{"id":41910,"date":"2020-10-08T08:35:35","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T15:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=41910"},"modified":"2020-10-08T09:06:53","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T16:06:53","slug":"brother-international-difference-maker-james-rouse-adds-a-fresh-perspective-to-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2020\/10\/brother-international-difference-maker-james-rouse-adds-a-fresh-perspective-to-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"Brother International Difference Maker James Rouse Adds a Fresh Perspective to Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cSo often times it\nhappens, that we live our lives in chains. And we never even know we have the\nkey.\u201d
\n<\/em> \u2014Already Gone, Eagles<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
James Rouse, Brother<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The true value of a consultant is to provide a client with a\nviewpoint that may not have been previously considered. Sometimes, the key to\nunlocking a challenge is approaching a task with a different perspective. Ultimately,\nthe discovery can be as gratifying to the challenged as it is to the purveyor\nof insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Rouse, senior manager, consulting and managed print\nservices for Brother International, relishes the role of key master. The\nUniversity of Virginia product relishes helping people look at things\ndifferently than they did before. In his role, he provides analysis for\ncustomers, which entails assessing their environments and fully understanding\ntheir spending and needs when it comes to their print deployments. He brings\nthat same perspective-altering value proposition to resellers and assists in\ntraining their sales teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re teaching and you see the lightbulb in someone\u2019s head click as you explain something, it\u2019s a very rewarding experience,\u201d said Rouse, a 2020 ENX Magazine<\/em> Difference Maker. \u201cI bring an analytical perspective, which is very much my personality. When I have something to say in a discussion, I always try to ensure that it\u2019s very thoughtful. I hope that people see me as a voice of reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps Rouse is such an effective teacher of the unconsidered\nbecause his career and life had thrust him in the role of student. Upon\ngraduating from Virginia, he began to take classes toward attaining a Master of\nDivinity and sought out employment flexible with his schedule. That turned out\nto be a part-time role at a print-and-copy shop, which evolved into substantial\nroles with Kinko\u2019s, Danka and eventually Ricoh, where he spent 16 years before\narriving at Brother in mid-2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fresh Perspective<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in his career, Rouse was in the running for a regional\nsales position, but the post went to another candidate. Instead, he was\nselected to head a global managed document services team, and one of its\nbiggest projects included creating an overview of the entire MDS portfolio\u2014a\nstaggering 350-odd page treatment. It wasn\u2019t the role Rouse initially desired,\nbut in the end, the destination was much more satisfying than he could have\nimagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, even though at first it seemed like I\nhadn\u2019t gotten something I\u2019d wanted, really I ended up with a fantastic\nopportunity to create what is arguably one of the biggest accomplishments of my\ncareer,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rouse credits Dan Waldinger, Brother\u2019s senior director of\nB2B marketing, with helping to shape his personal and professional development,\nand emulates the example Waldinger has set from a leadership perspective.\nWaldinger stresses autonomy and accountability, entrusting team members to do\nwhat needs to be done, with the expectation that they will be able to\ndemonstrate an ROI on the back end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calculating Success<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, Rouse\u2019s team developed a total cost of ownership\ncalculator that has been well received by partners and customers. Beyond the\nTCO calculator, the team is currently putting the finishing touches on a\nsubscription model that removes capital investment hurdles for customers and provides\nthe flexibility needed to grow\u2014a valuable tool considering the economic\npressures applied by the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving forward, Rouse aims to continue his own personal development\nwhile fostering ideas that enable customers and partners to unlock doors. \u201cI\u2019m\nalways looking to take on a more proactive role,\u201d he said. \u201cJust as it\u2019s\nimportant to be an advisor to my colleagues, I also want to jump in and be a\ndriver of the business at every opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside the office, Rouse and his\nwife, Erin, have been married 26 years and have four children\u2014Sarah, Miriam,\nScott and Peter. The Rouses enjoy camping and love to gather around a nice\nfire. The family picked up a vintage camper that is employed for longer trips.\nAn ardent supporter of the University of Virginia men\u2019s basketball team, Rouse\nremains passionate about his faith and is highly involved as a church elder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSo often times it happens, that we live our lives in chains. And we never even know we have the key.\u201d  \u2014Already Gone, Eagles The true value of a consultant is to provide a client with a viewpoint that may not have been previously considered. Sometimes, the key to unlocking a challenge is approaching a task with a different perspective. Ultimately, the discovery can be as gratifying to the challenged as it is to the purveyor of insight. James Rouse, senior manager, consulting and managed print services for Brother International, relishes the role of key master. The University of Virginia product relishes helping people look at things differently than they did before. In his role, he provides analysis for customers, which entails assessing their environments and fully understanding their spending and needs when it comes to their print deployments. He brings that same perspective-altering value proposition to resellers and assists in training their sales teams. \u201cWhen you\u2019re teaching and you see the lightbulb in someone\u2019s head click as you explain something, it\u2019s a very rewarding experience,\u201d said Rouse, a 2020 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. \u201cI bring an analytical perspective, which is very much my personality. When I have something to say in a discussion, I always try to ensure that it\u2019s very thoughtful. I hope that people see me as a voice of reason.\u201d Perhaps Rouse is such an effective teacher of the unconsidered because his career and life had thrust him in the role of student. Upon graduating from Virginia, he began to take classes toward attaining a Master of Divinity and sought out employment flexible with his schedule. That turned out to be a part-time role at a print-and-copy shop, which evolved into substantial roles with Kinko\u2019s, Danka and eventually Ricoh, where he spent 16 years before arriving at Brother in mid-2018. Fresh Perspective Early in his career, Rouse was in the running for a regional sales position, but the post went to another candidate. Instead, he was selected to head a global managed document services team, and one of its biggest projects included creating an overview of the entire MDS portfolio\u2014a staggering 350-odd page treatment. It wasn\u2019t the role Rouse initially desired, but in the end, the destination was much more satisfying than he could have imagined. \u201cSo, even though at first it seemed like I hadn\u2019t gotten something I\u2019d wanted, really I ended up with a fantastic opportunity to create what is arguably one of the biggest accomplishments of my career,\u201d he noted. Rouse credits Dan Waldinger, Brother\u2019s senior director of B2B marketing, with helping to shape his personal and professional development, and emulates the example Waldinger has set from a leadership perspective. Waldinger stresses autonomy and accountability, entrusting team members to do what needs to be done, with the expectation that they will be able to demonstrate an ROI on the back end. Calculating Success In 2019, Rouse\u2019s team developed a total cost of ownership calculator that has been well received by partners and customers. Beyond the TCO calculator, the team is currently putting the finishing touches on a subscription model that removes capital investment hurdles for customers and provides the flexibility needed to grow\u2014a valuable tool considering the economic pressures applied by the pandemic. Moving forward, Rouse aims to continue his own personal development while fostering ideas that enable customers and partners to unlock doors. \u201cI\u2019m always looking to take on a more proactive role,\u201d he said. \u201cJust as it\u2019s important to be an advisor to my colleagues, I also want to jump in and be a driver of the business at every opportunity.\u201d Outside the office, Rouse and his wife, Erin, have been married 26 years and have four children\u2014Sarah, Miriam, Scott and Peter. The Rouses enjoy camping and love to gather around a nice fire. The family picked up a vintage camper that is employed for longer trips. An ardent supporter of the University of Virginia men\u2019s basketball team, Rouse remains passionate about his faith and is highly involved as a church elder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":41921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[3484,3892],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41910"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41910"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41922,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41910\/revisions\/41922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}