Leadership in practice: navigating business now

In this video:

To follow up on some of the issues raised in our previous webinar, "Strategies for Leadership in an Uncertain Future," Ivey professor Tony Frost facilitated a panel discussion featuring Janet Bannister, HBA '92, Managing Partner of Real Ventures, Kevin O'Brien, HBA '93, President and GM of WW Canada, and Jon Shell, MBA '03, Managing Director & Partner, Social Capital Partners.

Janet, Kevin, and Jon shared their views on employee attitudes about employment and job security, the impacts of COVID-19 on the Canadian start-up and small business communities, government intervention, and strategic opportunities.

Key webinar content

Core topics

• An updated macro snapshot: positive and negative impacts relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
• The overall impact of COVID-19 on Canadian business and how consumers are feeling and behaving
• The challenges facing the small business community – both from a business perspective and a personal/family perspective
• What’s happening in the technology and venture capital startup community: rapid response, resiliency, and perseverance
• What can businesses do to survive this moment?
• Strategic marketing and innovation opportunities
• The importance of a strong, comprehensive government response to help the small business community, and why a one-size-fits-all plan doesn’t work
• What other countries have done (Australia, Denmark) to provide relief to small businesses and why Canada needs to do more
• What the crisis means to the strength of the Canadian innovation and tech ecosystem
• Lasting changes that will come out of the current pandemic, including attitudes about employment and job security
• A Q&A session with Jon Shell, MBA ‘03

Memorable quote

“(As a small business owner) you’ve told me that I’m supposed to close my doors, so I can’t earn any revenue. You want me to take out a loan in order to pay the rent, so that my landlord gets paid what they’re supposed to get, so they can pay their mortgage and the bank gets paid what they’re supposed to get. Why aren’t we making the landlords take out loans? Why is it the flower shop that should take out the loan?” – Jon Shell, MBA ‘03, Managing Director & Partner, Social Capital Partners.

Additional Resources

Click the above image to view slides, or download the slide deck presentation.

Understanding the Economic Shock of Coronavirus, HBR.org
'We have to share the burden': Small businesses call for commercial rent relief amid COVID-19 losses, CBC.ca
Support for entrepreneurs impacted by the coronavirus/COVID-19, BDC.ca

Note: This article was originally published under our former name, The Ivey Academy. We are now known as Ivey Executive Education.

About Ivey Executive Education

Ivey Executive Education is the home for executive Learning and Development (L&D) in Canada. It is Canada’s only full-service L&D house, blending Financial Times top-ranked university-based executive education with talent assessment, instructional design and strategy, and behaviour change sustainment. 

Rooted in Ivey Business School’s real-world leadership approach, Ivey Executive Education is a place where professionals come to get better, to break old habits and establish new ones, to practice, to change, to obtain coaching and support, and to join a powerful peer network. For more learning insights and updates on our events and programming, follow us on LinkedIn.