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.
| Stephen Wallace - Work Hard and Be Someone that Others Can Depend On |
Bluteau DeVenney and Company (BDCO): What did you do to move to a leadership role?Stephen Wallace (SW) When I first graduated from university with an Engineering Degree, I was in a technical project-delivery role. I don't remember any one significant milestone that moved me to a leadership role, it was more so a natural progression. As time went on, leadership opportunities were presented to me. I really just stepped forward when opportunities presented themselves, showed an interest, and tried my best. (BDCO): What is one thing that developing professionals need to do more of?(SW): They need to look to expand their knowledge and capabilities on a continuous basis. Formal training plays a part of this; however, much of this can and does come from asking questions and observing the behavior of others who are more experienced in the workplace. My career has been one of continuous learning, which has been something enjoyable and exciting for me. The things I knew about when I started my career represent a small fraction of what I now use in my day-to-day work. (BDCO): What about doing less of?(SW): Career progression in an organization is a two-way street. My observation is that most people usually fall into one of two categories: a giver or a taker. Make sure you are on the giver side of the mid-point. This will go a long way in supporting success in your career. (BDCO): What experience helped you the most in your career and why?(SW): Early on in my career, I was surrounded by a number of hard-working individuals. One summer, I worked in the field on a survey crew with a person who was the poster-guy for “honest-day’s work for an honest day’s pay”. He did his job and half of mine, as I was an inexperienced summer-student at the time. These people served as role models who made an impact on me. The lessons I learned from them have stayed with me throughout my career - work hard and be someone that others can depend on. (BDCO): What was the greatest challenge moving your career forward?(SW): Learning to strike the balance between my job and my family. I have always wanted to do well at work and sometimes I let the immediate needs of the business take too much priority over family time. For example, when I brought my wife home from the hospital with our first-born son, I dropped her off with a lunch-box from KFC and headed to the office for the rest of the afternoon. That didn't go over so well as you might imagine. My career has played a big part in supporting my family, and striking the right balance hasn’t always come easily. With some “coaching” from my wife, I think I have learned to do better as time has gone on. (BDCO): What is the greatest strength of your approach to leadership?(SW): I try to involve others as much as possible. I look to listen and consider various options and ideas from other people and gain consensus and buy-in. I try to remain calm and focused on the key issue, and exercise good judgment in making a decision and setting a course of action, even if it is somewhat different than the ideas of others. When I make a decision that doesn’t turn out as well as I thought, I try to recognize it, own up to it, and make changes. (BDCO): What has been the biggest surprise you have had since attaining a senior leadership role?(SW): I wouldn't say that I am surprised, but I am constantly reminded that as complex as business can sometimes seem, in the end, success really comes down to executing a few simple things well. It really isn’t that complicated. You have to focus on the basics and execute. In our business, we need to make sure the client experience is a good one. We need to be proactive and keep our promises so that our clients know their projects are important to us. We also need to treat our employees fairly, stay connected to them, and recognize their contributions. (BDCO): What is the greatest benefit to you in attaining a senior leadership role?(SW): Being able to work with an ever-expanding group of individuals, learning from one another, sharing ideas, and accomplishing things together. This includes those whom I have worked with for many years, as well as those whom I have only recently met be they younger or more experienced. As an example, over the past few weeks I have had the opportunity to work directly with someone who only recently joined our company and is in the early stages of her career. Her enthusiasm for the project we are working on together and eagerness to learn is very refreshing. I have had many good people come into my life that I have enjoyed working with. (BDCO): What is the next achievement you want in your leadership career?(SW): When I started my career, our company had about 20 employees. Within my current area of responsibility, we now have about 250. Through the projects we work on with our clients, our company very much shapes the communities we live in. As we grow larger and more diversified, our impact is more far-reaching and our “fingerprints” are on more and more. I find this very rewarding and meaningful. Our next goal is to grow to around 500 employees in Atlantic Canada and continue to make a positive difference in our communities through our project work. (BDCO): What is the biggest challenge you face in achieving results in your work?(SW): Keeping an organizational focus on the things that are important to the success of the business and not becoming too distracted by other activities. New initiatives, processes, and pursuits come along, which are often good and well-intentioned, but sometimes they can draw too much attention away from the basics that are key to the success of the business. Finding the right balance can be tricky. (BDCO): What is your greatest opportunity/goal for providing value for your organization?(SW): Spending time communicating with others, sharing my experiences with them and learning from them as well. I believe “shoulder-to-shoulder” mentoring and working together is very important in professional services firms. Our best results come from our collective efforts. Clients feel important, project outcomes are better, bench strength is developed, a sense of teamwork emerges, and employee engagement rises. The importance of mentoring and working together is true throughout all of the organization. (BDCO): What added support or capability would help you most in delivering on your goals?(SW): Understanding people, human nature, and what influences their behavior and motivates them. Our business is a people business and understanding how people work, both individually and in teams, is crucial. What is most important to clients? What really drives purchasing decisions? What are the meaningful things that make them happy and productive? How do you create synergy when two or more individuals are working together? What truly drives employee engagement? These are all very important questions. I feel that over the years I have developed some understanding of people, but there is always more to learn. Think about where you are now in your career and what you can take from Stephen's observations. We would love to hear your comments about what are your key takeaways from our conversation with Stephen. Tell us your progress – we want you to succeed. ______________________________________________________________
GENIVAR is a leading Canadian services firm providing private and public-sector clients with a complete range of professional consulting services throughout all project phases, including planning, design, construction and maintenance. Ranging in size and scope, GENIVAR’s clients primarily operate in the building, industrial and energy, municipal infrastructure, transportation and environmental sectors. GENIVAR is one of Canada’s largest services firm by number of employees, with approximately 4,500 managers, professionals, technicians, technologists and support staff in more than 90 offices in Canada and internationally. You can find out more about GENIVAR at www.genivar.com. |
i like Stephen's outlook on his career and life...it is a hard balance to maintain between family and work...i also enjoyed the points made in regards to be a giver not a taker it does go a long way...trying to understand human nature is probably one of the hardest things you can do but if you know how it will make your worke environment easier....involving staff on different opinions is a fantastic way to make staff feel more appriciated, we all like to feel that way....and lastly, listing to different opinions no matter what position you are in is a great opportunity to learn.....