Don
Drummond, SVP and Chief Economist with
TD Bank Financial Group, discusses
recession and the steps to economic
recovery at Toronto Alumni Chapter event
Don Drummond, Senior VP and Chief
Economist, TD Bank Financial Group at
Lawrence National Centre Workshop, April
2009.
Ivey
graduates wear the Ivey Ring as a
reminder of their "commitment to
honesty"
2009 MBA graduates of the Harvard
Business School are in the global
spotlight as the first Harvard alumni to
take the new "MBA Oath." While the
particular wording and spirit of the
Harvard oath has captured viral
attention online, there have been many
before Harvard to draft standards for
business professionals - including the
Richard Ivey School of Business.
Since
2004, each student who graduates from an
Ivey degree program takes a Pledge
agreeing to act with the highest of
standards. Students are then presented
with an Ivey Ring by a fellow Ivey alum,
who welcomes the student to the alumni
family. This Ring is only available to
graduates of Ivey’s degree programs and
each Ring is identified with a unique
serial number.
Above: The Ivey Ring on Convocation Day
The Ivey
Ring symbolizes the transition of
students to alumni, carrying all of the
respect, but also the obligations and
responsibilities, that come with
inclusion in a group such as this.
The Ring
will serve as a constant reminder that
the individual represents a body of more
than 20,000 alumni who have helped build
the strong reputation of the Richard
Ivey School of Business. The actions of
any individual impact the reputation of
the group as a whole.
Leadership Series: David Estok,
Hamilton Spectator, discusses crisis
communication and media relations with
Ivey MBAs
David Estok,
editor in chief at the Hamilton Spectator,
former Associate Business editor at
Maclean's and Associate Vice President of
Communications and Public Affairs at the
University of Western Ontario, was the final
guest lecturer in the MBA leadership speaker
series this term.
The series
brought leaders and Ivey Alumni alike from
NASA, WestJet, ING Direct, Maple Leaf Foods,
and VANOC into the classroom to discuss
leadership, culture and their experiences
with Ivey students. Estok wrapped the series
by talking to the class about what to do
when companies are thrown into the media
spotlight and how to handle it as future
CEOs.
Above: David
Estok, guest speaker in MBA leadership
series.
In the
first 24 hours
"Fess
up when you mess up."
The first thing to do if you've made
a mistake is to apologize. As a
leader, it is critically important
to take responsibility even if the
incident wasn't directly related to
yourself. You are responsible for
your organization.
Open up
the story
The next step in crisis
communications is to provide a
broader context. The media will
zero-in on a specific event rather
than the big picture. Media
relations teams need to broaden the
story and give it context.
Make
promises you can keep
You won't be able to promise that
nothing similar will ever happen
again, but what you can do is
communicate what you are doing to
rectify the situation, and what you
are doing to prevent it from
happening again.
Estok
emphasized that these three important steps
should all take place in the first four to
twenty-four hours. With CNN, and an army of
citizen reporters armed with twitter-enabled
smartphones and flip video cameras, you need
to act quickly but carefully. Most likely
you won't know fully what happened or what
has yet to be discovered, but you need to
start the dialogue with the media
regardless.
The Value
of Media Relations: Reputation,
Relationships, Revenue
The steps above
are going to go smoother if you have healthy
relationships with the media before anything
goes wrong. However, even if you have
excellent relationships with the media, good
media relations will not:
Resolve
performance gaps
Create
a positive image if poorly run
Be an
excuse for poor customer service
Overcome things that should not have
happened
A media crisis,
which Estok defines as being on the front
page for four days in a row, has the
potential to ruin the reputation of your
organization and reputation is absolutely
critical to success. Crisis media relations
is critical towards protecting the
organizations reputation, relationships and
revenue for the future. Estok called on the
class to "understand the cumulative effects
of serious smart and sustained
communications, create credibility and
trust, and to build reputation."
David
Estok presented to the newest class of MBA students as part of the Leadership
Guest Speaker Series.
Cross-Enterprise leaders in their own
right, each of these successful business
executives and entrepreneurs shares with
students the importance of understanding
the big picture --the interconnected
nature of the enterprise -- no matter
where you're operating from in an
organization.
Leadership Series Home
Leadership Series: From
Glimmer to Shine: David Loree talks
talent management with Ivey MBA students
Professor David Loree, Organzational
Behaviour, is the latest in the Spring
MBA class' Leadership Guest Speaker
series. Although the class has touched
on talent management, now they were
going to truly dig into the topic.
Above: Professor David Loree,
Organizational Behaviour.
David started his presentation running
and didn't make any stops. He spoke with
incredible speed, pushing through as
much material as possible – and still
ended up sacrificing half the slides in
his deck.
Talent
management is what keeps David Loree up
at night. Some consider it a cutting
edge topic but David proposes instead
that it is a set of "cutting edge
questions." There are no equal signs or
perfect formulas that guarantee you will
spot the best and brightest in your
organization. This is a grey area domain
where, even after twenty years, former
General Electric CEO Jack Welch only
gets it right 80 percent of the time –
that's up from 50 percent originally.
Professor Loree emphasized how important
it is to identify the "glimmer" of
potential early: "developing ‘great'
takes much longer than many of us are
comfortable admitting." In some
industries it takes a decade, and in
others it can be two.
The earlier you start looking, the
harder it can be to spot potential
talent. What are you looking for?
Professor Loree gave a list of six
characteristics of high potential
candidates, drawn from "Talent is
Overrated: What really separates
world-class performers from everybody
else" by Geoff Colvin:
The
desire to master new skills
The
ability to rapidly absorb knowledge
The
ability to communicate it to others
effectively
The
ability to build lasting
relationships
The
ability to mobilize others to get
things done
The
ability to see how larger pieces of
the puzzle fit together
Professor Loree quotes Sir William
Osler, called the "Father of Modern
Medicine," to explain the traps and
mirrors encountered when looking for
talent: "If only all patients were
identical, medicine would be a science,
not an art." In the same way, talent
management is more an art than a
science. Decisions have to be made with
subjective, qualitative data. A person
may show a few sparks but might not be
in a position where they can truly
demonstrate Colvin's characteristics –
especially in the lower levels of an
organization. In other situations,
someone with all the right features
might not want to be the next great
leader. Before you invest in an
individual, make sure that you check
that they are interested in the
opportunity. Those that have both the
potential and the interest will need the
right resources and coach, and a
practice field: "You can't learn to swim
from the stands."
Students
asked Professor Loree about the
conflicts between coaching and
mentoring. The same person who can coach
an employee to perform their daily job
at the desired level might not be the
same person who can guide development.
Mentoring demands candid discussion of
weaknesses and goals – topics that not
many staff would be comfortable
discussing with someone who supervises
their daily performance. Above all,
Professor Loree emphasized that
performance evaluation meetings are the
wrong place to discuss development.
The
class wrapped with a debate about
millennials, and how to look for and
develop talent from the pool of tech
savvy, multi-tasking twenty-somethings
entering the workforce. Millennials are
characterized by new experiences, such
as as growing up with parents that tell
them they are special for no reason at
all, little leagues where both teams are
winners and trophies are awarded for
participation. This is the generation
that only takes "yes" for an answer.
Companies are considering flexible work
hours, free food, games rooms and other
perks to cater to a generation that puts
lifestyle in front of careerism at every
turn. Some say that loosening the reins
results in harder working, more
dedicated employees and others wonder if
make-your-own-hours is a sustainable
model in a world with clients,
colleagues and deadlines. David left the
class with this question to ponder: Is
the sudden attention on work-life
balance a mistake that will cause our
economy to fall behind, or is it a shift
in the right direction?
David
Loree presented to the newest class of MBA students as part of the Leadership
Guest Speaker Series.
Cross-Enterprise leaders in their own
right, each of these successful business
executives and entrepreneurs shares with
students the importance of understanding
the big picture --the interconnected
nature of the enterprise -- no matter
where you're operating from in an
organization.
Leadership Series Home
Watch the
creation of the Richard Ivey School of
Business on YouTube
In 1995,
the Richard M. Ivey family made an $11
million donation to the Western Business
School, which is renamed the Richard
Ivey School of Business after the
inaugural Chair of the Advisory
Committee, Richard G. Ivey.
The video
below was record September 27, 1995 and
documents Peter Mercer, Earl Orser,
Lawrence Tapp, Richard M. Ivey, Dr. Paul
Davenport, and Liz Stevens speaking at
the press conference in the J.E. Brent
Auditorium.
Leadership Series: VANOC CEO
discusses leadership, finding your
podium in life, and what it takes to
plan the world's biggest event
John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver
Organizing Committee for the 2010 Winter
Games addressed Ivey MBA students on May
28 via satellite from Vancouver.
A former
athlete himself, John's philosophy is to
take the lessons of athletic and sport
and apply them to whichever organization
he is running. The following are his
pearls of wisdom for running a
high-profile, multi-year project, on a
global stage.
Celebrate the possible. "For an
organization to be successful there has
to be a sense of always trying to
achieve the best you can," said John.
It's important to have that spirit
prevail throughout the organization.
"Every person at VANOC understands they
are part of a large team and their
individual piece is critical to
success," explained John. "People in the
organization are smitten with their
responsibility. We employ champions in
life. There is a champion at every
desk."
Set
clear goals and visions. VANOC's
primary goal is to make Canada look
great on the global stage. The Vancouver
Organizing Committee is chasing this
dream as hard as they can. John's vision
for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter
Games is that they will make for a
stronger Canada whose spirit is raised
by its passion for sport, culture and
sustainability.
Believe in your values. Describing
the task of organizing the Vancouver
2010 Games as a "difficult project" is
an understatement. John said the
difficulty of planning the Games almost
defies description. "It never goes away.
It lives with you. But what holds us
together is our values." VANOC's values
are:
Team
work: Fair play, respect,
compassion, accountability and inclusion
Trust: Integrity, honesty,
respect, fairness and compassion Excellence: Recognition,
compassion and accountability Sustainability: Financial,
economic, social and environmental
sustainability Creativity: Innovation,
flexibility and adaptability
John
believes that VANOC has endured
challenging times easier than most
because they have these values in place.
For VANOC their vision, mission and
values are not simply words on a wall.
They are what the organization believes
in and what prevails at every desk and
in the hearts and minds of the people
who work there.
There
is no room for a selfish leader. As
the leader of VANOC, John revealed that
his role requires a lot of humility.
"This job is very difficult. You can't
fool people. People are watching me all
the time; but, it's not about me, it's
about all of us." John continued, "You
have to be an example and give people
something to follow. As a leader, I am
always asking myself. ‘How do I come
across?'"
The
thing John worries most about as the
leader of VANOC is the reputation of the
organization and of Canada. "If we
struggle, it plays out across the
country." For this reason he requires
VANOC to be proactive in their
communications and to always think about
how Canadians would think and react to
their decisions. The guiding force for
John is considering how VANOC and Canada
will be perceived by the public.
Don't
make your projects all about here and
now; think about the legacy. For
large scale projects it's always
important to think about what is being
left leaving behind. "This project is
too big and too compelling to make it
about 14 days of sport," said John. "It
needs to be bigger than that. Positive
influences must be left behind and our
children should marvel at what has been
left behind for them."
The
Games are about influencing everybody.
VANOC's mission is to touch the soul of
the nation and inspire the world by
creating and delivering an extraordinary
Olympic and Paralympic experience with
lasting legacies. John wants to get the
games into the heart of everyone and
come face to face with every Canadian.
"If through the Games we can get people
to find their own podium in life, than
we have done a good thing for Canada.
Not everybody will be an athlete, but
everybody can be better. The Games are
about getting the country to realize its
potential."
John
Furlong presented to the newest class of MBA students as part of the Leadership
Guest Speaker Series.
Cross-Enterprise leaders in their own
right, each of these successful business
executives and entrepreneurs shares with
students the importance of understanding
the big picture --the interconnected
nature of the enterprise -- no matter
where you're operating from in an
organization.
Leadership Series Home
Leadership Series: MBAs learn
the importance of keeping candour at the
heart of organizational culture
"Good culture begins with one
fundamental concept: candour." That's
David Fear, President of Ziff Brothers
Investments, who spoke candidly to MBA
students on May 25th about the
importance of candour in the workplace.
Candour
at ZBI means that all of the people
working at the firm communicate with one
another in a real, open, and sincere
way. In short, their culture is based on
the practice of habitual good candour.
Candour
also translates into having the people
you work with know where they stand with
you and their own abilities. Candour
means that you don't falsely reassure
people or tell them things that don't
reflect the truth.
For
example, David talked about how the
annual performance review should really
be executed. "People want to be told
where there stand, what they're good at,
and what they can do better."
People
don't want false reassurance, but giving
candid reviews is often hard for a
number of reasons. David likened it to
fighting evolution. In our culture we're
taught to be nice to each other, to
flatter one another and not to speak up.
To make
his point, and inducing laughter in the
room, he asked the men if they knew the
answer to the question "Do I look fat in
this?" We're conditioned to act a
certain way and candour often calls for
fighting against well entrenched
behaviour.
So why
do euphemisms and white lies prevail in
workplaces? "It's scary and messy to
give honest feedback, but the rewards
far exceed any of the costs involved,"
said David.
Openness
takes time, effort and commitment. There
is fear involved with upsetting the
other person, but when it comes down to
it, as David said, "Candour is the
ultimate sign of respect for someone you
work with."
How can
we implement candour in the workplace?
David offers these suggestions:
Start by committing to it yourself.
Commit to act in a certain way in
the work place.
Talk about the concept of candour
repeatedly with the people you work
with. By talking about candour it
raises the consciousness about it in
the organization.
Demand it. Be clear and upfront and
say you're ok with it. Convince them
you will not react badly to it and
that it's what you really want.
Push them for more. Ask people for
specifics and examples.
Celebrate and acknowledge candour
when you see it. Acknowledge the
incident to others in the
organization in a team meeting. That
kind of public, positive
reinforcement makes an impact in an
organization.
David
Fear presented to the newest class of
MBA students as part of the Leadership
Guest Speaker Series.
Cross-Enterprise leaders in their own
right, each of these successful business
executives and entrepreneurs shares with
students the importance of understanding
the big picture --the interconnected
nature of the enterprise -- no matter
where you're operating from in an
organization.
Leadership Series Home
Kuhlmann
has built five banks in his career thus
far, including ING Direct. ING's goal
was to change the game of banking, and
to lead Americans back to savings by
simplifying financial products at their
disposal. Today, with 7.3 million
customers happy to bank without
branches, ATMs or cheque books, it seems
to have more than met this goal.
Kuhlmann
went outside traditional banking in
order to find a team that could change
the industry. He commented that he
himself had never quite "fit" with
traditional banking, and it was others
like him that he sought to make up his
"cast of misfits." Arkadi joked that he
has become the "most evil guy in US
banking," having destroyed the way
banking is supposed to be. He has used
the drama of ING's approach versus
traditional banking to position the bank
on the side of the people, which
indirectly positions competitors as the
people's opposition. By focusing on the
drama rather than numbers, ING has
positioned itself at the heart of a
social movement.
The team
looked outside banking when they set
about creating a brand. They decided to
act like a retailer rather than a bank.
ING saturates each new market upon
arrival, offering free subway rides for
a day, rock concerts – anything
experiential and detached from
"banking." At first, clients started
showing up at ING's offices. To meet
this need, rather than adding branches,
ING started opening cafes where clients
could "hang out" and buy an affordable
cup of coffee without being approached
by bankers. The ING Direct cafes sell
250,000 cups of coffee a month – plus
brand merchandise.
Above: Arkadi Kuhlmann, HBA
'71, MBA '72, the founding
CEO of ING Direct USA and
Chairman of the Board of ING
Direct Canada.
There are many other ways that ING
Direct is different than other banks.
When you call their toll-free number, a
real person answers your call. Arkadi
feels that it's not possible to have
"intellectual conversations about
customers" and emphasizes the importance
of customer service experience. In fact,
everyone in the company works the phones
at some point, including Arkadi.
Kuhlmann
and his team focused on something called
"values-based execution":
differentiation, discipline,
accountability, empowerment, sense of
urgency, and customer advocacy. These
are the basis of the "Orange Code"-— the
unbreakable components of the culture,
and internal rules of the road everyone
must follow.
The
Orange Code:
We are new here. Every day is a new beginning. A
new set of challenges. A chance to
reinvent ourselves.
Our mission is to help people take
care of their wealth. Money is the fruit of work, and
saving it is fundamental to freedom.
Few missions could be more important
to the lives of our Customers than
this one.
We will be fair. Everyone has value. Everyone
deserves a chance at independence.
So, everyone will be treated equally
here.
We will constantly learn. Every experience we have will
make us wiser and better at what we
do. That will always be true.
We will change and adapt and dwell
only in the present and in the
future. The world does not stand still.
Neither will we.
We will listen. We will invent. We
will simplify. Our Customers can make us better
if we let them. But we must first
understand them. If our inventions
do not make our Customers' lives
better, it will not make our
business better.
We will never stop asking why. Or
why not. Nothing can be sacred here
except for our mission.
We will create wealth for ourselves
too, but we will do this by creating
value. Our Customers want us to
succeed. Profit is the proof that we
are fulfilling our mission, and it
is only rewarding when it is earned.
We will tell the truth. We cannot succeed without the
trust of our Customers and of
society.
We will be for everyone. To be our Customer, people need
only a dollar and the will to be
independent.
We aren't conquerors. We are
pioneers. We are not here to
destroy. We are here to create. We have competitors, not
enemies. We will respect them.
We will never be finished.
To help
the Orange culture develop consistently
across new locations and markets, new
buildings were designed to match the
values: warehouses without front
parking, elevators, offices or titles
became the homes of ING staff. The shape
and tone of each facility was designed
around the culture: fewer callers and
more space.
Kuhlmann
challenged Ivey's MBA students in their
future roles:, "there is no such thing
as an industry that can't be
re-energized." Making change requires
amazing perseverance in order to sell to
the regulators and sell to the boards
and get permission to do things the
"wrong" way. It is important to know
yourself, and to know your people.
Consumers are looking for how they can
relate to your business or product,
which makes the culture and values of a
business are incredibly important. Above
all else, Kuhlmannn noted that
leadership is the key ingredient and the
engine that powers the business.
Arkadi
Kuhlmann presented to the newest class of MBA students as part of the Leadership
Guest Speaker Series.
Cross-Enterprise leaders in their own
right, each of these successful business
executives and entrepreneurs shares with
students the importance of understanding
the big picture --the interconnected
nature of the enterprise -- no matter
where you're operating from in an
organization.
Leadership Series Home
Leadership Series: WestJet
brings its culture and lessons of
success to Ivey
Beginning their presentation with a clip
from the popular game show Jeopardy!,
two WestJet executives, Ferio Pugliese,
Executive vice-president, People, and
Richard Bartram, Director of Culture and
Communications, gave a presentation to
the newest MBA class at the Richard Ivey
School of Business on May 14, 2009.
The Jeopardy! video clip
perfectly set the stage and captured the
WestJet culture with Alex Trebek reading
the $800 square, "WestJet punk'd fliers
on April Fools' Day with a $12 offer for
‘sleeper cabins', actually these." The
correct answer was "what are the
overhead bins?" – a response that none
of the panellists could come up with.
The dynamic duo passionately talked
about WestJets' unorthodox style and
culture, and how these very things were
the secrets to their success.
WestJet began in 1996 with 200
employees. Their business model was to
be a low cost carrier servicing five
destinations in Western Canada with 3
Boeing 737s. WestJet follows a business
plan that allows them to offer great
prices because of their low cost; simple
fares with few rules; and a standard
structure that allowed massive
reductions and pricing. This left the
competition – legacy airlines with lots
of rules and a traditional business
structure – unsure how to react.
Today, WestJet employees 7800 employees
and receives 1200 resumes a week. With
the growth of business it creates
leadership challenges. Leaders can't get
everybody in the same room anymore.
Richard Bartram, Director of
Culture and Communications.
But despite the fact that they can't get
their entire company in one room,
WestJet has stayed true its original
plan due to a strong vision and purpose.
In a presentation simply titled 5
Secrets to Success they used the WestJet
story and cultural values relay the
principals that led to their success.
"We care to plan." WestJet knows
their culture (they have an entire
department dedicated to culture) and
what they are dedicated to (e.g., on
time departures and landings). One
thing that the WestJet team chose to
plan was putting in time to find the
right language. How you use language
makes a big difference. For example,
they prefer "team leaders" over
"supervisors." When you're
supervised it implies someone
watching you to make sure you don't
mess up. On the contrary, being a
leader means that you give people
the tools to do their job and help
them do it better.
"We care to share."WestJet has
an employee share purchase plan
because they know that owners try
harder than employees. Over 80% of
WestJetters are shareholders and the
company matches every share of
employees purchases. They also have
a profit share plan with bi-yearly
pay out profits. The payout at the
end of the period can be upwards of
$30 million. They hand out cheques
at the profit share event. People
come for more than just the cheques
though. They come for the experience
and camaraderie.
"We care to really listen."
WestJet listens to its own people
through culture connection, tech
talks, and airport visits, and they
listen to their guests through their
surveys and letters.
"We care to design." WestJet
designs their experiences and
processes to make sure their own
people can be proud and successful
and to ensure their guests are truly
getting value in everything they do.
And
finally, "We care to celebrate
and have fun." WestJet offers
parties, new destinations launches,
and family days – just to name a
few!
Ferio
Pugliese and Richard Bartram presented to the newest class of MBA students as part of the Leadership
Guest Speaker Series.
Cross-Enterprise leaders in their own
right, each of these successful business
executives and entrepreneurs shares with
students the importance of understanding
the big picture --the interconnected
nature of the enterprise -- no matter
where you're operating from in an
organization.
Leadership Series Home
Leadership Series: NASA
aerospace engineer reveals lessons
learned from the Columbia Space Shuttle
accident
Using the Columbia Space Shuttle
accident as an example, Matt Melis,
aerospace engineer for NASA,
demonstrated how intuition will not
always give you the right answer.
Mr.
Melis walked the class of MBA students
through the series of events leading up
to Columbia's demise. In 2003,
Columbia's left-wing leading edge was
impacted by a piece of foam, suspected
to have separated form the external tank
bipod ramp, at 81 seconds into its
launch. Travelling at Mach 2.46 the foam
hit the vessel at 700-800 feet per
second. Although the incident was caught
on tape, NASA believed that the foam was
too soft and light to damage the tough
reinforced carbon-carbon composite
material that the leading edges of the
Orbiter are made from. They incorrectly
concluded that no critical damage
resulted from the impact and that
Columbia was clear for landing and safe
to return home. This resulted in air
shuttle disintegrating upon re-entry
into the Earth's atmosphere and the loss
of all seven crew members.
With a
multi-media presentation Melis used
pictures and video to explain the
different parts of the Shuttle, how the
parts are built, and the science they
used to determine the cause of
Columbia's breakup and what his team of
researchers did to shed light on the
accident.
Matt Melis, aerospace engineer
for NASA.
For five years after the loss of
Columbia, Melis and his colleagues at
NASA's Glenn Research Center Ballistics
Impact Lab worked to help determine what
happened to Columbia and what needed to
be done to get the Shuttle back to
flight. After running a series of
smaller scale tests, the Glenn team
supported a full scale test to recreate
the accident. A full size leading edge
was built and impacted with a piece foam
the same size and dimensions as the one
that fell off Columbia, at the
conditions of the actual event
determined from the footage of
Columbia's take off. Melis played the
students a video of this test and the
class gasped when the foam tore a large
hole in the panel.
During
class, students examined why NASA may
have downplayed the threat of a foam
strike. Meils explained, "If you don't
have valid data to support a critical
decision then make that decision
accounting for that fact. Don't make
things worse by guessing." This was the
mistake that led to the Columbia
accident. He stressed that this as a
lesson the group should take forward
into their careers.
Basically, Melis explained that the NASA
was living with a design flaw –the foam
from the external tank that eventually
broke off and damaged Columbia –that had
been dodged for 25 years. The insulating
foam design was put into place in the
1970s but created an accident in 2003.
Melis explained, "You can sometimes live
with design flaws for awhile, but there
is a good probability that they will
eventually catch up with you."
As the
next generation of business leaders,
students learned the importance of
creating as safe an environment as
possible, not to accept the status quo,
and to constantly challenge ideas within
their organizations.
Matt
Melis presented to the newest class of MBA students as part of the Leadership
Guest Speaker Series.
Cross-Enterprise leaders in their own
right, each of these successful business
executives and entrepreneurs shares with
students the importance of understanding
the big picture --the interconnected
nature of the enterprise -- no matter
where you're operating from in an
organization.
Leadership Series Home
Leadership Series: Sukhinder
Singh Cassidy kicks off MBA Leadership
speaker series, shares her "Note to
Self"
"Being a leader is about managing
diverse agendas, not just your own."
That was one of the leadership insights
that Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, HBA '92,
shared class on May 12, 2009. Singh
Cassidy, who is in the midst of her own
career change, shared how her ambition
and desire to take the step of running
her own company led her to leave her
role as Google's President for
Asia-Pacific & Latin America Operations
in April 2009 to become CEO-In-Residence
at Accel Partners.
With a
presentation titled, Note to Self: What
Have I Leaned the Last 12 years? Singh
Cassidy, CEO-In-Residence at Accel
Partners, shared 15 lessons about
leadership. The talk came during the
second day of the MBA program's spring
class and gave the students class some
leadership goals to keep in mind through
their year long program and beyond the
classroom.
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, HBA
'92, CEO-In-Residence at Accel
Partners.
Singh Cassidy talked about the
importance of discerning when to
delegate tasks, she advised the class on
the delicate balance between avoiding
politics and when they matter to your
career, and how to avoid confusing
collaboration with consensus and over
inclusion.
In a tip
that she joked was especially relevant
for the men in the room, she said, "It's
ok to cry. It shows people your passion
and showing emotion shows people you
care." She explained that people want to
see that leaders can empathize with
their employees. "Be a leader who cares
about your employees' interests. They
have trusted their careers with you and
you should show them you take that
seriously."
Singh
Cassidy finished her presentation with a
discussion on managing big egos, the
benefits of knowing thyself, playing to
your trademark strengths, and the
importance of patience. The following is
a brief description of her 15 leadership
lessons:
Discern when to delegate vs. when to
know the details - its all about
exercising your operating range that
makes for the best leaders and
highest value add.
Know when politics matter and when
to be heads down on focused on the
job at hand. Sometimes you need to
play the game to get ahead in your
career.
Don't confuse collaboration with
consensus. Don't over include -
listen to everybody but make a call
and move on. Consensus is the enemy
of speed.
The
organizational chart is a pendulum
that keeps swinging– so don't worry
what side you're on. Instead focus
on adding value for other functions
and you will be impactful.
It's ok to cry. Showing emotion
shows you care and have empathy for
your employees.
Leave your crown at the door. When
you come home, you're a father,
mother, spouse, friend - and be
present when you are in those roles.
Everything you do as a leader is
analyzed. Accept it!
No
more PowerPoint presentations
please. People get distracted by
reading the slides and move ahead of
you. Use slides ahead of time for
people to read through and use your
meeting for discussion.
Managing big egos: when are they
more trouble when they are worth.
Learn to balance the trade-off
between someone's ego and skill set
and watch for warning signals when
big egos are undermining your
management team dynamics.
Know thyself. Play to your trademark
strengths and complement your
strengths with those you hire.
Don't compromise: if you can't find
someone for your #1 position, hire
for the #2 position. Don't hire the
"right now" person because of
urgency.
The
age old debate: hiring for intellect
vs. experience. Hiring on smarts
ensures a person's ability to
problem solve. These people will
also have a clean slate and vision.
Patience: sometimes you've just got
to let an issue go despite your
desire to drive to conclusion. Know
when to let things sit.
Launch early and often .Fast
iteration cycles with quick feedback
is a clear strategy towards
meaningful progress vs waiting to
perfect something.
Find balance over a course of a
lifetime vs the course of a day.
It's impossible to excel at anything
if you don't devote time to it -
think of your life in cycles.
Accel
Partners is a global venture and growth
equity firm funding companies from
inception through the growth stage.
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy presented to the newest class of MBA students as part of the Leadership
Guest Speaker Series.
Cross-Enterprise leaders in their own
right, each of these successful business
executives and entrepreneurs shares with
students the importance of understanding
the big picture --the interconnected
nature of the enterprise -- no matter
where you're operating from in an
organization.
Leadership Series Home
Ivey
students leave lasting impact on local
non-profit organizations
A
new project from the Richard Ivey School
of Business provided much-needed relief
to non-profit organizations struggling
with the effects of a recession and
taught business students about the
rewards of giving back to the community.
Last
summer, the Richard Ivey School of
Business and United Way of London &
Middlesex launched a pilot project
called the HBA Community Impact
Challenge that enabled business students
to use their skills to help local
non-profit organizations.
For the
project, each section of students in the
HBA1 program "adopted" a non-profit
organization and provided eight months
of service to it via fundraising,
volunteering and pro-bono consulting.
The
participating non-profit organizations
included East London Community Centre,
Western Area Youth Services, Boys' &
Girls' Club of London, Vanier Children's
Services and Make-a-Wish Canada,
Southwestern Chapter. Organizations were
selected from close to 40 applicants.
The
program was administered by Ivey
Connects and United Way of London &
Middlesex and just wrapped up this
spring.
We spoke
with Graham Foulds, one of the HBA1
class leaders who participated in the
project, and Kelly McManus, Director of
Community Services at United Way of
London & Middlesex, about the
challenges, outcomes and rewards of the
project:
Above: Ivey HBA students hosted
a group from partner
organization Western Area Youth
Services for an evening of fun,
food and laughs at a Western
Mustangs hockey game.
Q) How did
the HBA Community Impact Challenge
complement Ivey Business School's
curriculum?
A) There
was a strong link between the HBA
curriculum and the work students put
into the Community Impact Challenge. An
important aspect of the project involved
student leaders in their sections
providing consulting services to the
organizations. This consulting covered a
wide range of topics and drew upon
course material throughout the year.
Whether the organizations needed advice
on accounting policies, growth
opportunities, strategic direction or
financial planning, the HBA students
were equipped with the skills to provide
creative and practical approaches to
finding solutions.
The
case-based method of learning at Ivey
Business School and the School's broad
focus on managerial skills and
flexibility also helped the students to
work constructively with the
stakeholders in the organizations and to
handle a certain amount of ambiguity
well. The project further allowed
students to work with a different sector
of business – one where the bottom line
means more than just profits.
– Graham Foulds, HBA1 Class Leader
Q)
What did you learn from the project?
A) I
learned many things through my
participation in the project. For
starters, managing a group of leaders
and getting those people to work
constructively together was a difficult
task. I also worried the students
wouldn't be committed to the project
because there was little or no
compensation or recognition. I was
pleased to see the dedication and
passion with which my colleagues
conducted their work – simply because
they knew their actions were having a
direct positive impact on an
organization in our community.
It was
also difficult to manage such a long
project and timeline. The length of the
program – September to March – and
setting milestones and metrics to
evaluate success over that duration, was
a challenge.
Finally,
my group had the opportunity to see an
organization in transition. Our
organization was in the midst of a
change in strategy – the switch to
social entrepreneurism – and the
executive directorship of the
organization was also changing. This
illustrated to us the continuously
changing nature of companies and how
quickly one can make an impact in such
dynamic organizations.
– Graham Foulds, HBA1 Class Leader
Q)
How did you add value to the non-profit
organizations involved?
A) Our
group of students was happy to provide
much-needed assistance to the
organization with which it was paired.
Many non-profit organizations face the
ongoing problem of lack of resources,
particularly human resources. One of our
most important contributions involved
taking extra-curricular activities off
the plates of swamped social workers at
the organization and working on them
ourselves. This relieved time pressure
on those people so they had more time to
perform their main jobs to the best of
their abilities. Our duties ranged from
administrative and maintenance tasks to
helping organize an annual corporate
breakfast and working on the development
of a new public relations campaign.
Our
organization also asked us to begin
preliminary research on the feasibility
of setting up a charitable foundation as
a potential new revenue stream. A final
report was compiled and presented to
senior financial officers and the
research was used as a starting point to
further the project.
– Graham Foulds, HBA1 Class Leader
Q)
What did the non-profit organizations
gain from the project?
A)
Non-profit organizations truly benefit
from having a team of enthusiastic
students help them think through some of
their organizational opportunities and
challenges. In particular, for
organizations that have very few staff –
let alone a volunteer coordinator or
professional fundraiser – it's great to
have extra resources to help build their
volunteer and fundraising capacity.
Particularly, organizations were
impressed by the insight that the
student teams were able to provide in
terms of communicating with their own
generation, and they gained valuable
insight into prominent technologies
today, including social media. The
consulting teams provided outstanding
pro bono advice on strategic issues and
offered advice about change strategies
that will positively impact these
organizations for many years to come. At
the end of this process, five
non-profits walked away with a renewed
energy and valuable network and
concrete, practical suggestions for
action. They will use this material with
their Boards of Directors, clients and
funders to ensure that they can make the
best difference possible in our
community.
– Kelly McManus, Director of Community
Services, United Way of London &
Middlesex
Q)
Now that you've completed this project,
has it opened your eyes as to the value
of giving back to the community?
A) This
project has opened my eyes to the
ability of young people to give their
time and skills to non-profit
organizations and to make a difference
in their communities. Young people
represent a large, educated, creative
segment of society with so much to offer
to organizations in need. Harnessing
that energy and seeing the positive
outcomes for our community partners was
an incredibly rewarding experience.
It was
also exciting to see some of the
brightest business students in the
country exposed to the non-profit
community and come to the realization
that channeling their skills can make
such a huge impact on the people around
them.
– Graham Foulds, HBA1 Class Leader
Other
comments on the value of the HBA
Community Impact Challenge:
"It
serves a dual role in both impacting the
community in a positive way and helping
to develop socially-conscious business
leaders."
– Carol Stephenson, Dean, Richard Ivey
School of Business
"Real,
lasting social change happens when
citizens take an active role in shaping
the community around them."
– Ruth Young, acting CEO of United Way
of London & Middlesex
"We want
to inspire students to be involved with
non-profit organizations on an ongoing
basis."
– Gillian Heisz, Ivey HBA student and
HBA Executive Director of Ivey Connects
Donna
Cansfield lauds Ivey Business School for
research on green energy policy
Ongoing
research on green energy policy from the
Richard Ivey School of Business is
critical to position Ontario as a leader
in this area, Natural Resources Minister
Donna Cansfield said in an address to
kick off the project.
Cansfield
spoke at Ivey Business School's Spencer
Leadership Centre on April 26 to open
the workshop, "Making Green Energy
Happen: Policies and Priorities" from
the Lawrence National Centre for Policy
and Management. The workshop, held April
27, brought together representatives
from business, academia, government and
non-government organizations, as well as
students, to discuss how agriculture
fits into the development of government
policies focusing on green energy
production.
A report
containing policy recommendations from
the workshop will be prepared and
delivered to the federal government in
coming months.
"We have
a long way to go and most of it is
policy. That's why the research you do
here is so important," Cansfield said.
"We also need some sound research to
help folks to understand why there is a
need for alternative sources of energy."
Above: Natural Resources
Minister Donna Cansfield.
Relating anecdotes from her personal and
political life, Cansfield discussed why
the economic and environmental health of
the province has a huge stake in
alternative energy.
She
recounted how she went polar bear
tagging with a wildlife researcher and
learned how polar bears in northern
Ontario are being impacted by climate
change.
"I
asked, ‘What can we do?', and he told me
to go home and turn out my lights. If
everyone here did something similar, we
could probably save those polar bears,"
she said. "The research you do could
have an indirect or direct influence on
whether or not in 50 years there is
going to be a polar bear here."
She also
told how she has personally been
inspired to action on this issue because
a disproportionate number of people die
of respiratory disease in her west
Toronto community.
"I like
clean air. That's why I care," she said.
Noting
that Ontario's forestry industry has
been devastated by a stagnating economy,
she explained how forest biofibre
products may help to bolster the ailing
industry. A Canadian company called
Aspenware is already having success
producing biodegradable wooden cutlery,
she said.
"We're
exploring a new initiative – how we are
going to use our forests differently.
One of the ways that we're going to do
that is to look at biofibre
differently," she said. "We're going to
take the unmerchantable wood and we're
going to turn it into a whole new way of
doing business in this province. That's
exciting."
Pointing
out that 96 per cent of the people in
Ontario live on four per cent of the
land, largely surrounding the Great
Lakes, Cansfield said Ontario has huge
tracts of land that can be used to
develop renewable energy. Her ministry
also supports development of new
electricity generation from water power,
she said
"If you
look at this extraordinary province, an
untapped resource is there," she said.
"We're going to contribute to Ontario's
renewable energy by providing
opportunities to develop our wind, water
and forestry resources on Crown land."
However,
she said the key to success is to get
people on board via education.
"It's
important to help people understand that
they're part of the puzzle," she said.
"It takes everybody working together to
make a difference."
Above (L - R): Natural Resources
Minister Donna Cansfield and
Dianne Cunningham, Director of
Ivey's Lawrence National Centre
for Policy and Management.
Ivey
Business School marks 40th anniversary
of annual case-writing workshop
At a
ceremony to wrap up Ivey Business
School's 40th Annual Case-Writing
Workshop, Dean Carol Stephenson praised
Professor Emeritus Michiel Leenders and
Associate Professor Jim Erskine for
their leadership in this area.
Professors Leenders and Erskine have led
the workshop since its inception.
"Jim and
Mike have been to more than 50 countries
and helped more than 20,000 people.
That's impressive. That deserves to be
marked," said Stephenson. "A lot of
people have been touched by the work of
these two people."
Above (L - R): Jim Erskine,
Carol Stephenson, Michiel
Leenders
Faculty from schools in Taiwan,
Malaysia, Brazil, the U.S. and Canada
visited Ivey Business School for the
workshop, which ran April 20-24. There
were more than 45 participants,
including a large group of Taiwanese
professors.
Ivey
Business School has partnered with
National Chengchi University in Taiwan
to produce 25 case studies on Taiwan
businesses co-authored by professors at
Ivey and the College of Commerce at the
National Chengi University of Taipei,
Taiwan. The new cases will add to the
wealth of knowledge about business
practices in Taiwan and are valuable
tools for educating business students
about global markets.
Stephenson noted how the case-writing
workshop has expanded since its early
days as an in-school training program
for summer student case-writers and new
faculty. It has since grown to include
faculty from other business schools and
non-business disciplines, including the
arts and sciences, medicine, law and
engineering. It also involves trainers
from public and private organizations.
"This
program has grown internationally. It's
the typical Ivey thing, we tend to
spread our roots and grow," she said.
"This is something we will never walk
away from because we think it is such an
important piece of learning."
Ivey
Business School's case-writing method,
modelled after Harvard Business School,
is the foundation of the School's
approach to learning. Ivey Business
School is the largest producer of
business cases after Harvard and is the
world's largest producer of Asian cases.
Ivey MBAA
students discuss credit crisis with
business leaders in Taiwan
A group of
Ivey students from the MBAA attended the
27th annual
Graduate Business Conference hosted
in Taipei, Taiwan. The top 50 schools in
the world were invited to share best
practices with an over arching theme of
accessing the markets of Greater China.
During
the trip the students were able to meet
with the founder of ACER computers, the
founder Quanta Computers, the CEO of
HSBC Taiwan, and Kevin Callahan,
President of the MBAA, who addressed the
Vice President of Taiwan with a question
about the global credit crisis and its
affects Taiwan. Ivey has a rich
tradition within the conference being
the first international school to host
it in 1995.
The Ivey
MBA Men's Rugby team proved to have all
the right moves and was the runner-up in
the 29th Annual MBA Rugby World
Championships at Duke University in
North Carolina on April 18 and 19.
Ivey's
Women's Touch rugby team, largely made
up of HBA students, also placed third in
the tournament, which is hosted annually
by the Fuqua School of Business at Duke.
The
tournament has been held since 1980 and
typically includes teams from 25
business schools around the world.
Dean
Stephenson speaks at closing ceremonies
of 20th Scotiabank International Case
Competition
This past
week, the 20th Annual Scotiabank
International Case Competition was held
at Ivey. The Scotiabank International
Case Competition attracted students from
universities around the world from a
diverse group of countries including
Brazil, Hong Kong, Hungary, Korea,
Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore,
Spain, Sweden and Thailand.
This year,
the winning team was from Thammasat
University from Thailand. Corvinus
University from Hungary and the Warsaw
School of Economics from Poland were the
other finalists. The case, kindly made
available by Murray Bryant, asked the
students to advise the leadership of an
Austrian furniture manufacturer, on a
growth strategy.
Dean
Carol Stephenson was the Invited Speaker
for the Closing Ceremonies where she
provided the attendees with
an informative talk about lessons
learned for international management
from her involvement in the Vancouver
2010 Olympic Organizing Committee.
Initiated by the late Harold Crookell, a
former faculty member at Ivey, the
competition was created to provide a
forum for students from the world's best
undergraduate business programs to
showcase their business acumen. It has
become the largest international,
undergraduate case competition in North
America.
Through
the competition, students are exposed to
different international perspectives.
They also have the opportunity to
establish valuable relationships which
are increasingly crucial in today's
global business arena. It also allows
Canadian business leaders as our judges
the opportunity to contribute to the
growth of future leaders and to gain
awareness of the growing importance of
undergraduate business education.
Above: Carol Stephenson,
Pimchanok Ingkakitti, Chalida
Thangpetchr, Kattareeya
Teeraratpol, Jason Lin, Sylvia
Chrominska.
Leadership
lessons from winning organizations:
learning from Gretzky and Messier
"It doesn't matter how much talent you
have, effort is the one thing you truly
control." That was one of the leadership
lessons that former NHL player Craig
Simpson shared with Ivey students and
the general public on March 26.
Simpson
said teams and companies thrive if they
own their vision and relentlessly pursue
it. They should have a goal that makes
them work hard, but it should be a goal
that can actually be achieved.
Throughout the presentation, Simpson
talked about how building a strong
sports team parallels building a strong
company. Simpson was part of the
Edmonton Oilers dynasty in the late
1980s and learned from some of the best
leaders in the hockey business. He
played with stars including Wayne
Gretzky and Mark Messier.
Simpson
talked about the importance of talent,
effort and execution. You can control
the amount of effort you put in, but you
also need to execute; effort without
execution is a waste.
He said
selflessness was one of his key lessons
from his time in sports. That's what
"makes good teams great, that's what
makes good businesses great and that's
what makes good families great."
Simpson
said it's important to have a set of
guidelines – companies shouldn't
micro-manage and give employees
direction in every little thing – but
they can set out guidelines such as
respectability, responsibility and
accountability. If choices are made with
those principals in mind, the decisions
will be good ones.
The
money raised from the presentation was
donated to London athletes competing in
the national women's volleyball
championships this spring.
After 10
seasons with the NHL, Craig Simpson was
assistant coach of the Edmonton Oilers
and is now a CBC Television hockey
broadcaster.
