How Different Roles Shaped My Career 

SD: Welcome to Enabling Automation, the podcast where we bring experts across the ATS group of companies to discuss topics relevant to those innovating and using automation in their businesses. I’m your host, Sarita Dankner. And today I’m joined by Blair de Verteuil, President of ATS Life Science Systems business. The title of today’s episode is How Different Roles Shaped My Career, and Blair seemed like the perfect guest because his career has spanned many years in many roles and has also unfolded alongside major changes both at ATS and in the automation industry. So today we’re going to talk about not only the different roles he’s held, but also how his experiences, both inside and outside of ATS, helped shape his career path and the leader he is today. Blair, thanks for joining me. I want to start with a quote I’ve heard you use before. It goes, I’m a mechanical engineer by education, a project manager by passion, and an executive leader with a lot of luck. It’s a great line, but I’d like to challenge the last part a little bit. What do you mean when you say you’re an executive leader with a lot of luck? What part did luck really play?

BD: So thanks, Sarita. And it’s a quote I use a lot when I’m introducing myself, because I think it spans my career. I don’t think we can- I can properly summarize a lot of luck without kind of reflecting on the journey. I’ve been really, really fortunate in my career, my life, my time with ATS, just to be surrounded by some really great people, some really great talent, bosses, peers, people who have worked for me, customers and I just feel very, very fortunate. And when I reflect on where I am and where I expected to be kind of 25 years into my career, it probably wasn’t an executive leader. I would have aspired and did aspire still. Still do, maybe at times to be a project and a program manager. But somehow, you know, I fell into the executive leadership role and it’s, you know, I think luck and the people around me had had a lot to do with it. So it’s something I really believe.

SD: You’ve been at ATS for a long time, 25 years, you said. What drew you to ATS in the first place?

BD: Yeah, it’s you know, people say and you know, it’s nearly my whole career, I would say. I was coming off of an internship after graduating from mechanical engineering at Queen’s in Kingston, Ontario here and I was on an internship with, with an oil company, a large oil company, international oil company, and they were great. Pay was good. They offered me full time employment. You know, there was career growth opportunities because they had an aging demographic. It offered something really interesting, right? There was interesting work there. But, you know, in my final year we were taking it was at the time an experimental course. It was a mechatronics course, and I got exposed to a little bit of robotics and had an interest. And there was, there happened to be a local career fair where I, you know, sitting there with an offer in one hand and my resume in the other, and I dropped my resume into a box at this company called ATS Automation Tooling Systems at the time. And I got an interview. And one interview led to a second interview, led to a visit here to the Cambridge campus. And immediately you walk in, you see phenomenal technology. It’s a project based business. And then really exciting is the people. I’ll say the energy is palpable. And then on top of it, I truly believe what we do matters.

SD: Tell me more about that. What we do matters.

BD: You know, as the business evolved, I obviously fell into the life sciences side of the business, which was a little bit fortuitous, coincidental. But you look around ATS, whether it’s providing clean energy, whether it’s, you know, feeding families through a food and beverage or whether it’s addressing, you know, the medical devices and therapies that that save lives or improve lives. I think what we do delivers for our customers, a cost effective means to in a, in a large way, bring those therapies, those products, those clean, renewable energies to the masses. And I think that’s important. I think that matters.

SD: I think that matters to. I think that matters to most people who work here. They say that if you can’t connect to the mission or the purpose of a business, that you’re not really going to engage with your work there, and you’re probably not long for that world. But if it matters to you, and if what you do matters, then I think that that is the key recipe for engagement and success.

BD: Happiness plus a paycheck.

SD: Yeah, exactly. Okay, so let’s go back. Let’s go back to the beginning. You graduated as a mechanical engineer from Queens. You started at ATS as a systems integrator, and then you spent a couple of years as an applications engineer, moving on to project management, and you had increasing responsibility over time. You were young,  relatively new to the company, but what do you think helped you stand out, created opportunities for your growth?

BD: My dad was a pretty big influence, obviously, as many, many fathers are for people. And I reflected early on, it was an exciting time. You know, I felt like I found my spot. My dad was often asking how the work was going and things like this. And, you know, at the time to maybe over reveal my- I was making $21 an hour and, you know, working somewhere 8 to 10 hours a day. You know, he used to come home and $210. Did you earn your paycheck today? And it was kind of a running gag, but it was reflective. It was like, did every day I come in and I felt like, did I earn my paycheck? Was I providing value? And that was especially important early on, I got hired and it was really exciting as we talked about before, but I was hired in a hiring spree that that was really to address the, you know, the dot-com boom and the photonics industry and things like this. And literally as I was on boarding, that bubble burst and we didn’t know it was a bubble. We didn’t know at the time whether it was going to rebound. But it was a hard time and ATS had to do some restructuring and things like this. And the running gag of did I earn my paycheck really meant something to me because, you know, I could have been less, it could have been added to a list. Certainly had friends and colleagues that were added to the list. And so it was important to me to always contribute. Now, that’s easier when you believe in the mission, when you like the work, the people around you and things like this. So I come back to like, I think it’s really important that you like what you’re doing. I think that’s, as I mentioned before, the energy and the workforce is palpable at times. Likewise, those that aren’t invested in it, you can see that as well. And I think that maybe, you know, I just hit the right company at the right time and think I contributed to that energy. I think I earned my paycheck at a difficult time when ATS was redefining itself. And, you know, I was fortunate enough to be restructured into a different role. And that was applications engineering. And man, you know, I always said when I grow up, I want to be an applications engineer again. I think that caught attention early on. Got to work very closely with Klaus Woerner, the founder of ATS. You can’t have a story about ATS without understanding that origin. And there’s a lot of old timers out there longer than me that have Klaus stories. But, you know, getting exposure to a very eccentric, passionate, entrepreneurial founder early in the career was awesome and game changing for me.

SD: You’ve talked about your passion for project management. You spent several years then as a project manager. Why are you so passionate about project management? What about that role resonates with you so strongly?

BD: Yeah, I think again, an influence from dad, right? He was a when I was growing up, a project manager or senior member of in the nuclear industry, building CANDU reactors all over the world. And so I saw it and I got exposed to it. But I think what really attracted me to project management was, you know, I’ve mentioned the project based business being able to work on something new. Project management gave me just the right balance for me in terms of I don’t want to say technical leadership, but technical involvement. So I got to influence the technical output. I got to work as part of a team and be influential. Lead. That was great. I got to work on new things. I got exposure to different customers on a on a relatively frequent basis. So you get to see the inner workings of how other companies work without having to leave your company and work for somebody else. I love it when a plan comes together, right? And it’s part of my personality. It takes me a little bit, a little bit of time to change when the plan needs to change. I have to come around. Project management is about, you know, a little bit of compulsive disorder on making sure that things are going according to plan. Everything’s on order. And that just appealed to my personality. And I really enjoyed just working with a multi- yeah a multifunctional team to deliver something pretty special to our customers.

SD: I can imagine. I think we all feel that, you know, when a when a plan comes together and something works the way you wanted it to work, that’s very satisfying. But how does it feel when you’re in charge of a project and it’s not going according to plan and it’s not working?

BD: Yeah. And that’s the that’s the extreme ownership element of the job and the relentlessness pursuit of getting things back on track. In the end it’s all challenging. But it’s fun. It’s fun to solve problems too, right? So, for a long time you asked about how what differentiating I, I got the for fortunate task at one point to be assigned to a really red project, one that had had not gone well. And, you know, taking a big deep breath and getting a red project back on track is a satisfying, if not more satisfying than kind of seeing your own project through that just, you know, there was no real speed bumps. That’s obviously very satisfying and great for the customer and the company as well. But, you know, when a red project, when something goes off track and sometimes they do in this industry and bringing that back on track, regaining customer confidence, bringing it back that was, that was and is pretty cool. And so there was a period of time in my career that, you know, I got assigned to some of the some of the most challenging projects that had gone off the rails and bring it down back. Intense, difficult, great learning experience, but tremendously rewarding when you when ultimately you’re able to deliver that and not necessarily according to original plan, but bringing it back on track where you have a positive outcome for the customer and the patients they serve is really important.

SD: So, your career then continued to evolve into higher leadership positions. You love project management, but you’ve been recognized because you’re so good at it. So you’re  given higher leadership positions. And now your responsibility starts to shift from delivering projects more to leading and developing people. Tell me about that transition. What was the biggest change you had to make in the way that you approached your work?

BD: Super challenging time and jump in my career because up and at that point I really hadn’t. Although I was leading teams, I hadn’t had direct reports, wasn’t having to deal with, you know, the, the HR issues, the development issues, things like this. Although, you know, arguably you’d be mentoring and developing team members, you weren’t directly responsible for them. And then all of a sudden I became the director of the PMO, the project management office. And so I was managing managers and their a strong willed group and I was new to the role, I was new to managing people. And so that was good, challenging, learned a lot. And I got again, we go back to with a lot of luck. I have to give a pile of credit to my team at that time who, you know, quite honestly, there’s probably 3 or 4 people they could have picked for that job. I was fortunate enough to to be given a chance, but the people that surrounded me and really helped me be successful was super critical. And so that’s when I kind of learned the power of mutual trust. You know, it’s forming a team that you would that would do anything for you and you would do anything for them. Yeah. It just the power of developing that and having that, it’s quite honestly served me very well throughout the later, later stages of my career was because that team continued to, to surround me and grow and develop and perpetuate that, that that trust and, you know, getting the right people and the right place at the right accountabilities was not to be underestimated and I found that to be a crucial a crucible that that’ll stay with me.

SD: How do you build a team like that? How do you how do you find people that you can trust, confide in? You know that that that can help you sort of, you know-

BD: One interaction at a time, Sarita, you know, is that this time and around this time that I had a customer, again, one that I highly respect and introduced me to the monkey and the manager. Right. I think this is one of my, my crucibles as well, was I’m going to get it wrong the way it was explained to me. I think it’s from a Harvard Business Journal. But this customer in this particular time sat me down and reminded me that we all have monkeys, and they sit on her back and some people are monkey magnets. They’re very happy to go and grab other people’s monkeys and put them on their back. And other people are really good at getting rid of their monkeys. And explained to me that one of the most powerful tools a manager can have, or a leader can have, is to recognize the monkey that’s on someone’s back, to recognize what kind of monkey it is. Is it a mean monkey? Is it just a kind monkey? Is it one that’s throwing things around the room, but socialize with the monkey, understand it, talk about it. But by no means does that monkey, stay in your office.

SD: The monkey in this metaphor is the problem?

BD: A problem. It’s a challenge. It’s a task. It’s a deadline. It can be anything. But the monkey comes into your office. You see them all at once. You hear this metaphor, you can you almost literally can see them, right? They come in and you can also tell when somebody is trying to leave that monkey in your office, right? Or at your desk. And the most powerful thing you can do is recognize the monkey, socialize with it, and make sure it doesn’t stay in your office. Properly Assign the monkey and that’s your monkey.

SD: Then you became a general manager and you describe the transition as hanging up the cape. Tell me about that.

BD: Well, I didn’t describe it as that. That was, you know, a senior leader at ATS reminded me that I, again, had been an individual performer for a long time. I was deeply involved in the day to day. And, you know, I felt, you know, referred to me and said, look, feels good being a superhero. It’s time to hang up the cake. And the conversation was that now it’s not your job to be the superhero, it’s to identify the other superheroes in your business and unleash their superpowers and talent. And I that always stuck with me, right? It’s like sometimes it feels really good to leave your office, grab the cape and go out and solve a problem. That’s great. It solves the problem, but it doesn’t. It doesn’t create a learning organization. It doesn’t create talent. And that has and continues to be hard for me. Is hanging up the cape and not doing it myself. And so that was that’s a learning that I continue to struggle with every day I tried to mentor my team with that is guys, it’s really important to, to figure out where the superheroes are in our business and, and really remove the roadblocks so that they can really unleash their, their talents, their superpowers. And, you know, that was really the time we’re truly transformed from or needed to transform from an individual performer to, to someone who was managing others and whose success depended on the success, the success and effectiveness of the team rather than just my myself.

SD: And then you became the VP of Operations for Life Sciences Systems. And then COVID hit, obviously a very devastating and a very challenging time, but your business thrived. So how did you manage that?

BD: A big customer of ours flew in and said that we have a test that will test for COVID and will deliver results but need massive, massive obviously capacity increase. And we need it fast. We need it in in 12 weeks. 12 weeks. Okay. What do you need? It’s two lines. And for those who know what we do is two large SuperTrak based lines with dials and packaging and everything like this. This is easily over, over a year normally and needed in 12 weeks. A lot of awkward glances around the room and we asked to be excused. We went into a room and the comment I’m not sure who said it, but it was like, just for a minute, let’s everyone take a deep breath and pretend this is possible. Pretend this is possible. What would need to be true? We need a platform. We would need robots. We need feeders. We need. And we got to work. And literally within that afternoon, we came up with a framework. Customer sitting in another room, came back and said, we think we can do it, and this is how we’re going to do it. And we pulled platforms from here and there. And I was a VP of Operations at the time. I was assigned the program manager, and I was assigned the best of the best in the business to get it done. In fairness, best of the best, most capable, most available, those that were able and willing from a family situation to put in the effort. We worked around the clock to get this done and we installed the first line, shipped it in 12 weeks, installed it, and had the first salable product coming off, validated product coming off 16 weeks to the day of the purchase order.

SD: So you were VP of Operations during that time, then you were promoted again to be President of Life Science Systems?

BD: Yeah, there was another crucible at the time. We went and visited in Washington. We had a leadership conference in Washington, and there was an arrangement for us to go see the Children’s National Hospital and man, the work that they’re doing and the patients that they’re serving is phenomenal. And the hard stories that you hear there, you see the staff and the researchers and things like that and the therapies that they’re developing and just tremendously noble pursuit and hanging on the wall was a sign that said the patient is waiting. Neon sign. And I took a picture of it and asked if I could shamelessly steal that and that that resides in our in our employee entrance now, as a reminder every day that the equipment that we provide, the capacity that we deliver, the importance of patient safety, but also the assurance of supply is really important. And the reality is, is our customers are ordering equipment to increase capacity because there’s a patient on the other end of that device or that therapy that needs it. And for every day that goes by, whether you’re early on time or late, there’s a patient that’s waiting, right? There’s a region of this world that’s not being opened up because there’s not capacity to deliver that new therapy to that region. You know, God forbid that a region does open up and then that that capacity is insufficient. And so you have to pull back, you know, just a constant reminder. The patient is waiting. So that was another reminder and something that I learned as I entered is it just got exposure, higher level exposure to what our kind of always knew about what our equipment does, and really just hearing the stories of our customers and the patients they serve of, you know, how meaningful what we do is. And so I think I think, again, another crucible is the patient is waiting. And how do you deliver that message throughout the organization to ensure that we’re energizing the people that make it happen, engage, lean in and, and invest extra energy into what they do day to day.

SD: So over the years, you’ve seen markets grow, collapse, reinvent themselves. What did all those changes teach you about building a durable business?

BD: There’s I was relatively recently made aware of it’s a Russian proverb, and it goes something along the lines of when a bear asks you to dance, it’s the bear, not you, who decides when the dance is over. And you know that could be extended. You know, it’s a good business analogy, right? Because, you know, you can think of it in different ways. You know, you want to be careful with your dance moves, right? It’s a balance between attracting attention and being overly radical. I’ll say. So that that might be a lesson in, you know, appropriate differentiation, innovation, maybe even disruption without distraction. So I look at it as it’s important to stay on your toes and separate yourself from the competition, but also making sure that you’re not you’re not chasing something that’s that maybe the market, the industry, your people, your organization aren’t ready for. It can be looked at as like you can only step on your dance partners toes so many, so many times before they end the dance. And so I think that’s around again, building trust and transparency on what your abilities, what you can do, and then the importance of execution when you when making sure you do what you say you’re going to do.

SD: I think it’s a great metaphor. I think it’s bang on. I want to talk a little bit about your life outside the role. Your career has included relocation, extensive travel, marriage, raising a family, personal loss. You know, you talk about your dad a lot. How do those significant life events shape your approach to leadership or how have they.

BD: Yeah, again, we started this conversation with luck, again, call it luck. I got the right partner. You referred to the loss of my father. Remembering that we can’t control a lot of things, but we can control how we prepare, react and respond. And my dad got sick pretty quickly and we lost him pretty quickly. I don’t know if that was a good or a bad thing, but one thing I’m super thankful for was, you know, that I was able to have an opportunity. He came back, he came and was able to live in my home. And I got to come home from work every day and have dinner with him and sit with him for a while and talk about whether I earned my paycheck that day or not. And just remember that. Remember the times and the teachings that he gave me over the time. So yeah, like I think like most people. Right. It’s taking what you have at home and applying it to work and vice versa. If you can do that effectively, I think you’re further ahead. And I think we all struggle with it at times. And the balance for sure. I’m no different. Building a good team at home, building a good team at work and super important and continue to work on that and improve always.

SD: I think what I’m what I believe, what I’m hearing you say is what happens at home, what happens at work. Those learnings can translate across those boundaries. Right? And I know that obviously your career is important to you. our family is important to you. How do you stay focused on what matters most at any given time? Is that an impossible question?

BD: Yeah. Sorry. You know, so we you know, we as so-called successful professionals get that question, right? We’re we like anyone else, I’m sure, just always trying to figure out that balance. And we’re always in pursuit of it and I go back to happiness plus a paycheck, right, is you enjoy what you’re doing at work. It makes it a lot easier at home and vice versa.

SD: And I think that what is balance is different every day. It never has the same meaning. So just keep trying to do your best. I agree is the right thing to do. I want to go back now as we’re winding down sort of this episode, I want to go back to that quote we started with. You’re a mechanical engineer by education, a project manager by passion, and an executive leader with a lot of luck. And now that we’ve spent some time listening to your journey, it seems to me that there was a lot of intention and reflection and talent and hard work that was involved in your career progression. I think it was more than just luck. Do you still think that luck is the right word?

BD: 100%. It’s not for the sake of being humble. Had a very again, close family friend who’s actually my dad’s best friend. I remember as a teenager we were talking about being a sponge, soaking it up and just knowing that when it when it dries out, only good will remain. And I think that if there was one thing that was intentional is I felt like I always tried to look at a situation, look at an individual, look at an organization, a team, and say what- what was really good about that? What wasn’t so good about that? And I tried to really take in my personality into my organization, to my team and try to, you know, retain the good and hopefully, as best I could, shed the things that weren’t so good. If there’s anything that was intentional, it was that.

SD: I want to ask one final question. What advice would you give to your younger self graduating from university and starting your career? What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

BD: Man, it’s a journey, right? So I, I don’t know if I would give myself any secrets. Don’t know if I would have wish I made any significant changes differently. I guess if there’s one thing I wish I would tell myself is maybe be less nostalgic. And what I mean by that is, is I’m, you know, I’ve been with ATS a long time, and this preparing for this has been one where reflected on, you know, the good old days a lot. Right. And anybody who’s been around me long knows that I like to tell the stories of yesteryear and what we tried and what worked and what didn’t work. And I’ve come to come to realize that when you’re when you’re nostalgic about something and there’s nothing wrong with nostalgia, but you truly do remember the good things, you don’t remember all the challenging times. And just maybe as you go, just remember how important the now was and stop reflecting so much on the past, or maybe even so much on the future. Just really stay present. Because as I went through this exercise and kind of mapped out the career and some of the pivotal moments and who was mentoring me at the time, man, I can’t go and pick a pick a year that was more or less fun than the other one. And I’m not sure that in any given year I would have said, oh yeah, this is the best year ever. But kind of looking through the years, there was a lot of great times. I think I would have told my myself to just calm down a little bit and, and be a little bit more present.

SD: I think that’s good advice for everyone, not just for a young Blair coming out of university. Thank you so much, Blair, for sharing your stories and your insights with us today. To our listeners, thank you for joining us for this episode of Enabling Automation. And always remember, stay curious, stay responsible, and stay human.