THE INTERVIEW | MILTON COLEMAN
An offer from Motion Industries gave Coleman the chance to become an automation expert, sell a broader portfolio or products and, crucially, be part of a team. Then Bosch came calling again to invite him back. “They missed me,” he says. “They offered me
a larger role, so I took over sales and product management, pivoting away from commercial strategy to also handle sales execution. Then Bosch diversified and I took on a regional sales role for the complete automation portfolio. It was my first step fully into automation, and I was having a lot of fun with that when the position as regional VP came up, giving me a bigger portfolio and more responsibility.” Later, in his role as VP of distribution, he was
in charge of $500m in sales. Ultimately, having been at Bosch for more than 20 years and having gone through sales all the way to the head of distribution leadership, a friend told him that he could see him sitting in a CEO seat. “I had never considered it before, but I
started thinking about what that meant for me,” he explains. “I am not great at sports, but I am extremely competitive, though I have really been chasing throughout my career that sense of joy – creating a commercial strategy and getting people to buy into it. I always want to push things further, which is something I learnt from my mom. I want to challenge myself, so I keep putting myself in uncomfortable positions.” By 2020, he had been recruited as VP of sales by Mitsubishi Electric Automation, where he was put in charge of sales strategy, revenue growth, services and automation solutions. Soon after, in September 2021, he was promoted to senior VP of sales and marketing, with an expanded remit across the United States, Canada and Hispanic America, with an emphasis on bringing sales, product marketing and corporate marketing into closer alignment. Mitsubishi’s then-CEO described product marketing as Coleman’s true passion.
Earlier this year, Coleman became senior VP and general manager of the newly created Industrial Automation Division of Mitsubishi Electric US. Having initially led Mitsubishi Electric Automation through its integration into the reorganised US business, he now has responsibility for the division’s strategy, operations and growth across the Americas. “When people think about Mitsubishi, they think about cars, but although Mitsubishi Electric makes automotive parts, it is not a car company,” Coleman explains. “We make elevators, heat pumps, home appliances, energy infrastructure and a whole lot more. We are less well-known in the automation world, but we make a wide range of variable frequency drives that are widely used and have become an industry standard in the crane and hoist sector. “We create very high-performance products and worldwide we are in the top three companies for the products we sell,” he adds. “We need
Coleman wasn’t content with just being an engineer, but became a master of sales too.
to communicate that story better to clients on a global basis, but we are big in Asia and we have a growing presence in the US.”
Learning from adversity While his career was blossoming, Coleman never lost sight of his priorities, which has always meant putting family first. When his eldest son Xavier, then serving in the US Navy had a serious motorcycle accident, lost part of his left leg and was left paralysed, everything was put on hold. Coleman spent three months in Jacksonville waiting for Xavier to come out of a coma. It was around this time that a headhunter called offering a position at Mitsubishi, which saw his potential as CEO of a business unit. “I have three kids, and I am telling Xavier to fight and challenge himself to get better,” he says. “I realised I needed to do the same. I saw Mitsubishi Electric as a sleeping giant. The accident really showed me I needed a challenge.” “Xavier ended up going to a facility in Atlanta
that focuses on traumatic brain injury,” he adds. “He started to sit up and do things for himself, and six years later he can do many things independently, though he has in-house support provided by the navy. He lived with us for five years, and my wife challenged and championed him all the way. We were all inspired by Xavier.” Now, Coleman and his wife have moved to Illinois, partly to take a step away from Xavier, who currently lives so that he can move forward on his own.
“It has taught my wife and I that life can be hard but all that matters is what you choose to do next,” says Coleman. “That must be to keep moving forward, as Walt Disney said.” Just as the family pulled together to see a future for Xavier that others might not have believed possible, Coleman recognises that he himself has been fortunate in that people around him have often seen more in him than he did in himself. “Teachers when I was young saw my potential, and my 8th grade math teacher instilled in me
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