How it Started... How it's Going, with Dave Doucette
Meet Dave Doucette. Outside of work, you may find him practicing his lifelong love of martial arts, traveling the world with his wife of 12 years, Danielle, or being the coolest dad ever to his daughter Eve Alia. But at CDW, he is the Director of Academy & Residency for Corporate Sales, where he is responsible for business initiatives and talent development of our newest sellers.
Dave’s interest in computers started when he was young. His father was a computer teacher in the 1980s and his brother was also a programmer. Dave used to program himself and created basic games in the golden era of the home PC and video games. This sparked his passion at an early age for the love of technology.
In his twenties, Dave worked two different jobs; one at MicroWarehouse as an Account Manager, where he worked nights, and the other at a supermarket during the day. After six successful months at MicroWarehouse, Dave left the grocery store and began his career full-time.
How it Started.
At MicroWarehouse, Dave’s duties mostly included answering phone calls. However, that wasn’t enough for Dave, so he tapped into his competitive side and made a goal for himself to have more calls than the person next to him. And sure enough, he did! This drive attributed to much of Dave’s career success at MicroWarehouse where he became a Key Account Manager, a Hewlett-Packard Vendor Specialist and finally a Corporate Sales Manager. In this role, he led an acquisition team where he coached and motivated the team with attention to each member’s individual strengths.
In 2003, MicroWarehouse was purchased by CDW, and Dave moved from New Jersey to CDW’s Woodland Falls office in Illinois to become a Sales Manager. As a Sales Manager, Dave led a team of Account Managers and was also part of the original test pilot teams where they took a team of 30+ Account Managers and put them on a brand-new team. This, in some ways, mirrors that of what our Residency teams are today.
Thereafter, Dave continued to grow his career at CDW becoming a Sr. Sales Manager in 2010. He was then promoted to Director of Higher Education in 2015. In that time, he led his teams to double digit growth.
How it’s Going.
As the Director of Academy & Residency for Corporate Sales now, Dave is responsible for the short and long-term performance goals, strategic direction, business initiatives and talent development of the Corporate Sales teams.
On this new frontier, Dave credits his 19 years of leadership experience, combined with his passion for coaching others, to his success at CDW. Dave’s focus has now turned to coaching and developing people, something he finds very rewarding. For over 25 years he has worked his way up through various companies, but he also credits his success partially to the people around him. He focuses on who he hires and also who he acquires, and said, “The greatest joy is seeing other people get promoted and move through the organization. I share in their successes.” The feeling of watching a coworker get promoted or feel motivated by something, he said, is something no sale could ever beat and is one of the main reasons he became a leader.
Be authentic.
Don’t be afraid to be who you are.
Looking ahead to the future, Dave is excited to see what is in store for CDW, including cloud adoption in different business units, as well as acquisitions for the company. “I’m excited to see how we will continue to grow as an organization and implement technologies above and beyond that of a traditional reseller. In turn, this will help us support our customers in all areas including services and cloud adoption.” When reflecting to his younger self, Dave shared one of the most important lessons he learned, “Be authentic. Don’t be afraid to be who you are.”
– CDW Team
Meet Dave Doucette. Outside of work, you may find him practicing his lifelong love of martial arts, traveling the world with his wife of 12 years, Danielle, or being the coolest dad ever to his daughter Eve Alia. But at CDW, he is the Director of Academy & Residency for Corporate Sales, where he is responsible for business initiatives and talent development of our newest sellers.
Dave’s interest in computers started when he was young. His father was a computer teacher in the 1980s and his brother was also a programmer. Dave used to program himself and created basic games in the golden era of the home PC and video games. This sparked his passion at an early age for the love of technology.
In his twenties, Dave worked two different jobs; one at MicroWarehouse as an Account Manager, where he worked nights, and the other at a supermarket during the day. After six successful months at MicroWarehouse, Dave left the grocery store and began his career full-time.
How it Started.
At MicroWarehouse, Dave’s duties mostly included answering phone calls. However, that wasn’t enough for Dave, so he tapped into his competitive side and made a goal for himself to have more calls than the person next to him. And sure enough, he did! This drive attributed to much of Dave’s career success at MicroWarehouse where he became a Key Account Manager, a Hewlett-Packard Vendor Specialist and finally a Corporate Sales Manager. In this role, he led an acquisition team where he coached and motivated the team with attention to each member’s individual strengths.
In 2003, MicroWarehouse was purchased by CDW, and Dave moved from New Jersey to CDW’s Woodland Falls office in Illinois to become a Sales Manager. As a Sales Manager, Dave led a team of Account Managers and was also part of the original test pilot teams where they took a team of 30+ Account Managers and put them on a brand-new team. This, in some ways, mirrors that of what our Residency teams are today.
Thereafter, Dave continued to grow his career at CDW becoming a Sr. Sales Manager in 2010. He was then promoted to Director of Higher Education in 2015. In that time, he led his teams to double digit growth.
How it’s Going.
As the Director of Academy & Residency for Corporate Sales now, Dave is responsible for the short and long-term performance goals, strategic direction, business initiatives and talent development of the Corporate Sales teams.
On this new frontier, Dave credits his 19 years of leadership experience, combined with his passion for coaching others, to his success at CDW. Dave’s focus has now turned to coaching and developing people, something he finds very rewarding. For over 25 years he has worked his way up through various companies, but he also credits his success partially to the people around him. He focuses on who he hires and also who he acquires, and said, “The greatest joy is seeing other people get promoted and move through the organization. I share in their successes.” The feeling of watching a coworker get promoted or feel motivated by something, he said, is something no sale could ever beat and is one of the main reasons he became a leader.
Be authentic.
Don’t be afraid to be who you are.
Looking ahead to the future, Dave is excited to see what is in store for CDW, including cloud adoption in different business units, as well as acquisitions for the company. “I’m excited to see how we will continue to grow as an organization and implement technologies above and beyond that of a traditional reseller. In turn, this will help us support our customers in all areas including services and cloud adoption.” When reflecting to his younger self, Dave shared one of the most important lessons he learned, “Be authentic. Don’t be afraid to be who you are.”
– CDW Team
