E01: Tim Ament on Confidence, Control & Culture

Even though the world can be a complex place to live in – whether personally or professionally – humans have found ways to adapt and navigate life over time, through embracing different lenses and core guiding principles.

This approach continues to fundamentally impact the relationships we make and even the careers we have.

Such life experience is no different for Tim Ament, Senior Vice President and Country Chief Executive of Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) at Ingram Micro.

As both a family man and high-profile executive, Tim draws on many life encounters which have contributed to not only his personal development but his professional growth.

Being motivated, building confidence

On motivation, Tim recognised that this has “continued to evolve and change” with time. A key opportunity in life is being able to meet new people and learn about their journeys.

This belief stems from his childhood experience of living in a household where his parents would host foreign exchange students, which in turn offered a fresh way to expand his emerging world view.

“I have adopted brothers and sisters from all over the world and I think that has made me appreciate people of different backgrounds and cultures,” Tim shared.

The social interactions that intersect between Tim’s home and workplace have left deep impressions on his sense of purpose.

As a veteran of Ingram Micro for 27 years, Tim acknowledged the space and time afforded to him throughout this journey to continue to grow in different functions due to the “global nature” and “diversity” of the business.

“As an old boss told me, ‘be comfortable being uncomfortable and put yourself in situations where you stretch yourself’,” Tim stated.

Taking chances, calculated risks

In looking back on his career so far, Tim emphasised an important learning acquired during the rollercoaster ride of highs and lows: understand that nature charts its own course.

Referencing his early years at Circuit City – an American electronics retail chain – what originally was intended as a short stint before heading to university became a long-lasting career journey of more than nine years.

“It became this amazing place for me to learn,” explained Tim, before drawing an even bigger life lesson from this new career path.

“You don’t always have control of what’s going to happen but what you do control is how you take advantage of different opportunities and how you react,” he affirmed.

This philosophy extended to a later part of his career at Ingram Micro when organisational changes led to his placement in an unfamiliar sales field with a scaled down team.

“I thought, ‘man, this is a step backwards in my career,’” he recalled. “But it became the longest job I had at Ingram Micro because when I got that territory, the customer was this new company called Amazon.”

In that role, Tim had a front-row seat watching and contributing to the evolution of Amazon from its nascent stage in the US to the global force it is today.

Lessons in leadership, collective effort

Such life lessons have also shaped much of Tim’s leadership style and values which he not only imparts in his parenting but also embodies them himself.

“I think you have to be confident but you have to be humble,” he stated, speaking to the advice he provides for himself and his children. “Be a lifelong learner because I think the more knowledge you have, the more confident you can be in how you show up and in whatever role you have.”

Speaking to another career learning, Tim cited that one of the hardest tasks for leaders is to ensure their team members are aligned around a common purpose.

“There is a saying, ‘if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,’” he expressed.

Taking this principle to heart, Tim has poured his full trust and support into his team with the intention to empower them and enable a collective effort to achieve their common goals.

“I’m super proud of the team that we have here at Ingram Micro – globally and in Australia and New Zealand,” he added. “It’s not one single person – it’s not about me or about one single person in this organisation. It’s about our collective effort.”

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