Leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone for the team. At Driven By… Co. we are focused on building more motivated and engaged teams, so we set out to find Leaders who are setting a great example.

We interviewed Rob Forstinger the President FBT Inc. a manufacturing company in St. Catharine’s, Ontario.

About FBT

Established in 1945, FBT Inc. is a family-owned advanced manufacturing business. Serving industries including military & defense, energy, nuclear, automotive and more, they have experience working with a variety of materials such as stainless steels, high nickel based alloys, high-speed steels, carbides and ceramics.

What makes FBT Inc. different from a regular machine shop is the inhouse technical expertise. FBT houses a team of engineers, programmers and quality specialists that support the customer in developing highly customized solutions or improving upon existing designs.

Rob Forstinger is the grandson of one of the original founders, who started the business shortly after WW2 when there was a strong need for manufacturing.

Today the business employs over 100 people including engineers, machinists, tradespeople, sales people and more.

What is it like to work with family?

I recall a time when I attended a CAFE (Canadian Association of Family Enterprise) Conference. One of the speakers in particular delivered a presentation of which the tone was that it is very difficult to work with family and therefore, if you can avoid it you should. I attended the conference with my cousin, who runs the business with me, and we looked at each other puzzled as to why everyone in the room seemed to share the same sentiments. I think working with family is great.

I realize that there are certain challenges but it is important to make an effort to get along. This means that it’s okay to have a difference in opinion, but you must respect each other’s point of view.

We do also have a rule of thumb: if the two of us disagree and have 2 opposing ideas related to the business, we go the route of the more conservative (i.e. safer) approach. That being said, we are not making all these decisions alone, there is an entire leadership team involved so that there are many ideas and points of view considered in order to make the best decision possible. And all of our decisions are made with our team in mind,

What does leadership mean to you?

I think that the success of a leader depends on the success of the people working for that leader.

I view my employees in the same way that I view my children… people I am responsible for. Their wellbeing is in my hands and I take that responsibility seriously.

As a leader I think it is important to surround yourself with like minded people. Fortunately, as a leader, you get to hand pick for personality and skill and then give the team enough rope to explore. The important part of leadership is to remember that their success is a reflection of your leadership. This means as a leader, you should be removing any obstacles to your team’s success.

You also have to create an environment that is fun and welcoming and open to new ideas, because my way is not always the right way.

For example, one of our new hires, Kyle, proposed a completely different structure to our roles. It was different from the way we have done business for the last 80 years. Kyle realized that by creating more distinction between sales representatives and a technical team that could take care of quoting, both teams would be more productive. It is something that we have implemented and it’s working well.

What are key characteristics that you think leaders should have?

Some of the most important characteristics of a leader include:

Being persistent as hell, to make sure that you’re relentlessly going after opportunities and ensuring the business is successful
Understanding that the people you’re managing have a life outside of work and you never know what is truly going on in their lives, therefore you must demonstrate patience and respect.
Having the ability to create winning energy within your team. This means energizing them to push harder and also celebrating their achievements both big and small. But never get too cocky. Business is like sports… winning one game doesn’t guarantee that you’ll win the next. You constantly have to put your best effort forward and take any failures as lessons for growth.

What has been your greatest challenge as a leader?

I think my greatest challenge has been coming to terms with the fact that not everyone shares the same mindset as me. It’s difficult for me to understand, however it is something that I’ve learned to work with, and it constantly helps me to consider different perspectives.

Why is workplace culture important to you?

Workplace culture is extremely important because the truth is, in our lives, we spend more time at work than we do at home. I got to choose my wife and at home we’ve built a beautiful family culture… why should work be any different? I want to enjoy the time I spend here.

So it is important that we bring like minded people together and build a culture of hard work, organization, cleanliness, support and fun. Here at FBT, we do a lot of activities together outside of work, and I think that is a reflection of the positive culture we have built.

We’ve come across people who have been highly successful in their roles, but didn’t fit the team culture. As a leader it is easy to keep people longer than you should because of the results they can get, however if they are damaging your culture, you will begin to see issues arise elsewhere.

What are your strategies for engaging and motivating your employees?

Engagement and motivation start with culture. I recognize that I am more of an energetic leader, and I am able to push people in a healthy manner because of the culture we’ve built. You have to ask yourself, why would people work hard when they are working for people they don’t like in an environment they don’t enjoy?

Recognition is also important. Celebrating each person’s wins. At FBT we do this informally, through verbal feedback or maybe a lunch or dinner on the company, but the point is that people know that we’re excited about their accomplishments.

We also strive to make our employees feel heard. Recently we implemented a company feedback survey which gave us plenty of ideas for continuous improvement. It is important to demonstrate that we take their ideas seriously by making it a priority to implement these ideas urgently. I also think in general, getting back to people right away and removing obstacles as fast as possible keeps people engaged in their work and maintains their momentum.

What advice would you give to someone who is new to leadership?

Work harder than everybody else. As a leader you’re supposed to make other people’s job easier. So get back to people right away and do everything you can to remove obstacles for your team.

What is the most rewarding part of your experience as a leader?

I am fortunate to love what I do, so I always say, “I retired a long time ago… I’m doing what I love.” The best part is that I work with people, I work with an incredible team, and that is a reward in itself.

What are you Driven By?

I am driven to win. Not only personally, but as a team. Employing people and encouraging them to win is fun. As a matter of fact, I believe that it is my way of contributing to the world. I am supporting the economy by employing people, but I am also making the lives of my employees better. One small thing that makes me proud, is when I see that the cars in the parking lot are getting nicer. It tells me that I am doing something right, that we’re doing something right.

Leadership Excellence: A Profile on Rob Forstinger, President, FBT Inc.