So where was I……..In my last post I gave you a synopsis of two of the major speeches on the first day of the Leadership Conference. The second day (Friday) began where the first day left off.
The first speaker of the day was John Furlong, CEO of VANOC – the Vancouver Olympics organizing committee. For those who have been hibernating – this is the 2010 Winter Olympics. What can I say about his speech – you should have been there. It was a tour de force! Amazing, animated, funny, entertaining and unforgettable. The task that the organizing committee is gargantuan. It is the equivalent of holding 3 SuperBowls a day for 17 straight days! It also requires that the organizing committee mobilize the resources of the city, the province and the country. As Mr. Furlong said, it is Canada that is on display during these 17 days and his job is to make Canadians proud and to make the world appreciate the hospitality and ability of Canada. His organization will grow from a handful of people at the start to about 700 now to 50,000 by February 2010. Imagine the leadership it takes to grow an organization that quickly and to that size, all the while knowing that no one will have a job in the organization at the end of the Olympics. At the same time, the organization must maintain its core values and ethics as it grows. Mr. Furlong learned about leadership on the sports field as captain of his football club in Ireland. He said that for him leadership is finding a way to ensure the success of your teammates.
In the afternoon, in one of the break-out sessions, I had the pleasure of listening to the newly appointed Ontario Secretary of Cabinet, Shelly Jamieson. When we invited Shelly to speak she was (and still is, until January 7, 2008) the Deputy Minister of Transportation. The announcement of her appointment was made on Thursday afternoon – a few people asked me if I knew something when we invited her to participate in our conference. The answer is…sometimes it is good to be lucky!!
Shelly was on a panel with James Ridge, Deputy City Manager of Vancouver and Sheldon Levy, President of Ryerson University. James gave an insightful talk about what life is like for a senior leader in the municipal order of government – a “jack of all trades”. He described the 50 disparate business lines that municipalities are responsible for – from emergency management to cemetery operations, from garbage collection to transit, and from social programs to public health. His main message was leaders have to trust subordinates and delegate decisions and that the leader’s job is to shape the culture of the organization and ensure its ethical underpinnings. Sheldon laid out the transformation that is occurring at Ryerson University that is only possible through collaboration. For him, leaders must be a guide, a mechanic, an enabler, a promoter and a journalist. As a guide you must be able to bring people to share a common vision; as an enabler you must be able to listen and to help great things happen; and as a promoter you have to act as the booster for the organization.
Shelly focused on two aspects of leadership – 1) the ability to attract and retain good people and 2) maintaining a work-life balance. She emphasized that a titles does not make you a leader. Shelly spoke of the demographics impacting not only government but also society as a whole. In order to attract the right people to the right job at the right time, she stressed the need to articulate a value proposition – this is not how much you are paid, but rather the ability of the organization to accommodate the interest of its employees. Employees are looking for learning and developmental opportunities; they want an organization that communicates meaningfully with them; and want visible and accessible leaders. In terms of work/life balance, Shelly spoke about the ability to set boundaries and that it is a personal responsibility to do so. She spoke about the importance of respecting others by starting meetings on time and the requirement for leaders to be authentic.
The closing speaker of the Leadership Conference was Senator Romeo Dallaire, retired Lieutenant General in the Canadian Armed Forces who commanded the United Nations Forces in Rwanda in 1994. If you have not read his book, “Shake Hands with the Devil: the Failure of Humanity in Rwanda”, I encourage you to do so. The book has been made into a movie, starring Roy Dupuis as Romeo Dallaire. Here is the clip of the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaHAXnOGj9k
Senator Dallaire spoke eloquently and movingly about how the world has changed and how we must change as well. It is the only talk that I have ever heard where the speaker quoted such a mix of people: Yogi Berra, Richard Nixon, George Patton, and Henry Mintzberg! He spoke about Wisdom – the ability to anticipate; Unity of Effort – the ability to lead people from the front; Strength – the ability to be pro-active and to take risks; and Aim – the ability to select and maintain an objective. He spoke about the Code of the Feudal Knights – “Without Fear and Above Reproach” and how it should apply today. I cannot do justice to his talk. Senator Dallaire was generous with his time answering questions from the audience, autographing copies of his book and having his picture taken with participants (like me!).
click here for pictures!
There is so much more that I can talk about. This was a great conference. If you missed it, we will be posting the presentations on our website. More importantly, this was the first of our “Annual” Leadership Conferences. Don’t miss the next one!!
No comments:
Post a Comment