As Patrick Thera winds down the days until his June 3rd retirement date, he’s found himself in more of reflective mood.

He’s now beginning the process of reviewing the path that took him from a kid who planned to go to university to be a school teacher to the top spot as president of Advanced Technologies at Calian Group Ltd. with 40 years of service under his belt.

“I was going to be like my dad. He was a teacher, and I was going to be a teacher.”

In his third year at the University of Saskatchewan, Patrick took a computer science course and never looked back.

“Change of direction,” Patrick laughs. “I knew right away after taking that first class this is where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. It was so clear.”

Those 40 years, first with SED Systems and then Calian in 1990, have provided many memories for Patrick, including his first days as an employee after graduating from USask with a B.Sc. Hon. degree in computer science, and not a bachelor of education, as he first expected.

“I remember those days clearly because of a bunch of us had graduated from the U of S, all starting at SED. We had been looking for jobs in a variety of areas.”

Many of those jobs, however, meant that you’d have to leave Saskatoon and move where the jobs were.

CLOSE TO HOME

But having SED in his backyard gave Patrick the opportunity to stay close to home.

“I had never really heard of SED until my final year, and then I only heard bits and pieces. The thing that I saw right off the bat is the company is very technology oriented, the project work they were doing meant they were doing new things for new customers all the time. And they already had a global presence.”

Perfect! Patrick knew this would be the place to grow, learn and constantly challenge himself and his abilities.

“Part of me couldn’t believe there was something like this right in Saskatchewan and this opportunity even exists.”

Right off the bat, his first project was a doozy, working on the Canadian Mission Control Centre (CMCC) system for SARSAT and the Canadian defence sector.

As a young adult fresh out of university, Patrick says those were high times, indeed. Suddenly, the world opened up to him. He travelled from one end of Canada to the other. Foreign destinations soon followed.

“I travelled the world, I got to see the whole world,” Patrick recalls. “When I was in high school, I had no idea. I was this little prairie boy. I had very little computer experience. There were no mentors here. You didn’t have anybody in Saskatchewan that told you to shoot for the stars. You had limited options. There was no one here to tell you to go into technology.”

However, Patrick’s world was evolving quickly.

“It was a very exciting program and very exciting software to build all from scratch. It was very interesting for a kid like me to sink my teeth into, something so scientific and something so meaningful You’re making a difference … I thought it was realty cool. I was hooked from then on.”

Patrick found himself immersed in many projects that SED and Calian participated in on a global scale and has many memories of time spent out of country working and developing new projects. At the same time, he was learning about new cultures and making friends along the way.

Patrick established himself at Calian as someone who had strong leadership abilities and was named president in 2012.

HOW TO LEAD

Two people he had served under at SED and Calian, Brent McConnell and Ray Basler, gave Patrick a roadmap on how to lead successfully.

“I can honestly say those were two key people that kept me centred and held me accountable as well as provided me the opportunities and the mentoring for me to become who I was as a leader.”

Patrick always watched his superiors and tried to keep the pieces that worked for him as he developed his own leadership style.

“You can run a company, or you can lead a company. There’s a difference. I always wanted to lead a company. I felt if I was leading this organization, we could do great things with everybody working together as a team, as a unit.”

One measuring stick of his leadership was the constant growth of the bottom line.

“When Ray left as president and moved up to CEO of Calian, he handed the tally sheet over to me. I kept up with it to prove to myself that I brought in more than the guys before me.”

A hallmark of his leadership was never settling for “good enough,” Patrick believes.

“Success was the only option, not backing off and asking, “is this good enough?” A key thing to me in running a good organization is making sure people see you as a visible leader. You need to understand what they are doing and how to help them get rid of their hurdles.”

Now, as retirement beckons, Patrick feels fulfilled.

“Part of me is ready, this is about time. And the other part of me says ‘it’s not really over, is it?’ It’s hard for me to believe that something that has been such a fundamental part of me for 40 years is going to end,” says Pat. “It’s not something you naturally think about. You naturally think about going to work every day, doing the same things, talking to the same people, fighting the same fights as everybody else on the team. When you think about my end to the contribution to the team, the team has to carry on without me. It’s kind of daunting.”

When the final day arrives and the Calian door closes behind him, Patrick says he’s not sure exactly what he will do.

“I’m not making any plans. I will decide after that day. Why? Because that keeps me focussed on what I have to do between now and then. I know it’s time to retire. I know it’s time to leave this position, but I’m not thinking about what I’m doing afterwards.”

Patrick will spend more time with his wife Delmarie. His son Benjamin, lives in San Diego now, so Patrick and his wife will have more time to spend there doting on two grandkids.

Closer to home, daughter Rachel is in Ottawa doing her psychiatry residency, so Patrick and Delmarie plan to visit there as well.

Patrick is aware that because of his demanding work schedule, there have been many family things he has missed out on.

“I look back and look at all the things I had to miss from anniversaries and birthdays, children’s performances, achievements and awards. I would be remiss not to mention how grateful I am to my family.”

Armed with two degrees of her own, Delmarie was the family backbone, Patrick says, and put her career aspirations on hold to support him.

“She’s certainly been my rock. She had lots of opportunities, but she also saw with my job that together we could do a lot. She is probably a main reason for my success.”

Patrick easily recalls how his brain reacted to his first taste of technology at university. That has never left him.

“I can’t leave technology alone. I feel like regardless of whether I’m retired or not, I’ve got to spend some time and renew my inner nerd, really get into some pieces of technology and have some fun with it for a change instead of being on a deadline.”

Sounds like a solid retirement plan, indeed.