It seems that Ron Southern, the old gunslinger, always gets his man.

In 1979, Michael Shaw, a visitor to Calgary from the East armed with an honours degree in commerce and a wealth of experience as a sailor, flatly refused a job offer from Southern, the business tycoon who founded the ATCO Group.

Finally, Shaw agreed to a one-year sabbatical from his sailboat in which Southern would take him under his wing and show him the ropes at ATCO.

Today, the son of prominent businessman Sir Neil Shaw has carved his own niche as one of the top field generals in the Southern family’s flourishing ATCO empire.

Shaw, president of ATCO Group subsidiary ATCO Frontec, has made a career of moving from company to company within the ATCO organization and aggressively revamping and fine-tuning those companies to fit the ATCO mould.

David Lazarowych, Business Edge
ATCO Frontec president Michael Shaw, whose company’s partnership with northern Canadians is reflected in the background artwork, has made some tough decisions in helping fine-tune the ATCO Group of companies.

And at 48, bursting with passion as he articulates what he refers to as the “ATCO way” of doing business, Shaw leaves the impression the sailboat will remain at dock for some time yet.

1. What are your favourite childhood memories?

“I spent a lot of time with sports and I taught sailing from age 15 to 18. I spent my summers working on sailboats. Sailing was a passion. But I haven’t really kept it up, being too far from the ocean. I came close in California (while based in Ontario, Calif.), but it was still too far to the ocean and I was too busy and it was too expensive. As a youngster, I wanted a career where I could move around. I’ve always had a bit of wanderlust. Once I got to university, I decided I wanted to be involved in an interesting business.”

2. How did your father (business leader Sir Neil Shaw) influence your life and career?

“He was a great influence. I was always very proud of what he accomplished. My dad wasn’t able to go to university because his dad died. He started working with Redpath Sugars in Toronto when he was 16 or 17 and retired 50 years later. Then, he went over to England with a company called Tate & Lyle, which owned Redpath Sugars. It was a big U.K. company that was in a bit of trouble and my dad was brought over from Canada to run it. He became the chairman and CEO of the largest sweetener company in the world. He worked very hard his entire career and capped it off by being one of few Canadians knighted by the Queen for his service to the British community and the sugar industry.”

3. What in particular did your father teach you about business?

“He taught me honesty, integrity and the value of hard work. When I worked in a factory in Montreal in the summers, he used to charge us (kids) rent at our house. I used to get so angry at him. But then I looked back and it was such a wonderful lesson because you realize that there’s no free lunch. Then, before we’d go back to university, he’d go over our budget for the year. He’d say: ‘That’s what I expect you to have in the bank at the end of the year.’ He also taught me about treating people well and that we’re all equal. Everybody wants to be treated as a human being, and just because you’re a senior member in a company, it doesn’t mean you have the right to treat people poorly. You have the obligation to ensure that you treat people with respect and dignity.”

4. How did you come to work for ATCO in 1979?

David Lazarowych, Business Edge
Michael Shaw has overseen drive to fine-tune all aspects of the ATCO empire.

“I tried to borrow two million bucks from Ron Southern (CEO of the ATCO group). I was working at General Reinsurance (in Toronto) and a group of us decided to start our own company. But we had to raise some money. I ran into this guy at a wedding in Toronto. It was Ron Southern. My sister married a westerner and Ron was there. We got talking somehow and I said he should invest in this company. I came out to Calgary to see him three times. Finally, the third time he told me: ‘I’m not investing with you, but I want to hire you.’ I said: ‘I don’t think so.’ ”

5. What are your memories of your first year with the company as an assistant to Ron Southern?

“At that stage, ATCO was a $400-million company and, when I arrived, we were studying Canadian Utilities (as a takeover target). After a month or two, Ron assigned me to the team to work on this acquisition. I spent six months doing that. We ended up buying Canadian Utilities in May of 1980. My first year was a trial by fire. I got to see the whole lay of the land. Ron took me to every single meeting. It was a huge learning curve.”

6. What struck you about ATCO and Ron Southern then?

“It was the summer of ’79 and Calgary was booming. I can remember Ron telling me: ‘Let’s get in the car.’ He took me on a tour – ATCO Metal, ATCO Structures, ATCO Development, ATCO Drilling . . . I remember driving back downtown and R.D (Southern) was driving his big blue Cadillac and he was pointing: ‘Look at this, we can do this, why can’t we run this, look at the cranes, look at the opportunity here.’ At the end of the day he told me he wasn’t investing in my company. He said: ‘Come to work for me for a year and get an overview and, if you don’t like it, I’ll pay your way back to Toronto, and if I don’t like you after a year, I’ll pay your way back.’ To make a long story short, I said yes. Sure enough, the company has become involved in many, many different things. I was struck by his vision, his energy and his persona.”

7. Is it by design that you’ve changed management roles within ATCO in the past 23 years?

“No, it hasn’t been by design. It has been when there was a requirement for a change. For instance, we had a company in Edmonton called ATCO Oilfield Equipment. When things were turning down in the oilpatch in ’81 and ’82, this company reported to a man in Red Deer, who reported to a fellow at ATCO Park, who reported to a fellow at head office, who reported to R.D. They came to the conclusion that this company had serious problems. It was losing a million bucks a year. At a meeting, Ron said: ‘I’ve had it, those people are not capable, I want you to get rid of the three top people,’ and he said he wanted it done in the next two days. They said: ‘Well, who’s going to take it over?’ He said: ‘Well, Michael will . . . Number 1, I trust (him), number 2, he’s honest, number 3, he’ll do a better job than they’re doing.’ So most of my career moves have been into areas where there were problems and changes were required.”

8. What have you learned from the experience of turning operations around?

“I think that you get a good gut feel when you go in to see what’s wrong and you need to act quickly. I think I can be criticized for not acting quickly enough, but you like to give people a chance. You have to surround yourself with good-quality people who are willing to change. You have to have – and this is a Ron Southern phrase – a firm grip on every single thing that’s going on with that company.”

9. How do you handle those situations where an organization is underachieving?

“Sometimes, people know it’s wrong and they’re prepared to accept it. I’m not prepared to accept it. Sometimes, it causes great pain to make those decisions and much criticism, but if I believe it’s right, I will make that decision. You’ve got very good people and they may have a good skillset, yet they may be in the wrong business or they may not have the mindset and the culture that you want to go forward in.”

10. What have you learned about building a winning organization?

“Having a winning team is so important. It’s not me that should get the credit for getting a lot of the changes. It’s the people you bring in. If you get a good-quality team, it’s unbelievable what you can get done. When you get that team and they all start singing from the same songbook and they’re all singing in harmony, wow! It’s phenomenal!”

11. How do you get them singing in harmony?

“You communicate with them, you treat them properly, you don’t treat them as kids or subordinates, you get in a room and you talk openly, you prepare to take criticism and, if they say: ‘I think he’d better back off on that one,’ great. I’m not the expert in a lot of stuff. We’ve had huge changes here (ATCO Frontec). There were some very high-quality people, but they’re just not on the same page as you are. So you’re not singing from the same songbook and it doesn’t work. Now, we have a group of five or six in this office and it’s completely transparent. Everyone knows what’s going on. There are no secrets.”

12. How would you describe your leadership style?

“I guess I’m honest, I treat people as equals and I like to treat people as part of the team. I expect a lot. But if you give more than you take, you can take as much as you want. I don’t check up on people’s nitty-gritty details. I assume they’re very competent senior people and I have incredible trust in them. But if people start to get away from the way I like things done, it’ll be discussed with them and if they decide they’re going to be on a different page or move on to another chapter, then I’m not afraid one bit to say: ‘It’s time for us to part company.’ It’s the toughest part of the job, but it’s probably the most important part.”

13. How have you changed the direction of ATCO Frontec since becoming president two years ago?

“ATCO Frontec was started by a wonderful individual (George Paicu) who grew it from nothing. The tree grew and it grew in a remarkable way – with profitability, great spirit and great people. As it got bigger and bigger, the management team stayed the same and there were some parts of it that needed a little bit of pruning and a little bit of shaping. That’s not a reflection on the person that ran it. He retired. When I came in, we agreed there should be some pruning. I think it’s fair to say the culture was moving in a bit of a different direction than the ATCO culture requires us to be. And I’m an ATCO person. ATCO said to me: ‘We need to bring this back to the ATCO way.’ ”

14. The ATCO way?

“That’s a difficult thing to describe, but I know deep down what it is. We’ve had to move this gently, but very firmly, back to the ATCO way. It’s taken a couple of years, but I think it’s safe to say we’re back to being a very ATCO-like company, which is to say it’s transparent, its communicative, it’s following the policies and procedures that ATCO has. It’s the attention to detail. Head office knows you’re here today (for the interview). Somebody interviewed Ron Southern three weeks ago and wrote a story that was horrible to him. It was not true and it was awful. We communicate that. So, if that had happened, we’d never be sitting here today. It’s very communicative. That’s the style we operate in.”

15. What’s your vision for ATCO Frontec?

“I think it has a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on opportunities within the military, both in Canada and the United States. There’s potential there, but it’s difficult to get that business because you have to bid on every contract and it’s very expensive putting in these bids. I also think we have tremendous facilities-management skills, but we can build on that.

"We can go to industrialized companies that operate in remote and difficult areas and look at managing their facilities for them, from soup to nuts. I think that’s where the growth will come from. I think the team here is thinking as a cohesive unit, so we don’t get these wild ideas floating in. The vision I have is for the company to grow and prosper.”

16. What impact did the Sept. 11 tragedy have on your business?

“It had a huge impact on the people who were on the ground at our radar sites. It was scary because they could potentially have been targets. I think it’s heightened the awareness of all Canadians and all Americans that we continue to need to have facilities and the capability to monitor for aircraft and ballistic missiles. I think our politicians in Canada need to be very, very aware of what is required from a military perspective to make sure that we can participate in the Northern Command (security) as opposed to letting the Americans do it for us. While that would be nice from a cost point of view, I don’t think any Canadians want to give up the sovereignty, allowing Americans to patrol our waters or monitor our radars.”

17. What’s your ultimate career goal?

“I’d like to carry on my career here, and I’m certain there’ll be future opportunities with the company that I can look forward to. I don’t have a specific career goal because I’ve been involved in eight or 10 of our businesses, and it’s been a fascinating career.”

18. Would you be interested in the role of CEO of ATCO Group?

“We’re majority controlled by the parent company. I don’t know if that’s going to be an opportunity, but certainly I’m probably one of the top five (candidates) now. But I’ve achieved my career goal. So, if there’s some further things they want me to do or some more senior roles, I’d be happy to look at them. But I don’t particularly aspire to any one position.”

19. After 23 years here, would you work for another company?

“That’s very, very unlikely. But, you know, there are opportunities and if something came along that was extremely compelling and for whatever reason the fit didn’t continue to be here, then sure I’d look at it. But unlikely.”

20. What are your goals beyond business?

“To spend more time with my kids. I’d like to be able to take a little more time off and take my family to Africa and do a whole lot more sailing. I’ll get those things done.”

IN PROFILE: Michael Shaw
* Born/raised/age: Montreal/Montreal & Toronto/48.
* Title: President, ATCO Frontec; managing director, ATCO Logistics and Energy Services.
* Education: Bachelor of Commerce (honours), Queen’s University.
* Career: Shaw has worked for the ATCO Group of companies since 1979 when he was named executive assistant to the president. Since 1982, he has held numerous posts: general manager of ATCO Oilfield Equipment in Edmonton (1982-85), vice-president and GM of ATCO Drilling in Denver (1985-86), VP and GM of ATCO’s Olympic Group, responsible for corporate
participation for the 1988 Olympics (1986-88); VP of corporate development for ATCO Enterprises (1988-91); president of ATCO structures in Ontario, Calif. (1991-95); VP of ATCO and Canadian Utilities (1995-97); executive VP, COO and president, ATCO Midstream (1997-2000).
* Community: Shaw is chairman of the Calgary Science Centre and a member of the boards of the Young Presidents Association, the Mount Royal College Foundation, Chariot Carriers and Strathcona Tweedsmuir School.
* Passion: Sailing.

THE COMPANY: Atco Frontec
* Brass: Michael Shaw, president; Don Chynoweth, executive vice-president; Harish Mohan, vice-president, controller.
* Profile: ATCO Frontec, one of 10 companies comprising the ATCO Group, provides technical services and facilities management for the defence, telecommunications, resource, transportation and utility sectors. It operates radar facilities for air forces, manages airports, manages $3 billion of client assets, including office towers, retail centres and military
installations and provides security services.
* Revenue: ATCO Frontec generates annual revenue exceeding $181 million. Its projects, businesses and joint ventures employ 1,600 people.
* Key project sites: Diavik Diamond Mine, Iqualuit Airport, Bosnia, North Warning System radar site.
* Website: www.atcofrontec.com
* Address: 300, 909 11th Ave. S.W., Calgary, T2R 1L8.
* Phone/Fax: 403-245-7701, 245-7754.