Vanguard Magazine

28 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 www.vanguardcanada.com GAME CHANGER See the full interview online Q What is your role at your organization today? Today, I hold the role of the Chief Oper- ating Officer and I continue with many of the same responsibilities as before but with expanded responsibilities, including our regulatory compliance with the various ministries that govern our organization, as well as acting as the Accountable Manager for our EASA flight test approved training organization. Q What was your most challenging moment? We have all come through a very challeng- ing few years with COVID. As a training provider we found ourselves in the middle of our courses when the shutdown orders were issued. We faced our clients wanting to pull their students home with no cer- tainty that we could get them back into Canada once we were able to get up and running again. We were lucky to have had strong relationships with our clients which garnered us the time to figure out how we could reopen our training programs, which we did successfully and completed all training with little to no delays. We faced regulatory uncertainty as the gov- ernment struggled to determine an ap- propriate path forward pulling some key avenues for us to bring in students with little notice. We still, today, face many delays or lost communications when dealing with various government depart- ments for vital aspects of running our or- ganization but we have reached a point where we are able to navigate these de- lays more effectively. Q What was your A-HA moment or epiphany that you think will resonate most with our readerS? Our A-HA moment came when we real- ized what we could achieve as an organi- zation utilizing the limited resources, we had available to us but mainly through realizing how we could implement our resources in a unique way to achieve training objectives that would otherwise be overly expensive or unachievable by a small to midsize enterprise. We foster a strong organization mentality from which we are able to build great things, that of being aware and quick to respond to the changing environment in which we operate. From both a business and technological stance, we have seen rapid advancement in the aerospace and de- fense sectors as well as a fundamental shift in mindset that often big and ex- pensive options don't always provide the flexibility that's required by the end users to adapt as environments, needs, and values change. To that end, we en- deavour to remain quick to adapt and innovative in our uses of readily available technologies. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? In running an organization such as ours, I am fortunate to be in a position to hear about the issues that are affecting the aerospace and defence sector domesti- cally and internationally and those issues get me excited (fired up) to simply have the opportunity to be able to play a role in solving some of those issues through incorporating new and innovative train- ing solutions and technologies in order to meet the needs of todays pilots. Q What is the best advice you received? Surround yourself with good people, lis- ten to their expertise then rely on your judgement and experience to determine the best course forward. The team you surround yourself with will have their spe- cific areas of expertise which must be lever- aged to generate ideas and improvements but also to identify pitfalls. As a leader, it is then your job to take on board this in- formation and determine the best course of action given the myriad of other factors and issues that you should be aware of or source from other team members. Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? It is very easy to get lost in the weeds when dealing with a difficult situation or frustrated and demotivated by events that may or may not have any impact on you or your organization. Sometimes stepping back and taking a breather allows you to see and appreciate what has been achieved, recalibrate what needs to be done, and re- new your enthusiasm to keep going. This has helped me with my consistency and perseverance in running a very complex and heavily regulated organization. Q What are some of the biggest impediments to innovation in your industry sector? The largest impediment to innovation in our industry is regulatory as with any large bureaucracy there is an inertia that is very difficult to overcome. It has been our ex- perience that regulatory bodies, irrespec- tive of their mandates, are either unable or not willing to properly handle change whether it be due to perceived risk, a lack of understanding, a failure of their own processes or a general unwillingness to work with industry partners to establish the framework for fostering innovation. Recently, there has been a drastic deterio- ration in turn around times and tracking of submissions which lumbers companies with delays and additional costs that we are just expected to absorb. DAVID CLEMENTI CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND ACCOUNTABLE MANAGER EASA ATO ITPS (CANADA) LTD.

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