Mike Brien: President of Macdonald Chisholm Trask Insurance

Michael(MD): What did you do to move to a leadership role?

Mike Brien (MB): The one thing that always helped me has been my lack of fear. I was always ambitious enough to ask why and come up with ideas to make things better – and this was recognized. I was forthright and committed to earn the opportunities to get in the deep end and learn from those great experiences. Now, I have to admit that being 6'8" it is easier for me to jump in the deep end but you get my meaning - have the courage to push yourself.

I was managing 35 people when I was just 24 years old. I had made an impression on the leaders in the organization and given charge of the administration of one of the busiest retail bank branches in Halifax. The objective for my placement was to introduce a new technology system that had failed elsewhere and a further testing was needed. The employees in the Branch were not really open shall we say to a 24-year old new manager. I focused on making sure the client was taken care of and, despite strong resistance initially, was able to successfully implement the program.

A funny part of this change initiative dealt with employees smoking. Now, this was years ago so tellers were still able to smoke at the wicket and even smoke while serving customers. I noticed that many times the tellers were breathing out smoke at the customers while waiting on them.

Clearly, this was not a good situation. One of my changes involved tellers putting their cigarettes down while serving customers - no more "blowing smoke in customers' faces". There was resistance even to that - can you imagine. Anyway, that is just a part of the story. By staying focused on the customer, I was able to work with the teams to try out the system, mold it and make it better so that everyone was involved in it and turn it into a success. It was a high profile opportunity that I enjoyed immensely and moved me into the leadership pool.

(MD): What is one thing that developing professionals need to do more of?

(MD): What about doing less of?

(MB): Definitely to be less demanding and be more patient. There seems to be a sense of entitlement in young professionals today which can come through as “what’s in it for me?” I feel they are coming to the workplace with unrealistic expectations. They need to work hard and do things that will get them recognized for their abilities so that they will be noticed and offered opportunities to develop further.

As well, you have to commit. Investing in growing your career and becoming a leader is demanding and you have to find ways to make it fit. I combined my involvement with the community with my family. By doing community work and giving back with my family, it really blended well. Becoming a leader requires you to commit to work hard and put in long hours – and you need to be smart about balancing it all. You may want it all – and sometimes I think people want it “free, perfect, now” – but you still have to earn it. I see this entitlement attitude as a dangerous aspect of our society – the ability to maintain the lifestyle we have become accustomed to will require that we continue to contribute and earn it.

(MD): What experience helped you the most in your career and why?

(MB): The experience that most shaped my leadership career was the ability to be put in the deep end of the pool, get involved in things that were easily over my head, and work hard to do the best possible job. I sold myself based on my ability to do the hard work and earn the opportunity. It is a cycle – don’t be afraid to put yourself out there to get the recognition but be prepared to back it up with the work needed to earn it the next step.

(MD): What was the greatest challenge moving your career forward?

(MB): People have often been the greatest challenge. What I learned most from the leaders I worked with was the necessity to be able to work well with other people. How to influence people to work together, getting the right people and keeping them is critical for a leader’s success. Being able to work with the right people and be on great teams is a blessing. The real challenge is in knowing how to interact well with people to get and earn that blessing.

(MD): What is the greatest strength of your approach to leadership?

(MB): My greatest strength is my ability to develop and motivate teams toward a common goal. I focus on getting the “buy-in”. I have the ability to get people to see the vision, buy in, and then support them to execute. My career has really been based on taking something that was not working well - or as it should - and getting it to work better in short order. You can only do that by getting people on board with you to make it happen. Together, you define the problem, build the vision, and build the team around it. Fear can keep people away from opportunities they need to grow and I enjoy helping them work through that and have strength of conviction that they can achieve what they set out to do.

(MD): What has been the biggest surprise you have had since attaining a senior leadership role?

(MB): I am a trusting type of person and I get disappointed more than surprised. People can let you down at times and that makes me very disappointed. When someone doesn’t keep their word or takes advantage of you, it gets to me. Your reputation is all you have in this world and I firmly believe we have to live above board and be straight forward with people. Not everyone is like that and that is where my disappointment lies.

What is the greatest benefit to you in attaining a senior leadership role?

(MB): The power to affect change. I have the opportunity to create a vision, conceptualize a better future, and motivate people to implement that vision. It is incredibly rewarding to encourage and develop people in their careers through working toward that vision. Leaders have the ability to move the pieces more than others and being able to influence both decisions and outcomes is an important benefit and responsibility.

(MD): What is the next achievement you want in your leadership career?

(MB): I truly enjoy what I am doing although I think the real key for me is to spend more time working on the business rather than in the business. Leaders need time to be more strategic, look ahead, and anticipate the future to put the business in a proactive place rather than a reactive one. Again, it comes back to people and taking time to see the future and provide the right environment of opportunities for those people. That is where the next step will be for me.

Think about where you are now in your career and what you can take from Mike's observations. We would love to hear your comments about what are your key takeaways from our conversation with Mike.

Tell us your progress – we want you to succeed.

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Macdonald Chisholm Trask Insurance is a progressive company with a 60-year history of commitment to building long-lasting relationships with their customers. With recognition for investment in developing their people, MCTI provides a highly educated workforce with a culture of mentoring, investing in community, and working as teams. Recognized three times as one of Atlantic Canada’s ‘Best Places to Work”, MCTI corporately and individually live their values of “taking care of people, it’s what we do.”

You can find out more about Macdonald Chisholm Trask Insurance at www.mcti.ca.

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