MBA students gain a lifetime of lessons from the C-Suite

Three seasoned leaders. A lifetime of lessons in just over an hour for MBA students.

Three of Canada’s most successful corporate figures brought a lifetime of experiences to Ivey’s MBA students as part of the MBA Leadership Day on August 2.

Barbara Stymiest, HBA ’78, Corporate Director; Thomas d’Aquino, Chairman and Chief Executive, Intercounsel Ltd.; and, Jon Hantho, MBA ’89, Principal, Janus Advisory Services, brought their lessons from the C-Suite to a panel session. Through a Q&A-session led by Professor Gerard Seijts, Executive Director of the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership, each panellist highlighted the learning that good leaders experience throughout their careers – the good, the bad, and the embarrassing.

Below are highlights of the discussion:

Early influences:

D’Aquino:

• My father had a very strong insistence on hard work, accountability, and being responsible for what you do. He said it’s really important that you learn about work from the ground up. Since B.C. is a resource-based economy, I did summer work in logging, mining, fisheries, and on the railways. I learned to take pride in my work, and to respect people regardless of what kind of job they are doing.

Hantho:

• I've been very fortunate to make the kinds of choices to take on new challenges. So my leadership development has been marked by taking on new projects – by putting up my hand and saying I’ll be part of this change project. It’s usually higher risk, maybe higher profile, and putting yourself in a group that you may not know and tackling a big challenge.

Best leadership advice:

Stymiest:

• I’ll never forget the speech that a senior partner gave about the importance of partnership. It was about the fact that our strength was in numbers, and in bringing the entire firm to our clients. The fact that we were stronger as a team. That whole speech on the importance of partnership has stuck with me to this day.

D’Aquino:

• I was told, whatever you aspire to do in life, try to become a triathlete: Try to succeed in business, and in the non-profit sector, and make time for developing yourself outside of your specific areas of focus. That was really one of the most important pieces of advice I’ve received.

The role of mistakes:

Hantho:

• A wise man once said you’re allowed to make big mistakes, just don’t make them twice. I’ve accepted that as a good premise. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re probably not putting yourself out there.

Derailing your career early:

Hantho:

• It’s common when we’ve come out with our MBAs that we have a couple of instincts. One is that we’re supercharged, and we’re ready to go, and we want to prove ourselves. But we have a tendency and a bias to managing up. I would encourage everyone to manage around their peers. You’re not just being judged on how you’re contributing as a sole contributor, but what you do with the team.

Stymiest:

• The more senior you get, the more you learn that, when things go right, it’s because your team delivered them. When things go wrong, you take the blame.

Developing resilience:

Stymiest:

• I am lucky that I always have a family to keep me very grounded.

D’Aquino:

• I think a sense of humour is very important because, to some extent, it reflects back on you.

Following the panel discussion, students participated in a special mini-case discussion on key leadership moments, facilitated by Ivey faculty.