Featured Community Member, October 2022
The Lenovo Pro Community is pleased to spotlight Matt Slaga, Strategic Program Architecture Manager, IT4NP co-founder and community member since February '22, as October's featured member. Matt is a knowledgeable, generous and helpful community member. His thoughtful and well-spoken insights and contributions greatly add to the Lenovo Pro Community. Keep reading to see why we are so thankful to have Matt Slaga's presence, expertise and experience in the Lenovo PrO Community.
Also, check out Matt's on-demand webinar "Supporting Local Nonprofits: Using Your IT Skills to Benefit Your Community."
About Matt Slaga & IT4NP
This could be lengthy as I’ve had a long professional journey. I’ll stick to the highlights.
I started my tech career building PCs in the early 1990s. I then took on a summer-intern role at Computer Sciences Corporation which jumpstarted my career. From there, I took on roles at various companies doing contract-type work. I’d learned early on that contract work was the best way to get exposure to lots of different technologies in a short period of time. Since I wasn’t sure yet what my area of focus would be, it seemed like a great way to get exposed to different technologies. It was difficult, and I spent a lot of time reading, researching, and lab testing to keep up, but it put my career on an upward trajectory.
I was also blessed to have a great mentor who was available to give advice, but also pushing me to achieve more. He taught me that while work is an important part of my career, it wasn’t my life. It’s something I haven’t forgotten over the years as my career progressed, as I earned many industry certifications, and as I realized that the biggest successes of my life weren’t mine, but those that I took the time to mentor and help grow their own success stories.
That brings me to today, where I get the privilege to help aspiring future tech leaders embark on their technical career journey through a nonprofit, Future Tech Skills Inc (FTSI.org). We look for, encourage, and provide technical certification scholarships to individuals that are excited about technology, but need that extra help to get started, and the everyday mentoring to keep the enthusiasm when navigating tough topics.
I’ve been wonderfully married now for almost 25 years (November), have five children ranging from 14 to 25, two of which have left the nest. My hobbies, when I have time, are woodworking, rock climbing (gyms, not mountains) and kayaking/paddle boarding.
Day-to-day Operations
I’m probably not unique on this, as one day could be completely different than the next. In my full-time job at World Wide Technology, I provide mentoring and leadership for an incredible group of Principal Architects. There are days when things go smoothly, and there are days that things go sideways. With my personality traits, it is important to stay calm and evaluate the situation from multiple angles and perspectives before making decisions. Even the tough situations are an opportunity to learn myself, and mentor the team. Iron sharpens iron, and all that. The daily goal is to stop insanity - learn from past mistakes and work towards not repeating the same mistakes.
Q & A
How long have you been a part of Lenovo Pro and what is your favorite Lenovo product?
I’ve been a member of Lenovo Pro since 2020. My favorite product would have to be the Lenovo ThinkReality Smart Glasses. While I don’t own these myself, I’ve seen them at a trade show and was shocked at how clear and useful these glasses could be. It projects up to 5 monitors into your view, which would save a lot of desktop space. Granted, I’m not sure how that would translate to actual real-life use, but I love the potential.
How has using your Lenovo equipment helped you accomplish things in your personal or professional life?
Having reliable equipment is a must for keeping up productivity and focus on the task at hand rather than troubleshooting issues. For me, Lenovo products fit that bill. I’ve got brand new Lenovo devices, and devices well past their expected lifespan that are still working great. My oldest is an M91P with a second-generation i7 (circa 2011) that still works great for me every day as my secondary PC. Of course, not all are perfect, but I’ve had better experiences with Lenovo versus other brands.
What do you enjoy most about the Lenovo Pro Community?
The different views and opinions displayed in a professional manner is enlightening and inspiring. The giveaways and contests are a nice bonus.
What is one of the greatest professional successes you've experience thus far?
In 2010, I created a training class at my prior company (Dimension Data) focused on training the next generation of collaboration experts. I became a lifetime mentor for one of the students, who I have helped over the past decade achieve his career goals and get awarded the company’s top technical talent award (Dimension Data Technical Hall of Fame). It was quite a journey, and we both learned a lot. I think everyone reaches a point in their career when they realize that helping others succeed is the most rewarding.
What is one of the greatest professional challenges you've experience thus far?
In 2000, I was working as a network administrator for a large health insurance company. I enjoyed my job but the work itself was stagnating my career. I knew I wanted to continue growing my expertise and started looking for a company that could offer me better movement and access to training. It was a turning point in my career, as it would have been far easier to take the appearance of ‘the easy road’, rather than the hard work of learning new things and taking a risk. I ended up taking a job at Dimension Data, where I was ‘forged by fire’ (consulting term- meaning asked to deliver on bleeding edge tech that nobody has delivered). It was some long hours and took lots of energy (pain, sweat, blood and tears) but paid off in the end. In 13 months I had achieved Cisco’s top certification, the CCIE, and later Microsoft’s top certification, the ‘Microsoft Certified Master’. I’m so glad I took the hard road, as it let me achieve a place where I can now help others as a guide and mentor - giving guidance on avoiding the pitfalls that I fell into.
What is one piece that you got along your professional journey that helped you?
One of my mentors told me, ‘work is something you do, life is something you live’. And, from another mentor – ‘Consider every decision, as every decision is eternal’. While you can always change your mind later, you can never go back and change your mind earlier. Sometimes the decision point is the difference between success and failure. And, don’t let your career success affect your real life.
What is one piece of advice you would give others?
One piece, and make it as deep of a meaning as you like: don’t just focus on the how you do business, focus on the why you do business.
Connect with Matt, IT4NP & FTSI
Thank you for being such a valued part of the community, Matt and congratulations on being October's Featured Community Member!
Also, check out Matt's on-demand webinar "Supporting Local Nonprofits: Using Your IT Skills to Benefit Your Community."
Do you have any questions for Matt about his professional journey, interests or advice? Leave your questions and comments below!