Meet Dr. Joe Perez | Senior Systems Analyst, Chief Technology Officer, & International Keynote Speaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dr. Joe Perez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dr. Joe, what matters most to you?
The importance of integrity; that is, of valuing accountability over ability, and integrity over celebrity. When I’m building a team around me, I want people I can trust and count on to get things done. There’s something to be said about a person’s willingness to help and their loyalty more so than number of years of experience or perceived ability in certain skills. Skillsets are important, but you can train someone to make up for the lack of knowledge in a given skill. Now if you’ve got somebody who can’t bring himself to take ownership, or who doesn’t have a sense of accountability, that’s something you can’t really train for – it’s got to come from within.

You see, when people have that sense of ownership for what they’re doing, recognize that they’re ultimately responsible for a given task, knowing they’ll be held accountable for it, and committing themselves to doing it right, well then you know you’re going to get the best possible product. You can take THAT to the bank! People take pride in things they own, and they tend to give their best workmanship for things they believe in. That’s the kind of team I can really get excited about working with; it’s the kind you can trust to make things happen!

As to integrity, speaking of trust, that’s absolutely indispensable in today’s world. You know, it’s all about doing the right thing no matter what, and doing it because it’s the right thing to do, not for what you might get out of it. Doing it when you don’t think anybody is watching, to paraphrase the writer C.S. Lewis. There is a whole host of great definitions out there for integrity. The best one, in my opinion, is the simplest: something that’s just one piece. Like an integral beam headlight that has both the high beam and low beam in a single housing; it’s indivisible. When a leader demonstrates integrity, he or she is just “one piece” so to speak; they demonstrate a singular, consistent character that’s reflected in their words and actions. They’re going to be the same way regardless of who they’re in front of; you can count on them to not double-cross you.

So, this level of honesty and ethical dealings is going to lead to transparency. And that transparency is what sets the tone for the entire organization, and sets the example for the rest of the employees. That is precisely the kind of thing that’s going to foster a culture of trust within an organization, and it is a great deal easier to be loyal to a leader you can trust. For you see, trust is a funny thing: it’s hard to build, easy to lose, and almost impossible to regain. Leaders who value their reputation would do well to remember that and guard their integrity by taking this advice: Be REAL to your people; be transparent; let them see just how important that principle is to you.

I love how General Douglas MacArthur put it years ago, “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” My brother, Oscar, has been an incredible example of that to me over the years; I could never ask for a better role model in that regard. His encouragement and wise counsel have been more valuable than gold.

Now comparing integrity to celebrity is not even a contest. Fame and fortune can come and go; popularity rises and falls with the whims of the crowds; one week you might have gone viral and the next week you’re at the bottom of the list. Of course, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with getting noticed if you’re a rising star and doing things worthy of people’s attention. Although I don’t consider myself to be a famous person by ANY stretch of the imagination, I am amazed as to how my LinkedIn following has nearly tripled in less than two years from around 4000 in the summer of 2019 to just over 12,000 in July of 2021. But you know what? I’d trade it all for just one minute of being known as honest and true, setting the right example for my family, my neighbors, and my team at work, and having the approval of my God and the trust of my fellowman – THAT means more to me than any fame ever could. So yes, I’d take integrity over celebrity any day of the week!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
After getting an undergraduate degree in secondary education, I began a ten-year career as an educator, picking up both a masters and a doctoral degree along the way. I then transitioned into the IT world in the early 90’s when I started working at North Carolina State University. That was a REALLY nice job, as it was the perfect combination of my love for education and my growing passion for IT and reporting of data. While at NC State, I rose up through the ranks, being promoted to computer training manager, then analyst programmer, then business intelligence specialist. My 25-year career there came to a close when I was offered the promotion of a lifetime by some phenomenal people at the NC Department of Health & Human Services. I’m now senior systems analyst & team lead, coming up on four years with DHHS. Besides all the cool stuff I do with analysis and reporting of data, I get to liaise between high-level business leaders on one side and high-level technical people on the other. Since I have the knowledge to understand both business and technical processes, having been involved across the entire spectrum of the business intelligence landscape, I’m in a great position to deal with both of those extremes, since I know how to talk to both. I can tease out functional requirements, technical requirements, business requirements, I can take both business and technical processes apart, figure out how they work, then put them back together again in a way that works better, more quickly, and more efficiently. So I end up negotiating and implementing solutions that both sides can agree upon and in a way that keeps everybody happy. I love to think of ways to adopt an innovative mindset and come up with transformational solutions that will foster collaboration and ensure cooperation. I have found that bringing disparate groups of people together to build a consensus w/your team & what you can provide takes just as much finesse as bringing together disparate data sources into a unified data warehouse from which to develop your BI reports. I still have a great passion for teaching, so it’s great that I still get to use my God-given communication skills and training as a significant part of what I do today.

In addition to my full-time leadership role at DHHS, in October 2020, I was named Chief Technology Officer at SolonTek Corporation, an award-winning startup company that was recently named as a top-ten Healthcare Security Solutions Provider. As a side note, this job at DHHS and the connections I’ve garnered from it have opened up quite a few doors for me with regards to speaking at industry conferences. THAT has been an incredible turn of events that has literally skyrocketed in the last three years in ways that I could neither have planned for nor imagined! I now speak at dozens of conferences each year, with almost half of those engagements being for keynote presentations. By the end of 2021, I will have spoken at conferences hosted by cities in fifteen countries on every inhabited continent on earth. To me, that’s both amazing and humbling at the same time. Because as a speaker, I thrive on seeing the lights come on in the eyes of my audiences, when what I’ve said has helped either to enlighten their day, enhance their skills, enrich their knowledge, or encourage their journey. I refuse to subject anyone to “Death by PowerPoint,” but rather, my goal is to break that mold and ensure people are better off after they’ve heard me speak than they were when they walked into the room. I try to do this with a couple of topics that I’m really passionate about, like using actionable data the right way to bring your ideas to reality; seeing the urgency of adopting an innovative mindset & refuse to be satisfied with the status quo; and finally, rethinking the way you go about the training & retention of your staff. More than anything, I want to ignite that same passion within the minds of my audience. That’s what I mean by seeing the lights coming on.

But as far as challenges are concerned, I believe my biggest challenge is being somewhat of a perfectionist. If something isn’t exactly right, I’ll keep after it until it’s done to my satisfaction. In general, that’s a good thing, but not when I allow it to frustrate me and become an obsession. There’s an old saying that I think is derived from Voltaire’s writings which says, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” Striving for doing something to the VERY best of your ability, working hard to exceed customer expectations, practicing a song repeatedly until you’ve got it just right (I play the piano — I KNOW what I’m talking about!), rehearsing a speech, refining a programming strategy — ALL of these things are good. You know, it seems to me that the majority of people in today’s society are satisfied with the status quo; are willing to settle for mediocrity; are content with doing a half-hearted job; allowing their lack of commitment, dedication, whatever you want to call it, lull them into stagnation. I’m a firm believer that mediocrity breeds stagnation — and if I’m not innovating, I’m stagnating! So all that’s going to the other extreme!

What I’m getting at is that neither extreme is healthy. One leads to a life of boredom and despair while the other leads to an endless cycle of agitation, frustration, and preoccupation! So I guess that’s something I’d really like to improve upon. I don’t EVER want to lose my edge, nor my desire to give 120% when I throw myself into a task, because for me as a Christian, there’s a Biblical principle here that I feel compelled to try to live by. It’s one that says (paraphrased), “Whatever you do, do it heartily; give it everything you’ve got, because you’re really doing it for God & not for man.”

But at the same time, I want to be able to balance that commitment to excellence with the common sense to remember the difference between perfection & excellence, and not to drive myself & everyone else crazy to get there, nor beat myself up too much when I don’t make it. Continually striving for that balance is what enables me to love life, and adopt as my tag line: “I bring data to life and life to data!”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For nature lovers, some of the most beautiful areas include Jordan Lake, Umstead State Park, and Pullen Park. If you’re interested in history and science, there are the NC Museum of History, NC Museum of Natural Sciences (both downtown), and the NC Museum of Art. To that I’ll at Marbles Kids Museum if you have little ones with you. For eating, there’s enough variety to satisfy anyone’s palate, from fast food, to mom & pop diners, to sit-down casual family dining, to pizza joints, to grilling places, to fine/fancy dining; a wide variety of cuisines — you name it, Raleigh has it.

My personal favorites? Well, when I’m in the mood for something grilled and relatively quick to pick up, nothing beats Cookout and Char Grill. For pizza, all the major national outlets are here, but my wife and I have started developing a fondness for a local place called Papa Murphy’s. What’s cool is that some of their pizzas come uncooked, so you get to cook it yourself and customize it even more, if you want. For a sit-down mean with your family, we just love Appleby’s. And if you really want to pull out all the stops and impress your wife or significant other? You can’t go wrong with places like Sullivan’s, Flemings, or Second Empire. Now you might spend a ton of money, but they’re worth every penny!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It has been said that behind every successful man there stands an even more successful woman. That is definitely the case with me. Besides the salvation of my soul, my wife, Dianna, is the greatest gift God has ever given me. She has stood with me for more than 30 years as my wife, my best friend, my soulmate, my confidant, my everything! Her unconditional love, unfailing support, unstoppable courage, unwavering faith, and undying commitment have exceeded anything I could ever dream for or even deserve. I am so grateful for my Dianna, and I love her more than life itself. I’m also grateful for the wonderful encouragement and love I’ve received from our two phenomenal boys and others in my family. I firmly believe that a man is nothing without his family.

My incredible boss and my amazing co-workers at DHHS have also been extremely supportive, not only of my professional development, but also of my rapidly-growing endeavor into the speaking circuit. The camaraderie, mutual trust, welcoming environment, and pleasant atmosphere all greatly contribute to make my job worthwhile, all of which plays a huge part in the success I’ve enjoyed. Kudos to them!

But even more than all that, I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who ransomed my very soul from condemnation and gave me eternal life. Any good you see in me, any success I have in life, any accomplishment I achieve; these are all 100% because of the amazing grace of my God, and I can never thank Him enough for life, health, salvation, family, redemption, daily strength, eternal security; ALL of it. To God be the glory!

Website: https://DrJoePerez.com

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