In this week’s episode of The Unlock Lab I speak with Roderick Jefferson, a Keynote Speaker & Go To Market Transformation Leader, author and survivor.
Roderick opens up about his career journey, often being 'the only' in the room as a black man in tech and what he sacrificed along the way. He also shares his terrifying health event that shook every part of his life, forcing him to rethink what success really means and the impetus for his book "Stroke of Success".
His journey is not just about overcoming adversity, it’s about finding courage, faith and the deep joy in life’s most important relationships. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the pressures of leadership or caught in the endless hustle, Roderick’s story will touch your heart and inspire you to choose what truly matters.
ABOUT RODERICK
Roderick Jefferson is an internationally recognized business and transformational speaker. He has shared his dynamic and energetic voice in a variety of events, including keynotes, guest lectures, webinars, podcasts, and domain expertise panels, with companies such as the ATD Conference, B2BMX Conference, Cisco, Collibra, LinkedIn, MindTickle, Revasum, Oracle, Sales Assembly Conference, Sales 3.0 Conference, Sales Enablement PRO Conference, Salesforce (Dreamforce), SAP, Seismic, Showpad, SiriusDecisions, Uber, and Zoom.
Roderick is also an acknowledged thought leader in the sales enablement space and the author of the Amazon bestselling book Sales Enablement 3.0: The Blueprint to Sales Enablement Excellence, and Sales 3.0 Companion Workbook.
He has held various executive leadership, sales, sales enablement, operations, and customer experience roles at AT&T, B Marketo, Oracle, Salesforce, and others.
When he's not speaking or working on enablement projects and programs, he can be found perfecting the art of barbecuing or playing bocce in my backyard with his family.
Episode Highlights:
Carrying the responsibility of being “the only one,” Roderick turned his challenges into a heartfelt mission to lift others up.
The courageous choice to take charge of his career in a way that felt authentic and aligned with his true self.
Incredible story of survival - being in the 2%
Quotables:
[00:27:26] - Roderick
"I got a new focus on life and I call it my four Fs. Faith, family, friends, and fun and you know what really sucks is the older we get, that last four fun seems to disappear from our lives because we're too busy living to enjoy being alive."
[00:29:11] - Roderick
"You only get one chance to live and I always think what I used to tell my son, life's not a video game. Once you turn it off, that's it, right but most people don't get a second chance. Find a way to live and find something that you do just for yourself to give yourself some grace, to give yourself an opportunity to close out all the noises of life."
[00:34:33] - Roderick
"I still believe that there are a ton of good people in this world, regardless of what the media would want you, I believe, to believe, and I wanna be one of those good people, not just to be a good guy, but because I firmly believe that empathy and being human will overcome all of the craziness that's going in today's world."
Roderick's Links and Resources:
Stroke of Success Book: https://www.roderickjefferson.com/stroke-of-success
Sales 3.0 Book Link: https://roderickjefferson.com/book
Keynote Speaker Highlight Reel: https://bit.ly/3zRVNJa
LinkedIn: https://linktr.ee/roderickjefferson
Podcast Playlist (Spotify): http://bit.ly/4mHhSOv
Tosca’s Links and Resources:
Props for: