Eric Japenga's Journey to Leadership at Clickstop
Employee Growth: From Team Player to Leader
You’ve likely heard the saying that people don’t leave their workplace, they leave their manager.
There’s a lot of truth to that.
Managers directly influence the 12 needs that drive employee engagement so they are crucial in retaining their team members.
Because of this connection between managers and engagement, we talk constantly about the vital role of managers in our overall success. At Clickstop, we seek to develop great managers, not just good managers.
It speaks directly to one of our core values – expect greatness in yourself and inspire it in others. We expect every one of our employee-owners to be highly engaged and that level of ownership takes support and accountability from great managers.
Speaking of great managers, we’d like to introduce you to Eric Japenga.
Eric came to Clickstop with no preconceived notion that he’d want to become a manager. However, over his eight years with Clickstop that changed.
Here is his story…
As a social worker who was recently married and wanted to start a family, Eric knew he wanted something different from his current day-to-day.
Simultaneously, Clickstop was recruiting inside sales representatives to support the rapid growth of our flagship brand, US Cargo Control. Hearing about Clickstop from a former coworker and having read about the company culture, Eric decided to pursue it.
Making the jump from social work to inside sales doesn’t seem like an obvious connection, but if you ask Eric about it, you’ll find yourself nodding and beginning to understand how social work skills are transferable to not just sales, but a variety of jobs.
“The difference between social work and sales is just a different population of people,” said Eric. “All the skills are applicable: you need to have a good sense of what people want, what they actually need, and then all the things that might prevent them from getting there. Once you figure out what all of those things are, knowing the resources and options that you can provide people allows you to plug all of those things in correctly.”
Raising the Bar
Initially, Eric came into the Inside Sales team and was a strong contributor. He enjoyed Clickstop because it is an environment focused on employee growth whether that be vertical, horizontal, or any other way that is meaningful to the individual and the business.
“I didn’t have anything on my mind about being a formal leader,” said Eric. “It wasn’t anything I had actively pursued. I was able to be a member of the team who might collect bits of information or have conversations outside of our department. It was something I could do without being in a formal leadership position.”
Eric’s ownership mindset created an impact on those around him that couldn’t be ignored. When he saw opportunities, he asked questions. He leaned in to challenge his direct supervisor because he saw the need to clarify and raise the expectations. Creating a clear vision, setting high expectations, supporting team members, and providing accountability are key to any team’s success. Eric knew his team was capable of more.
The Decision
There came a day when something just clicked. He knew that his team needed more if they were to reach their potential and produce the results he and Clickstop expected.
“Eric is a great example of somebody, who for a while, didn’t really aspire to managing people,” said Cari McCoy, Clickstop’s CEO. “He knew what the team deserved from a leader, he expected it, and he pushed for it. As a committed team member, at some point he looked around and just said, ‘If I don’t do this, I don’t know who will.’ It took him outside of his comfort zone, but it has caused Eric to blossom.”
The responsibility of managing others isn’t something Eric took lightly. As he told us, “It was a very calculated decision. We’d gotten to a point on the Inside Sales team where we could start over, restructure, and implement new strategies. Once that opportunity came up, I thought that would be the best time to become a leader in a different capacity.”
What was most important to him when deciding if he wanted to become a formal leader was those he reported to. He was evaluating what support there was for him as a manager so that he could then create the best support for his team.
“If the people who are above the manager do not have the same alignment, vision, desires, or requirements of that position, then I wasn’t going to be the right person for the job,” said Eric.
Growing Pains
Once he’d vetted the role and the support around it, he wanted to learn all he could. Even though he had spent six years as an Inside Sales Specialist, he knew there was more to learn.
There were two important people Eric learned from in his early days as a leader, Tammy Karr and Matt Mitchell. He noted that both Tammy and Matt have been great examples of leaders who help others transition into leadership positions. They supported him in different aspects of the job from the details of the sales and service teams to developing people.
But even with support in place and a conviction on the vision and expectations for his team, Eric faced some challenges as a new leader.
At Clickstop, we embrace and drive change. In an environment where we seek to invest in our engaged employees and provide them with meaningful opportunities, we see a lot of career mobility – horizontal, vertical, and even backwards.
The success of Eric and his team is directly tied to how aligned Eric is with those he reports to. Over the years, there have been several leadership changes that create challenges to that alignment. But even with those challenges, Eric is happy with the result of that evolution.
“A personal challenge for me was the changes in leadership over the years I’ve been here,” said Eric. “I have to say that the structure that we have now and this group of individuals, is likely the best it’s ever been.”
With a stable structure to support him and high team expectations in place, Eric then faced the task of determining his approach to hiring new team members. It came down to combining Eric’s expectations of the role with his understanding of employee engagement.
At Clickstop, employee engagement is defined as commitment and aligned action with mission, values, strategies, and goals. In the hiring process, Eric wasn’t seeking to find people who would just “fit in” to Clickstop’s culture or people who would be “indoctrinated” with who we are. He sought individuals who would stretch and challenge themselves, the team, and the company by being here. He wanted to find the right person for the role and support their needs and growth. That person may not meet every requirement in a job description but by being in the right role with the right support, our core values and core traits will come to life through their experience, and they’ll create an impact on themselves, their team, and Clickstop.
“Since Eric started leading the Inside Sales team the energy and dynamic has shifted,” said Matt Mitchell, Clickstop’s Chief Growth Officer. “We technically have a very young and inexperienced team. Many individuals have been here less than two years, but it doesn’t feel like it because of how well they are trained and the way Eric has recruited and added the right people to the team. We have a team that’s energetic, strong, thinks critically, and drives the business forward. That’s due to Eric’s leadership.”
Once he felt aligned with his supervisor and understood who he wanted on his team, he has been unwavering in his commitment to raising the bar for himself and his team. The ripple effect of his move into management has been clearly felt by those who manage Eric, and those he manages.
The Growth of Others
Cody Smith spent the first ten years of his career at Clickstop on the Warehouse team before applying to join the Inside Sales team. Before he did, Eric was someone he sought out.
“What I liked the most is that when I brought it up, he was really excited,” joked Cody. “I reached out to him to talk more about the position and get his opinion on if I’d be a good fit. He mentioned how he could see how my personality and knowledge would translate to good conversations with our customers.”
That conversation led to Cody applying for and joining the Inside Sales team. As he got into the job and interacted with Eric as his manager, Cody started to learn more about Eric outside of their occasional fishing stories.
“When I first started, I asked a ton of questions,” said Cody. “I liked that Eric started as an Inside Sales team member, learned the ins and outs, grew in the role, and eventually managed the team. I think it set him up for success because he has the knowledge and experience in that area to help his team grow. In my early days on the team, if I didn’t have the answer, I knew I could go to Eric. And if he didn’t know, he’d point me in the right direction or help me find the answer.”
Just as the decision to become a manager was intentional and thoughtful, Cody sees that translate into Eric’s leadership style.
“Eric is a very direct communicator, which I enjoy,” said Cody. “You don’t have to wonder where you stand because there’s a good balance in his feedback that helps challenge you while also making you feel appreciated. Getting feedback from him has helped me become an informal leader on our team. I now look for opportunities to make an impact on others, just like he did for me.”
In addition to challenging his team, Eric is also a fierce advocate for them. When we asked for an example that illustrates this side of Eric’s leadership, Matt Mitchell provided a great example that was happening in real time.
Recently our Customer Service team was overwhelmed. Because Eric could see the bigger picture, he saw the connection between the number of customer services cases coming in and the number of orders that needed to go out for our Pepper Joe’s brand. Eric created a collaborative solution to help the Pepper Joe’s team get the plant orders out more quickly, which would lead to fewer customer service cases.
Two days later, Eric had Sales team members signed up to help in the greenhouse, and he jumped in for multiple hours to do his part as well. It’s a great example of how Eric is a strong advocate for his team and what they need regardless of whether the solution is within the team or outside of the team.
In that same conversation, Matt also noted just how big of an impact Eric has had on him as a leader. As mentioned earlier, Eric’s primary focus when taking the Inside Sales Manager role was who he’d be reporting to. With Matt currently as his manager, he not only feels aligned enough to support and challenge the Sales team, but he’s continuously challenging Matt as well.
Rising to Rock Star
All of that focus, vision, and impact has captured the attention of team members on and off Eric’s team. Early in 2023, Eric was recognized with Clickstop’s highest form of recognition for our employees: The Rock Star Award.
“I really didn’t expect it,” said Eric. “Winning awards like that, it’s not something I ever try to have as a goal. The way that we determine those award winners is based on behavior patterns, mindset, results, and how people contribute by working with other people. I focus on the results and how they’re achieved because it’s the right thing to do. The accolades aren’t a guarantee.”
The group that determines the Rock Star Award is Clickstop’s Leadership Team, led by our CEO, Cari McCoy, and made up of our executives and vice presidents. Cari has seen Eric’s growth during her tenure at Clickstop and is most blown away by one thing – the way he looks for ways to grow individuals on his team.
“Under Eric’s leadership,” said Cari, “the team has evolved and there are a lot of different ways to grow. There has been a very intentional focus on the unique strengths of each individual and Eric has forged a way of investing in people that reassures them. It’s cultivated a team that is very high growth.
Just like Eric’s story, not everybody wants to climb the ladder vertically. Not everybody wants to formally manage the work of others. In other environments that can limit how employees view their growth potential. At Clickstop, the opportunity for employee growth leads in all directions and Eric has helped shed light on what that looks like for the Sales team.
Final Thoughts
The strength of Eric’s teams today didn’t happen by accident. There was a lot of change he and the team endured to set clear vision and high expectations and then create the support and accountability for them to reach their goals. They’ve grown because of Eric’s steadfast convictions and commitment to getting these things right.
Eric’s story reminds us that growth is about more than just ourselves. As we influence the growth of others, we also become something new, different, and better than we were yesterday. We create better and longer-lasting impact.
He’s a great example of how growth is about seeking opportunity and having the courage to act when you see it – especially when it is outside of your comfort zone.
We’ll leave you with these thoughts from Eric about how he views the role of a leader:
For your team, you’re most responsible for their development. You are responsible and should be aware of anything they encounter that is a barrier to aligning with the vision, expectations, and outcomes you are set for them. It’s about being a constant advocate.
The biggest impact I can have is creating opportunity – opportunity to help others do their job better. For anyone who has ideas on what formal leadership looks like, that it might be a really glorious position, it is if one of your interests is serving and helping other people.
Having that mindset and approach creates opportunities to make lasting changes for things that will impact the people on your team. Everything is really about opportunity.”