{"id":34328,"date":"2024-05-17T13:17:31","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T17:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/?p=34328"},"modified":"2025-01-20T13:19:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T18:19:33","slug":"rmc-trailblazers-a-conversation-with-france-hebert-about-how-life-at-rmc-prepared-her-to-lead-in-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rmcalumni.ca\/en\/rmc-trailblazers-a-conversation-with-france-hebert-about-how-life-at-rmc-prepared-her-to-lead-in-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"RMC Trailblazers: A Conversation with France H\u00e9bert about How Life at RMC Prepared Her to Lead in Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trailblazer Podcast celebrates the accomplishments and milestones of notable alumni of Canada\u2019s Royal Military Colleges and provides a platform for them to share their stories and contribute to building future leaders for Canada and the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Earlier this year, we sat down with France H\u00e9bert who graduated from the Royal Military College Kingston in 1992 and is now Vice President and General Manager of Defence and Security (D&S) for CAE Canada, a global leader in training and simulation solutions.\u00a0 She is also the President of SkyAlyne, a Canadian Joint Venture company that provides training and simulation solutions to the Canadian Government. \u00a0In a wide-ranging discussion, France shares thoughts on her journey from cadet at RMC, to officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, to working at the highest levels in the global aerospace and defence industry.<\/p>\n

H\u00e9bert says that lessons from her time at RMC shaped who she is as a leader. \u201cAt RMC you learned the art of juggling many, many demands. Your schedule is packed, you’re asked to do all kinds of things. As an executive, I find myself constantly juggling, constantly not having enough time. You know, people usually call me because they have big problems. I’d say RMC definitely prepared me well for my role as an executive,\u201d she says with a smile. Later in the interview, as she describes the ups and downs of working on a multi-billion-dollar program with the Canadian government, she again references a lesson from RMC: resilience in the face of challenges. But arguably the biggest takeaway from her RMC education was the importance of leveraging the entire team to maximize mission success. She recalls being told that, upon graduation, she and her fellow graduates would eventually find themselves in units of the Canadian Armed Forces where they would oversee people with more experience and knowledge than themselves. \u201cThat struck me: to really use the experience, the knowledge \u2014 everything that people have to offer \u2014 for the betterment of the team, no matter their rank or their age.\u201d<\/p>\n

To H\u00e9bert the connection with Canada\u2019s military colleges has become a family affair. She is married to Scott Stevenson, who graduated from Royal Roads in 1988, and their son graduated from RMC just last year (their daughter is currently working as a medical doctor in Australia).<\/p>\n

This increased connection with the College has offered her the opportunity to observe that while outcomes remain constant, there have been some shifts in emphasis that she sees as helpful. \u201cIn my day, you entered in the service and military college, and it was about integration<\/em> into the Canadian Armed Forces, into your unit. And now it’s very much about inclusion<\/em>. It really sets a different tone in the service and at military college that is positive… RMC has created so many great leaders in the Canadian Armed Forces and in our country, and when I look at the young people that are coming out of RMC now, it will continue to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

To listen to the RMCAA Trailblazer podcast with France H\u00e9bert, click here:<\/p>\n