They say that with age comes wisdom. The fact that Lee Wise hurdled this biological timeline to embody skills and principles well beyond his years? It’s very much a credit to his father.

More specifically, Lee points to a few nuggets of wisdom his father passed down that he carries with him still today as a Sales Manager for the Technology Services Group.

Lee’s father grew up in the southern Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts, well known for the riots of August 1965; he attended a school that averaged two knifings a week. Lee’s dad was a member of the LA Chapter of the Hell’s Angels, only to later attend the Air Force, work as an Aircraft Mechanic and warehouse manager and build a life for his family in The Colony, TX.

“My dad is the one who drilled work ethic into me,” Lee says. “For someone to come out of the world that he grew up, with such a positive outlook in life and an incredible work ethic… He always impressed me. He was my hero.”

For Lee, his work ethic was infectious, and his words? They mattered. Expertise. Trust. Wisdom. All just words. But words that live within him as he embraces his critical role in the success of Datamax’s IT division.

Want to take control of a company’s network? Better have trust. Want to lead a group of technology professionals in an industry defined by its hyper-speed evolution and high-stakes consequences? Better own qualities like experience, knowledge, and sound judgment, all words used to support to define “wisdom.”

Wise Beyond His Years.

“If you don’t have time to do it right, when are you going to have time to do it again?”

Lee’s father brought a computer inside their family home in 1982. In fiddling with this TRS80 Model 1, Lee happened on an early gaming program called Dancing Demon (depending on which key you pushed, the demon did a different dance). It was Lee’s earliest introduction to technology.

It also propelled him into programming, a prodigy-level activity for an eight-year-old. It took him six months to complete the program.

“It was this silly little word game that would ask questions like ‘Who was the first person to step foot on the moon,’” and if you got the answer right fireworks would go off. There was no reason for it, other than I was very interested in programming.”

Midway through the project, Lee learned one thing for certain: He hated programming. Even so, his father persisted that he get the program finished, and get it finished right.

“He wouldn’t let me stop,” Lee recalls. “Along the way, I learned that I couldn’t stand programming, but I realized that I had a passion for computers. Every chance I got, I was installing programs. I knew this – I wanted to get into IT.”

At age 17, Lee worked for his father in the warehouse loading huge paper rolls on the forklift, stacked up four to five on top of each other according to size. He and fellow employees found a shortcut in the way to load the rolls, only to learn that when it was time to unload a specific-sized roll, their shortcut backfired and their workload doubled.

Upon learning this, Lee’s father called him into his office.

He told me, ‘if you don’t have time to do it right, when are you going to have time to do it again?’ That always stuck with me.

A Wise Approach.

“If you simply tell the truth, you never have to remember your lies.”

When it comes to managing an organization’s network, trust is undeniably essential.

“The three most difficult people for a business owner to partner with are CPAs, lawyers, and IT. Because with those three people the owner HAS to have full trust,” Lee says.

For IT, it boils down to two things. The information a Managed IT Provider has access to, and the simple fact that a company doesn’t function without IT. As Lee says, if you have a down phone system, you still have a cell phone. If a server goes down, information simply isn’t available.

So how does Lee earn the trust of prospects and maintain it with longtime customers? Honesty is a big one.

"I’ll revert to another saying from my dad, ‘if you simply tell the truth, you never have to remember your lies,’” Lee says. “I live by that. And when I say honesty, we’re not a good fit for every customer. Sometimes the customer wants something but it’s not in their best interest. You have to tell them, that’s not the best route to go and here’s why. If you constantly just agree to whatever it is they’re wanting… why do they need you?”

Words to the Wise.

Lee’s father passed away 18 years ago, but his words and life lessons resonate just as prevalent today. And there’s little doubt about just how proud he’d be of where Lee is.

“My dad used to always tell me he had no doubt I’d surpass anything he did (professionally),” Lee said. “Did he actually believe that? Was he just encouraging me? I don’t know. Maybe it’s my own pride speaking. I don’t think my dad would be surprised at where I’m at career-wise, but I know he’d be incredibly proud.”

True words spoken from an IT professional Wise beyond his years.