How Schneider Electric commits to Sustainability and positive impact in everything they do with Joe Reele

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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:06] SPEAKER_00: This podcast is brought to you by Schneider Electric,
[00:09] SPEAKER_00: supporting Canadian businesses with innovative energy management and automation solutions.
[00:15] SPEAKER_00: Schneider Electric, your digital partner for sustainability and efficiency.
[00:20] SPEAKER_01: Hi, this is Celine Williams hosting for Canada's podcast.
[00:24] SPEAKER_01: My guest today is Joe Real, Vice President,
[00:27] SPEAKER_01: Data Center solution architects at Schneider Electric.
[00:30] SPEAKER_01: In his role, he is responsible for bringing together the full suite of Schneider Electric products and services
[00:35] SPEAKER_01: to provide unparalleled, right-sized, innovative and complete solutions for their customers.
[00:41] SPEAKER_01: Joe, welcome to the show. I'm really excited to talk to you today.
[00:45] SPEAKER_02: Hi, Celine. Well, thank you very much for having me.
[00:48] SPEAKER_02: It's really an honor for me to be here.
[00:50] SPEAKER_02: And I really look forward to having this dialogue.
[00:53] SPEAKER_02: Thanks again for having me.
[00:55] SPEAKER_01: It is my pleasure, truly. I'm really excited to hear more about what you do,
[01:01] SPEAKER_01: but also about what Schneider Electric is up to these days,
[01:03] SPEAKER_01: because I know it's a very well-established and large organization
[01:07] SPEAKER_01: and that's always fascinating to hear about. So I appreciate you being here.
[01:12] SPEAKER_02: Oh, thanks for having me. Let's get rolling and see what we can get ourselves into here.
[01:18] SPEAKER_01: So here at Cannes Podcast,
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: we are all about sharing the stories of how people ended up doing what they're doing,
[01:26] SPEAKER_01: whether they're an entrepreneur or a business owner or an executive or whatever it is.
[01:33] SPEAKER_01: We like to share the stories because people really connect to how we got to where we got.
[01:40] SPEAKER_01: So I'd love to share some of your journey with our audience,
[01:44] SPEAKER_01: maybe where you started your background and how you got to this role that you're in right now
[01:50] SPEAKER_01: of VP Data Center Solution Architects.
[01:53] SPEAKER_02: Well, I am, well, first of all, again, I'm honored to be here and thank you so much.
[02:00] SPEAKER_02: And wow, what a question. I...
[02:04] SPEAKER_01: Big and broad, Joe. I like to start Big and broad.
[02:07] SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, I'll start off by saying, you know,
[02:14] SPEAKER_02: I'll start by saying this first of all.
[02:16] SPEAKER_02: There's no such thing as luck.
[02:21] SPEAKER_02: And I'll give you a quick story. I'm going to tell you how I got to where I'm at.
[02:25] SPEAKER_02: Okay. So there's no such thing as luck.
[02:27] SPEAKER_02: So if two people are fishing, you're saline in the front of the boat.
[02:32] SPEAKER_02: I'm going to back at the boat.
[02:34] SPEAKER_02: You're paying attention. You're prepared for an opportunity.
[02:38] SPEAKER_02: I'm in a back in the boat. I'm looking at the trees, the birds, the houses, the steth, you know what I say?
[02:42] SPEAKER_02: A fish comes and bites my line and I miss it.
[02:45] SPEAKER_02: But you're in front of the boat, same bait, same everything, two ten feet apart.
[02:50] SPEAKER_02: You catch the fish. Why? Because you're prepared for the opportunity.
[02:54] SPEAKER_02: So, so let's start with that. That's how we're going to start the conversation.
[02:59] SPEAKER_02: As for everybody, as opportunity is all around you at all times.
[03:04] SPEAKER_02: And you don't even realize it a lot of times.
[03:08] SPEAKER_02: And but if you're prepared for those opportunities and you're more prepared than the next person,
[03:13] SPEAKER_02: then you're more apt to get that opportunity to move forward.
[03:16] SPEAKER_02: So let's start there. And my background is I grew up actually, and I'm familiar with Canada.
[03:22] SPEAKER_02: I grew up in Niagara Falls, New York.
[03:24] SPEAKER_02: And so Niagara Falls, Ontario, St. Catherine's, Mrs. Saga, I played hockey.
[03:28] SPEAKER_02: We're all places I frequented very much and very fond of and have great memories there.
[03:35] SPEAKER_02: So I did that. I played hockey and I have a I have a shattered wrist here that ended my my hockey career.
[03:46] SPEAKER_02: And this is when I joined United States Air Force. And I had no idea by the way I'm the oldest of many children.
[03:53] SPEAKER_02: And my dad was going to pay for my college and I didn't want him to do that.
[03:58] SPEAKER_02: So I was going to join the military figured out for myself.
[04:01] SPEAKER_02: And I'm not much of a swimmer so the Navy was out. I didn't like camping that much so that Marines and Army were out.
[04:07] SPEAKER_02: So I was I joined the Air Force. I took a tested well, took another tested well.
[04:12] SPEAKER_02: I ended up in a nuclear program for United States Air Force.
[04:15] SPEAKER_02: So I was working on intercontinental ballistic missiles.
[04:21] SPEAKER_02: The Minimum M3 weapon system and I got my education and power refrigeration electronics doing that.
[04:29] SPEAKER_02: And I decided to move on from the Air Force after my four year commitment.
[04:37] SPEAKER_02: And I use that training and I started working in building automation and building controls work for Siemens.
[04:47] SPEAKER_02: And then I kind of just just moved up through the organization.
[04:52] SPEAKER_02: And I'm going to talk about that in a second as to how, if you will, or why and what's a good trait, I think.
[04:59] SPEAKER_02: And I ran a Southeast region for Siemens technical support.
[05:06] SPEAKER_02: And then from there, I became a dad and I.
[05:14] SPEAKER_02: As job of all.
[05:16] SPEAKER_02: Yes, ma'am. You are in and my at the time my girlfriend was not in the same city as I was.
[05:23] SPEAKER_02: So I wasn't going to be a remote dad. So I ended up moving and to where my child was and was a dad.
[05:39] SPEAKER_02: And I.
[05:41] SPEAKER_02: And this is this is the I think an interesting part of the story.
[05:45] SPEAKER_02: I couldn't find a exact job that you know you say, I this is what I do.
[05:51] SPEAKER_02: So, but there was a job about mission critical facilities.
[05:56] SPEAKER_02: And I thought to myself, wait, I was an in nuclear program.
[06:00] SPEAKER_02: I was in the most intensive mission critical facility you could ever imagine 72 feet below the earth and electronics and computer all kinds of things happening.
[06:12] SPEAKER_02: Sounds like something for me.
[06:14] SPEAKER_02: I had no idea what the data set a was actually at that time.
[06:19] SPEAKER_02: So I applied for this facilities mission critical and next thing you know within six months I was kind of running a small city for Bank of America.
[06:35] SPEAKER_02: And their mission critical portfolio data center portfolio.
[06:39] SPEAKER_02: And soon after that about six months after that they asked me to take on the rest of the world.
[06:45] SPEAKER_02: And so I was now then the senior vice president engineering service executive for Bank of America.
[06:53] SPEAKER_02: Responsible for data centers globally.
[06:56] SPEAKER_02: And then really the financial crisis hit.
[07:01] SPEAKER_02: In 2007 and eight.
[07:04] SPEAKER_02: And it was done that.
[07:11] SPEAKER_02: How do I want to say sometimes you wake up one day and you kind of figure out that you either you can live to work or work to live.
[07:21] SPEAKER_02: And as a father, I wasn't sure that I had my balance correct there.
[07:27] SPEAKER_02: And so I actually decided to make a change on my own.
[07:33] SPEAKER_02: And I had worked with a number of companies at my role at Bank of America one that stood out most was Schneider Electric.
[07:47] SPEAKER_02: The people they're culture what they wake up every morning to do was make the world the better place.
[07:52] SPEAKER_02: That is a much different vision than maybe a financial institution may have.
[08:00] SPEAKER_03: Right.
[08:02] SPEAKER_02: And so that fit me quite well.
[08:04] SPEAKER_02: And I was lucky enough to kind of do my job honorably and etc.
[08:11] SPEAKER_02: So and I had a lot of opportunities from external companies while at the bank.
[08:16] SPEAKER_02: And I decided that I was going to accept and pick up the phone of all these people that said call when you want to.
[08:24] SPEAKER_02: So I did I called when I wanted to and I've been at Schneider Electric now for nine years.
[08:31] SPEAKER_02: I said it just getting here, you know, we literally we really do we wake up in the morning trying to make the world a better place where we're incredibly focused on diversity and equality.
[08:48] SPEAKER_02: We're incredibly focused on the globe and the planet in sustainability.
[08:53] SPEAKER_02: One of the most ethical companies in the world one of the most sustainable companies in the world.
[08:59] SPEAKER_02: And gosh, if you just think about that, who wouldn't want to get up and go to work for somebody like that.
[09:06] SPEAKER_02: So that's my journey a little bit.
[09:10] SPEAKER_02: There's a couple of little things in there just for some folks, maybe to take away is, you know, it's it's it's it's okay to kind of.
[09:18] SPEAKER_02: To to to realize and make a change it's okay to to figure that out.
[09:24] SPEAKER_02: It's a lean in during the introduction you said something I thought was impactful to me.
[09:28] SPEAKER_02: And you talked about being curious and curiosity and I'll say this to people.
[09:36] SPEAKER_02: It's one of the most important traits that you could have.
[09:41] SPEAKER_02: Curious people are people that want to figure it out. How does it work?
[09:44] SPEAKER_02: Why does it work? How can I make it a little bit better? How can I do this or that?
[09:50] SPEAKER_02: Being curious.
[09:53] SPEAKER_02: If you're curious you're going to be incredibly successful in life and success is not guaranteed by the size of your house or the size of your salary.
[10:03] SPEAKER_02: Okay, success is a lot more than that.
[10:06] SPEAKER_02: And we've all I think many of us have come to that realization to the pandemic.
[10:10] SPEAKER_02: But when you were talking and you have a wonderful story yourself and it was a pleasure to have that dialogue.
[10:17] SPEAKER_02: But that that curiosity.
[10:20] SPEAKER_02: A trait that you have is one that I want to share with the audience to say.
[10:26] SPEAKER_02: It's an overlook trait that many people don't talk about.
[10:30] SPEAKER_02: But it's one of the most impactful traits that you can have as human.
[10:34] SPEAKER_02: And when you have that trait, you're going to find wonderful success and happiness because you're going to figure it out.
[10:41] SPEAKER_02: You can't be curious and not go figure it out.
[10:44] SPEAKER_02: You are drawn to that naturally.
[10:49] SPEAKER_01: So I want to say I very much appreciate you saying that.
[10:53] SPEAKER_01: And it is very clear from your story that you have a lot of curiosity as well.
[10:59] SPEAKER_01: And I think the fact that you started with there is no such thing as luck is the type of thing that someone who is naturally curious who is going to look at something like the, you know, the data center job that I recognize was not called that and say, oh, I can link this to the other things that I've done even though it might not be the most obvious thing up front.
[11:22] SPEAKER_01: Because I'm asking questions and being curious about it, that is you exhibit this and it is, you know, from from the story that I just heard that our listeners just heard, it is clearly a key piece of your success.
[11:37] SPEAKER_02: Yes, well, you know, thank you for that.
[11:42] SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure I realized that at the time.
[11:45] SPEAKER_02: I maybe have realized it now, but at the time I didn't realize that maybe.
[11:52] SPEAKER_02: And, you know, sometimes you look back at things and you say, wow, I mean, I, you know, something else I'll say, you know, I never woke up to say, I'm going to be in the United States.
[12:07] SPEAKER_02: I force nuclear program never once that I hit that never once that I say, you're going to be an SVP engineering executive at back of America.
[12:16] SPEAKER_02: And never once did I wake up and say, I want to be a vice president at Schneider, or a doctor.
[12:21] SPEAKER_02: These are things that I talked about.
[12:23] SPEAKER_02: It's like a back of the boat fishing.
[12:25] SPEAKER_02: I was prepared for the opportunity.
[12:28] SPEAKER_02: And, and, and I was able to take advantage of the opportunity.
[12:32] SPEAKER_02: And then you said something I'd like to just get into just for one second.
[12:37] SPEAKER_02: I think is super impactful.
[12:40] SPEAKER_02: It's just because you never have that doesn't mean that you can't.
[12:44] SPEAKER_02: Okay, and I think that limits people.
[12:46] SPEAKER_02: Oh, I've never done that before or I don't think that I can. Yeah, you can't.
[12:50] SPEAKER_02: You absolutely can't.
[12:52] SPEAKER_02: You, you, you, you can do it.
[12:56] SPEAKER_02: It is not.
[12:57] SPEAKER_02: I mean, if, yeah, you never walked you were a baby.
[13:00] SPEAKER_02: If you adopted that, you'd still be crawling, right?
[13:03] SPEAKER_02: So like you can do it.
[13:04] SPEAKER_02: And you just have to tell yourself that you can't do it and believe in yourself.
[13:08] SPEAKER_02: And one of the things I coach a national fast pitch girl softball team.
[13:13] SPEAKER_02: I did my daughter's now playing fast pitch college, college softball.
[13:19] SPEAKER_02: One of the things that I told.
[13:22] SPEAKER_02: I say my team, but I don't mean it that way.
[13:26] SPEAKER_02: The girls, what a young ladies.
[13:28] SPEAKER_03: What he was.
[13:30] SPEAKER_02: I asked them all to brush your teeth in the morning.
[13:33] SPEAKER_02: And of course they went, yeah, coach Joe.
[13:35] SPEAKER_02: Yes. Right.
[13:37] SPEAKER_02: And I said, okay, I, here's what I want you to do tomorrow morning and do this every day.
[13:42] SPEAKER_02: Now the rest of your life, you're going to be amazed at this.
[13:45] SPEAKER_02: When you brush your teeth, I want you to look at yourself in the mirror and,
[13:49] SPEAKER_02: and I want you to tell yourself the world's a better place because you're in it.
[13:52] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[13:54] SPEAKER_02: You, you, you, you brush your teeth every morning and you're just doing it in the mirror most likely, right?
[13:59] SPEAKER_02: So just tell yourself the world's a better place because you're in it.
[14:02] SPEAKER_02: And if you don't believe me, let me go ask your mom or your grandfather or your brother or go ask coach Joe.
[14:08] SPEAKER_02: Right.
[14:08] SPEAKER_02: And every one of us is going to say, oh my god, of course.
[14:11] SPEAKER_02: So I want you to believe that the world's a better place, the minute you walk out of that bathroom.
[14:16] SPEAKER_02: And here's what you're going to do because of that.
[14:18] SPEAKER_02: You're going to realize that holy cow, I'm in it and I can make the world that you're going to hold the door for somebody.
[14:23] SPEAKER_02: You're going to say thank you for somebody.
[14:25] SPEAKER_02: You're going to do something.
[14:26] SPEAKER_02: You're going to feel empowered to go out in the world and say, here I am.
[14:32] SPEAKER_02: And I am valuable.
[14:35] SPEAKER_02: And this, this place is better because I'm in it.
[14:37] SPEAKER_02: I'll, and it'll show you and immediately changes your behavior.
[14:41] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[14:42] SPEAKER_02: And what you, what you start to see is people gain confidence, people gain the ability.
[14:47] SPEAKER_02: I don't have to be a VP to make an impact on somebody.
[14:53] SPEAKER_02: I don't have to be a certain title or a certain wealth or a certain this to make an impact on people know you don't.
[15:01] SPEAKER_02: Okay.
[15:02] SPEAKER_02: You, you, you, you can make that impact as to who you are embrace who you are.
[15:06] SPEAKER_02: World's a better place because you're in it.
[15:08] SPEAKER_02: So, you know, all of those things I think I've adopted in my life.
[15:14] SPEAKER_02: Okay, which is help get me to where I am.
[15:20] SPEAKER_02: I never thought that I couldn't do it because I'm stubborn.
[15:24] SPEAKER_02: Right.
[15:25] SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, I can do it.
[15:26] SPEAKER_02: I'm like the little four year old.
[15:28] SPEAKER_02: That's never thrown a fish in line.
[15:31] SPEAKER_02: I, that I got it.
[15:33] SPEAKER_02: I can do it.
[15:33] SPEAKER_02: You can.
[15:35] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[15:36] SPEAKER_02: Right.
[15:36] SPEAKER_02: So like those are the things I think that have sort of, I would say, to find me a little bit sleep, but also let me to where I'm at.
[15:48] SPEAKER_03: Okay.
[15:49] SPEAKER_02: And so as a long story.
[15:52] SPEAKER_02: But that's, that's how I got here in a way.
[15:57] SPEAKER_01: I'm, it's, thank you for sharing all of that.
[16:00] SPEAKER_01: And it immediately, I talk a lot about leadership being about the hate because I talk about leadership.
[16:07] SPEAKER_01: So this is my nerdy.
[16:08] SPEAKER_01: I talk a lot about leadership being about behavior, not about title or authority.
[16:14] SPEAKER_01: It's about how we show up.
[16:16] SPEAKER_01: Doesn't make a difference what title you have.
[16:18] SPEAKER_01: Doesn't make it, but the way we show up.
[16:21] SPEAKER_01: That is what leaders, that is what leadership really is.
[16:24] SPEAKER_01: And what you've just said tells me that you are a person who deeply, deeply understands and lives that and encourages it in other people, which is the, you know, sharing with the young athletes on the, on the fast pitch team to, you know, speak into the mirror.
[16:42] SPEAKER_01: That's exactly what it is.
[16:43] SPEAKER_01: It is a behavior that you are encouraging in yourself and other people to show up regardless of who they are where they're at.
[16:50] SPEAKER_01: And that is such, I love that piece of your story.
[16:56] SPEAKER_01: And I really wanted to highlight it because I think it's really important for people to, to, to, to look, to, to hear what you're saying and not get stuck on.
[17:03] SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, you know, Joe has this title and Joe has, yeah, Joe might have those things.
[17:07] SPEAKER_01: Joe doesn't always had those things.
[17:09] SPEAKER_03: Right.
[17:09] SPEAKER_01: But what Joe does have is that behavior and that attitude that has clearly served him well to get to where, to where you are right now.
[17:19] SPEAKER_01: And I just want to speak that out loud because I think it's really, it's very obvious to me and I appreciate you sharing all of that.
[17:26] SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you for that.
[17:27] SPEAKER_02: I, I really appreciate that.
[17:28] SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
[17:30] SPEAKER_01: I am really curious because you mentioned, you met, obviously you mentioned Schneider Electric and you mentioned, you know, some of what they're up to in the world.
[17:38] SPEAKER_01: I want to know more of that.
[17:39] SPEAKER_01: But even, you know, for the, the folks in our audience who don't know a lot about Schneider Electric in general, can you kind of give us, and we're totally going to get into the sustainability?
[17:52] SPEAKER_01: I have a lot of questions about that sort of piece.
[17:54] SPEAKER_01: But before that, can you sort of give us general sense of what Schneider Electric does?
[18:00] SPEAKER_01: Because clearly it's impactful enough and important enough that you from an outside perspective identified that is the type of place I want to work.
[18:12] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[18:12] SPEAKER_02: Well, we are a very, very large global company where had quartered in Grenoble, France.
[18:21] SPEAKER_02: We have an incredible executive leadership team, coincide in unbelievable vision and mission for us.
[18:31] SPEAKER_02: And, and, and all of my teammates were a wide, and what we do, I would say we're, we're, we're the world leader in energy management.
[18:42] SPEAKER_02: And we manufacture major electrical equipment. If you think about the trail of electricity, somebody produces it, and then they transport it, and then they distribute it.
[18:56] SPEAKER_02: And Schneider Electric makes hardware and software along the entire electrical train all the way inside of a data center to the plug at which the computer actually plugs into.
[19:11] SPEAKER_02: So Schneider Electric makes electrical hardware.
[19:15] SPEAKER_02: We are found in mining and minerals, water and waste water, data centers, healthcare, buildings, just office buildings.
[19:26] SPEAKER_02: We play a role in utility, electrical utilities, natural gas, oil and gas.
[19:32] SPEAKER_02: And so we provide equipment.
[19:36] SPEAKER_02: All of our equipment is digitized and connectable.
[19:42] SPEAKER_02: So IOT, when people talk about IOT being a sensor, your watch, your meter or light switch on the wall, the products we make are digitally enabled and connectable.
[19:56] SPEAKER_02: And we're incredibly focused on, on, on digital, being able to embrace digital.
[20:04] SPEAKER_02: And we really feel that energy, believe it or not, is a basic human right.
[20:12] SPEAKER_02: And we say that in our company.
[20:14] SPEAKER_02: And so we say we're a world leader of energy management.
[20:20] SPEAKER_02: And we cover all those industries.
[20:24] SPEAKER_02: And we really say that that electricity and now digital is a is a basic human right.
[20:36] SPEAKER_02: And so we work to enable that for people in places in the world.
[20:44] SPEAKER_02: And we work with just about every client that you name or can think about, we serve about all of them in some capacity or another.
[20:59] SPEAKER_02: And so that's kind of what Schneider Electric does from a data center to a fully digitized robotic factory and industrial facility and even offshore rigging.
[21:12] SPEAKER_02: And so we do all of that and we do that, I think, I might have my numbers wrong here, Celine, roughly around 160,000 employees, 178 countries.
[21:25] SPEAKER_01: It's incredible.
[21:27] SPEAKER_01: It's incredible.
[21:28] SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it's a, it's really a great place to work.
[21:32] SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm not saying it because I work, I don't, I'm having to say this about Schneider right now.
[21:40] SPEAKER_02: I'm a, I work here and there are many associates like myself.
[21:45] SPEAKER_02: We actually want to work here.
[21:47] SPEAKER_02: We don't work here because we have to.
[21:50] SPEAKER_02: I mentioned our executive leadership team and in our country leadership team.
[21:55] SPEAKER_02: They really set the market division for us and it's really an honor actually to work for good, good leaders.
[22:02] SPEAKER_02: I, it's a wonderful place to work and that's kind of what we try to do around the world, not only for our clients, but just the world in general.
[22:11] SPEAKER_02: And then by the way, we treat our people quite well.
[22:14] SPEAKER_00: At Schneider Electric, we empower Canadian businesses to utilize energy and resources efficiently. Schneider Electric, the future of energy.
[22:25] SPEAKER_01: It's really obvious that you, and I'm guessing this is reflected in other leaders and executive team as well that you genuinely care and that you are committed to what Schneider Electric stands for.
[22:39] SPEAKER_01: And I think that is clear in how you, how you speak about the company and how you speak about the team and, you know, so.
[22:49] SPEAKER_01: I and doing research for this, poked around on your on the website and one of the things that really stood out to me is the credo that Schneider Electric has.
[22:58] SPEAKER_01: I'm going to read it because I think it's really powerful and I think it's very much reflected in what you just said, especially because there is such a clear commitment to.
[23:08] SPEAKER_01: Positive impact in the world in general, and specifically climate positive impact and so the credo is I'm going to read this otherwise I'm not good enough to memorize this sort of thing.
[23:20] SPEAKER_01: Schneider's purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources bridging progress and sustainability for all.
[23:28] SPEAKER_01: And I say that because you spoke about electricity being a human right and I think that that credo has that concept baked in right that idea that this is it's about innovation it is about sustainability it's about access for all and I'd
[23:46] SPEAKER_01: love to know a little bit more about what that looks like how that shows up.
[23:53] SPEAKER_01: This whether it's a sustainability piece or the access for all because I think it's clearly something that the company and you and your role presumably are passionate about.
[24:02] SPEAKER_02: We are passionate about that and you know, I think it even I would say even goes a little bit beyond that too with regards to just people.
[24:14] SPEAKER_02: And equalness and I would also say which is I think totally this is probably going to sound a polar opposite to people.
[24:32] SPEAKER_02: But do you know that I would suggest that we etch neither electric actually don't want conformity so I'll give you an example this is a weird Joe thing but I'll just do it.
[24:46] SPEAKER_02: Okay so like imagine about an ounce and like the East Indian guru who lays on that bad an ounce I wonder why he doesn't get skewered and it's because every now
[25:01] SPEAKER_02: is the same height and every now supports a small portion of the weight and yeah the entire weight is is supported and the only way that that is accomplished.
[25:18] SPEAKER_02: And again this is the weird thing from a leader but I'm just going to tell you right now I don't want you to conform to me if you conform to me that I'm going to make one now how's that going to work out when he lays on it or she lays on it.
[25:30] SPEAKER_02: When everybody conforms to me as the leader or the leader or whatever you make one now.
[25:38] SPEAKER_02: The only way to achieve what we have achieved I believe that Schneiderlok took this is the unofficial Schneider statement from Joe but the only way is that we we didn't want conformity we wanted individuality and individuals are the nails.
[25:59] SPEAKER_02: And yes there are organizational charts and yes there are titles and yes there are all those things but at the end of the day each one of our teammates I'll be it may be on a different place on the board of nail is no higher than the other one.
[26:18] SPEAKER_02: Okay and so most people and teams they all want conformity that's very shallow.
[26:26] SPEAKER_02: You have to be very comfortable in your own leadership style and abilities and the brace that people are smarter than you and they can do things better than you and they can but you embrace that as one and become better in the way that you do that is and is is you actually require.
[26:48] SPEAKER_02: Individuality and conformity and so I mean I would say that's kind of what our secret is to success a little bit believe it or not a giant company that actually wants its people to be individuals and to express themselves and to feel confident about that but not only that to do it in an ethical way.
[27:11] SPEAKER_02: With our clients and with our teammates right there used to be.
[27:18] SPEAKER_02: Maybe there still isn't some parts of the world the unjustifies the means where we could pollute 17 streams beyond the point anything living in it but the board is going to stand up on a plot because we made $3 a share that's how works for us.
[27:33] SPEAKER_02: The means is important to us and so yeah sustainability is is a key piece we know that climate changes here we believe that we know that we have to make change we know that we have to make the most of our energy we also know that we have to allow those who may not have that essential need and along with digital and digitization.
[28:03] SPEAKER_02: To we need to enable the world with that not everybody has all those things and so.
[28:09] SPEAKER_02: We we work hard to do those things there's a number of programs in countries.
[28:15] SPEAKER_02: That that help that in local communities as well I am not 100% first on.
[28:23] SPEAKER_02: The magnitude of those programs that we we do have I do know that we we spend at an orbren amount of time and resources in our in our local communities of which we serve.
[28:39] SPEAKER_01: I think it's really clear that the the commitment to first of all I love the idea of the the commitment to individuality the unofficial statement but that really is the commitment to diversity and equality that you mentioned up from which is where innovation comes from right it's always easier to have a room full of people that are going to agree with you that is always going to be the easier to.
[29:06] SPEAKER_01: It's a really important choice it doesn't mean it's the better choice especially when it comes to innovation and I think that to me is a really important take away and I want to highlight it inside of what you said because it was really evident that that is important and quite frankly that's what makes one of the things i'm not saying it's the only thing but it's one of the things that makes Schneider electric successful and a leader when it comes to innovation when it comes to digitization when it comes to these things.
[29:36] SPEAKER_02: Actually and you know it's i would say this you know the world is constantly changing it's constantly getting more electrified and more digitized right and and and it's important on how we do that and and so it's it's a wonderful place I think if anybody is interested in and and having a look where actually you can wake up.
[30:06] SPEAKER_02: In the morning it's you like when you go to bed at night you made a little bit of a difference you know give us a look yeah.
[30:17] SPEAKER_01: I i'm going to kind of jump on to something you said earlier if you don't mind and sure and that is the so some folks who are listening know that i'm a climate reality leader so i'm really passionate about sustainability in general but also bringing awareness to organizations to things that are not going to be.
[30:36] SPEAKER_01: So we're happening that kind of you know bring awareness to the climate crisis to bring awareness of the realities of the world and who are.
[30:45] SPEAKER_01: Where organizations and people are looking at changing those things and working into it and speaking into it with the recognition that these things are real and happening and so when you mentioned the you know the climate crisis and some of the the specifics around.
[31:03] SPEAKER_01: The sustainability and what snider Schneider electric is doing what i what i'm really curious about is and this is.
[31:12] SPEAKER_01: Me asking you very specifically based on your expertise so i'm hoping this is okay the intersectionality of data centers and sustainability because I think there's lots of people one who don't fully understand data centers on their own let alone.
[31:30] SPEAKER_01: Where that idea or that intersectionality of sustainability would come into play and i love because of your role and of the organization and i'd love if you could just speak into that for a couple of minutes and and you know open our eyes to to what that looks like because i think it's important.
[31:49] SPEAKER_02: Yeah and it's it's great and i appreciate that question because i think for first let me talk about a data center please basically everything that happens on our phones today actually goes through a data center of some kind somewhere and network.
[32:12] SPEAKER_02: So anytime you're texting or tick tocking or even going on amazon and ordering whatever you order this is all through data centers and data centers are buildings that may be the size of a football field and there's not any people in them mostly six to eight people maybe but that football field the building is consuming a tremendous amount of power and i'm going to.
[32:43] SPEAKER_02: i'm going to talk to this in this way Selina I think you'll appreciate this so everybody knows that.
[32:53] SPEAKER_02: Digitization in the phones and social media mobile devices and tablets and computers and now watches and pretty soon glasses and everything else is all digitized and as I said it's all starting in the data center and.
[33:08] SPEAKER_02: From 2010 to 2018 data center has grown 550% oh my goodness yes but but here's here's the punchline the energy needed to power those data centers only grew by 6% okay how.
[33:34] SPEAKER_02: So what we started off with there's a high level measurement in data centers it's power utilization effective with some people call PUE and so it's pretty easy if I had one kilowatt to supply a computer.
[33:53] SPEAKER_02: And if I had a whole another kilowatt for the cooling and the lights it's a PUE at two basically okay.
[34:01] SPEAKER_02: And data centers in the 2006.
[34:07] SPEAKER_02: Be prior to 2006 it was not uncommon for data center to have a PUE of two which is really bad so that means if I had 10 megawatts of data center I needed 20 megawatts of utility just to keep the lights on got it okay.
[34:27] SPEAKER_02: From 2006 all the way out to 2017 we're starting out to see PUE at 1.2 1.3 okay significant reduction in the consumption of energy for equipment that's required to to cool light power up this stuff okay and how did this happen.
[34:51] SPEAKER_02: And this happened because the data center industry actually stood up and said hey hold on everything's become a digital everything's become this we're sucking a tremendous amount of power from the grid if we don't figure out how to do it more efficiently we can't power it anymore.
[35:13] SPEAKER_02: So enter sustainable products enter economizers outside air economizers we're actually we're using if it's 54 degrees or 50 degrees outside.
[35:27] SPEAKER_02: Why not leverage some of that air so that I don't have to run a lot of mechanical cooling right yeah we have to take care of particulates and filter blah blah blah we get a technical things at the end of the day it's hold outside.
[35:42] SPEAKER_02: Hey hello think we could use cold air to cool it's free right we we now have solar we now have hydrogen fuel cells these are all part of now data center technology that has how to take away the electrical demand while at the same time allowing the things that we want the new Uber to come and look I can see my car driving around the world.
[36:12] SPEAKER_02: The corner doesn't happen in cybersp it happens in a data center that data center requires a tremendous amount of power.
[36:21] SPEAKER_02: To in order for it to work and so the data center industry I'll say this way I and this is pretty impactful when I started in a data center industry sustainable things were I'll admit it.
[36:40] SPEAKER_02: A shame it we saw but I'll admit it nonetheless they were nice to have you know maybe five years ago it shouldn't have been this way but it was again I'll admit to it okay we moved the needle we went from nice to have guess what we moved it to a should have big deal.
[37:07] SPEAKER_02: Should have meant about thirty forty percent adopted yeah guess what today I would say that the data center industry and sustainability is not moved the needle to must have.
[37:22] SPEAKER_02: Okay alright so it I don't see a client or a data center that doesn't have a sustainability something in it okay even.
[37:35] SPEAKER_02: Oh we on providers like Schneider we play a role in that yeah by what if we made products that didn't care about where they came from or how they were made we don't make every single component that's in our thing right so our partners are supply chain right.
[37:54] SPEAKER_02: We need to meet sustainable requirements in order to be a partner for us so our products.
[38:00] SPEAKER_02: Our our built with sustainability in mind our supply chain to decarbonize our supply chain these are all part of and components of helping not only the data center industry but
[38:17] SPEAKER_02: industry really reduce their carbon footprint and it's complicated it it but it's not it's not unmanageable I think you know there's a couple of four little things I maybe you could think about the first thing is you got to realize you need to do it right and you know you need to set a plan.
[38:46] SPEAKER_02: Right and a vision those are those are easy to do right and so when you set that plan and you start to start to set that vision and you start to give yourself measurable and obtainable goals along that way.
[39:04] SPEAKER_02: So Matt backs if you will and then a couple of singles using a sports analogy yeah right and and what you find yourself sort of matriculating down the path to to really started to make an impact don't wake up one day to think that you're going to be able to go carbon neutral and into it's.
[39:28] SPEAKER_02: Be be real set manageable goals but you got to set first understand you have to do it set plan set division set measurable goals okay and then go and do it and and if there's a there's a journey with that obviously and you know if anybody i'm i'm not we have a we have a team of experts that that are sustainable experts we we have a line of business that consult with.
[39:57] SPEAKER_02: The largest and the smallest companies it doesn't have to be a certain size for us.
[40:01] SPEAKER_02: If anybody has any questions or would like more information please reach out we have we have a whole team that can get into a lot more detail.
[40:10] SPEAKER_02: Then that I can.
[40:13] SPEAKER_01: So as you may notice Joe was not here for this part of the podcast we had some technical difficulties his internet line actually got cut by contractor so.
[40:23] SPEAKER_01: In his absence I want to thank him for being a guest on the podcast today it was a really fantastic conversation and I appreciate his time and I know that all of you.
[40:34] SPEAKER_01: Do as well so despite him not being here thank you Joe for your time and for the conversation and for the folks were watching listening if you want to learn more about Schneider electric.
[40:45] SPEAKER_01: You can go to se.com and there will be notes and links in the show notes as well and per usual thank you for listening to Candace podcast like comment and subscribe to all our channels to get the latest podcast from entrepreneurs across Canada.