June 2013 Business in Calgary

Page 102

2013 Board of

Directors Executive Joe Lougheed – Chair

Dave Sprague – Immediate Past Chair Leah Lawrence – Chair Elect Rob Hawley – 2nd Vice Chair Denis Painchaud – Vice Chair, Finance Adam Legge – President & CEO Directors David Allen

To achieve this goal it was made clear that each employee had a vested interest in making sure each car was defect free and they were encouraged to pull the kill cord that stopped the entire production line to make sure a defect did not sneak through. Due to this practice, Toyota’s sales rose 22 per cent in 2012, helping it regain its spot as one of the world’s top carmakers.

Take bold action A bold action can generate an incredible amount of momentum. It can propel an organization toward its new direction and turn doubters into supporters. An example of this type of action can be seen in the bid of Google in its early days to become the search engine provider for AOL Europe. After losing the pitch to Yahoo Inc., Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were on a flight back home when they took the bold action of having the pilot turn the plane around so they could tell AOL Europe they made the wrong decision, despite the fact the deal with Yahoo had been finalized. This action forced AOL to consider their early decision and pick Google instead, which established the forward momentum Google needed to be a success. It is possible that if this had never happened, Google would have never become the search engine superpower that it is today.

Bill Brunton Eva Friesen

Make leadership visible

Guy Huntingford

An organization’s senior leadership needs to be visible to act as an example to the rest of the staff and create a positive culture of learning, courage and perseverance. This is something that Admiral Nelson did very well. During a naval battle, Nelson refused to take cover despite the prevalence of enemy snipers on neighbouring ships. He opted instead to remain visible during the heat of the battle so his armada could be inspired by his courage. This gave his fleet a huge amount of confidence that carried over to victory. So, what’s better than a leader who shows up in the middle of a crisis and says to his comrade: “I am here with you?” The answer is simple – pretty much nothing.

Rob Lennard Dilan Perera Linda Shea Paul Waddell Management Adam Legge, President & CEO Michael Andriescu, Director of Finance & Administration Kim Koss, Vice President, Business Development

Leading Business magazine is a co-publication of the Calgary Chamber and Business in Calgary Calgary Chamber 600, 237 8th Avenue S.E. Calgary, Alberta T2G 5C3 Phone: (403) 750-0400 Fax: (403) 266-3413 calgarychamber.com

For more great events, visit CalgaryChamber.com

Chamber Member Spotlights As Calgary’s leading business organization, the Chamber has the city’s top companies and business organizations as its members

SAIT Polytechnic As one of Canada’s leading polytechnics, SAIT Polytechnic provides relevant, skill-oriented education to more than 71,000 registrants each year. Approximately 1000 business and industry partners help shape curriculum by serving on more than 65 advisory committees, and SAIT is known as a trailblazer in applied research and innovation. SAIT was the first publicly funded institute of its kind in the country, and 96 years later, it is well on its way to becoming Canada’s premier polytechnic. Learn more at Sait.ca. 102 • June 2013 BUSINESS IN CALGARY | www.businessincalgary.com


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