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Welcome to the 78th episode of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering™. For this episode, I was delighted to welcome a friend and former colleague, Linda Rendleman.

I met Linda many years ago when we both worked at Microsoft, and her career as a woman in technology has blossomed over the last few years.

Linda Rendleman has served as Vice President, North American Device Partner Solution Sales at Microsoft since August 2020. In her role, she leads the strategy, relationships, and business operations of the company’s device solutions and partnerships to support building devices that consume our cloud, innovating with device partners, and transforming how we sell devices and services with partners. 

Linda focuses on helping channel partners capture more opportunities by rethinking how work is done and leverages aggregated solutions to increase business agility, work productivity, and operational efficiencies. 

I was excited to feature Linda to discuss her award-winning career as a woman in technology, her new role, her team’s priorities and how the market is thinking differently now about devices. 

DEVICES ARE THE GATEWAY TO THE CLOUD

With so many of us working from home with the pandemic, using a first-class, modern computing device is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Selecting devices with excellent audio, video, and computing is essential.

Linda’s team works with OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to design and build devices that best utilize the cloud with next-gen delivery models to transform the Modern Workplace.

Her Team’s Priorities:

1. Champion the value of a modern device, both in commercial consumer and education channels – why a modern device is essential.
2. Attaching client office and server perpetual licensing to those devices for businesses that aren’t yet ready for the cloud.
3. Closely align with OCP (One Commercial Partner) counterparts to support our partners in their Microsoft CSP (Cloud Solution Provider) attach motions.
4. Transformational initiatives around selling the Commercial Intelligent Edge, including Azure Stack HCI offers, DaaS, Autopilot, and Microsoft Teams Rooms.

TEAM LEADERSHIP AT MICROSOFT & PARTNERSHIPS 

As this is the year of the essential worker, and the device is the essential worker.

Linda has a unique perspective on the Device Business as she held leadership roles as a Senior VP at a top partner and now as a VP at Microsoft.

In this tough year, I wanted to ask her how she is coaching her team and supporting her top partnerships.

1. Her Team? – performing and transforming is hard. Set boundaries to ensure you are working on your plan versus the plan work you. 
2. What Keeps Here Up at Night? – The care, concern, and support for her team and her partners during this challenging year.
3. Attributes of Great Partnership? – Listen, have courage, take action when needed, take a step back when needed, really be invested—having a Growth Mindset, Empathy, and Trust.
4. When Partnerships Failed – listen, open to giving and receiving advice, not seeking to understand, to get them on the path to success.  

HOW SHE GOT TO THIS SPOT IN HER JOURNEY 

Linda and I discuss her career journey and her path to a Vice President at Microsoft.

Here are some key takeaways:  

1. Self-improvement – focusing on health, educating herself on food, exercise, and well-being has improved her performance.
2. Her Metamorphosis – after a dark period in her life, she regrouped and propelled her journey. It’s okay to take a step sideways or back on your journey.
3. “Imposter Syndrome” – how shifting her mindset, being authentic, having an abundance mindset, and focusing on helping others – made all the difference.
4. Her Focus Today – “being present” and “unexpected blessings”- it’s hard to be stuck in a bad place when you are fully engaged and feeling grateful.

If you are a business leader, partner leader, or anyone looking to grow your career, I encourage you to listen to this valuable discussion with Linda Rendleman. 

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Connect with Linda Rendleman Linked In, Twitter, and Email: linda.rendleman@microsoft.com
• Eckhart Tolle – Power of Now & A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.
• Sheryl Sandberg’s – Lean In
• Dr. Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning.

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 vincem@cloudwavepartners.com.

Ultimate Guide to Partnering™  is a rich compendium of what makes successful partnerships and is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Player FM, almost anywhere you get your podcasts!

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Ultimate Partnerships. Ultimate Partnerships helps you get the most results from your partnerships. Get Partnerships Right – Optimize for Success – Deliver Results – Ultimate Partnerships.

Transcription By Oteer.AI – Please Pardon Typos.

Vince Menzione 0:30
Welcome to the Ultimate Guide to partnering. I’m Vince Menzione, your host, and for the 78th episode of the podcast. I welcome a friend and former colleague, Linda Rendleman. Linda is Microsoft’s Vice President for the North American Devices Partner Solution Sales Team. In this episode, Linda and I discuss her award-winning career as a woman in technology. Her team’s priority and focus and how they’re working results have been impacted now during the pandemic, what makes a great partnership, and her reflections on what has shaped and propelled her journey. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I enjoyed my visit with Linda Rendleman. Linda, welcome to the podcast.

Linda Rendleman 1:17
Thanks so much for having me today. Vince,

Vince Menzione 1:19
I am so excited to finally have you as a guest on Ultimate Guide to Partnering. You and I have known each other for quite some time going back several years ago when we both worked at Microsoft together your career has really blossomed since then. And you recently came back to Microsoft as the vice president, North American devices partner sales team. So welcome.

Linda Rendleman 1:40
Thanks so much. You know, I’m especially excited to be part of the podcast today, because this is a real full circle moment for me. You were the person that introduced me to podcasts when you launch this podcast, you know, however many years ago was I think about four years now.

Vince Menzione 1:56
Yeah, wow. I didn’t know that. Yeah, crazy.

Linda Rendleman 1:59
And it was the very first podcast I listened to. And you know, then I went in and I found four or five podcasts that I really love. Some have come and gone. This one has stayed true on my on my device. And I listen regularly. And so I’m honored to be here today. Thank you.

Vince Menzione 2:17
Well, thank you. And she said, That’s quite an honor to know that. And I’m so glad to be back in fact. So I’m glad we’re providing some great new guests and content, including having you here today. So thanks so much for making the time to join us.

Linda Rendleman 2:31
Absolutely.

Vince Menzione 2:31
So you know, you have been on both sides of the table. And we’ll discuss your career in a bit. But for our listeners who don’t know your team, can you tell us a little bit about your role, and the mission of the North American devices partner sales organization?

Linda Rendleman 2:48
Absolutely. So I’ll back up just a bit and give some context, global partner solutions was created as a part of the worldwide commercial business organization at Microsoft earlier this calendar year. And as part of that DPS device partner sales moved into this organization, global partner solutions along with the OCP organization are one commercial partner, global ISP and global si. So first and foremost, I love the organizational structure that was built in order to really help support the partner in the intelligent Edge Plus intelligent cloud solutions motion that you know is put forward by the joining of these organizations, device partners solution sales is part of device partner sales. And our mission is to build and sell intelligent edge and intelligent cloud devices and solutions with our partners. And we do this through working with our OEM partners or third party OEM partners to design and build devices that consume our cloud. Also innovate with those device partners, and also transform how we sell devices and services with partners. Because some of these next gen delivery models are just as important as the transformation in the innovation of the device or or the cloud services themselves.

Vince Menzione 4:13
So when you talk about next gen delivery models, what exactly do you mean by that?

Linda Rendleman 4:17
So if you think about something like devices, a service or the autopilot technology that’s embedded in Windows devices that enable zero touch deployment, those are two examples of next gen delivery models. Ah,

Vince Menzione 4:33
I see. Very interesting. And so the bringing together the organization allows for a more cohesive and focused execution on the mission of the business, right?

Linda Rendleman 4:42
Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s, you know, puts us in a in a fantastic place to go to market with a partner in a true one Microsoft fashion.

Vince Menzione 4:52
So everyone at Microsoft has a scorecard, right. We always talk about the scorecard and the set of priorities and metrics that run the business and I’m assuming you have a pretty rich scorecard that you need to attain against. I was hoping you might, I was hoping you would do it again, I was hoping you wouldn’t mind sharing with our listeners how your team is measured.

Linda Rendleman 5:12
Yeah, it’s my pleasure to so you know, like every business today, we’re in a constant state of ruthless prioritization to both perform and transform, we’ve got a very big number that we have to hit. But at the same time, transformation is continuous. And you know, what’s great today won’t be great for tomorrow. So we have to make sure we’re, we’re building the business, for success for the future as well. And there are a number of ways we do this. First and foremost, you know, we continue to champion the value of a modern device, both in commercial consumer and education channels, all of those, there are real strong value propositions as why a modern device is essential. We also focus on attaching client office and server perpetual licensing licensing to those devices for businesses that aren’t yet ready for the cloud. I mean, cloud is amazing, I don’t know how we would get our jobs done every day if we didn’t have a device that access the cloud in front of us. But some businesses aren’t ready for that. And so we need to also be able to provide solutions for them. And our team is set up to do that. Then we also, in addition to the perpetual licensing, we work very closely aligned with our OCP counterparts to support our partners in their CSP attach motions as well. It’s been a great initiative to bring together from one Microsoft standpoint. And then also, we’ve got some transformational initiatives around selling the commercial intelligent edge, where in the server space, we’re focused on our Azure Stack HCI offers Microsoft Teams rooms this year, there’s no no more important business really then collaboration as part of our modern workplace motions. We’ve got great compete motions and verticals like education, where we have an amazing value proposition. And, you know, we talked a minute ago about next gen delivery models and and not just what we’re selling, but how we sell. And I mentioned all autopilot, that is a great enabler. Again, it’s something that really COVID has exacerbated the need for this year zero touch deployment of devices. And that that ability for partners to be able to sell hardware, software and services, and reduce the setup time by 90% is an incredible value proposition for partners where they’re really building their monetization around the device itself.

Vince Menzione 7:45
You know, you brought up actually something I was going to ask you about, and that is COVID. We’ve all been living in this time. It’s eight months now that we’ve been in this new world, this new normal people refer to it as or a time like no other. And this is really necessitated the acceleration. Before we started, we were both talking about how devices are improving. The use of video and audio are just so important. Now, people are picking devices based on the quality almost like the way you pick a phone based on based on the camera, right? So we’re starting to see that I just ordered a new monitor that’s, you know, 49 inches curved monitor, because I need to pull up a lot of different information beyond conference calls and whiteboarding and do all kinds of things I didn’t do before because I was in an office. So what are you seeing now on the devices business that you didn’t expect to see both positive or negative since this time started,

Linda Rendleman 8:37
it’s been an interesting year, for sure. Because I think for this for the challenges that 2020 has brought forward, it has also brought forward a significant amount of opportunity, especially as it relates to technology, it’s proven that there’s significant value of many of the things you know, that we’ve been talking about relative to devices for several years. Before I was at Microsoft, we were talking about the value solution selling in the endpoint space. And many of these areas now this year have, you know, been multiplied by 10s, if not hundreds in terms of opportunity, because of the need for people to work from home, learn from home, play from home, everything is really done from home. So, you know, as you said, some examples of some of the things the benefits that we’ve seen are really, the value of great video collaboration tools and Microsoft Teams rooms is is a fantastic collaboration tool and platform modern devices themselves. There was a real push to get devices in general at the beginning of the year. And I think one of the things we’re going to see is people really as this continues, because I don’t think this is just a COVID era and then everything switches back to the way it was before. I think people are going to start thinking about what kind of Commercial, real estate footprint do they need? Who will work from home permanently? Who will need use of an office? Or what’s the hybrid model in that instance, but whatever it is, they’ll need a modern device, will it need to be a notebook in every instance, I can tell you, my son is a senior financial analyst for a commercial real estate firm. And he, you know, a notebook isn’t as important to him. Because what he really needs is a setup where he’s got multiple monitors in front of him. Yeah, because he’s an Excel all day long. And you know, that’s the value to him, when he had the ability to work from home, what was more important to him was to be set up in a central location where he could get his setup, right. And that’s where he wanted to work from. And the mobility was less important. So I think, you know, different form factors that we’ve seen declines in this year, like desktops, I think we’ll, we’ll continue to see opportunity for, and it’s about it being a modern device, because that’s where you get increased performance, you have the ability to do better multitasking, great audio video, as you said, you know, everyone has realized how important their audio video quality is, and, and there’s nothing worse than being in a call where you’ve got bad audio, video, or you’re on with someone who’s got bad audio video. So I think everyone will think about the quality of that as they choose their device in the future. It’s just a better experience. Overall, if you think about security, you know, endpoint security is really important because everyone’s not going in and working from an office. So it’s not just the the PC. And Microsoft has great offers, from a security standpoint there with advanced threat protection, and secure core PC. Yesterday, we announced the pluton processor that will be available in the future, as we partner with Intel, AMD and Qualcomm to bring that technology which really advances the ability for the PC to have, you know, unprecedented. Let me say it because it’s the most word used word this year, you know, levels of security in their PC and for the cloud as well. And also, you know, devices are literally the gateway to the cloud, one of my favorite things to say, is that until people start beaming data in directly into our heads, you need a device to consume or compute. I mean, that’s just the bottom line. The fact that people thought that the PC was going away, you know, however, many years ago, that was maybe 10 years ago, when they thought, Oh, it’s the end of the PC, there’s no way because you absolutely have to have a device to computer consume. And, you know, I think the negatives that we’ve seen this year is really just the reduced ability to have that human human connection. I think that’s tough on a lot of people. But I think about how much worse it would be if we weren’t able to open our PC and connect with the world and the way that we are, you know, you pretty much worse.

Vince Menzione 12:59
Yeah, you bring up some really valid points here. I mean, I was thinking about the fact that people left the PC in the corner of the room and they were on their mobile phones, families weren’t as concerned about their PCs as much right now, this has changed considerably. The work environment having a modern device that can you know, power a 49 inch display or your son set up with multiple Excel spreadsheets running simultaneously. Like we need that now. What are you? What are your partners saying? What are how are they adapting to the new reality? You know, I’ve been talking about the fact that there’s going to be winners and losers. I mean, we’ve been talking about the pros like device sales are skyrocketing team’s usage, I think it was 100 and 15 million active users and the last count from 75 million just a few months ago. What are you seeing on the partner side? Like, you know, help me here are some adapting more readily are some struggling? What advice would you give to them?

Linda Rendleman 13:55
So I think the challenges we’ve seen this year have been very depending on the partners business, for some that have been very focused in certain vertical industries that have suffered more than others this year. It’s very, it’s very hard. But you know, the resilience I think, of the partners has been incredible across the board. And partners have been the one thing I’ve seen as partners have been very focused on filling demand this year that’s come for devices is the early part of this year in March and April, I mean, the growth from PC sales was incredible, because people just needed to get their hands on devices to enable people to work from home and and learn from home and students to learn from home. But the advice that I offer is, is very similar to the advice that I offered when I was at Microsoft before working in the cloud business. And that’s, you know, see the opportunity for the complete solution. Solve for that by utilizing that intelligent edge and intelligent cloud combo that I talked about earlier. Along with the fantastic services that the partner has to offer. It creates a value proposition that doesn’t Fulfill with the partner is looking forward today for the customer, but also keeps them connected and helps address what those customer’s needs will be as they present themselves in the future. So, you know, it’s easy to get in a rush and try to just fulfill what the need is at the moment. And it’s not that that’s not important, but absolutely thinking through the total value proposition to set them up, I think is the smartest thing that partners can do. And it’s certainly what we talk about in every instance,

Vince Menzione 15:31
you know, it strikes me, Linda, that you have a unique perspective to support partners may be an empathy, if you will. And I usually say this for the end of my interviews, but I think it would be good to peel back on your amazing career, the genesis of your career was a successful run at one of Microsoft’s largest partners, then Microsoft, that’s when we met, and then you went back to that same partner in a very senior leadership capacity. And now you’re back at Microsoft, again, can you share with us a little bit about that journey, and how it’s helped inform how you lead and how you manage an organization that’s focused in on these types of partners?

Linda Rendleman 16:09
Yeah, I feel really lucky to have had the experiences that I’ve had, you know, I spent a lot of my career in distribution. I spent some time at Microsoft in the cloud business for seven years in various subsidiaries, both the US, the UK, and in the worldwide team, I went back to distribution for a while and got really focused again on the endpoint space. And, you know, like I said, it’s really about focusing on solving the customers problems and helping them reimagine what possible looks like. And I think one of the things I learned in my first time at Microsoft in it, and it’s continued to apply is when partners go in and talk to customers, they don’t just start talking to them about cloud technology, they seek to understand what’s going on in the customers business. And it’s REALLY THE COMPLETE end to end solution that helps them achieve their goals. And the beauty is with the PC, I think, like I said, For years, it’s been felt the PC is on the way out, there’ll be something to replace the PC, the PC is a commodity, there’s, you know, potentially no money to be made there. But, you know, as I talked to partners and learned on the infrastructure side, where people have felt, you know, there’s more value, for some time, the value was built in by building services and cloud around the hardware itself and building out that hybrid motion. And it’s the same on the PC side, it’s the same in the endpoint space, if you think about these, you know, the reimagining of the workspace, and whether that’s at home or in the office, or some combination thereof in between, it’s completely different now than it was before. And just set people up for success and how they work and make them really effective in their in the work that they do every day. They’ve got to have a great device. You know, I was thinking about, we talked about devices a service earlier. And I just want to touch on this because I think it’s really important in in elaborating this point. devices, a service, a lot of people have thought, Oh, it’s just a glorified lease. It’s not because it’s not really about the financial benefit. It’s about having a secure productive device in front of every user in your business, you know, at all times, bringing in the refresh period, so that you can have that because if you try to sweat assets on a device for five or six years today, the technology is just too good. It’s It’s refreshing and innovating at a pace that you will have a very bad user experience if your user has a five or six year old device, thought about it in terms of my phone, because a couple years ago, I went to basically a device as a service plan on my phone because I thought to things, I use my phone more than I use my car. I mean, that is very true today, but it was even true when I was driving every day. And so does it really matter to me what my phone costs, because at the end of the day, I use it continually throughout the day, I want to have the best functionality on my phone that I can possibly have. I want my phone to be secure so that things that I save on my phone don’t end up in places that I don’t want them to be. And you know, when new technology comes out, and I want that newest technology, and so it’s worth it to me to pay $50 a month so that, you know I get some protection on the phone. And I’m able to switch out the technology when something new is introduced, really for very little extra cost is the exact same situation with this device as a service plan. And I think you know now especially As, as companies start to really understand the value of the PC and the innovations, it’s there and the security that’s built in, as we talked about, and the access to the cloud and the services that they’re able to build around that. It absolutely is a force multiplier for companies being able to, you know, get a incredibly productive workforce, across the business and in every part of the organization. And that’s where I’m excited to have that cloud and devices experience. So you know, I can help work with our partners to be able to tell that story.

Vince Menzione 20:36
I love what you have to say there. In fact, you know, I’ve been talking about the fact that I believe we’re actually at the precipice of a Renaissance, because transformation and technology is going to drive so much change. And like I said, we’re never going to go back to the old ways. And this creates an environment, I keep thinking about being back in the office about a year or so go on people walking around with five year old PCs, right, not able to do the same level of work that I could. Now everyone needs to have an equal footing in terms of being productive, right. And so I so agree with you about devices as a service being a great offering for organizations, same way we use our phones, the PC is now becoming that another first class device, as you say, the gateway to the cloud, right?

Linda Rendleman 21:18
Oh, absolutely. And let me give you another example of that. So one of the things I love about, you know, the engagement that we have with Qualcomm, and certainly the other chipsets we’re working to introduce through these third party, OEM partners, devices that have a carrier enabled, and your know, you’re able to light it up as an active device, much like your phone. And I think, you know, this year, it’s shown that that redundant connectivity is so important, because not everyone lives in a place that has great Wi Fi. And you if you have the ability to use Wi Fi, when it makes sense to light up your PC through your carrier network, when when it makes sense, then you have the ability to be you know, on all the time, it’s that always connected PC that people are talking about it, and that is at the core of the device. And then you light up cloud on top of that you you know, you’ve got productivity all the time. So I love the innovation. And on the device side,

Vince Menzione 22:26
yeah, it’s such an exciting time, I grew up in the devices, space. So for me, it gets me excited to hear about what’s happening and all the innovations and how you’re taking them forward. So really exciting conversation. I want to pivot a second because I was privileged to get to spend some time with your new team. And by the way, a great group of people, I’ve known some of them for many years. And I want to thank you for having me keynote, your recent event, this team of professionals, I mean, really, you’ve got some senior people in that organization been around Microsoft for some time, what coaching and direction are you bringing to them, both from your unique set of experiences and, and also working during this unique time.

Linda Rendleman 23:08
It’s a tough year for this because of everything that’s going on. But you know what, one of the things that I learned in my last in Microsoft, as well as that transformation is hard. And it’s hard all the time. So, you know, I think it takes a lot of work to balance that need to perform and transform at the same time. And you’ve got to really make sure that you’re being very intentional about how your day is set up, to be sure that you’re having that impact that you need to have to not just deliver today, but build for the future. And that’s the hardest part is because it’s so easy to you know, get involved in the day to day. And it’s easy to do enough things to fill every day, all the time as many hours as you want to. But it’s really about making sure that you know, you’ve got the time to focus on the transformation piece, and it won’t make up the majority of your revenue or your activations or whatever metric you’re measuring to in the beginning. So you’ve got to be extra thoughtful about it. And you know, our our team, I think going back to that piece where there’s still a mindset out there that the device is a commodity. And so I think our team has to work even harder to make sure we’re championing that it’s the essential worker, you know, in this year of COVID, where we’ve talked about the essential worker, if we think about solutions, the device is the essential worker, you know, my previous experience, I think, ensures that we’re finding that balance and I’m continually working to find that balance and model it so that my team feels comfortable to find it as well. We transform ourselves we help transform our partners and then that helps us transform the business overall.

Vince Menzione 24:58
So what specific Coaching would you might give me if I was on your team about how to how to perform and transform at the same time, it does seem like we’re on our PCs like, you know, 12 hours a day, I’m exhausted at the end of the day now, because I’m always on a zoom or, or teams call. How do you coach them through that?

Linda Rendleman 25:17
Yeah, well, you know, I learned a long time ago for myself that anytime I would start to feel sorry for myself about not having enough time to get everything done, I would remind myself that, you know, I’ve just like everyone else have 24 hours in a day. So it’s really being thoughtful about looking at your calendar and realizing what time you have in there, to make sure that you’re focused on that transformation piece. And, you know, a lot of times, you’ve got to be really diligent about setting boundaries and making sure that you’re working to your plan versus having your plan work you. And it sounds so simple, but it’s really those basics, I think, that are fundamental to making sure that it happens.

Vince Menzione 26:05
So what keeps you up at night?

Linda Rendleman 26:06
Wow, well, I think being 50 keeps me up at night.

Vince Menzione 26:12
30, what are you worried about? 50. If that’s even true, I don’t believe it.

Linda Rendleman 26:19
I feel better than I’ve ever felt. But I think I woken up at three cents, I was 40 cents for the last five years. So in all seriousness, you know, what keeps me up at night is really the care and concern for our people, for the people in my team and our organization, but also, you know, the people at our partners as well, because this year is a very difficult year. And you know, some people are at home, and they’re trying to balance work and kids and their marriage and everybody being together 24 hours a day, some people are at home by themselves. And you know, that can be really lonely, and people can suffer from isolation. Some folks have been affected by the virus very personally, where people in their families or people that they love have had it, I think some have been really affected by much of the social injustice that’s been so prevalent this year, not that that’s new, but I think it’s been more prevalent, because of all of the other things that are going on, it’s safe to say the politics stresses everyone out, you know, and I worry that there’s going to be a breaking point. So, you know, as a leader, and as a human, who cares about other people, you know, I try to start with that in mind, always, and continuously remind people that their support, I’m here to have a conversation with them, you know, created an environment where our team and our partners just feel incredibly supported, and they feel strong, and they feel like they can do their best work this year, that’s more important than ever, because there are a lot of stressors on people, and knowing that they have the ability to set their day up in a way that can you know, get the results that they need to get, but also do it in a way that’s flexible and fits their life. So important. That’s what’s keeping me up more than anything else.

Vince Menzione 28:16
Yeah, it is. These are a set of unique challenges we’ve all had this year in the stress. I don’t think I think some of us block it out. But I do think it exists for for all of us.

Linda Rendleman 28:26
Yes, a good point. And blocking doesn’t help. Know, those feelings that deep down inside are some of the worst things we can do. So that’s why I think it’s just making sure people have those outlets.

Vince Menzione 28:40
so important. So you and I have been in this partner world, this partner ecosystem for quite some time, we both been on both sides of that equation in the Microsoft ecosystem. And you’ve seen partnerships from both sides, obviously, they’re, what attributes or attributes Do you think makes a great partner,

Linda Rendleman 28:57
I think the attributes for a great partner in business are much the same that they are, you know, in your personal life, and that’s the ability and willingness to listen and understand. And it can’t be underestimated, you know, to have courage to take action when it’s needed to take a step back when it’s needed. And ultimately, to care as much for the partnership as you do for you know, yourself or the company to really be invested. And I think great things can happen when you’ve got those elements in play.

Vince Menzione 29:33
You know, it strikes me maybe what you said or at least what I took from what you said two things that tie in to what I talked about too is the mindset being really having having that right mindset or that growth mindset, and then empathy is what I think I heard.

Linda Rendleman 29:47
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. two very important things.

Vince Menzione 29:51
And then trust, right, we had to build trust into the relationship. It really is about relationship. I think everything that you said it’s not just about business, like it’s how you Treat others in life, it always comes back to me in that way.

Linda Rendleman 30:04
Yeah, it’s thinking about that relationship and going into it thinking about it, as you said, as a relationship, because there’s nothing worse in my opinion than someone who goes in to have a conversation, and is excited to tell you about all the ways that if you just do what they say that you should do that, you know, you’re going to help them achieve their objectives and life is going to be good. You know, it’s a two way conversation. And really, starting with that desire to seek to understand is is so important. And then all of the things that you talked about growth, mindset, empathy, they’re all part of that. But you got to start with, you know, really the desire to build a relationship and, and have great things come from that, at the start.

Vince Menzione 30:51
You know, you said something that is near and dear to my heart seek to understand I’m a big fan of Stephen Covey’s seven habits. And yeah, that’s such a basic principle of life.

Linda Rendleman 31:00
Yes. I see many areas where it still doesn’t, you know, it doesn’t happen today. So

Vince Menzione 31:06
yeah, and sales and business, we all try to sometimes we try to push your own agenda, and we’re not really trying to understand the customer or the partners point of view. So what about those partnerships that failed? Like, I’m sure you’ve seen them? You’ve managed relationships in the business world for quite some time? Was there anything you wished you had said, when you saw a partnership fail to get the partnership on the right track? the right path to success?

Linda Rendleman 31:29
Yeah, as I think about this, I think it goes back to you know, what I just said, if there’s a failure, or a lack of being willing to listen, I think sometimes it doesn’t matter what you say. So being in that space, where you’re both open to get the best from the partnership is where you see good things happen. And if I think partnerships that you know, back to partnerships that I’ve been part of that weren’t made better by having known me as part of the partnership, I think maybe I wasn’t open to listening as much as I should have been. So I wasn’t ready to give maybe the advice that was needed at the time. And that seeking to understand is so important. Because when you come from that position, you’re in the best place to offer support and connect to partners, get them resources that they need in order to help them thrive. That to me is key.

Vince Menzione 32:21
Yeah, really great point. And I really, really appreciate your comments there. I would love to pivot again, as you know, I’m committed to helping others and fascinated with how people got to a particular spot in their career for early in career professionals. You’ve had an amazing career. We talked about that a little bit earlier. But I mean, you were in, I would call increasingly senior roles, both in your previous company, and then at Microsoft, and then you came back to your previous company moved to a senior leadership role in that organization. And then back to Microsoft in a very senior capacity Vice President and is a big deal at Microsoft. How would you like to? I’d like to have you maybe spend a few moments with our listeners taking us through that journey. And were there any pivot points along the way that either increased your trajectory? Or made you think differently about your career path?

Linda Rendleman 33:13
Absolutely. So a little context on this as well, earlier this year, at the very beginning of the pandemic, I was in this space, where all I wanted to do is sit on the couch and eat chocolate and popcorn and watch the news. And I very quickly realized that was not going to benefit me and I thought you need to make you need to come out of this year better than you came into it. And what’s that going to look like? So one of the things I wanted to be more committed to was reading. So specifically over the summer, I really got passionate about reading again. And I was reading about a book a week at the time that slowed down since then. But I was probably one of the last people to read Sheryl Sandberg book lean in. But I loved it. And one of the things that she talks about in that book is career as being more like a jungle gym than a ladder. And it was one of those kind of mind blowing moments where I’m like, Oh my god, that’s so true. I never thought about it that way. But I think that’s the perfect explanation of what I’ve been through in my career. I spent 18 years with, you know, in distribution at the first company that I worked for, and steadily climbed that ladder. And then I went to Microsoft. And you know, I had a great time, increasing my responsibility there as well. And five years ago, I was working for Microsoft in the UK. And it was a dream of mine, a career goal, a dream to live and work internationally. I’d done global roles before but I really wanted to have the experience of working overseas and I’ve always called myself a simple girl from Southeast Missouri. So to think that, you know, I would achieve this was really unthinkable at sometimes but I always had it in my mind that I wanted to do it and it was an terrific experience. But in the my last six, eight months there, I went through a real personal crisis. I mean, I’ll call it a dark night of the soul. And it rocked me to my core. And I feel like that’s an understatement when I say it, because it didn’t allow me to show up as my best self at work. And I was in a real dark place personally. And, you know, I made the decision to move back to the US. And I really wanted to be back in Florida because my son lived here, he was finishing up school at the time at UCF. And I wanted to be close to him. And fortunately, Microsoft had an opening for, you know, the partner sales executive role calling on the distributor, this local here Tech Data. And that role was two levels below the roles that I had been doing. So it was a real wrestle with my ego at the time. And I hate to say that, but I look back now. And it’s one of my proudest moments that that I’ve gone through, and I jumped at the chance to take it if I’m honest with you, because, you know, I felt broken as a human being, I felt broken. And I was thinking, you know, maybe I should play smaller in life at work. It’s a terrible headspace to be in, but I look back. Now, as I said, and it’s one of the best things that’s happened to me in my life, I’m so grateful for it. Because taking that job saved me, it gave me the space, I needed to, like really rebuild my confidence, remember what I’m capable of. And it didn’t take very long. And I really felt like, you know, I was back in my groove. And I was in that job for about 15 months. And then I went back to my former company, in a VP role, and then was promoted to a senior vice president, just about a year after that a year in a few months, because what had happened was because I took care of myself, you know, I was able to get back and really perform to the best of my capabilities, and the work that the team accomplished and the expanded responsibilities that I had taken on, you know, I think it enabled me to go and get that senior vice president role, and it was a big business, you know, I was running their very big business. And we were driving a significant amount of transformation into that business doing things that really nobody had thought of, specifically a distribution in the endpoint space. So and now I’m back at Microsoft as the VP and, and I think that’s probably really confusing to some people who knew me when I was in that partner sales executive role, to think, Wow, she was just here a few years ago, as a partner sales executive. Now she’s back as a VP, how did that possibly happen, but, you know, my capabilities still existed, there was just a lot of doubt in my head, and I would have never made it here. If it weren’t for me making that decision to take a step back. And I’ve probably talked about it, you know, since then, especially in the last couple of years, because it was a real pivotal point in my career. And I’ve had, you know, people approach me and say, I’m so glad you said that, because a lot of times we go, and I’m inspired to hear stories of people who, you know, persevere through difficult times, and get through without having to take a step back and just keep pushing forward. And I think that’s great. But I think people need to know that when you need it, you’ve got to take care of yourself. And it’s the smartest career decision I’ve made in my 29 years of working, I would do it all over again. It’s made me who I am today, and I’m just super grateful for it.

Vince Menzione 38:35
That’s a really great insight. I really appreciate you sharing that because it’s really great insights and say advice and like it’s okay to take a step back is one of the things I just took from what you just said. And then you said you were at a crisis point. And then you pull back, I guess maybe you needed a safe space or what have you to kind of regroup and get your confidence back. Is that what I heard you say? Yeah, that’s right. And so I watched this journey, right, you and I met when you were Microsoft, you were traveling internationally, we’re over in London, I believe at the time at one point, I know we we’ve known each other through several points, intersection points. And then when you came back to Microsoft, and then when you left, I mean, I got to watch what you were doing. I mean, we’re friends on LinkedIn and and other social media. And you were really, it seemed like your career just really took off like a skyrocket at that. So I’m wondering what happened at that point? Was there anything specifically that kicked in for you like an afterburner after booster?

Linda Rendleman 39:28
Well, for me, for most of my career, I would say I’ve really suffered from imposter syndrome, believing inside that I wasn’t good enough, even though I was proving throughout my career that I was working hard achieving great things. And, you know, I just felt like scratch below the surface, and I’m going to be found out. And it was that point where I really realized that I was being the harshest Judge of myself and that imposter syndrome was coming from my own judgment. Not From the judgment of other people, and it completely shifted my way of thinking I had that time and space to really regroup, and, and that’s what was the shift for me. So I think it was just the confidence to be who I am, for the first time in my life, I thought, you know, some of the things I was so worried about, you know, being just being the real me, I think was really resonating with people when I just had the courage to do it. And it also helped me realize that life is not all about me. And there’s a bigger world out there that I can have an impact when I went on part of it, and apply, you know, the skills that I have wherever I can, wherever they’re needed. And, you know, that’s when I really wanted to start having a broader impact outside of work. And I became much more involved in women and technology groups, I became more involved in community initiatives, I’ve realized that you know, your local community is where you have the ability to have the biggest impact. And it’s, you know, where you have the most experience of your impact in your life generally, I joined the the board of a local nonprofit that’s, you know, focused on helping survivors of domestic violence that’s been extremely fulfilling for me. And yeah, I think it’s just utilizing, realizing that I am, I am a resource, getting out of my own head, realizing that I have a lot of great capabilities and gifts to share, and doing that in a bigger way. I mean, that’s been the real change. And then it’s almost as though that abundance when I realized the abundance that life has to offer is there, and had the courage to realize that I deserve this, then you know, that these things started to happen. You know, you talk about an area I’m passionate around as well, which is diversity, inclusion, gender qualities and other areas. Well, within that subset of that, I guess, and you’ve been very active in women in leadership, women in the cloud. What advice do you give for young people starting out are those you know,

Vince Menzione 42:08
come 20 somethings that look at you and say, I want to get to that spot in life, but like, well, what advice would you give to them? Or what what advice would you give to your 23 year old self? In fact?

Linda Rendleman 42:18
Yeah, well, Funny enough, it’s, it’s a lot of the same advice. And that’s, as I said, you know, be authentic. I think being authentic is what really resonates with people. And, you know, the more courage I’ve had to be authentic, I think, the more confident I felt the more success that I’ve had, you know, I’ve doubted myself so much in my life. And I wish I could say that that dealt monster is gone, it’s not, but I have better ways to cope with it today than I’ve ever had in the past. And, you know, helping others also helps me cope with that. And, you know, so it is, it’s just about being yourself, I remember, for so long, I felt like I needed to be like something else in order to fit in, or to be good enough. And so a lot of times I would, you know, the elements of the authentic me would be there in the work. So I was successful and really driving results. But, you know, I was really nervous about being the authentic me so would emulate others. And that just it never, it’s never as good as when you just have the courage to be who you are, and bring that to the world. And some of the things I thought were the worst parts about me, are my biggest gifts, because they are they are what makes me me, they are what makes me unique. And I’ve learned to embrace those things. And so I would absolutely, I love men, mentoring, specifically women that are early in career. And these are absolutely the things that I share with them

Vince Menzione 43:53
being authentic, and being yourself. And I also, I can peel back on several things that you said here around gratitude around giving around being being a giver versus a so focused on yourself, I guess some of the things I drew from just what you said, Yeah. Where do you draw inspiration? Like we didn’t talk about, like mentors, or maybe books you’ve read? Is there? Is there an area that you draw from to, you know, to fuel where you’ve taken this amazing life?

Linda Rendleman 44:24
Yeah, so I’ve had a number of things in my life besides just you know, this kind of dark night of the soul that I had five years ago, I would say it wasn’t the first one I’ve had moments to elevate my consciousness at many points. And probably 15 years ago, I got to this space where I developed this motto for myself called gratitude equals happiness. And it’s very simple. But as I said, I’m a simple girl from Southeast Missouri. And every time I’m in a place or I’m having a pity party, I stop and think what are you grateful for? What’s one of the you know, this year, I have a thing that I’ve done with my team, both of my former company and this company, and where we take a moment and talk about what are some of the unexpected blessings that have come from this year. Because it gets to a point where it’s almost impossible to stay in that space of, you know, feeling bad, when you’re grateful. And anytime I stop and think about all the things that I have to be grateful for, I feel happy. And so, you know, it’s, it’s one of the things that inspires me is to be in that space of gratitude. And then I would say, you know, spiritually, I’ve really worked to, you know, elevate my consciousness over the last five years, I feel like I’ve gone through this whole metamorphosis of really understanding, you know, my idea of what it means to be, you know, a spiritual being living a human experience. And so there are a lot of people that I love to read and take inspiration from like Eckhart Tolle lay and his work around conscious manifestation and being present, I practice I try to practice that every day, to be honest with you. And then I’m just focused in on health in general, like I said, earlier this year, I thought, I’ve got to come out of this year better than I came into it. And so I’ve been really focused on my health and educating myself around, you know, food and, and why it’s important to pick and choose, you know, what we’re putting into our bodies and making sure I’m getting exercise every day. So all of those things help me be a better balanced person.

Vince Menzione 46:36
So you mentioned eckerd, totally. And I have one of his books, The Power of Now, is there any book that you would recommend to our listeners from his collection?

Linda Rendleman 46:43
Well, both his book, The Power of Now and the new earth have been getting worried for me?

Vince Menzione 46:49
Yeah, we’re gonna put some links to those books in our show notes. And then on the health aspect, is there anything specifically you’re doing differently that you can share with our listeners?

Linda Rendleman 46:58
Well, I walk, I tried to get out and walk every day, I was walking religiously every day, about six miles for four or five months. And then I had a period where I slacked off a little bit, and now I’m getting back into it again. So it’s really just making sure I’m moving my body every day, because I’m doing something that I love to do, I love to walk, I think good things happen when you’re moving forward. And so that’s a little bit of a mantra that I have, as I as I get myself out the door to do it. And then like I said, health wise, you know, I’ve really been focused on food. And my whole life, I’ve, you know, thought about, you know, eating and diets, and I’ve been on a million diets, and I really this year have just wanted to be focused on what nutrients Am I putting in my body? And how is that helping me out? How do I make sure I’m getting as little glyphosate as possible by the foods that I choose at the grocery store, because so much of that is sprayed on so much of our food, and, you know, it’s not a good substance. And so therefore, it’s, you know, you have to be a bit I’ve really had to educate myself to understand, number one, the impact of it. And number two, how to pick food when you go to the grocery store to make sure that you’re not getting it or as little of it as possible. So those are just a couple of the things,

Vince Menzione 48:16
some really great advice when you’re talking about his pesticides, right. So like, the type of pesticides we see and weed killers and the like.

Linda Rendleman 48:24
Yeah, absolutely.

Vince Menzione 48:26
So you’re having a dinner party. And I’m assuming you’re going to make this a very healthy dinner. And you’re going to, you have the opportunity to invite any three guests from the present or the past to attend this lavish dinner party. Who would you invite? And why?

Linda Rendleman 48:42
Well, I love this question. And because I listened to your podcast, I had a feeling this would be coming up. So I thought, first and foremost, I would invite my grandma randleman. So my paternal grandmother, I was incredibly close to both her and my paternal grandfather. But her I think the older I get, the more I just admire her. And, you know, she passed away when I was in my early 30s. And, you know, I wish every day that I would have asked her a lot more questions when she was still, I probably have a million now that I would love to ask her. And I just am so grateful for her and the example that she said and would have loved to learn more. And I said, Take that lesson and ask my mom and dad more questions while I still love them.

Vince Menzione 49:30
There’s a be

Linda Rendleman 49:31
a challenge to myself. Second would be like artola. And, you know, I love what he brings. As a spiritual leader. I’ve learned so much from reading his books. I’ve listened to him through a variety of podcasts. I’ve subscribed to webinars that he’s given that focus on the value of being present has been a game changer for me. And so I love listening to him. I love learning from him. And whenever I have listened to him and he makes himself laugh, and then he laughs at that it really brings me a lot of joy. So. And then third, I would invite Viktor Frankl who wrote a man’s search for meaning and what an impactful book that’s been for me. And I just think it’s the gold standard for having resilience and unconditional gratitude. I mean, talk about living through, you know, what’s possibly the hardest experience that anyone could have lived through in our lifetime. And getting through that, and finding gratitude for it. And finding meaning in that is remarkable. And, and I’ve learned a lot through that. I mean, I’ve everyone goes through, the thing I’ve realized is everyone goes through difficult times in their life, but it’s the ability to get through that and be optimistic and be grateful for those hard times and the lessons that they brought. I think that would be a pretty cool dinner party to have those three. They’re

Vince Menzione 50:57
a very cool dinner party. And I didn’t realize you know, Viktor Frankl is also someone, as you might know, because I presented at your meeting. Yeah. Somebody who’s very close, that I admire his work. And his book is one of my favorites, if not my favorite book of all time. Yeah. So really great. Really great. I can’t wait to get help. Can I join the dinner party as well?

Unknown Speaker 51:20
I would love that.

Vince Menzione 51:21
I’d love to meet Grandma randleman. You know, they’d be awesome. Awesome. Linda, you are just been you exceeded my expectations. Today, you’ve been an amazing guest. You’ve you really exude a sense. And I hope this comes through in our podcast listener for our listeners. But I just loved everything you had to say particularly around a on the business beyond the gratitude, see on the partnering, and all of the experiences, wonderful experiences that you bring every day to world, I want to thank you for being an amazing guest. Do you have any last comments or things you’d like to leave with our listeners?

Linda Rendleman 51:57
I would just say, first and foremost, thank you for having me on the podcast, it’s been my pleasure completely. I value your friendship, your partnership, I think there are no accidents in this world. And I couldn’t be happier that you and I connected. You know, I think I would just leave it with similar to the theme of the latter part of this conversation is, you know, the change that I think everyone wants to see, regardless of where you’re at, in your headspace in this world will come as we all commit to coming out of this year better than we came into it in whatever way shape or form that that that is able to happen. And I’ll contribute to that by holding myself personally accountable for it. And also, you know, if I can help in a broader way, I’m down for that. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk a bit about that today. And also the amazing opportunity that’s happening in the in the device space.

Vince Menzione 52:55
Well, and one question and ask and I’ll ask it now is if our listeners want to reach out to either you or to your team, how would they do so.

Linda Rendleman 53:02
So my email is Lynda dot randleman REN dl e ma n@microsoft.com. Happy to you know, talk with anyone who wants to reach out there, the best way to get engaged around the business is really through our distribution partners because they have the ability to not just support the motions we have in market but put all their fabulous, you know, value on top of that. So in regards to the business, I think you know, absolutely where you want to understand better offer opportunity. Connect through distribution as a partner personally if you’d love to connect, you know, you’ve got my email address and happy to to talk with anyone.

Vince Menzione 53:43
Thank you so much for being such an amazing guest, Linda

Linda Rendleman 53:46
thank you for having me, Vince.