The Business Leadership Podcast

You are listening to the Business
Leadership Podcast with Edwin.

Paul: I'm Paul Newton, creative producer
of the Future Narrator miniseries, and

I'm joined here by Edwin Fondo, the
host of the Business Leadership Podcast.

We are recording live at Web Summit
Vancouver 2025, and we're exploring how

today's leaders shape the future, not
just through strategy, but through story.

We believe that a strong point of
view is what inspires communities,

builds movements, and cuts through
the noise in uncertain times.

So let's dive into this conversation.

Today's guest has turned sustainability
into both a business model.

And a personal mission.

Rob Ada is CEO of Fuse Power
Management and a triple bottom

line entrepreneur known for
transforming traditional businesses

into sustainable industry leaders.

An Olympian and former owner of Novak's
Couriers, north America's first carbon

neutral courier company with a hundred
percent ultra low emission fleet.

Rob has been called perhaps the
greenest, CEO in Canada by the.

He brings the same purpose driven
leadership to every venture from his

days running West coast sightseeing
to his current work, acquiring dirty

companies and helping them go clean.

Rob's philosophy, profit people, and
planet should work in harmony and bold

Action is the path to lasting impact.

Edwin: Welcome to the
Business Leadership Podcast.

Rob, how are you?

Rob: How are you doing today?

I'm excited.

I, uh, at the web summit, it's huge.

It's exciting.

There are.

Thousands of companies here from all
over the world, and, uh, you can just

walk up and the energy is fantastic.

Edwin: Yeah.

What, so what's one thing that,
uh, comes to mind in terms of, uh,

maybe, uh, idea a person you met?

Uh.

I mean, we're in day one, right?

So yeah, we're,

Rob: we're in day one.

It's actually day three for us because
they, they curate, uh, advance, uh,

tours and sessions and whatever.

So it's really well organized.

Uh, I think this is worth
sharing for others too.

There was a panelist this morning, uh,
who was from LG Electronics, a large

worldwide company and a corporate.

And he was saying at his panel that
when he's in the States, you know,

he's, um, he's competing with.

10 other investor groups, corporate
investor groups, he comes up here and he's

not, he, he says, this is great because
I get to meet all these entrepreneurs

and technology and founders and it's me.

And he was really selling how today
entrepreneurs can collaborate,

work closely with, uh, other
large companies for scale.

They need each other.

Edwin: Mm-hmm.

No, that's amazing.

Thanks for sharing the insight.

And that's something that people
who are listening is being like, oh.

That's something to think about.

Gonna Web summit next year.

Don't be

Rob: afraid of the big guys.

Edwin: Uh, they can be your, your partner.

That's right.

I love that.

Um, Rob, can you tell, tell us about
Fuse power management and the problem

you are solving in sustainable energy
and environmental transformation?

Sure.

Rob: Um.

Fuse Power management is, uh, a spinoff
or an outgrowth of eight years of work in

two transportation companies that I owned.

Mm-hmm.

And I was desperately trying to
figure out, especially with one of

them that had, we have 80 large,
uh, tour buses, not electric.

We have two only because
that's all we can afford.

I was just desperately
trying to figure out how to.

Electrify the entire fleet.

Yeah.

And you know, I could go on for a long
time about the benefits of that as far as

the environment, as far as the people that
work in our company or in the community,

you know, the, the electrification.

Um, and the answer though is, is a
business reason, which is wonderful.

The BC Hydro very forward thinking group
there phoned us a few years ago and said,

we want to buy electricity from your.

Large electric bus batteries
when you are parked.

Mm.

When you're not driving them around.

And so if you think of school buses,
uh, some delivery fleets, you know,

the people that aren't going 300 or
400 kilometers a day, they're going

on 50 or 150 kilometers a day that
they're, they're on a duty cycle.

They're parked, uh, dependable
parts of time and they've got.

Space.

They got juice in their battery, right?

To give to the grid.

And you say, well, they get power
from the grid and they give it,

so where's the, where's the deal?

Where's the wind?

The deal is that they give it.

When the grid really, really needs it.

Edwin: Oh, backup.

And therefore

Rob: it's incredibly valuable,
not just backup or emergency.

That's, I'm talking about every day
between four and eight o'clock at

night is the peak of power every day.

Oh, right.

And if you can shave, if you can lower
that, the, the utilities won't have to add

transmission lines, upgrade substations.

They won't have to pay for more solar,
wind, nuclear, coal, gas, anything.

So, um.

The using car batteries, trucks,
bus batteries is grid scale.

It's absolutely huge.

And as I mentioned to begin with
it, you can get, uh, fresh air.

Clean air.

Edwin: Oh, that's amazing.

So, I mean, this may have been.

Maybe obvious, Rob, but I'm curious in
terms of, you know, your unique point

of view, um, that you bring now, I
mean, you come from this industry, but

like, like how does it help solve the
problem now and, and you know, just

from your point of view, your personal
point of view and your experience.

Rob: Well, this one's, uh, pretty obvious.

Uh, I think listeners will have
heard, read that we need a lot more

electricity in the future, however.

It's not always true, uh, with
what's called vehicle to grid.

So power from vehicles to the grid.

V two G.

Um, there's a study in the uk
it shows that they'll need 25

gigawatts, more power by 2050.

Okay?

But with vehicle to grid and smart
charging, they'll need six and a half

gigawatts less than they produce today.

So what if in every province,
every country, you didn't actually

need more power, you just.

You just managed.

When you use it better, you
flattened all the curves.

You valley filled at night.

You know you filled in the valley.

When there's nobody using it, you charge
up and you give it back during the day.

So right now it's a shape like
this, you know, low, medium, high

at night and then down again.

What if that, you know, was flat?

Well, you've got all the
power generation you need.

Paul: So, okay, so we're, we're getting
by with using, um, you know, being more

efficient with how we are, we're using
the power we have or filling it, but

aren't we still gonna use more power?

Rob: We have the generation Yeah.

That the utilities need, um, to
build more facilities to manage that.

Sometimes 10 minute peak in the day.

That's it.

And they have to build 20% beyond it
so that in case there's their spikes.

And there are micro spikes.

So again, I'll go back to it.

If you just bring that down, you've
got lots of energy available, uh, from

other places or at night and stored
to, um, to, uh, solve everyone's needs.

Paul: Okay?

Rob: And so think, uh, an easier
example, a more immediate example

is just, is just power management.

So.

Millions of electric cars parking at
night when they go home around five or

six o'clock, and when they plug in right
now, they immediately start charging.

Well, that just adds to
the problem for the grid.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

So smart charging means well, you plug it
in, but it's set up not to take any power

until nine o'clock or 10 o'clock at night.

So that it doesn't make the problem worse.

What if instead it was they
were all giving power until nine

o'clock at night and then charging.

So I try and find 15 different ways
to say that, but uh, this study

that said they'll need 25 gigawatts,
but no, they'll need six and a half

gigawatts less than they make today.

I think that explains it.

Yeah.

Paul: Yeah, yeah.

So, um, in terms of making, uh, making
all your companies green and, and, uh.

You know, being the greenest
CEO in Canada, what is it that,

what is it about you that.

Makes this possible.

Rob: What's about me?

Uh, I would like to say a
couple things about this.

And so it's been over 20 years that
we were solving for in my career

company to, to produce our footprint,
and that's where I cut my teeth

and learned about air pollution.

I can show you this I'll.

People will remember Rob Fra,
'cause he carries around a

portable air quality monitor.

You're a bit of a technology guy.

This will tell us what the
air's like in here right now.

And in fact, on the app
it'll show the history.

The air is pretty good in here.

This is a lead platinum
building, so I know it's good.

I've been in some places, some
restaurants I won't go back.

And if it was my work place where
I worked every day, I would.

I would know that it's affecting my
health, my energy, all kinds of things.

And I would prefer not to work there.

More people die in the
world from polluted air.

Then they die from climate change.

Wow.

So think around the world.

We're pretty lucky here in
Vancouver, but that's true.

And so the second thing that I'd like to
say is, um, I've really been interested

in leadership from a young, young age.

And I'm not the, uh, I don't, am I the
oldest person you've ever interviewed?

I hope not, but uh, but.

You know, if I go back very high
level, you know, there was the futile

states, I own you, you know, the days.

There still are some of those.

Um, and then there was command
and control, you know, during the

mid-century, last mid-century.

And then there when I started working
in the early eighties, it was kind of

motivational leadership, which was nicer.

But ephemeral short term, like, oh, rah
rah, and then we'll now do that work.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then I came upon, and this
is a well-known, um, a way of

leadership called servant leadership,
and I recommend it to everyone.

Servant leadership, where my job
as the owner or CEO is to say.

How are you?

Who are you, what do you do?

How can I help you?

Mm-hmm.

And, um, you know what the company's
doing and so my job is to help you.

But what I really wanna talk of
is, is something beyond, or the,

the real top of servant leadership.

And I call it cause leadership.

And I don't see it when I Google it.

I don't find cause
leadership pretty simple.

It means do something bigger than you.

And that's an answer to your question.

So I buy dirty companies
and clean them up.

I help, you know, people have, uh, fresh
air, you know, clean air, better health.

15,000 people in Canada die prematurely
every year because of polluted air alone.

Wow.

So that to me is a bit of a cause
that's something bigger than me.

And, um, when things aren't working well
or they're tougher, we're struggling,

I'm still pretty happy 'cause I'm
excited about what we're about.

Paul: And why is this important to you?

Rob: Why is it important to me?

Uh, leave the, leave the
world a better place.

Um, do the best we can.

I am, as you mentioned, I'm a former
athlete and, uh, I do love, uh, fresh

air, energy, uh, being outdoors.

I used to, I grew up in Toronto, it's
an amazing city and yet in Vancouver

I have much quicker and better access
to, to being outdoors in nature.

Yeah.

It just fits with who I am and I think.

Uh, for a lot of reasons we could,
uh, go to cop, you know, 10, 20 or

50 and have these conversations.

But it, it is important
depending on what your views are.

Paul: Yeah.

Well, you're, uh, you're talking
about age and, uh, you know, um,

I, I look at you and, uh, I, I
know you do a lot still, right?

You know, you're, uh, that hasn't
limited your activity level, and so

clearly you have some values around age,
health and the ability to, to do things.

Is that driving any of what you,
what you see and your motivations to,

Rob: uh, well, again,
it's a related topic.

I think the term retirement
is an outmoded, outdated.

Term because we should all,
hopefully, I think we're best when

we always have some kind of purpose.

Yeah.

And, and it, it doesn't have
to be work, that's for sure.

Right.

It, it can be a lot of other things, but
I think you've gotta, it keeps us young.

It keeps us alive.

You know, you've heard stories
in the old days, people worked in

one company and they retired at
65 and within a year they're gone.

Yeah.

They're gone.

They're sad, they're gone.

And so we need to have, find and know our.

Our cause, our purpose.

And that's what you're doing.

That's the definition of future narrator.

Yeah.

Yeah,

Paul: yeah.

And so, I mean, your story, you're telling
it's different than, uh, it's different

than the stories that we know about work.

It's different than the stories
we know about the, the life cycle.

Like of, you know, go to work,
retire, be a retired person.

Like what, what is the story?

Rob: I have a purpose, have a cause,
do something worth doing that excites

you, that resonates with you, that,
um, and, and even that where other

people that are doing it, you like
those people and they like you.

That's a bit of a clue.

There's, you have a, you
speak a similar language.

Doesn't mean you only
stick with them, but.

That's, you know, you need the in causes.

I think you need a bit of a choir to,
to, to sort of care and feeding of

each other and yeah, and all that.

And that's really a great way
to help achieve things together.

Paul: Well, and I mean, I think at
this point where the, the, the future

is so uncertain and needs defining
that, like, I think it's a great time

for cause driven leadership to start.

Rob: I, someone can write the
book and create it and it's a,

it's an arm of servant leadership.

It's really the fourth number
four in the, the, the tenets of

sea servant leadership and, uh.

You know, I came to it.

It's worth how I came to it myself.

I was, uh, at a conference many,
many years ago with a fellow named

Lance Secon and he wrote a book
about the great leaders in the world,

and what he did is he wrote it.

It was kind of backwards.

He said, well, Gandhi, mother Teresa,
Martin Luther King, a couple of others.

What was their leadership
style, so to speak?

No, they represented a cause and people
flocked to that, something that was

bigger than them and was self-evident.

You don't wanna write that book?

Well, he did and I just
termed it's leadership.

He did,

Paul: but yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, I

Rob: mean, I don't look
like a writer to me.

No, no.

Um,

Edwin: look, what does a writer look like?

Rob?

Rob: Someone with hair.

Paul: Well, okay, so
you're grasping there.

Okay.

Um, wow.

Okay, great.

So then, um.

I mean, you, you devoted this to
the, to greening up companies and,

and things, but, uh, but really it's
just, uh, it's taking your passion and

Rob: well, there, there, there, you
know, you, we mentioned it, it's

usually people, planet, profit.

Yeah.

Triple bottom, line management.

Uh, you know, some people call
it ESG, but real ESG, and it's

defining and quantifying the three.

Measurements, the people.

What are you doing for your people
and with people, and how can you

measure their, their engagement,
their happiness, their energy, their

health, and you can, uh, by, by having
programs with them and trust and honesty

and, and, um, planet, you know, the,
are we throwing garbage everywhere,

polluting, making things worse, killing
other people, species, et cetera.

Well, guess what?

I find in companies, when we do
things that have a little more

care, uh, it people become proud.

They're very, they, and
we get better resumes.

We have much lower turnover.

So you can quantify it in those ways.

Mm-hmm.

In business ways, we don't do
this at the expense of profit.

You have to have some profit.

You don't have to have all the
profit, you have to have enough.

I think that's important.

Yeah.

Um, and you can't, if you
don't have it, you're gone.

So this, they all raise each
other up and I think it's better

business, a great way to do business.

And I find that people, I'm fortunate, the
people that I get to work with that are

attracted to it and, and we work together.

Edwin: Yeah.

No, this is amazing, Rob.

I really appreciate, and it's really, um,
just fresh in terms of your insight as,

as, uh, someone who is an entrepreneur.

Multiple entrepreneur, successful
entrepreneur, but also this, this,

you know, vision of what you have
and things that are bigger than you.

Um, it's, it's very inspirational and
I think it's, it's a good example.

And I'm, we're, we're really grateful and
happy that you kind of joined us for this.

Um, so before, before we.

Before we let you go, I, I got, we
got like two more questions, but one

question, and you could take this
wherever you want to go, but I mean,

this is the Business Leader podcast, so
I feel like you just did a masterclass

in business leadership right now.

So thank you for that.

Um, I'd love it if you could share
any thoughts, um, recommendations or

advice for the fellow business leaders,
founders or CEOs who are listening today.

Rob: Well, another thing I, there's a.

If I've got a minute,
um, you got a minute.

There's, there's a book, but the
title doesn't really give it away.

It's sore with your strength.

Manager your weaknesses.

Okay.

So people go, oh, I get that.

Well, but the book is, is excellent read
and it's generally known that if you

read well, you'll do better in school.

Okay.

Because there's a lot of reading and, uh,
writing and, uh, so this one principle

said, okay, that's, we get that we're
gonna put all our students the whole

school through, through a speed reading
class, which isn't just, you know,

speed, it's comprehension as well.

That's right.

And, um, the, so the beginning
of the year, people read it.

250 words a minute.

Week one's a hundred, 150 words a minute.

End of the year success.

The weak readers.

Now were reading it 250
to 300 words a minute.

Wow.

The strong readers, five
to 8,000 words a minute.

Jesus.

So the sword with your strengths is.

No one's gonna hold a candle to
you if you can figure it out.

Mm.

Now that's half the answer.

The other half of the answer
is, I think even more.

Wonderful.

What is the strength?

Well, there's num number of
things you'll be good at.

A strength is more subtle.

It's that thing that brings you energy
that when you do it for one hour, five

hours, 10 hours, you're still got energy.

Yeah.

The the, the other things you avoid,
you procrastinate, you stay away from.

So get somebody else whose genius that is.

Find your genius.

Keep trying to find and refin your genius.

And, um, you'll just have energy and
you'll be happy and you'll meet others

and you'll, and no one will hold a candle.

You'll be really giving,
'cause you, you do things that

others can't hold a candle to.

Edwin: Oh my, I think that was a mic drop.

If that was a mic drop In terms,
in terms of anything around.

I mean, I don't even know how to finish
that, but that, that was amazing.

Um, so before we let you go, we want to.

This is a book that we wrote and this
was inspired from Collision last year.

Yes.

Which was previous to Web Summit.

Yes.

We interviewed many founders, founders,
CEOs like yourself in terms of, and

we, we ended up creating this book
Wonderful to, to really inspire other

people to really tell the stories.

And I feel like you are that model
of the founder, the CEO, who really.

It encompasses that.

So this is actually an
honor for us to give to you.

Well, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

That's yours and

Rob: congratulations.

Yeah.

Amazing.

Did you sign it or you will?

Yes.

Thank

Edwin: you.

Thank you, Rob.

It's been an, an absolute pleasure
and thank you for joining us on

the Business Leadership Podcast.

Well

Rob: done.

Edwin: A

Rob: pleasure.

Thanks a lot guys.

You are listening to the Business
Leadership Podcast with Edwin.