Career Profile: President/ActionSports Interactive

Name: Greg Gantzer Title/Employer: President, ActionSports Interactive Age: 34 Education: Bachelor's in business administration Tenure In IT industry: 10 years First Tech Job: Contractor building a small non-profit web site in 1996. That gave me enough skills to talk my way into a programming job at a dot com.

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Current Role: I lead the company, including all portions of business and technology, including sales, marketing, and systems architecture. What's been your best job and why? Certainly this one. I'm probably the toughest boss I've had, but the freedom involved with leading is refreshing and exceptionally challenging. What do you think is the number one non-IT skill IT professionals need today? Being able to tackle IT problems from a business perspective. You have to approach the problem with the end (business) result in mind. What do you credit your career success to? Basically, being able to bring a business perspective to IT problems, along with being able to communicate that perspective, and influence others to toward it. What are the top three skills a high-level IT manager needs today? Communication, discipline, integrity. What's your favorite IT resource site and why? Perhaps from a informational and entertainment perspective, SlashDot. What is the best career advice you've ever received? Someone once told me that credibility meant that "you've done what you've said you'd do." That person taught me just how important credibility is. It takes years to establish, and it can vanish in an instant. And if it does, there goes all of your influence. It's something that must be managed and protected through actions at all times. What's the top advice you'd give to a new IT staffer? Start reading about things other than technology, and read them daily. There are a lot of people that know a lot about technology. There are a lot fewer that understand how technology interacts with the non-technology world outside of IT. What would you advise someone looking to find the type of role you currently have? Absolutely, so long as they can handle the stress and pace of change. This is a marathon, not a sprint. What is the one career decision you would change if you could? Not taking big chances earlier. I have always been afraid of failure. Back in the dot com days, I wish I would have started something sooner, or to have had the courage to do so. If you had the choice to jump into any other job, tech or non-tech, what would it be? Politics. Talk about an antiquated system in need of repair!

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