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Roshad Green didn’t start his career in telecommunications with much of a plan. He entered the field because he wanted to train for football, and he needed a job that would free him up when his trainer was available. But if football was Green’s first love, business turned out to be his enduring one.

Today, Green is the vice president of outside plant operations for Optimum Cable. In this role, he oversees a team of 700 people who monitor and maintain provider plants across the country.

It’s a position that feels a long way away from his Oakland upbringing, where he recalls money being tight and school being more of a vehicle for playing football than pursuing academic achievement. After a stint at community college, he turned his attention to earning a living. His training partner offered to get him a job at the cable company where he worked — mostly so they’d be on the same schedule and be able to train together — and Green took him up on it.

“That’s how I got into cable,” he says. “It wasn’t because I was trying to be in cable. It was because I was training to get a tryout for Canadian football.”

Injuries derailed that dream, but work at the cable company took off. Green says he started at the bottom as a tech climbing poles to disconnect service. Soon, however, he was supervising cable installers; and when his company introduced an incentivized plan in which supervisors earned a commission on whatever their techs sold, Green rose to the occasion.

“I had 10 techs, and I was like, ‘Well, if I can get all 10 of my guys to sell $200, then I’ll get an extra $200.’ So I was like, ‘Oh, I’m in!’” he says.

It turned out Green’s drive to make money and his commonsense approach to business made him a natural salesman — and his company’s sales and marketing team noticed. When the director of sales approached him about joining her team, Green demurred. He knew he’d one day make manager on the tech side of things. Why switch?

Her answer changed everything. “She said, ‘Yeah, so you’re just waiting for somebody to die.’” This blunt observation shook up Green, who realized she was right: The position he wanted didn’t come up often, and when it did, there was competition.

This fact, combined with the earning potential of a sales role, persuaded Green to give it a shot. Within six months, he was promoted to manager.

Rolando Bonifacio, now recently retired from a global telecommunications conglomerate, recalls that time well. He, too, started out as a technician, and Green mentored him in ways that touched on both technical and business knowledge. 

Green looks back on that time and sees a valuable lesson in his decision to switch departments. His team and colleagues on the tech side couldn’t understand why he’d put himself in a position that had a steep learning curve and a real possibility of failure. As Green says, you have to rise above the fear sometimes.

“God gives us opportunities, and it’s for us to decide if we want to take the opportunity,” he says.

Green instinctively understood this then. He understood it again a year later when his director of sales returned for a conversation. First, Green was eager to show off his progress, noting that he was “killing it” as a sales manager. But his director wasn’t there to congratulate him. Instead, she asked him if he ever thought about going back to school.

Green hadn’t. School was a long way in the rearview mirror, and he didn’t miss it. His director pointed out that “the temperature was changing” at the company. Where leadership had once been culled internally from experienced managers and directors, external talent was now being tapped for those roles — and those individuals often had bachelor’s degrees.

“She told me, ‘What’s going to happen is you’re going to hit a ceiling faster than you think because you don’t have your degree,’” Green says.

He once again saw the wisdom in his director’s advice. His buddy from flag football recommended �鶹��ý, which, aside from being an accredited online university designed to accommodate working adults, offered a Bachelor of Science in Business program that made sense for Green’s professional trajectory. The structure was convenient — students take one class at a time so they can immerse themselves in the content — and Green decided to give it a shot.

At first, he found the experience grueling. His marriage was crumbling for other reasons, and that, combined with the stress of working, raising kids and going to school, felt overwhelming at times.

“There were multiple times when I thought, ‘What the hell am I doing this for?’” Green recalls.

Then things began to change. He started taking business classes that related to what he was doing at work. He distinctly remembers attending his first budget call as a manager when spreadsheets and formulas were being presented, and he thought, “I wish I knew what these people were talking about.”

Fast-forward to when he had a few financial classes under his belt. Green says: “Sure enough, I was in a meeting and they were talking, and I was like, ‘Oh, I understand all of this. I know exactly what they’re talking about.’ That’s when it became more exciting for me.”

Completing his degree in 2013 proved to him not only the value of dedication but also the value of knowledge.

Green continued to progress in his career, moving to different companies and different cities before landing in Texas. In his current role, he leverages the leadership skills that have become his trademark, and that have led to what he considers his greatest achievements: mentoring others to their version of success.

“Roshad’s leadership skills are about clear expectations, but he’s also very supportive and coach oriented,” Bonifacio says. “He’ll correct issues quickly while still helping you improve. Under his leadership, the team stays motivated.”

As in the sport Green left behind for a business career, reaching the goalposts is only as possible as the team’s motivation to get there.

“I know that if I can get my team motivated [and] keep them happy, they’ll perform well,” he says. “Because in the end, as a leader, your performance is strictly based on your team. You can have the greatest ideas on Earth, but if your team can’t put them in place — if they can’t perform — you’re not a good leader.”