Lead with Humility by Jeffrey Krames left a long-lasting impression on Tom Rice, our Senior Vice President of Sales for the western region. It follows Pope Francis’ ascendency to the highest position in the Catholic Church and why he was named to Fortune magazine’s World’s Greatest Leaders list.
“I liked his mindset,” Tom shared. “He built a council of bishops and uses their individual strengths toward collaborative achievement.”
He added that the same culture has trickled down from the top over his three years at Open Lending. Tom emphasized that the great culture has led to the company’s success, because it helps the company and its people build relationships with credit unions, while also providing them with tools to better run their businesses.
In line with that philosophy and culture, Tom sees his role as a sales manager as allowing the highly experienced sales team to shine based on their unique, positive attributes. From there, he sets a vision with clear goals to achieve, but also creates a fun environment while doing it. It seems to be working because the top two sales people in the company from 2019 were in his region of responsibility.
When Open Lending went public at the start of the year, Tom saw tremendous opportunity. Open Lending had been growing leaps and bounds over the previous 20 years, and now greater resources can be brought to serve credit unions, community banks and other lenders, while Open Lending’s original owners maintain control of the company with a majority ownership share.
“With this team, we can stick together, working toward a bigger picture, and prosper!” Tom said.
While he’ll miss out on the ski trip, Tom’s just grateful his family is happy, healthy and earning a steady income when so many others are not. They’re very involved in their church and always give back by volunteering in homeless shelters and other community volunteer work.
If you’d like to speak with one of our experienced account executives, contact Open Lending today!