John Wilson 0:00

I would like to welcome everybody to the CO Global Network podcast. Thank you for making the time to be with us today. Our guest is Dave Singer, president of Thomas Large and Singer. Dave, thank you for being here. Oh, my pleasure. Thanks for having me on, John. Yeah, no, it's great to see you again. I want to just let everybody know that TLS, okay, Thomas Large and Singer, has been in business since 1912, founded by Earl S. Thomas. And Dave, you're the fourth generation of his family to lead it, and only the fifth person to hold the president's chair in the company's history. That's phenomenal.

David Singer 0:39

Yeah, it's a big shoes to fill for sure. And yeah, we've had an incredible run over the last hundred and almost 15 years. So that's amazing. And no, no trip-ups for me. You gotta make sure everything is tickety-boo for the next gen.

John Wilson 0:52

Yeah. No, no pressure on you, eh, Dave? No pressure. No.

David Singer 0:55

No, just a hundred years of watchful eyes.

John Wilson 0:58

Let me just let everybody know though that you didn't walk straight into this job. You know, you're in a BA from Western, MBA from Schulock, and then you spent 12 years in the consumer packaged goods field with some pretty, pretty important brands, a PG, Kimberly Clark, Acosta, Pepsi bottling. And then in 213 you joined the family business and you took over as president in 2020. And so today, I mean, the company is one of the leading value chain and logistic businesses in North America, handling warehousing, distribution, trade management, and private label sales for Canadian and international brands. The machinery that gets the product on the shelves, hey, Dave.

David Singer 1:38

Yeah, absolutely. Get it from A to B the most efficient way possible. And we like to assist all of our clients in making sure that they can execute their go-to-market here in a flexible way. And then we've got different kind of models for everybody because everybody has a different way of going a business. So our job is to support our clients' growth and make sure they have the tools they need to forge ahead.

John Wilson 1:57

No, it's critical. It's absolutely critical. I want to just let everybody know that you also serve as president of Emblem Logistics. You sit on the GS1 Grocery Board and you're a member of the Warehouse Education Research Council's Canadian Council and Research Council's Canadian Council. And I want to let everybody know that you're a member of Tom Gunner's CEO Global Network Group.

David Singer 2:18

The legend, as we mentioned earlier.

John Wilson 2:21

The legend of Tom Gunner. Dave, once again, welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you here. I've got a couple of questions for you. And why don't we just dive right in? You went from managing major consumer brands, as I mentioned, to leading Thomas Large and Singer. What was the biggest shift you had to make as a leader and shifting from that side to the side you're on now?

David Singer 2:43

Okay. Earlier in my career, I guess I was focused on driving the results of a brand, a category, or at a customer. So making sure I partnered with my customers so they win and I win. But then coming in as president, well, I didn't come in immediately as president. I worked my way up the organization. But as president, I came to realize my primary responsibility isn't to be the person with all the answers. It's to create an environment where people can do their best work. And so that's what I was afforded when I when I grew up in my other my other roles. And so I wanted to make sure I provided that here at TLS. And so I've become a strong leader in servant leadership. I don't remember when I first heard the term, but I really liked the word servant leadership. And then when I understood what it actually meant, it's really hit home with me. And so my job really is to remove obstacles from my team, provide clarity, and help them succeed. Because when they succeed, I succeed. So when I've shifted my focus really from my own accomplishments to helping others achieve theirs, then the impact is just that much greater.

John Wilson 3:40

Yeah, 100%. And now, as you mentioned, you've risen through several leadership roles within the organization. How has your leadership style changed as your responsibilities grew in the organization, Dave?

David Singer 3:52

So early in my career, like everybody, you're incredibly hands-on. You have to understand every detail about everything that you're doing. You have to solve the problems by yourself. You want to bring solutions to your boss that you want to have those solutions ready to go. But then over time, I learned that leadership's less about the personal contribution and more about others to contribute at their highest level, like I mentioned earlier. And I grew up within our organization really. And so it gives me the under-the-hood look at how things actually work. And that's an incredible experience when you get into the leadership position. So you've done the work, you've done the do. And the difficult part really is to take yourself out of doing the doing and going to the leading side and making sure that people around you don't get you to do the do as well, because you can get stuck there pretty easily. These days I spend more time asking questions than giving answers. I've been increasingly focused on our culture because I feel like that is just something that you light a fire there and it just continues to burn and you just guide it. And that will really help to supercharge your performance. But that doesn't happen by accident. When you create a workplace where people feel valued, respected, supported, and trusted, and when people genuinely care about the business and feel connected and have a shared purpose, then performance follows. And I just think genuine is the key word. People can talk about this and they can say things, and it can come across as window dressing. And when it is, it kind of all comes crumbling down pretty quickly. And so when I came to TLS, I worked with my HR leader to take the best of the best that I'd learned at some of those organizations previously and leave some of the items that I maybe wasn't too impressed with to bring to TLS to kind of expand our culture and make sure it was on the right footing for the future. And so that was a big push of mine at the beginning that hopefully will contribute to the long-term growth of my people and the business.

John Wilson 5:34

Yeah, no, that's great, counsel. Now, as we mentioned, you've worked with companies like PG, Kimberly Clark. What lessons from those organizations still influence how you lead today, Dave?

David Singer 5:45

So those organizations, really incredible training. They taught me financial discipline, accountability, putting the consumer first. There was always a lot of research done, a lot of training done around what the consumer wants. If you know what the consumer wants and you're going, it's CPG. I'm selling to the customer, the customer and I both have the consumer's best interests in mind, then we're both gonna win. So that that was really what the important items that I took from those organizations. But really, the key thing at those organizations was exceptional people. The organizations were filled with smart, kind, talented leaders who challenged each other and in those rooms in a nice way, and and they supported each other through those challenges, like what if and instead of the buts. And that experience reinforced something that I believe that it's the quality of the team that ultimately determines your success. And so PG, KC, Pepsi demonstrated what a group of talented individuals working as a team can accomplish. And I'd seen the other side of it too. Like I've worked at other places as well that you don't necessarily have that. I've had some difficult bosses in the past, then I saw how that created a team and how it really turned everything around that the organization was trying to do and put forward and just shot it in the foot. And so I'm kind of sensitive to those things and those people. But what they did there, the training, the kind people, the smart people, that's intentional. And that's hiring the right people, making sure that they're fertilized throughout their career at the organization. What I knew is that what I was gonna have to do at TLS, I was gonna have to do the same or aim to do the same with a lot less of the resources. They have a ton, you know, those organizations have a ton of resources and capabilities and history building those teams. And so I needed to try and figure out how I can do that myself and my organization. So we've tried to combine the discipline of strategic thinking that we learned at the large multinationals with the entrepreneurial spirit and people first business, kind of family business culture that we have here. And I don't think those are mutually exclusive. We can bring those together, and I have the fortune here of working for a really strong Canadian headquartered company that has a great group of people around it, and we can, we're big enough to make use of all the tier one kind of models and processes and training and invest in those things where it matters. And so I feel like we're at the right size and we have the people here where we can really reflect what happens in those larger organizations and put it out here and maybe do it in a better and more thoughtful way.

John Wilson 8:08

Yeah, no, that's great, counsel. Now you spent a large part of your career in business development. What separates leaders who can consistently create growth from those who struggle to grow and struggle to sustain growth?

David Singer 8:21

I can't say if it for sure delivers the growth, but staying curious to me is a huge piece of how you can be the leader. We don't know everything, obviously. We're here to ask the right questions. And so that MBA that really they taught you enough to be dangerous and ask the right questions, they don't make you an expert in every subject. And so staying curious, especially in this age where really the news is moving at such an incredible pace, how things are changing, trading relationships are changing, climate is changing, everything seems to be changing. And how do you just kind of make sure you get enough of a view of what's going on in the world to see how it's gonna impact you and your business? And I think that's more and more critical to success right now because the icebergs used to come a little few here and there, but now it's like there's a million on the horizon. And which one's gonna come smoking at my boat? I need to make sure I know about that one. So you have to stay curious, you have to stay humble to recognize that the great ideas come from anywhere in the organization: employees, customers, suppliers, and they'll see something that somebody else missed or you just never even saw. And so, right now at our organization with AI, we're having an AI contest. And so that contest is down at all levels. And so those are the people who are doing the most critical work in our organization on the day-to-day. That's where we can also see a ton of efficiencies and drive a lot of success in the organization by making those processes that much better. And so we're making sure that the people at all levels are empowered to kind of change their work and make us that much better. And so I think, well, that's exciting for me. And they're the people that are gonna see the opportunities and they're the people that are gonna address it now, which is spectacular for a leader.

John Wilson 10:00

No, spectacular indeed. Dave, I got one final question for you. When you look back at your path from account management to president, what experience shaped you most into the leader that you are today?

David Singer 10:13

People, again, I guess it's been a common theme, but exceptional people. So I've had great mentors, strong teams, and colleagues that have shaped my thinking, challenged my thinking, and helped me see from different perspectives. Luckily enough, too, I've got my dad and then my grandfather who have all been through this business, have all the seen the way it goes, seen the history. And so, whenever there's an issue, whenever there's a problem, it's like it's happened before. Just need to go and ask the right people. But you learn as much from the setbacks as from the successes, and you have to listen carefully, adapt quickly, and more and more quickly these days. You just have to keep on your toes, be ready to pivot. And really, that maybe is going to be the success factor that is critical to your organization. I started in February, March, February of 2020. And so that was the beginning of COVID. And so the number of leadership lessons I learned in those first few months steepened my learning curve for sure. And I think that's been a benefit to me over the last few years is a lot of those lessons were upfront and you had to deal with them there there and then and fast and do it right. And well, maybe you weren't didn't do it right. Maybe you made a little mistake, but you got it correct quickly. And so leadership really is about the people, strategy matters, execution matters, but what do they say? Like strategy eats eats culture for or culture eats strategy for breakfast. So financial performance matters, but organizations succeed when teams trust each other, when you have genuine care for people in the organization, and we're committed to a common purpose. And so my job is to continually ensure that everybody on the team shares that common purpose and that it's clearly articulated by myself. And so that that's my job and making sure that the culture is somewhere here at TLS where somebody feels supported, respected, empowered, and then that's going to drive great things to happen. I am incredibly biased being the leader of TLS, but I think we've got that here.

John Wilson 12:00

Well, Dave, I can't thank you enough. This has been extremely informative, and we really appreciate you sharing some of the lessons that you've learned along the way. You've got a tremendous background, lots of great leadership experience, and are leading a very successful company. So we really appreciate you being with us and sharing those ideas with us. Thank you very much.

David Singer 12:19

Oh, my pleasure. Thanks so much for the time, John. Yep.