137 - Nathan Psaila - National Sales Manager - RDO Equipment Australia

Arete Podcast with Richard Triggs

In this episode, I interview Nathan Psaila - National Sales Manager for RDO Equipment, agents for agricultural, construction and forestry equipment. He has been with the company for over 18 months now and is helping build a unique culture for himself, his sales team, and their clients, as well as ensuring he is leading them towards their goals, their vision, and the core values of the business. He shares in this episode his thoughts on self-reflection as an employee for the team and personal growth. He also shares his love for working with people and with the company. What are Nathan's current professional responsibilities? He works mainly to increase market share and increase overall turnover for the John Deere product line in their construction space. What's RDO Equipment's relationship with John Deere? RDO Equipment as a business is a US company. RDO Equipment Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary. The US entity invested in Australia 7-8 years ago into a company called Vanderfield which is synonymous with the agricultural John Deere brand. About four years ago, Vermeer Equipment Holding partnered with the directors of the RDO Equipment. RDO Equipment fully acquired Vanderfield and Vermeer Equipment Holdings about December last year. At the moment, the company has roughly 520-530 employees which encompasses the whole family line - Vermeer products, audio equipment for John Deere, the construction, forestry, and agricultural side of the business. Nathan's background and where he was born and grew up. "My first real job was McDonald's. So at the age of 14, and now I'll tell you right now for a business model, they've got it. When it comes to teaching, young people about key performance indicators and, and understanding the management process, following policies and stages, that I think they're one of the best, foundation businesses to work for 14-15 year olds." Nathan’s passion for manufacturing, automotive, engineering and machinery makes his industry a perfect fit for him. What attracted Nathan to join/ work for RDO Equipment. "It's something that I'm very passionate about is people, and leading, and coaching you know, really getting to where they want to go from point A to point B." Nathan was attracted to RDO’s grassroots culture. "At the end of the day, our key success factor is our employees. And that's the heart of the business. If you get that, if you look after that, I think customers get looked after at the end of the day, the sales and all that get looked after.” What Nathan is excited about for the business in the next 2-3 years. What Nathan is looking forward to is putting on the specialist aspect now in the business instead of people wearing multiple hats. Nathan's philosophy and the culture he's trying to build in the company. There are more important things than being the smartest person in the room. "That self reflective aspect of a person is what's important to me and what's important for our business." What Nathan is excited about to achieve in his career. Nathan likes team-orientated goals. As long as he is dealing with people then he is happy. How is Nathan when he's not at work? He loves sports, being active, being in nature, running, cycling, camping, and building things and tinkering . He's been a plant-based person for 7 years now. Nathan Psaila on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-psaila-0b286440 RDO Equipment Australia on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rdo-equipment-australia/ RDO Equipment Australia website: https://www.rdoequipment.com.au/ Richard Triggs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardtriggs/ Arete Executive Website: https://areteexecutive.com.au