PPB October 2020

degree from the University of Florida. Previously, he worked for Time Warner Cable’s Construction Division at their St. Petersburg, Florida, CATV system upgrade project after earning his bachelor’s degree. He has managed others for 25 years but after becoming president at Specialty Incentives in 2014, he says he’s had the greatest number of direct reports with the broadest range of responsibility in his career to date. Drew Davis on his best boss. My dad, Bob Davis, was one of Specialty Incentives’ founders and would never say he was your “boss.” Instead he’d say, “We work together.” This is a phrase I have openly taken from Bob’s playbook as all of us at Specialty Incentives work together. Bob was my mentor, provided opportunities for me to fail and succeed, was encouraging and critical when appropriate, and took great joy in my personal development and finding my own place within our industry. He never asked for anything but one’s best effort. The most valuable lesson he’s learned frommanaging others. As individuals, we are so much more than what we accomplish at work each day. Remember, everyone in the company has interests and talents outside of the workplace that they bring with them to work every day. Learn to tap into those interests, as not doing so can result in folks feeling underutilized. His best advice for being a great boss. Seek out and explicitly ask for the input of your team on not only the significant business decisions being made, but also those that seem not so significant. Communicate frequently the business’ initiatives, celebrate its successes and empower people to make decisions within their area of responsibility. You don’t have all the answers and aren’t a fortune-teller. CAROL DE VILLE, MAS President The Branding Company Brantford, Ontario Carol de Ville, MAS, was rst introduced to supervising others—and to the promotional products industry—at a young age while working at The Royal Bank of Canada. In 1993, she was approached by an Ontario distributor to join the promotional products industry and never looked back. She liked what she saw about the industry and, in 1993, she went to work for a local distributor. In 2008, she opened The Branding Company—a one-stop-shop for promos and incentives for the Canadian marketplace. Through the years, she has continued to hone her management skills. “What a magical and profound journey it continues to be—as exciting as the day I started. As the years go by, you learn more and more, and I look forward to the next decade ahead,” she says. de Ville’s optimism and energy are contagious. “You only have to be around Carol for less than ve minutes to recognize and enjoy the excitement and enthusiasm she has for life,” says 10-year employee and nominator Pamela Mulvey, MAS. She says de Ville is also a strong proponent for industry education and certi cation. The TBC team accounts for more than six percent of all industry credentials in Canada. de Ville has ve Promotional Product Professionals of Canada (PPPC) Momentum Award winners among them along with 23 PPPC Image Awards. de Ville sets good examples of volunteerism having held top leadership positions on the PPPC board, Promotional Products Education Foundation board, Incentive Marketing Association, Women’s Empowerment Event (WEE) and the local D.A.R.E. board. She’s also a PPPC Hall of Fame inductee. But what Mulvey really admires about her boss is her management style. “Carol’s philosophy is ‘spilt milk.’ [She says] ‘You can’t put it back in the bottle, so how do we clean it up?’ When a situation arises that requires management attention, Carol’s call to action is simple: provide three solutions to the issue. Using this outlook allows our team to become stronger using our own thoughts and problem-solving skills. By the time you have thought about the three solutions, you have thought out the issue, the way to x it and have plans for a new process to be implemented,” says Mulvey. “Carol has built this company from the ground up “Carol has built this company from the ground up and has empowered her team to build it with her. She takes all ideas and suggestions to heart and provides creative feedback when discussing an issue. She’s a true leader.” —Pamela Mulvey, MAS FEATURE | Best Bosses 2020 22 | OCTOBER 2020 |