PPB October 2017

Jason Nokes President DistributorCentral Gardner, Kansas Number of direct reports: 4 J ason Nokes has been managing others for 22 of his 24 years in business—18 years at DistributorCentral, four years at TradeNet and two years at Stouse—but he is the first to admit he never has all the answers, nor would he want to. Nokes believes in hiring and keeping smart and talented people around him, and he believes in treating them well. When he joined the business services company in 1999, he was the first programmer. He learned how to hire the most skilled employees and rely on them to do their jobs. As he grew into management, he retained a deep appreciation for what he asks others to do. Now that he has four direct reports and 15 indirect reports, he understands the importance of delegating tasks and empowering individuals to do it their way. “If a teammember pitches a project that he or she feels passionately about, he will allow them the bandwidth to work through the project, regardless of his own ideas about it,” state his nominators, Angela Taylor; Tiffany Tarr, CAS; David Shultz and Chris Schlemmer. “If the project succeeds, then everyone wins. If the project fails, Jason recognizes that mistakes and failure play an important part of a technology company’s growth. We will all learn something from the experience.” He also gives employees the space they need based on what they are working on or their personal demands. As his nominators explain it: “If you need a two-hour creative brainstorming session, take a long lunch. If you need an afternoon off to deal with a sick child or pet, go take care of it and be back in the game tomorrow. If you need uninterrupted time to focus on writing copy, creating a new webinar, preparing for a big client meeting, or filming videos, then work from home. If we exceeded our sales or launched a big project, then he takes us to happy hour.” Nokes takes a similar thoughtful approach to how he manages his own work. If he needs time to think through a new idea someone just pitched, he’ll walk the mile or so to his home and spend his lunchtime composing music on his guitar, then walk the mile back to the office. This gives him the necessary creative time to ponder the idea from all angles and return to his desk ready to make a decision. Jason’s cool factor He’s a Rotary Club volunteer and gives staff company time to volunteer as they wish; he also offers DistributorCentral as a sponsor for organizations inside and outside the industry. His best boss My best boss is my current boss, Tom Mertz, CEO of DistributorCentral and TradeNet. He sets a strong example for work ethic, generosity, volunteerism and commitment to the community. What managing others has taught him about himself It’s better to surround yourself with great people. There is always someone more talented than yourself in every area of the business. His best advice for other bosses Empower everyone to make decisions, listen and give people the space and resources to grow and innovate. Jason Nokes, second from left, with his team members at DistributorCentral. FEATURE | Best Bosses 36 | OCTOBER 2017 |