Inside The Edge
About
The Executive Chair
The one question you always want to ask a successful person in a senior leadership role is “How did you get there?” In developing your own career, you learn more from hearing what worked – and didn’t work – from senior leaders and hearing their wisdom than from any other source.
We are embarking on a series of interviews with leaders who exemplify success for us. In their words are insights that can give you direction for moving your own career forward.
To read a summary, written by Michael DeVenney, of the past 12 interviews this year - click here.
| Diane Campbell - Give Back to Your Community |
Bluteau DeVenney and Company (BDCO): What did you do to move to a leadership role?Diane Campbell (DC) I actually did not start out with the intention of running a business. In fact, following in the footsteps of my father and grandfather, I studied law, graduating from the Dalhousie Law School in 1967. I was admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1968 and joined the family law firm, Daley, Black, Moreira and Piercey. In 1975, I decided to take some time to stay at home with my children, during which time I did become increasingly involved with the charitable sector and peripherally with some small family businesses. Following the death of my father, in 1980, I did step into a leadership role with those businesses, all of which had strong management teams in place. I very much enjoy problem solving and challenges and realized fairly quickly that I derived more pleasure from the business world than I did from the practice of law. (BDCO): What is one thing that developing professionals need to do more of?(DC): Community involvement is, from my perspective, tremendously important, providing wonderful opportunities for personal growth while doing what you can to benefit the community. (BDCO): What about doing less of?(DC): As much as I encourage community participation, I think we all have a tendency to get involved in too many things. It is important to find the appropriate balance, and we need to ensure that our involvement is, indeed, a benefit to the organization. (BDCO): What experience helped you the most in your career and why?I think I would have to say that there can be nothing better than legal training whether or not one actually practices law. One has to develop analytical skills and be prepared to hear all sides of an argument. In my view, that was perhaps the first important building block for me. We all have the opportunity to learn a great deal through our associations with others, particularly if we have the opportunity to be involved with different organizations, boards, committees, etc. There is such a diversity of backgrounds, lifestyles and experience among those involved —experience and backgrounds which help to guide and enhance, not only the organization, but those who participate in the oversight and development of those organizations. (BDCO): What was the greatest challenge moving your career forward?(DC): I think the biggest challenge for me, when I purchased The Berkeley, was that I knew nothing about running a retirement residence. Fortunately, I had a very strong administrator, wonderful nursing and support staff, all of whom were dedicated to providing the best possible care and attention to our residents. The biggest problem we had, in those days, was filling the building. “Retirement Living” was a new concept in Halifax and Nova Scotia, and it was initially difficult to convince people that The Berkeley was not a nursing home. Interestingly enough, the people who did move to The Berkeley were our best advocates. Once we achieved “full” occupancy, we were able to begin thinking about another building and in 1996, we opened The Berkeley Dartmouth, followed in 1999 by The Berkeley Bedford and in 2008 by The Berkeley at Gladstone Ridge. (BDCO): What is the greatest strength of your approach to leadership?(DC): I have a great deal of respect for the people who work with me and have been very fortunate to have smart, talented people with a strong work ethic. We try to work very much as a team, working very co-operatively together to create the very best living experience for our residents. I believe it is that team approach that has helped to create our success. (BDCO): What is the greatest benefit to you in attaining a senior leadership role?(DC): It is rewarding to have the opportunity to provide a safe and caring environment for our residents, to provide employment for a wonderful group of people who share my desire to create the very best living environment and care standards for those who live in our buildings, and the many challenges that one faces on a day to day basis in achieving and maintaining those goals and standards. We have approximately 160 employees working in our four buildings, and it is rewarding for me to have the opportunity to work with such a dedicated group of people. (BDCO)What is the next achievement you want in your leadership career?(DC): I am very happy and proud of what we have been able to achieve as a business, but we will always strive to improve and grow. While it is very likely that we will continue to expand our business, our focus at the moment is to continue to improve our services and our work environment and to give back to the community. (BDCO)What is the biggest challenge you face in achieveing results in your work?(DC): Time is always an elusive commodity, but as a mature organization, perhaps our biggest challenge today, as our long-term employees retire, is finding the right people to fill vacant positions. Nova Scotia does not have a growing population and in the future, I believe that finding employees will be our single biggest challenge. (BDCO): What is your greatest opportunity/goal for providing value for your organization?(DC): I am focused on finding the best possible way to attract residents to our buildings and to ensure that, once people have chosen The Berkeley, they are content and feel they are getting good value for their money. We need to ensure that all of our staff are caring and compassionate and motivated to ensure that we are providing the very best in retirement living. Think about where you are now in your career and what you can take from Diane’s observations. We would love to hear your comments about what are your key takeaways from our conversation with Diane. Tell us your progress – we want you to succeed. ______________________________________________________________
With four locations, The Berkeley is committed to providing gracious, independent retirement living for residents within the greater Halifax area. You can find out more about The Berkeley at www.theberkeley.com. |
