Career Spotlight | 5 questions to Houman Nouri

Houman Nouri | ARGM, Nissan

1)??How did you find your way to where you are today? Share a little about your professional journey.

?Computer science, economics and math… Are not what I would have thought would lead me to where I am today. I truly did not know where I wanted to go when I set off on my post-secondary ride. I started school in computer science as that was where I believed the money was and pivoted to economics and math as my interests began to shift.

Then I bought a 1997 black on black Nissan Maxima SE – 5 speed and that is when everything changed. As the rims got bigger, the car got lower, the exhaust got louder and the subwoofers started to take up the majority of my trunk I realized I needed to make a change. I enrolled in the Centennial college Honda Apprenticeship program and banked on making a career out of a hobby. I secured an apprenticeship at a local Canadian Tire and immediately started turning wrenches to fulfill the practical requirements of the curriculum. I spent just under 4 years in the same shop working through the ranks and eventually ended up joining an automotive category management team at Head Office. For the next 7 years I worked in a number of automotive business units including filtration, performance, accessories and eventually ending up on the tires team doing whatever I could to “steal” the OE business from coast to coast… which did include Nissan and Infiniti. At this point I believed I had absorbed as much as I needed from the aftermarket and wanted to try my luck with an OE. Even though the 97 Maxima was long gone, looking at the 04 350Z in the driveway every morning made joining Nissan a no brainer.

??2)??What was the best advice you have received? What would you tell someone starting out in their career or at Nissan? How can employees expand their network internally?

?The best advice I have ever received was to “try to master the role you are looking to fill before you fill it”.

?For anyone that is starting out in their career, I can provide one piece of advice that was not necessarily evident when I began mine. Actively go after what you want. There will always be support, guidance and mentoring but only if you actively seek it. Being passive in your career and hoping that someone will notice is not always a given.

?Expanding your network internally is again tied to being active in your approach. Join a BST, participate in group events, reach out to others outside of your immediate team and always be deliberate with what you are trying to accomplish. Setting up a meeting with an executive and kicking it off with a “so what’s new” will not do you any favors. Again, there will always be someone that you can connect with, it just may not happen coincidentally and will most likely require effort and intention.

?3)???What are you absolutely passionate about that you bring to work with you every day? Are you passionate about people, is there a software you love to use, what is your secret tool and drive at work? (think big - are you an excel master, do you love conceptualizing ideas, do you enjoy creating events do you enjoy solving problems?)

I am a data nerd and have a very close relationship with excel. I am hard pressed to find a problem or opportunity that cannot be solved or exploited with the use of data. Data driven actions are very powerful, trackable and usually leave little room to interpretation. In our line of work we are often selling something to someone on a daily basis. Whether you are pitching a dealer on an accessory program, convincing the operations team to fund a pilot or asking yourself if this thing you are trying to convince your boss to do is actually bonkers, you will have a much better time doing it with some sort of clear, presentable data driven insight. Personally it has taken me a lot further than my “I have a feeling this will work” approach earlier in my career.

?4)??What would your advice be to someone who is afraid of failure, starting over in their careers or perhaps bouncing back from as setback? (project not going as well as they wanted, not getting next career move)

?As cheesy as it sounds, if you have never failed, you most likely haven’t tried hard enough. The only advice I can provide on failure is that IT IS OKAY. Dyson went through 5,127 prototypes before they got it right. Just make sure you learn from it, have a better plan moving forward and it doesn’t burn the entire business to the ground if it doesn’t work out. ?

?5)???What do you think are the most important skills if someone is interested in a field role? What are some skills that are sometimes overlooked but are equally helpful? Any advice to employees who would be interested in gaining more experience in the field?

?The most important skill to have for anyone interested in a field role is figuring out how to add value. It sounds like a simple idea, but it’s not always easy to put into practice. The field has numerous competing KPIs, conflicting schedules and at time may feel like a “hot-line” for dealer issues. Without a structured game-plan, it can be very easy to lose your direction when you are being pulled every which way. The key to adding value is wading through the noise, analyzing the data, and providing clear, actionable insights with well thought out recommendations that will actually drive the business forward. This takes time and intimate understanding of the business on both the corporate and dealer end. It is easy to visit a dealer each month, present a dozen different KPIs and walk out with a perfect score card of “KPIs covered”, but have you really pushed anything forward, have you truly added any value? Each dealer is different, goals are not always aligned with the corporation and added value is not usually pulled from a canned report. Leaving the dealer with even 1 hard hitting actionable item that will really move the needle will not only help drive our business in the right direction, but will have the dealer asking you for more!

?Another overlooked aspect of joining the field is understanding how the programs and processes in place actually translate when they hit the field and how important it is to be the translator and bridge that gap. I can personally say that I have been guilty of putting together a program, vetting it with my colleagues, getting high fives all around and watching it all fall apart when it hit the field. Knowing that the business only moves forward as a partnership between the corporation and our dealers is key to bridging that gap. That being said, I invite anyone reading this to reach out directly if you are interested in going on a dealer visit. I warn you though, it won’t be a free ride as I will ask for you to present something from your end of the business to the dealer in return!?