Charles Brown, president of The Source (Canada’s largest consumer electronics and mobile retailer), spoke at the Inaugural Leadership Case Competition held by the Ivey Business School in partnership with the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business.
Brown, MBA ’83, came on board with The Source in 2011, bringing with him over 25 years of extensive experience in telecommunications, cable communications and consumer electronics retail industries.
As president, Brown points out that leadership has nothing to do with your title. “Your title doesn’t make you a leader. Leadership is about your behavioural attributes. It should never be confused with management; they are two different things.”
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Brown focuses on the notion that leadership is about maximizing people’s efforts. People will put in more effort if they feel engaged in the workplace. A good leader provides their team members with a vision they can believe in and follow.
“If they’re not empowered, they’re not engaged,” said Brown. “If they’re not engaged, you’re not getting the maximum effort out of them.” A strong leader must also maintain engagement through transparency. Employees will essentially follow the lead if they feel informed and that there is a consistent flow of open, candid communication.
When leaders show little to no consistency regarding open communication, employees lose their sense of engagement. Brown uses the example of his time working at Telesat, where employees did not know their roles and understand the overall goals due to a lack of communication.
“Leaders always have well-defined goals,” stated Brown. “They know where they want to get to, they know why they want to get there, and they do a very good job of explaining what those goals are.” Assigning roles and instating clear, well-defined goals served as the turning point for Brown and his team.
Courage also stood out for Brown as a key component of effective leadership.
“The only wrong decision is not to make a decision. If you don’t make a decision, you stand still. And if you stand still, you’re just like a bug – you can get stepped on.” Leaders will always be faced with difficult decisions, and having the courage to make those difficult decisions represents movement in the right direction.
In his closing remarks, Brown urged the audience members to go out of their way to look for reasons to celebrate and thank people. Brown referenced the fact that he hand-writes individual birthday cards to each of his 3,600 employees across Canada. The simplest of gestures can leave people feeling valued and, as a result, more engaged and determined.
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