I am so pleased and excited to welcome a friend and former colleague from Microsoft, Rodney Clark, Vice President of Microsoft’s Worldwide Internet of Things (IoT)* and Mixed Reality Sales team. Rodney is responsible for building Intelligent Systems and Mixed Reality capability through sales and go-to-market execution – from edge to cloud – with Microsoft partners and customers.

*The Internet of things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

In this episode, Rodney and I have an extensive and far-reaching discussion on a number of topics:

* His business at Microsoft and how his team is helping customers solve challenges related to COVID.* The importance of partners and how they are trailblazing this technological transformation and embracing Partner to Partner motions. * What makes a great partner? * Commitment to the P&L* A deep commitment to people* Embracing technology* Understanding your value.* His career journey, lessons he learned from his father, and other role models.* His personal reflections as an African American leader during this time, his commitment, and how he is channeling his energy.

After finishing the episode I was struck by how much I enjoyed recording this discussion with Rodney. He is a thoughtful leader who can uniquely make a complex topic like IOT understandable to the average listeners. What also came through loud and clear to me was his commitment; to his people, his customers, his partners, and his family.

Rodney is a strong leader and I so enjoyed learning from him and I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

As with each of my episodes, I appreciate your support. Please tell your friends about Ultimate Guide to Partnering and where they can find us. I'd love your feedback. Please like the podcast and provide comments or reach out to me at @vincemenzione on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also like and follow Ultimate Guide to Partnering Facebook page or drop me a line at [email protected].

LINKS & RESOURCES

* Find Rodney Clark on LinkedIn and Twitter.* Email - [email protected]* Link to Microsoft IOT Page* Satya's Blog on Racial Injustice* The transcript of our interview is available here.

Ultimate Guide to Partnering  is a rich compendium of what makes successful partnerships and is available on