From business and politics to sports and the military, the world craves better leaders.
“As educators at Ivey, we have the opportunity and obligation to thoroughly examine, understand and commit to the development of good leadership,” said Professor Gerard Seijts, Executive Director of Ivey’s Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership at the opening of the inaugural MBA Leadership Day.
MBA students had a first-hand look at the development of good leadership from some of Canada’s most well-respected practitioners at the day-long event which included an expert panel and case discussions on the topic.
The Q&A session included Jim Leech, Chancellor, Queen’s University, and Senior Advisor, McKinsey & Company; Steve Snyder, MBA ’74, Past President & CEO, TransAlta Corporation; and Barbara Stymiest, HBA ’78, Corporate Director, BlackBerry.
Each of the distinguished panellists delivered important lessons on becoming a better leader.
Jim Leech – Learn leadership through osmosis
Leech discussed the power of immersing oneself in challenging situations, the need to observe one’s surroundings, and the impact of absorbing knowledge from skilled leaders.
“You learn leadership through osmosis by just being in a situation and watching how someone with more experience handles it.”
Steve Snyder – Earn your job every day
Snyder urged leaders to be modest and show humility. It’s crucial to remain humble and not get complacent in a position of leadership.
“I realized that there are other people out there who could do the job as well as I could, so coming to work every day and earning my job was my way of making sure I always put in the effort to be on top of my game.”
Barbara Stymiest – Know when to lead and when to follow
Stymiest encouraged leaders to practice good followership. Good leaders are always both a leader and a follower, and wearing both of those hats is critical in finding a balance.
“If you respect the individual capabilities that people bring, and you can pull out the best in everyone, and you’re all in the same boat paddling in the same direction to accomplish the visions that you’ve all agreed on, that’s where you get the power of the team.”
Read further on our panellists' discussion:
Jim Leech – The impact of an influential figure
“My father taught me about trust, respect, how to support others and a lot about delegation just by the way he lived his life and interacted with me.”
Leech followed in his father’s footsteps as a military leader at a very early age. At age 17, Leech was in military college, commanding 300 peers and reporting to a General. And at age 21, Leech experienced the army in Germany, working with soldiers who had already seen military action and were quite a bit older than him.
“I learned how to gain the respect of those with a lower military rank than myself, even though I was a greenhorn, and I learned how to gain their confidence so that they could potentially follow me into life threatening situations,” said Leech.
Steve Snyder – Dealing with the “muckiness”
Snyder had the opportunity to lead a large group of people early on in his career, and he discovered that he thrived on the experience. Snyder referred to issues in the workplace regarding conflict and dependability as “muckiness.”
“If I wanted to be a leader, I knew I had to be willing to work with that muckiness and not worry about it, but instead embrace it and say I can work with that.”
Barbara Stymiest – Having that “aha” moment
Stymiest described the “aha” moment within a person’s career as a time where they wake up and realize they’re a leader. Stymiest’s self-awareness as a leader was fairly low until it was pointed out to her.
“I distinctly remember sitting in my boss’s office and he said, ‘You know you’re a good leader, don’t you?’ How did I get to be a good leader, or why did he think I was one?”
This “aha” moment gave Stymiest the perfect opportunity to reflect on her experiences as a leader.
“The choices that you make along the way that allow you to have opportunities to work with groups of people and have influence do build up your portfolio of leadership skills,” said Stymiest.
Jim Leech – Getting from point A to B
Something Leech sees far too often in young people entering their careers is that they’re trying to get from point A to point B in a straight line.
“It’s never a straight line, it’s a jagged line,” said Leech. “There’s all sorts of opportunistic decisions that are made along the way, and often it’s to pave a sideway step to expand your breadth of experience so that you can make a move upwards.”
Moving sideways to build up his experience is what helped Leech to develop the skills that allowed him to move up in his career.
Steve Snyder – Learning to be self-critical
Snyder emphasized the need for leaders to be more self-critical in order to find workplace balance. Snyder ranked himself as someone who is very intuitive, but not very analytical. There needs to be a balance of skills and strengths among leaders and colleagues for optimum success.
“Don’t underestimate the impact that you have on the organization as a CEO,” said Snyder. “Find the balance between ‘here’s where the organization is, here’s where I want it to go, now what has to change?’ Otherwise you will rip the organization apart.”
Barbara Stymiest – Leadership comes with accountability
Leaders must be careful to not point fingers when something goes awry. Stymiest has seen this mistake made within leadership roles multiple times, where those in charge don’t take the blame for the fault of the team.
“Leadership comes with accountability. When things go wrong, the person in charge is always accountable,” said Stymiest. “The flip side of that is when things go really well, that’s the opportunity to embrace the team – the team that delivered the great outcome.”
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