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.
| John Young - The Title Alone is Not Enough, You Need to Do Something With It |
Bluteau DeVenney and Company (BDCO): What did you do to move to a leadership role?John Young (JY) I became well educated and actively involved in a wide variety of organizations from the time I was in elementary school. Dealing in organizations and groups over time can progress into leadership roles. Whether it's Boy Scouts, the YMCA, or the student union, all of these experiences help you develop into a leader. Of course being well educated helps to support it all. (BDCO): What is one thing that developing professionals need to do more of?(JY): They need to relax. Most developing professionals today are highly educated, highly skilled, very competitive, and often very uptight. It would help if they just stepped back once in awhile and recognized that a good laugh is a good thing. If baseball players are heroes when they hit 400, why do we have to bat 1000? You will make mistakes, and hopefully we all learn from our mistakes. We have to remember that none of us is perfect. (BDCO): What about doing less of?(JY): Focus more on the intermediate and the long term, and less on the short term. We tend to think very short term in today's world. We look for quarterly rate of return on the stock market, we want an immediate pay increase the day after we're hired, we expect our house to go up in value immediately after we buy it. A little patience and perspective would be a good thing. Good health is worth more than a million bucks, so in an effort to have financial success, don't kill yourself. (BDCO): What experience helped you the most in your career and why?Everything you do in your career is like building blocks, but if I had to pick one it would be working in Ottawa after I graduated from law school. I was the Executive Assistant to Allan MacEachen, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Trudeau government. So at the age of 24, I was in a very different place. Working day and night for four years, travelling the country and the world, I got to meet a lot of very interesting people, many of whom I still stay in contact with. Some of whom are unknown, and some of whom are world famous. Also the discipline of working there was great experience. I was working very long hours, but I was young and didn't mind working the hours. I learned a lot very quickly. I had to because I was working with a lot of cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, and heads of crown corporations. I grew up very quickly. (BDCO): What was the greatest challenge moving your career forward?(JY): I don't know that there ever was one. I think the fundamental change in my career was the decision to move back to Nova Scotia. After working Ottawa I went to London, England to study at the London School of Economics. So having been in Ottawa for four years and then living the first year of my married life in London the decision to come back to Nova Scotia and work, as opposed to staying in Ottawa or going to Toronto, was the fundamental decision. I wouldn't call it a challenge. It was a turning point in my career because I didn't have to come back here, I came back by choice. (BDCO): What is the greatest strength of your approach to leadership?(JY): I look before I leap and I try to be fair. I believe in emphasizing the positive rather than focusing on the negative and encouraging people to act on their strengths rather than focusing on their weaknesses. (BDCO): What has been the biggest surprise you have had since attaining a senior leadership role?(JY): I've been chairman of the board for numerous organizations and I am the Managing Partner here at Boyne Clarke, and the irony is I never actually campaigned for any of these jobs, they all just sort of fell in my lap. You take these jobs not because of the title or position, but because you can do something with it. For some people, getting elected is the end of the road for them, and that is often where people fail. The objective when you get elected is to do something. The same thing applies in any kind of leadership function. Merely having the title is not sufficient. You are given the position to achieve certain objectives, and oddly enough if you focus on the objectives rather than the position, the position seems to come to you. (BDCO)What is the greatest benefit to you in attaining a senior leadership role?(JY): You have some self satisfaction because you can achieve certain things. You don't necessarily have to be a leader. You can be on a board of directors or an organizing committee and still perform leadership functions. You may not be the single leader, but like any organization it takes more than one person. (BDCO): What is the next achievement you want in your leadership career?(JY): I've never really had a specific goal in mind my entire career. I've always wanted to be a good lawyer, a successful person, a contributor to my friends and community, but I've never had a specific goal. (BDCO): What is the biggest challenge you face in achieving results in your work?(JY): Trying to ensure that people can see beyond their own immediate needs. If you want people to go somewhere you have to show them where to go and why it is desirable to be there. Most people tend to focus on where they are now. People often seem to feel that doing nothing is the safest bet, but I don't agree. I think that often times keeping things the same can be the riskiest approach. (BDCO): What is your greatest opportunity/goal for providing value for your organization?(JY): People. Our greatest asset is intellectual capital. Equipment you can buy. We are fortunate to have a lot of bright, young people in our organization. (BDCO): What added support or capability would help you most in delivering on your goals?(JY): It would be easier for us to achieve our goals (as an organization) if the province and the community in which we live was more optimistic, more ready to embrace the future rather than fear it, and more willing to challenge assumptions rather than accept the status quo. Think about where you are now in your career and what you can take from John's observations. We would love to hear your comments about what are your key takeaways from our conversation with John. Tell us your progress – we want you to succeed. ______________________________________________________________
Founded in 1972, Boyne Clarke has grown to become one of Atlantic Canada’s largest law firms. The Boyne Clarke family is a blend of Personal, Business, and Institutional lawyers who are strong believers in the synergies of a team approach. Their services span such diverse practice areas as Residential Real Estate Services, Entertainment and Media Law, and Health Law. Their “family approach” reaches into the community. Boyne Clarke lawyers and staff serve on boards and committees of many organizations that make a difference—from Metro Community Housing Association to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia. You can learn more about Boyne Clarke at www.boyneclarke.com. |
I really like John's final comments about being more willing to be more optimistic, challenge assumptions and not accept the status quo. The old attitude of mediocrity - of "that's good enough" - well, it is just NOT good enough...