is, you know, they, you know, maybe they have access to high quality seed, but they don't necessarily have access to the equipment, you know, to to cultivate it, you know, optimally. But they also don't have the information to cultivate optimally. So, you know, one example, one thing is, you know, farmers in that part of the world just through traditions, they space their rows a certain way. Well, with modern genetics, you, you know, you might need to increase the rows. You can get or or or actually, you know, narrow the rows. You can get more more output.

Yeah. Mhmm.

And they don't, you know, they wouldn't know that. They would follow tradition. So one of the, one of the the things that we launched was FarmRise, and this was an information service where we actually, reached out to growers and subscribe them. Ultimately, we reached about four million, smallholder farmers while I was there. But it it reached out and it it it connected with them at key times in the growing season. You know, it gave them economic advice. It was a big one for us because it started to collect more information on our growers, you know, who they were and what they were doing. And, it was an avenue for us to market to them, you know, to help them form them for over products. But it was just a real enriching project. You know, you got out and and could see how this would be of value. You know, we delivered it. We got into actual, branding of of the of the platform itself. And, you know, just a testament to the work that the team did. It's it's still on use today, but it's evolved, but it's, you know, it's still still part of the portfolio. So

How was that delivered to the farmer, Chris? Was that

Yeah.

Through mobile?

Yeah. And at this time, mobile was mostly feature phones. So this would have been in twenty thirteen. So, you know, your Nokia's and things like that. Now one of the issues, you know, this is one of the things with IT. You gotta understand your user base. And, you know, at that time, and I think it's improving, but, in the farming population, literacy was, you know, was was low. So a lot of the interaction was actually, voice recordings, interactive voice recordings where Okay. You know, people could prompt back and forth, to get advice. But we did we did get into text messages as well, but it was all connected to a content management system that could give give the advice and collect some information on people.

That's so awesome. I love that. Well, let me let me ask you one more question. Then we do need to take a quick break, and we'll get into some other things here. But, I mean, you've led talent and especially, like, there, you know, when you were, in Singapore, I mean, you had different cultures and things like that. I mean, the thing is with Monsanto Bear, it is a global organization. Right? Yep. So So you got people from all cultures. How how have you really, nurtured the talent on your teams, Chris? I mean, what what are some of those leadership principles that you've employed to to make the team feel engaged and empowered and motivated? Can you talk speak to that a little bit? I think that'll help our listeners.

Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I think, you know, the big things that I could summarize is, you know, one is just keep it keep it focused on the mission, which goes back to what does the company do? What are its objectives? How can we make them successful? And, you know, you have to, you know, I I strive to bring that to my team so that they they see that, they understand it. You create opportunities for them to interact with business people because, you know, no one wants to hear one person talk all the time. Right? It's it it can be more impactful to hear it, to see it, you know, take them out and see things. But but get them to love the mission. I mean, that's, you know, the that's, you know, one of the key things. I would say that, you know, the other things would be just transparency. So, you know, just really being transparent about what's important, constant communication, how are we doing, where do we need to improve, you know. I mean, you need to support people, but don't sugarcoat things either. You know, that's one of the things as I think to be an effective leader, you know, really fulfill a mission. You gotta set the bar pretty high. You know? So, and that's one of the things, you know, as I as I coach leaders is, you know, don't be afraid to to push. I mean, you need to support people and you need to give them the, you know, the opportunity to try things, the freedom. You know, they're gonna make mistakes and that's okay. But you have to set the you have to set the bar pretty high of what you're what you're looking for. And, you know, if you can do that tied to a mission, transparent with where you're at, and just keep that spirit. You know, it's it's a it's a working team, you know, so keep up the camaraderie and make sure everybody knows that it's expected that you, you know, are gonna collaborate with your teammates, you know, to achieve that result. That, at least from my perspective, has been something that's really helped with the teams and what I strive for.

Right. Well, you've been successful at it. Well, we do need to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with Chris Moore on the Something Extra podcast.

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Welcome back, everyone, to the Something Extra podcast with Chris Moore. We've been having a fun time talking about technology and team building and high performance, teams and global, companies, just all kinds of wonderful things. Chris, one thing in technology is that technology is changing at a very rapid pace right now. Right? And, what you know, for you and I'm just gonna I don't wanna put words in your mouth. What are the big emerging technologies that everybody's thinking about right now?

Yeah. AI. AI. AI. Right? I'm sure

you hear that a lot. Yes.

There's the buzz, which, you know, which is great. I you know, I was actually listening to some of your podcast before this. I think your last guest was talking about it as well. And, you know, it's one of those things. I mean, the the the thing with technology, there's always a high curve and and, and buzz, you know. So you have to kinda weed through that. But I do think I can tell you with my current company, you know, we actually, we see a lot of potential for it because, one of the things that that I find really exciting is you you think about a business, you know, you know, or a function within a larger company and the work that they they do, there is still so much manual work that people are doing. And I'm talking like, you know, manual manual, like putting information in PowerPoints to share with customers, you know, distributors, Excel analysis, interpreting results. And you look at some of the things that you can do with with AI just to just to knock that out. And and some of this some of this is new. Some of it's not. It's kind of the it's just the evolution. You know, I remember RPA. We were doing some cool things with that just to help automate task. But, no. I think the really promising thing is just the intelligence behind it to to take that automation to a to a next level. Because for us, you know, I, you know, I mean, we're a we're a small company. So so, so I'm the CIO with United Sugar Producers and Refiners. And, we have a we have a lean organization, and we need to get the most out of every person. And Yes. You know, just just the the day to day task take up so much time. I that I think is the real potential, that we see at least for our company with that. And, of course, you can extend that into insights, you know, pulling together data and the insights that can come from that to actually guide those decisions, guide automations. It's just it's neat to see how it just continues to evolve, you know, over time.

Yeah. And, of course, you have to take measured risk, and you have to approach it in the right way, Chris. Mhmm. But would you say to somebody that you gotta at least be thinking about it? I mean, it's not going away. I mean, if you're not thinking about it

I if you're not thinking about it, I I you you're not gonna be an IT leader for long. I can tell you that. I you know, every business leader that, you know, I've I've been working with, you know, at least lately, it is on their mind. I mean, you know you know, you can like it or not, but AI is in the, you know, in the buzz sphere. People are thinking about it. Companies are really pointing to it as a way to save to save cost, to optimize so they can do more things. There was an article, I think, today in the Wall Street Journal about, you know, how it's impacting, you know, new graduates' career prospects. So it it's, you know, it's having an impact. It's it's there. So you have to be thinking about it. You know, as I, you know, as I was mentioned as I was making a pivot, you know, into this new role, what I found is I talk with different companies both, you know, from other CIOs to just learn what they're focused on or what other companies are interested in. You know, really, you know, I was focused on the mid market. You know, it really came down to three things. ERP, that's always gonna be key and, you know, there's a lot happening with SAP and get to the latest version and technology. Cybersecurity, which is, you know, has evolved and is, you know, just as, well, riskier than ever. Mhmm. And part of that's because of AI that's that's used for cybersecurity attacks and and AI itself. You know, how can you really harness power of of the data that a company has collected over the years, and use that to bring efficiencies, identify opportunities, you know, etcetera. So I I think you have you have to or or, you know, you're not gonna be an IT leader, you know, for long if you don't have any intention on it.

Right. Very good. Well, you had talked about making the pivot to United Sugar's production Producers and Refiners Cooperative. For our listeners who don't know. Because I know this because you've told me about this, and I was blown away by it. But tell our listeners, who are they, and what's the mission, and what do you guys do? And, people people, will be surprised at at how how much they're playing a part, probably, and what they're eating every day.

Yeah. That's right. That's right. So we are a marketing co op. We're a co op of co ops is what our CEO would say. So, we're a marketing co op that's owned by four agricultural co ops. And those co ops are are, have been formed by sugar beet and sugarcane growers in the US. And so they produce the crop. They, they produce the sugar from that. They mill it, refine it, and then our job is to get it from them and to sell it, in the US. And we supply a third of the sugar supply, in the in the US. So, a lot of our customers are food companies, that use it in their processing. And, you know, there's big ones like Pepsi. There's, you know, smaller bakeries. It's kinda all in between. We do a lot of private label, sugar. So we do private label for Walmart, Target, Aldi's, you name it. We have a few brands. I don't know if you know any. Imperial Sugar is, more of a southern brand. American Crystal and more than North, but that's, you know, that's a smaller part of our business, not more legacy. But that's, that's what we do. And, so our job is to get it, from the factories to distribute it. So a lot of logistics planning and and customer relationship management account planning with our accounts. And then we manage the quality of that as as well in case there's any issues with the shipments or whatnot. We manage that for our members and and resolve that as quick as we can.

Mhmm. So if you wanna know more about that, Chris is the CIO, so make sure you reach out to him on LinkedIn. I've got a few more questions for you, and then we we're gonna talk about something extra. What would you say? I mean, Chris, do you have some habits or some rituals, daily rituals that you go through to help you stay grounded as a leader?

Yeah. I do. I have a couple, actually. So, you know, I guess, on the on the day to day, I'll tell you the, you know, you know, day to day, what really helps me is, you know, I find that, you know, I like to exercise and that's kind of one of the first things I try to it doesn't always happen, but it's one of the first things in the morning because it'll never happen otherwise. Something always, you know, gets in the way. But, you know, after that, it's really, you know, grab you know, get ready for the day, grab breakfast, and then get to work. And, one of the things I like to do is just block the first hour of my day for top priority. That's that's what it is in my calendar. And, you know, that's that's what I I wanna get get something done, you know, in that first hour while I've got energy, you know, before everything else kind of happens, you know Yes.

A lot.

You know, but the other thing I do that really helps me a lot is, you know, once a week and usually it's Sundays. I just like to take the time to just just kinda reflect on how the week has gone. Think about the positive things. You know, that's really important both professionally and and in person. You know, it's so easy to get hung up on, oh, I could've done this better. You know, this didn't go the way I wanted to. But, you know, just really think about kind of small wins, you know, for the for the week. You know, just jot it down and it just I just find that really, really helps me. And then I, you know, I launch right from that and to it gives me the energy to say, okay. What's this next week looking like? Let's plan it out. And, I'm a big planner. Usually, I use my calendars, my to do list. So everything I plan on, I've got a slot for, try to get a slot for during the week.

Mhmm. Yeah. Let me ask you this. So I know you do that in your business. Are you that way? Are you that intentional with your family?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolute absolutely. You know, not I mean, it's it's different. Right? I mean okay. I, you know, I don't really run the family. Right? I I, I'm I'm a big part of the family, but, it's different. You know, I'm guiding a team here. I would say in the family, it's it's more about, you know, I I'm supporting them, you know, part of the family, you know, with my kids, for example. And my kids are are older now, so I've got a twenty one year old that is a senior in college. She's she's looking at law school next. And then my, son's senior in high school. He's looking at college next. And, you know, it's pretty cool because they they've gotten to the point where they they have an idea of kinda what they wanna do, at least, you know, what next. And, you know, they they seem pretty driven about it. They're taking initiative. It's more about kinda, you know, hey, let's, you know, kinda nudge them, you know, get ideas in their heads, you know, all with the idea of, you know, they're in control. And, Yes. You know, I I guess, you know, it's not that different, I guess, in, you know, in the professional world. Right? I mean, when you have a when you have a team, it's, you know, a lot of nudging, you get the ideas in their head, kinda guide. I mean, that's, you know, someone's really invested in it. It's, you know, that's that that's always the best. But, yeah, it's it's just a it's just a little bit it's a little bit different, you know, on the professional version.

Of course. A

lot of similarities. But

Yes. Of course. Of course. Tell me this. Is there and and it may be that your exercise I mean, what we see a lot, Chris, is, like, burnout with leaders, you know, because they're just giving, giving, giving so much. Is there anything that you do, or is it the exercise that really helps you stay, focused and energized? Or maybe it's taken in I love what you said that you take Sundays to reflect. And sometimes I feel like that, because I'm a big person that says you gotta have that introspection time. You gotta have a meeting with yourself sometimes.

Yeah.

And I think regular meetings with yourself are really healthy.

I I mean, that's helped me. You know, I still do it. You know, I started doing that. I mean, you know, in in our careers, you know, we have challenging times, you know, whether it's, you know, a work relationship or, you know, something's going on with company or a project or whatnot. I started doing that, then, and it's something I've kind of evolved. It's helped me a lot. But I'll I'll tell you probably, you know, the the biggest thing to keep me grounded is, and and it's tough because life gets busy. But, you know, I mean, spend spend time doing what you love to do. You know, I mean, that that's, you know, for me, you know, I love being with my family. You know, we like to travel. You know, I I love being outside. So I like to go fishing, you know, pick up the bike, go for a ride, but, you know, play with the dogs, whatever it is, but just just do something that you like to do because that, you know, and I forget this was this was a mentor at some point. I can't remember who told me this, because they just work with so many people that I just, you know, really took a lot of what they said. But it you know, you gotta you gotta have something something else you can rely. You know, it's not all about work. I mean, you gotta have something you can you can go to to give you give you some peace or just a break to Yeah. Things in perspective.

I agree. Sometimes I say, you know, just get a walk in the park. Yeah. Like you said, get out in nature. I mean, it really anything to kind of shift your perspective a little bit, you know, is really healthy, I think. So

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's right. I you know, and there's probably I've read some books on on this with psychology per is that, you know, there's a lot of advice on just engage the senses, you know, can help a lot because it just, you know, it gets out of your you're in your head, you know, thinking about a problem or, you know, a situation. Anything that can get you outside of that just gives you the the space. And then you come back, you might have a new idea that can help you out. You know?

I love that. I love that. Well, this is called something extra.

Yeah.

So I wanna ask you, what do you believe, Chris, is this something extra that every leader needs?

Oh, something extra that every leader needs. I would say, they they've gotta know what the mission is. I I just think that's so important. I, you know, I think as a as a leader and I, you know, not just an IT leader, but a leader in general, you're there to provide value, you know, and you can't do that if you don't know what the mission is. And and you get it's gotta you gotta align to it too. You know, if it's not for you, it's not for you. You should look for another another place. But, but you gotta you gotta know and you gotta believe in the mission. And if you can do that, and really focus on it, I think everything else just kinda falls into place.

Falls into place. You got passion. Yeah. The energy's there. The

Yeah. It clarifies things, helps your prayers, things.

Clarify. Oh, helps you know to know what to say no to.

Exactly. Exactly.

Yeah. Oh, that's really good. I love it. Well, Chris, thank you so much. This has been so much fun.

Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. Always great talking with you, Lisa. I appreciate it.

You too.

Thank you for listening to today's show. Something extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners production. Copyright Technology Partners Inc, two thousand and nineteen. For show notes or to reach Lisa, visit tpi dot co slash podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen.