Robert Micoli on Leadership, Executive Search and a Career Move That Shaped What Followed

 

Robert Micoli has spent more than three decades helping manufacturers grow across aerospace, defence, precision machining and advanced manufacturing industries. Today, he serves in a senior commercial and business development leadership role within advanced manufacturing, following a career that has grown progressively, particularly since his first interaction with KEC.

In 2011, Kitchener Executive Consultants introduced Rob to an opportunity with Trimaster Manufacturing. Looking back, he sees that move as an important stage in his professional development and one that influenced how he approached leadership opportunities that followed

As KEC celebrates its 50th anniversary, we spoke with Rob about that career move, what he learned as both a candidate and a hiring leader, and how those experiences shaped his perspective on executive search in advanced manufacturing.

 

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Author’s Note:

This conversation reflects Robert Micoli’s personal professional experience and perspective from his time with Trimaster Manufacturing. The views shared are his own and are not presented on behalf of the organization.

 

The Career Move That Changed the Direction

 

Rob, when KEC first contacted you about the opportunity, you weren’t actively looking for another role. After nearly twenty years with the same company, what made you stop and think, maybe this is worth exploring?

 

I’d been with the company for about twenty years. I’d gotten a little stagnant in my job, and it felt like it was probably time to consider making a change.

The timing was everything.

When I was first contacted, it happened at exactly the right moment. I wasn’t actively looking, but the opportunity was interesting enough that I absolutely wanted to explore it.

I was looking for a challenge. I wanted an opportunity to prove that I could do the same thing at a different company and continue growing professionally.

After you’ve been somewhere for twenty years, it’s easy to become comfortable. I wanted to find out whether everything I’d learned could create value somewhere else.

And, of course, there was also the opportunity for increased compensation. I’d built twenty years of experience, and that was part of the decision as well.

 

 

Once you started exploring it, what made you feel comfortable enough to keep going with the opportunity?

Once you started exploring it, what made you feel comfortable enough to keep going with the opportunity?

For me, it was how genuine the conversations felt throughout the search. Ian Fairfax led the process in a very authentic and straightforward way.

I never felt like someone was trying to sell me on an opportunity. It was more of an honest conversation about the role, the company and whether it actually made sense for me.

Earlier in the process, I’d experienced a much more aggressive approach, and I didn’t respond well to that. With KEC, it was different.

The conversations were transparent. The opportunity was presented honestly, and I felt like I had the space to make my own decision.

 

 

Authenticity, Trust and Leadership

You’ve spent much of your career in business development. Do those same principles carry over when you’re recruiting leaders?

Absolutely. I think people respond to authenticity.

I’ve spent most of my career in business development, and one thing I’ve learned is that you don’t build lasting relationships by pushing people. You build them by understanding what they’re actually looking for.

When people see that you’re genuine and trustworthy, they’re much more likely to have an open conversation with you. And I think that applies whether you’re talking about business development, recruiting, or really any professional relationship.

 

Every career move comes with expectations. Once you stepped into the opportunity, how closely did the experience match what you had envisioned, and what did that stage of your career ultimately teach you as a leader?

Well, it wasn’t exactly what I expected. Not long after I joined, there were changes around me, and the role evolved from what I had originally envisioned.

Looking back, though, I actually appreciate that. It became an important part of the experience because it pushed me to take on more responsibility.

Before that point in my career, there was always another level of leadership above me. If something happened, there was someone else there to make the final decision.

That changed. Now the responsibility was mine.

It pushed me into situations where I had to grow as a leader, make decisions and take ownership in ways I hadn’t before.  And looking back, I’d say that was probably one of the biggest learning experiences of my career because it forced me to think differently and become comfortable making those decisions myself.

So I went into the opportunity expecting one thing, but what I gained from the experience turned out to be something much more valuable.

 

What a Strong Search Partner Actually Does

 

Looking back today, what do you think separates a strong executive search partner from an average one?

For me, I think it starts with asking the right questions.

One thing that always impressed me was taking the time to qualify the opportunity before beginning the search. A company may say, “This is the role we need.” Well, that’s only the starting point. You have to ask whether that’s really the problem they’re trying to solve.

Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. And I think that’s why taking the time to understand the business before beginning the search creates much better outcomes.

It’s actually something I’ve adopted in my own career and tried to teach the people who work with me.

 

You’ve experienced executive search from both sides—as a candidate and later as a hiring leader. Looking back, for what types of roles do you believe executive search creates the most value?

I’d say manager-level positions and above.

When you’re hiring leaders, you’re looking for demonstrated success. Take a Director of Business Development role, for example. If you advertise it, you’ll receive plenty of applications. But receiving applications isn’t the same as finding the best candidate.

I mean, many people will tell you they can do the job. What you’re really looking for is someone who’s already demonstrated they can do it successfully. That’s where executive search has a real advantage.

Instead of waiting for candidates to come to you, you’re proactively identifying people with the experience and track record you’re looking for.

 

Earlier you described executive search as an outbound process.

Yes, exactly. That’s what it is.

For certain leadership positions, I honestly don’t see many downsides. You can’t simply wait and hope the right person applies. Sometimes you have to go into the market, identify the right people and approach them directly.

 And that’s a completely different process than posting a position and reviewing whoever applies.

 

You’ve hired leaders yourself over the years. When you sit down with a search firm, what tells you they really understand your business rather than just the vacancy you’re trying to fill?

For me, the value of executive search is in the work that happens before the client ever sees a candidate.

You need to understand the business and understand what success actually looks like. Then you go into the market, evaluate the candidates and come back with the three people who genuinely fit the role.

I don’t need one hundred résumés. I need the three people who are most likely to succeed, along with a clear explanation of why they’re the right fit. That’s really where the value is.

 

What Carries Across Industries

 

 

Since that stage of your career, you’ve continued working across aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing. What has stayed consistent for you across those different industries?

Well, the industries are different, but they all demand precision.

And beyond the technical side, they’ve reinforced something I’ve believed throughout my career: relationships matter, trust matters and communication matters.

Whether you’re working with customers, suppliers or colleagues, people still choose to work with people they trust.

So for me, that’s probably the biggest takeaway. The industries may change, but those fundamentals really don’t.

 

Knowing When to Take the Chance

Throughout our conversation, we’ve talked about asking better questions, understanding people and qualifying opportunities. There’s another side to that too: knowing when an opportunity simply isn’t worth pursuing. How do you look at that?

For me, that’s really the mark of a good professional.

A poor salesperson will keep chasing an opportunity that was probably never going to happen in the first place. They’ll keep investing time, effort and resources, hoping something changes.

I think at some point you have to recognize when that’s just wasteful.

A consummate professional knows when to keep fishing and when to cut bait. That’s really just good judgment.

 

And if you could go back and speak to yourself before accepting that opportunity, what would you tell him?

I’d tell him to take the chance.

You’re not going to know exactly where it will lead, and some things won’t unfold the way you expected. But you’ll grow because of it.

Looking back now, I can see how many of the opportunities that followed built on what I learned during that stage of my career.

I think sometimes it’s only years later that you can look back and see how one opportunity opened the door to many others.

 

Beyond the Placement

Looking back, Rob’s story started with one career move, but what followed became much bigger than the move itself.

KEC introduced him to an opportunity he was not actively looking for. He chose to explore it because the timing felt right, the conversations were straightforward, and he saw a chance to challenge himself in a different environment.

The experience did not unfold exactly the way he expected. The role changed, his level of responsibility grew, and that pushed him to make decisions more independently, take greater ownership and become more comfortable carrying leadership responsibility.

Years later, Rob can look back on that period and see how much of what he learned there carried into the opportunities that followed.

His perspective on executive search evolved as well. Today, he sees search as much more than filling an open position. For him, it starts with understanding what the business actually needs, asking the right questions, going into the market deliberately and identifying the few people most likely to succeed.

And really, that is what we wanted to understand by going back to this story.

Not simply where someone was placed, but what happened afterward. What they learned, how their thinking changed, and what they carried with them into the next stage of their career.

Fifteen years later, that original search is long complete. Rob’s career has continued across aerospace, defence, precision manufacturing and advanced manufacturing, but many of the lessons from that stage of his career have stayed with him.

For us, that is the part of the story that sits Beyond The Placement.

 

 

Kitchener Executive Consultants Executive Search Work in Advanced Manufacturing

Across advanced manufacturing, automation, aerospace and defence, KEC has supported searches ranging from senior operational leadership to highly specialized technical and commercial roles.
Our work in these sectors has included:

Executive & General Management | Operations & Manufacturing | Engineering & Technical | Quality | Program & Project Management | Supply Chain & Procurement | Commercial & Business Development | Finance

Representative searches include VP & GM, General Manager of Operations, Manufacturing Manager, Program Manager, Plant Quality Manager, Manufacturing Engineer, Materials Manager, Director of Business Development, Corporate Controller and other business-critical leadership roles.

The common thread is complexity. These are roles where technical knowledge, leadership judgment and an understanding of the operating environment all matter, and where the right hire can have a direct impact on how the business performs.