Danny Garrido, President of Traka Americas tells Security Journal Americas why people are the key to the company’s success.
While overseeing the US, Canada and Latin America as President of Traka Americas, Garrido noted that his role as Head of Global Business Systems for the Key and Asset Management group also enables him to contribute to the growth of the company from a global perspective.
Playing a role in the management of Traka’s Global business systems, this experience integrating and collaborating across global businesses has allowed Garrido to help scale the company as the global leader in key and asset management, but this requires his considered leadership of diverse teams across cultures and time zones.
“I think being a good leader is shaped by what your objectives and goals are, and ultimately what you’re trying to achieve,” Garrido said.
“But I’ve always tried to keep things relatively fundamental, regardless of what I’m doing.
“To me, articulating a clear and transparent focus has always been at the top of the priority list for leadership.”
He revealed that at Traka, the aim is to inspire through actions, not through words.
Garrido prefers to show the rest of his organization his intent and purpose by making decisions that benefit individuals, the rest of their teams and the entire business.
“My personal philosophy is that without the people, you don’t get the output that the organization needs,” he said.
“I always try and empower my teams, living by the rule of giving my direct reports the power to make decisions themselves.
“This autonomy helps them to explore new opportunities and avenues for success.”
Garrido explained that by setting out a clear vision initially, it’s possible for the rest of an organization to understand end goals and course correct along the way independently.
He added that leadership isn’t about authority, but influence.
“It’s about collaboration, bringing out the best in others to achieve a common goal.
“There’s a saying I’ve always tried to utilize when I could, which says that leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those within your charge.”
By putting people first, Garrido highlighted that this lays the foundation for success to follow.
Despite leading large teams, Garrido explained that he has been fortunate – it hasn’t been difficult to ensure that they remain motivated.
This is because Traka constantly evolves to meet customer and market demands, providing it with the opportunity to innovate.
“We’ve scaled so much over the last decade and this continued growth keeps people motivated because it keeps them interested,” he said.
However, Garrido noted that no matter how busy he is, how thinly spread he might be, he always tries to stay connected to the business and listen to his teammates.
“Regardless of what’s going on, listening allows me to get the true pulse of my business which includes the people,” he said.
“That information tells me what I need to know so that I can help wherever I can.
“It’s also useful because it means I always know how best to communicate with individuals and drive motivation even further.”
Garrido admitted that while he may be an outlier in the industry, success to him does not revolve around financial success, but instead, it means to enjoy what he is doing.
“If you’re able to deliver a certain output that fits into the traditional definition of success, but, it doesn’t bring you some level of happiness and it’s not what you really want to be doing, then for me, that’s not being successful,” Garrido said.
He added that this is a rule he tries to live by so that he knows he is invested in his role.
“If I’m just here for a paycheck or accolades, then it’s not about the work that I’m actually doing,” he commented.
“It’s important to find that balance of happiness and the successes will come along after that.”
Having been with Traka for over 12 years, Garrido noted that the growth of the company has given him the opportunity to also evolve in tandem each year.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the company continues to scale and innovate, supporting the growth of its people alongside it.
“We’re in a unique scenario here where instead of just delivering what’s expected of you, Traka allows us to be engaged with what we do,” Garrido remarked.
“We can look ahead, connect the dots and find new paths forward – and that’s what I’ve been trying to do for the past 12 years!”
Within the market, he noted that while he could say Traka stands out among its competitors because of its tangible technologies and products, the main way it is unique is because of its people.
“We truly value our people and try to instill a culture that passes a genuine desire to help onto the customer.”
Taking on board feedback from the customers also allows Traka to provide a level of service that is consistently reliable, Garrido added.
“That’s a big differentiator and a large part of our continued success.”
As part of its ongoing evolution, Traka is currently in the process of developing initiatives that are progressing well in the background, Garrido explained.
“These are outside of the realm that we’ve been working within for the past 30 years.
“On top of improving our current products, we are also looking at new areas – markets and focuses – that we might be able to contribute to and make a real impact in.”
Garrido shared that the important feedback from Traka’s customers is allowing the company to address the real pain points of the industry and solve challenges in sectors that it hasn’t entered before.
“Listening to our customers and the things that they’re saying means we can address their top issues,” Garrido revealed.
“That lets us innovate as an organization and we can meet the customers where they are.”
By staying focused on the future, Garrido said that Traka can better meet the needs of its customers and open up new opportunities to use its products in a fresh way.
“We’ve always had success in sectors like data centers, but now with the evolution of AI we’re seeing our customers’ needs change from an infrastructure perspective,” Garrido said.
“We certainly see the need for our products in markets like K-12 and higher education, but we’re starting to see how our solutions can be used in new ways, for example within governments, smart cities, multifamily units and more.”
Garrido explained that there are opportunities within these sectors to integrate more advanced and sustainable solutions and Traka is glad to be a part of these conversations.
“That’s where it gets exciting because it’s opened up our horizons,” he said.
“Generally speaking though, we’re thinking even bigger.
“We have had a great 30 years where it’s been nothing but up and up, however, there’s much more opportunity out there.”
He emphasized that this drive is not focused on making more money, but answering the needs of customers in the industry – growing into spaces Traka hasn’t been in before.
One of the major trends that Garrido has noticed is how Traka’s customers’ needs have evolved.
“A lot of people’s lives are changing – particularly in what they’re doing, how they need to manage their solutions, how they need to offer security for their end user and how they can become more efficient.”
The beauty of Traka is that it was in many ways founded as a software company and it has kept this foundation, Garrido commented.
That means it has the ability to adapt and change its hardware as a means to deliver its innovative software to solve the challenges its customers are facing, giving it a unique advantage in the industry.
“Overall, we’re in a really exciting period here at Traka and I can’t wait to see how we develop next,” Garrido concluded.
This article was originally published in the April edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.
