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.
| Tom Ruth - Listen Aggressively |
Bluteau DeVenney and Company (BDCO): What did you do to move to a leadership role?Tom Ruth (TR): Some people stay in one organization and eventually move into leadership roles as they gain seniority. That wasn't the case for me. I had an initial leadership role as a Navy Officer, but what really helped me move into more leadership roles outside of the Navy was my willingness to move around for job opportunities within the companies I worked. Of course, that's not for everyone. Some people are very happy where they are, and they find their own path to leadership roles. However, in my case, I believe it was my flexibility that accelerated my career path and provided me with the opportunities to gain increasing responsibilities faster than if I had stayed in one location. (BDCO): What is one thing that developing professionals need to do more of?(TR): They need to aggressively listen. Somebody gave me that advice about 25 years ago, and it really resonated with me at the time and has stayed with me ever since. As leaders, we naturally try to sift through information quickly and form a conclusion, but we should also be forcing ourselves to at least take that little bit of extra time to sit back and truly listen to what our stakeholders, employees, and customers are telling us. With that information, you are able to make a more educated decision. (BDCO): What about doing less of?(TR): In leadership roles, we often have a tendency to dig into the weeds too much. We micromanage and sometimes overanalyze. That's not to say that there aren't times when more analysis is required when making an important decision, but as a general rule, I believe in cascading metrics. At a senior leadership level you don't have time to manage every little detail. What you need to do is find the key cascading metrics on which to focus the majority of your time and attention. If you are doing well in those areas, you are more than likely also doing well in the initiatives that fall under those metrics. (BDCO): What experience helped you the most in your career and why?(TR): Until about 20 years ago I had always worked in operations. I had been told that I was good at operations and I felt I was doing well managing in operations. In 1991, I decided to try a different experience and take on a role that had a large sales element as well as an operations element. That role really broadened my horizons and taught me a lot. I learned to think differently and not be so myopic in one functional area. Stepping out of my comfort zone and learning a different functional competency led to other career opportunities, specifically my position as a general manager. That same lesson can be applied to anyone in any role including even volunteering for major projects outside your area of functional expertise. Whenever you get an opportunity to try something different and grow a new skill set, it not only enhances your career, but results in more rewarding work. (BDCO): What was the greatest challenge moving your career forward?(TR): That same experience I just discussed, moving from one functional area in which I was really comfortable, to another functional area that I knew very little about. Although it was my greatest experience, that move was also my greatest challenge as it involved a lot of risk. (BDCO): What is the greatest strength of your approach to leadership?(TR): I always try to motivate people to do their best and to feel good about their work. I also stress the importance of team building. Having people work well together and excel, not only individually but as a team, is something every leader hopes to see. (BDCO): What has been the biggest surprise you have had since attaining a senior leadership role?(TR): As leaders, we do not often enough realize and recognize how pivotal our front line employees are in influencing the direct financial results in our organization. There are so many examples of the intangible differences they make on a daily basis in their interactions with paying customers. We need to more frequently pay attention to the direct interactions our customers have with our employee organizational “touch points”. . (BDCO): What is the greatest benefit to you in attaining a senior leadership role?(TR): The opportunity to be impactful. I like to think that my work is making a positive difference to this organization. (BDCO): What is the next achievement you want in your leadership career?(TR): I would like us to further expand internationally and get more involved in commercial development. Both of those initiatives are very important to the future of the Halifax Airport. We are the most visited place in Atlantic Canada. Between passengers and employees, we have four times Atlantic Canada's population coming through our doors every year, so we really need to focus on capturing the commercial development opportunities that exist with that amount of traffic. The more revenue we can generate through commercial development, the lower we can keep our landing fees, which is a savings that can be passed along to our passengers and customers. (BDCO): What is the biggest challenge you face in achieving results in your work?(TR): We rely on the support of our stakeholders - government, business leaders, our tenants at the airport, and of course, our employees and passengers - to help us achieve results. Much of our work revolves around effectively coordinating with a large number of these stakeholders. We have many stakeholders, and therefore, our biggest challenge is ensuring that we consider all of these stakeholder when making decisions. (BDCO): What is your greatest opportunity/goal for providing value for your organization?(TR): We need to continue to think and act strategically. We have a plan for one, five, ten, and twenty years down the road. Those plans are important, but adding value to the organization really comes down to ensuring that we are creating an environment that will benefit our children, grandchildren, and the future of our region. (BDCO): What added support or capability would help you the most in delivering on your goals?(TR): Continual support and cooperation with government and business leaders. We all have the same goal, which is to grow the economic prosperity of our region, so continuing to develop those relationships is essential to our growth as an organization as well.
Think about where you are now in your career and what you can take from Tom’s observations. We would love to hear your comments about what are your key takeaways from our conversation with Tom. Tell us your progress – we want you to succeed. ______________________________________________________________
Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA), a locally controlled, non-share capital corporation, managing Halifax Stanfield International Airport since 2000. You can find out more about Halifax International Airport Authority at www.hiaa.ca. |
