In the PACE hot seat is Lyle van der Veer, National Support & Training Services Manager, Schneider Electric.
How did you come to be in this industry?
I returned from paternity leave to discover that the exhibition and display company I was working for at the time had just gone broke. So my father-in-law, a talented engineer with his own patented technology for water treatment, kindly took me under his wing.
What's the best business idea you have that you will never use?
Well of course we're all still waiting for the commercialisation of the 'jetpack' as our primary means of daily commute. In the meantime, an electric car that runs on a solar rechargeable AAA battery and folds up into a briefcase would be a nice alternative.
What do you see are the biggest opportunities for our industry?
I see sustainability and balancing the growth and the wealth of our nation as our biggest opportunity. Of course, this is clearly dependant on exporting our resources with the health of our nation, which is dependent on addressing the increasing challenges in energy, water and food scarcity and quality.
What's the greatest challenge in your job?
Getting out of the way and listening well. I have a bad habit of trying to solve the problems of the world with a 1000 km screwdriver and often they just need me to decipher an acronym.
If you could be anything else, what would it be and why?
I'm already a failed actor so perhaps a director at this stage of my life. I love the theatre as well as discovering and developing new talent, so this seems a pretty good way to hang around the stage and share my passion … if only I had the talent to match.