The tasks we face in our daily lives often offer ponderous challenges. At times, saying no may be the quickest and easiest way to overcome them. Then again, while it may be the easiest solution, that doesn’t mean it’s the right solution.
Larry White understands that saying no can be the most expedient solution, but the chief revenue officer of Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS) and a 2019 ENX Magazine Difference Maker also realizes it can create a crisis of conscience. The right thing to do and the easy thing to do are often located in different neighborhoods on the business map, and the easy way out tends to be a one-way, dead-end street.
White is a man who prides himself on getting things done, and he’s not afraid to roll up his sleeves and dig in to solve a task that could more easily be dismissed as unworkable. But that doesn’t serve the needs of his clients, or does it cast his business in a positive light.
“In life, you’re going to be faced with a lot of challenges, and the most important thing you can do is evaluate the situation and determine the right thing to do,” White said. “Often times, the easy to do requires no foresight or thought, while the right thing requires a lot of work and communication to ensure you do the right thing for the customer and your company.”
White has been tasked with making the difficult, but right, call during much of his professional career, as well as college. This 2017 Difference Maker recounted how he entered Texas Tech University with the intention of becoming an engineer, like his father. White loved math and found the idea of engineering fascinating, in theory. But the further he dug into the major, the less it appealed to him. He didn’t envision himself sitting behind a desk from 9-5, and eventually White admitted to himself that he didn’t have a passion for engineering.
The thought of getting into the business world—his brother-in-law was flourishing with IBM—and interacting with like-minded individuals held much more appeal. So after graduating from Texas Tech as a business major, he chose a lesser-known brand in Savin over IBM and Xerox, which helped kick start a career that has spanned over four decades.
Team Success
White finds the greatest satisfaction in the success of not only his fellow TABS employees, but the dealer partners as well. Their success is a validation of the efforts made by his team to find new business and opportunities for growth. Watching dealers overcome adversity, and playing something of a role in that transformation, is what keeps business fresh and exciting every day for White.
Acting as a mentor is really White’s way of paying it forward. Through his career, he has gained invaluable knowledge and support from a who’s who of industry experts and executives, from Scott Maccabe and Rick Taylor to Lou Federico and Brian Merriman. Dealers such as Kelley Imaging Systems’ Aric Manion also provide a blueprint for success that is not lost on White.
“The customers and dealers I’ve worked with have been absolutely essential to my growth in the industry,” he noted. “If you cannot learn from these individuals, then you haven’t been paying much attention.”
White loves the validation TABS receives from outside sources, such as the company being named the Top Workplace in Orange County in 2018. TABS was also named one of the Best Companies to do Business with, an indication the organization is humming along smoothly. To borrow a sports adage, White plays for the team name on the front of the jersey, not the individual’s name on the back; he is nothing if not a team player.
Continuous Improvement
As the calendar turns closer to 2020, White sees the need to continuously become more efficient as a unit. Helping dealers to recruit and retain quality employees, an ongoing struggle for the entire industry, falls within TABS’ wheelhouse. The same can be said for helping dealers in areas including net-new customer acquisition and lead generation. Finding other avenues for growth, without taking dealers completely out of their comfort zone, will go a long way toward TABS’ future success.
“In our business, you have to be consistently getting better,” he said. “I don’t know anybody that’s going to go completely outside of what they normally do and do something completely crazy. So how do I get a little bit better at what I do, how do I grow my business how do I make up for lost business in other areas? Because we’re all faced with the same challenges.”
White and his wife, Sarah, have two grown children. Hailee, a graduate of Texas Christian, was recently accepted into nursing school. Their son, Griffin, graduated from Southern Methodist University and just accepted a job with an investment banking firm. The Whites are avid travelers; in addition to taking an African safari, they have visited Russia, Scandanavia, Europe and South America. Aside from vacations, White loves the fact that he can see much of the world through TABS. They recently took a dealer trip to Montreal that included Quebec City, and next year the itinerary includes Croatia and Montenegro.
