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In career planning, it is important to know where you ultimately want to go, and the steps for how to get there – in essence, figuring out how to set yourself up for success. For next generation members who want to join the family business, however, this path is not always so clear. Every family business is different and has their own rules and processes – although sometimes these haven’t been well defined. This can lead to the question: “How can next-generation members prepare themselves in the long run before joining the family business as a manager?”
This topic was the basis for discussion at the third of eight events in the NxG Legacy Forum series. The event was moderated by Telfer’s Peter Jaskiewicz and Sabine Rau, with panellists Alexandra Heraeus of Heraeus Holding and Vincent Chian of Fairview International School, both members of enterprising families.
Starting at a Young Age
For Alexandra Heraeus, preparing to become an active member of the shareholder family started at a young age. She found herself lucky that her father involved the children in the business in different ways. “Additionally to the opportunity of doing internships, he talked about the business (at home) …and would occasionally take me for business trips to see operations in China and India,” Heraeus explained, adding that it gave her a great view especially on the values of the company.
Another key way Heraeus prepared for building her knowledge around the family business was simply through showing up. For Heraeus, this meant attending anything the shareholders had scheduled, including events and shareholder meetings. She recalled an interesting event from her past, when she was 12-years old and was disappointed to miss a friend’s party because of a shareholder meeting. But over the years, she has found it valuable to nurture a mindset of these meetings not being something to think about going to, but instead to just go. “Being there and showing the commitment,” she said, adding, “it’s the base for everything.”
An important way Vincent Chian and his siblings have prepared themselves to be leaders in the family business has been through first learning to follow. “One thing my father always said was to be a good leader, you need to be a good follower first,” he explained. One of the ways this wisdom has imparted on him and his siblings was through the family business rule that everyone joining the business starts at the bottom. For Chian, this meant starting out as a biology teacher, despite the significant psychiatry training he already had. “We all started out being teachers, no short cuts,” he said. “Everyone needs to spend a few years on the ground.”
Other family processes that helped Chian prepare for joining the family business include a policy that all members have to complete an MBA and participate in the Family Business Network (FBN). Listening was also an important element in preparation, with Chian sitting in on all leadership meetings to observe and listen. “You don’t understand how important these sessions are until 7 or 8 years later,” he added.
Learning one step at a time
As a large family business, with 200 members as shareholders, Heraeus’ family have many next generation members to potentially involve in the company. Heraeus explained that to nurture the interest and intensify family bonds, the family has developed different events and activities each with their own focus. For example, for members aged 14-25, there is a yearly event schedule for younger members which helps them better understand the inner workings of the company and what it means to be a shareholder. This involves having sessions on explaining the basics of the company in more detail, going through the technicalities of a shareholder meeting, and helping develop useful and relevant skills, such as public speaking.
In Chian’s family, the learning process for new entries to the business involved several different stages, which included being part of a small group who would work on every aspect of the company, building important management competencies. The group of seven would, “get deployed all over and thrown into the deep end on many areas,” he explained, gaining such skills as operations, finance, marketing and sales.
Another stage was being given a project to lead, however as Chian put it, “with a lot of rope.” His father would always be close to advise and give suggestions. “You could mess up,” he said. “This was where you learned about your leadership style. It prepared us to lead well.”
The art of being muddled…and other insights
Other valuable lessons and tips from both panellists were shared, such as, for Chian, having professionalism, mastering a craft, and also developing networking skills. He also added that the Mandarin saying nande hutu – or ‘the art of being muddled’ – has saved him many times. As he explained, although there is no direct English translation, it is an idea rooted in having tact and humility.
Heraeus found that breaking complex shareholder problems into smaller pieces was a great help and maintaining a belief that even the most difficult concepts can be understood through taking time to learn and ask the right questions. “You need to believe in yourself that you will tackle it,” she added.
Upcoming NxG Legacy Forums
The next NxG Legacy Forum will take place in September 2022. In the meantime, catch up with discussions from previous NxG Legacy Forums!
NxG Legacy Forum #1: “How can my siblings and I assess whether we could work constructively in the business one day?” Read more here.
To find out other ways Telfer is helping empower the next generation of business leaders, discover the Family Enterprise Legacy Institute and sign up for the Institute's newsletter.
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The world of work is experiencing considerable turbulence. Unavoidable macro forces, such as COVID-19's toll on financial markets, Canada’s aging workforce and management challenges during the pandemic are exerting pressure on organizations and changing work expectations. While change can be daunting, it ultimately offers an opportunity to grow, creating healthier organizational practices and happier employees.
Recently, the Telfer School of Management hosted Dr. Ruth Kanfer, a world-leading expert on work motivation and workforce management from the Georgia Institute of Technology, to speak as part of the annual Distinguished Speaker Series on Thriving Organizations and Societies.
Kanfer reflected on her over 30 years of studying work motivation and how organizations can adapt to change in the post-pandemic era, which led to the following takeaways:
Shifting from a job design model to a workplace design model can increase competitiveness
Creating value for organizations starts with recognition of employees as life-long learners who continue to develop skills, interests and goals, and the adaption of jobs so that they grow as employees. This workplace design model can sustain organizations’ competitiveness and ability to adapt to market changes. In contrast, a job design model may prevent organizations from learning from their workforce.
Embracing the notion of nonlinear careers helps retain talent
The modern day workforce is highly educated, and potential employees wish to continue to learn and grow. Thus, younger generations’ career trajectories resemble the branches of a tree rather than a straight line. Creating programs that appeal to this desire, such as sabbaticals, special projects and opportunities to mentor junior colleagues, can help retain top talent while nurturing and diversifying employee skillset.
Viewing ongoing training as a long-term investment contributes to a firm’s success
Organizations need to consider training as an essential long-term investment to foster sustainable careers. Rather than offering “one-and-done” training, organizations must continually reflect and adjust training to fit employees’ ever-changing needs and motives. Since few careers are linear, training should open the door to new career paths within the organization.
The secret of thriving organizations
The future of workforce management requires organizations to accept the fundamental nature of employees as ever evolving and to adopt more nimble organizational practices that accommodate this dynamism.
For Kanfer, while change can be difficult, adapting to the challenges of the 21st century will require some creative thinking and problem solving. Organizations that can assess challenges and act accordingly will not only gain a competitive advantage, but also put the conditions in place to help their employees thrive.
About the Distinguished Speakers Series on Thriving Organizations and Societies
This annual lecture series provides an opportunity for students, professors, practitioners and members of the community to learn from world-renowned researchers sharing ideas on topics related to building meaningful organizations and thriving societies.
The workforce has been changing and so has the nature of work. As the Thriving Organizations and Societies research group at Telfer examines the impact of these changes on our workforce, organizations and society, it also seeks a better understanding of thriving, that is, greater well-being and performance. Research conducted on this multidisciplinary and timely topic by the group will look beyond productivity and financial performance to the conditions that encourage or hinder thriving environments.
About the Authors
Professor O'Reilly’s research examines informal workplace interactions and relationships. Her main research areas are mistreatment and social sexual behaviours in organizations. Her work on third-party mistreatment focuses on how bystanders can help (and sometimes harm) targets of workplace bullying and harassment. She also studies workplace social exclusion as a form of mistreatment, and the ways it can be detrimental to employee well-being. Her research program seeks to understand when social sexual behaviour in the workplace becomes harassment.
Li’s research focuses on courage in the workplace, the work-family interface and employee well-being. Her master’s thesis, supervised by Professor Laurent Lapierre, focuses on factors that contribute to individuals’ work-family enrichment using meta-analyses. Li is currently working on several projects to identify problems related to, raise awareness of, and advocate for equity, diversity, inclusion and employee well-being.
Quintal-Cucic's research interests include mental health, intersectionality, leadership and prejudice in the workplace. He is pursuing his doctorate under the supervision of Professor Laurent Lapierre. Recently, Quintal-Cucic's placed as a top 25 finalist in the 2022 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Storytellers Challenge.
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My Experience with the Women in Management Network
In my first two years at Telfer, I felt lost, until I stumbled upon a newly launched club focused on helping women in business. The Women in Management Network (WMN) was launched in the winter term of 2018 by then fourth-year student, Polly Leung and it caught my eye.
The club defined themselves as “passionate about gender equity and determined to achieve it through the collaboration of community leaders and students of all genders,” which really appealed to me.
In my second year, I applied to join the club and was brought on as part of the Skill Team. The Skill Team worked together to plan workshops for students at Telfer that would help them learn both hard and soft skills to benefit them in their job search and future careers. I found myself surrounded by a group of inspiring, welcoming and supportive women who were just like me.
Slowly, I began to open up more and I eventually discovered different passions I did not know I had. I eventually switched from the Skill Team to the Brand Team and also switched my degree specialization from Finance to Marketing.
By my fourth year, I became the VP Brand of WMN. I lead a group of five incredible women who helped build the brand of WMN into something bigger. This year, we were nominated as the best-marketed club.
What WMN Strives For
The club is now run by two inspiring and hardworking women, Dawn Lising and Hannah Temple. WMN has transformed under their leadership; so I spoke with them about the leadership styles and values they hope to spread amongst the team:
“At WMN, we aim to lead with passion, empathy, and authenticity. Two leadership styles that we like to instil at WMN are transformational and visionary. We work to foster an inclusive and welcoming environment in which everyone feels comfortable sharing their own unique perspectives. As we develop the next generation of female leaders, we try to exemplify strong feminine leadership. Feminine leadership styles focus on nurturing and elevating others, which allows team members to develop their own skills and strengths. This style is more horizontal than traditional leadership styles and has proven to enhance team commitment and organizational performance”, shared Hannah
As I leave the club behind, I can’t wait to see what it continues to bring in the future. Hannah and Dawn shared their hopes for the future of women in business:
“We hope to see more women being empowered into positions of leadership. More women-focused mentorship and leadership development opportunities will be important in shaping the next generation of female leaders. We would also like to see more support and resources for female entrepreneurs. According to the Harvard Business Review, women-led startups received just 2.3% of venture capital funding in 2020. Institutionalized patterns of thinking have negatively impacted women entrepreneurs, and there is much work to be done in order to make venture capital funding more equitable. There are already some great female focused initiatives based in Ottawa, such as SheBoot, a 6-week bootcamp that prepares female founders to pitch their business and secure investment. We hope to see more initiatives in the future that advocate for gender equality.”
How to Get Involved
If you feel lost when you first start out at university like I did, it’s a great idea to get involved with clubs. By joining a club with a mission you feel connected to, you can become surrounded by like-minded people who can help guide you to become a better student and a more inspired professional.
If you are passionate about overcoming gender inequality in the workplace (no matter your gender), I recommend joining the Women in Management Network.
Follow them on social media to keep up with their latest events and when they start hiring, and sign up for their monthly newsletters.
I hope you find your place like I found mine, don’t give up!
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This summer, four Telfer students led the six-week Telfer Mentorship Program, in collaboration with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB). This program aims to give high school students who are seeking a co-op placement the opportunity to learn about the field of business. Students and recent alumni, Wiam Ben Karroum, Jamie Harvie, Laura Oris-Naidenova and Priyesh Sarju, represented the Telfer School of Management as the mentors.
The Mentorship Program and Certificate
It has been increasingly difficult for high school students to find an in-person co-op placement this year. As a result, the OCDSB introduced several virtual mentorship programs in partnership with the University of Ottawa, one of which was with Telfer. The purpose of this program is to create authentic, real-life problem-solving opportunities for students, as well as the chance to network with business professionals and university students.
Over the course of six weeks, the mentors facilitated thematic sessions, planned engaging activities, and invited guest speakers. Each week, the mentors introduced a different topic, then assigned an activity so the students could apply what they learned. Concepts such as networking, leadership, accounting, digital marketing and entrepreneurship were the focus of the curriculum. The high school students ended the summer with credits and a certificate presented by the Telfer School of Management.
Some highlights of the program include:
- Jamie Harvie gave a presentation about LinkedIn along with guest speaker Tania D’Iorio from National Bank Financial joined the group to discuss her key marketing tips.
- Wiam Ben Karroum shared a presentation on leadership in collaboration with executive coach Tina Cantrill.
- Priyesh Sarju was joined by Telfer Professor Marc Tassé to introduce the students to accounting and assign case studies.
- Laure Oris-Naidenova taught a workshop on digital marketing and gave students the chance to create their own logos on Canva.
- Jamie Harvie gave a presentation on entrepreneurship and brought in guest speaker, Anne Khazzam, a 19-year-old entrepreneur who started The S’moresBox in Ottawa.
Testimonials from the High School Students
Led by qualified and engaging Telfer students, my time consisted of meeting with knowledgeable guest speakers, participating in group discussions, and working on tasks such as presentations and case studies.
Each session we had together was centered around a certain business topic such as digital marketing, accounting, leadership, entrepreneurship, and networking, all of which helped me gain valuable insight into their respective fields.
Although this program was limited in some areas by the current need for it to be online, I believe this program will be enhanced even more as it moves to in-person learning.
As a student who is looking to pursue a business-related profession in the future, this program definitely helped me to start that process.”
OCDSB student, Roha Aboud, also had a positive experience with the program: “I really enjoyed participating in the Telfer Mentorship program. My mentors were so nice with me and with others. What I really liked about this program is there was no pressure with our assignments or attending meetings. Our tasks were easy and simple, and we only had to attend meetings on Mondays and Fridays.”
The Mentor’s Perspective: Jamie
“As a former OCDSB student myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the role as a mentor. It was great to return to my former school board a few years after graduating and connecting with students who are in the same place that I was in not too long ago,” shared Jamie Harvie.
Next Steps
After the success of the virtual mentorship program this summer, Telfer and the OCDSB hope to continue the program next year. Ideally, the program would be offered bi-modally, to give the students the flexibility of learning from home, but also allow for some in-person activities. One of the suggestions was to invite the students to campus once a week to explore different areas of campus, such as the uOttawa Makerspace or the Financial Research and Learning Lab in the Desmarais Building.
The OCDSB team is optimistic that by promoting the program earlier in the year, more students will be enticed to register, and as a result, more students will be able to explore their interests in the field of business.
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The Strategic Leadership Cabinet’s mandate is to advise the Telfer School with regard to its strategic choices and to provide information that will permit the evaluation of the relevance, quality, and effectiveness of its current and upcoming programs. The Cabinet also assists in identifying the ways in which the business community and the public sector can contribute to the strengthening of the School.
Meet the Cabinet
Rob Ashe - Chair of the Strategic Leadership Cabinet (Telfer BCom ‘82) joined Ottawa-based firm Cognos in 1984 and served as President and CEO from 2004 to 2012. He transformed the company into a world-renowned producer of business intelligence software and grew it to become Canada’s first billion-dollar software company. Ashe stayed on as general manager of business analytics after the organization's acquisition by IBM in 2008. With an avid interest in advancing the technology sector in Ottawa, Ashe has been the Lead Independent Director at Shopify since May 2015. He’s a 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, an award from the Ottawa Business Journal and Ottawa Board of Trade. He was also the former Lead Director of Halogen, until its sale to Saba Software in 2017. Ashe is currently an Executive Partner at Bridge Growth Partners, the Lead Director of MSCI, a Director of ServiceSource International, and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.
Louis Gagnon (Telfer MBA ‘97) has been with Intact Financial Corporation, the largest provider of Property & Casualty Insurance in Canada, since January 2007. Mr. Gagnon has served in many key executive roles beginning with Senior Vice President, Quebec, and including President, Intact Insurance; President and Chief Operating Officer; President, Service & Distribution; and, President, Canadian Operations. In June 2021, Mr. Gagnon was appointed Chief Executive Officer, Canada. In his current role, Mr. Gagnon is responsible for all Canadian-based business entities and operations including Intact Insurance, belairdirect, BrokerLink and Johnson Insurance. Prior to joining Intact, Mr. Gagnon headed a successful Insurance Brokerage with offices in Quebec and Ontario and was very active in provincial and national brokers associations. Mr. Gagnon is a member of the Board of Directors of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, member of the Telfer School of Management Dean’s Strategic Leadership Cabinet, member of the “Comité Consultatif International du recteur de l’Université de Montréal” and member of the Board of Directors of the CD Howe Institute. He has been an active board member and volunteer of many charitable organizations and is specifically very proud to have been involved with United Way for over 30 years.
Justine Hendricks (Telfer MBA ‘04) has a demonstrated history of working in the financial services sector and has been a critical member of the Canadian export community since 2006 at the start of her career with Export Development Canada (EDC). She took on the role of Senior Vice-President, Sustainable Business and Enablement in 2019, and added the role of Chief Corporate Sustainability Officer (CCSO) in May 2021. Hendricks has worked closely with EDC’s banking partners and is a key component of the business development group. She received a Trudeau Medal in 2017 from Telfer in recognition of her leadership, initiative and contributions to the business world.
Patricia Saputo is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairperson of CRYSALIA, which supports Enterprising Families to succeed multi-generationally by creating and delivering deliberate learning journeys for their family members. She is a role model for female leaders in male-dominated industries, the business world, and the community. After her career at Deloitte in the Tax Department, she was asked to join the Board of Directors at Saputo once they went public in 1997. As a lifelong learner and a believer that education is a never-ending process - a process for the betterment of oneself, one’s family and for continued improvement of communities around us - she truly enjoys educating others.
Macky Tall (Telfer MBA ‘92) is the Co-Chair of Carlyle Infrastructure Group, which includes efforts across transportation, renewables, energy, water & waste water and digital infrastructure. Before joining Carlyle, Mr. Tall served in a series of leadership positions at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of the world’s largest infrastructure investors and the second-largest pension fund in Canada. He also served on CDPQ’s Executive Committee and Investment-Risk Committee and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ivanhoé Cambridge.
Ian Telfer (Telfer MBA ’76), the Telfer School’s namesake, is a Canadian executive and philanthropist who is known for his strategic business success in the mining and resource sector. Telfer is the former chairman of Goldcorp Inc., a Vancouver-based gold mining company, and former chairman of the World Gold Council. Telfer led Goldcorp Inc. since 2005, first serving as Goldcorp’s President and Chief Executive Officer before being appointed Chairman of the Board in 2006. Telfer has earned the reputation of being a ‘visionary mining entrepreneur’ for his ability to grow multiple mining companies. His 30 years of success in the resource sector can be attributed to an intrinsic aptitude for strategically timed acquisitions and value-driven mergers. In 2015, Ian’s career in the mining sector earned him induction into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame 2015, and the Canadian Business Hall of Fame in 2018. Telfer was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa in 2015.
Kathryn Tremblay (Telfer BCom ‘95) is the CEO and Co-Founder of excelHR, Altis Recruitment, Altis Technology and excelITR, with over 30 years specializing in the human aspect of human resources. She has dedicated her career to the betterment of the staffing process, launching her entrepreneurial journey at the age of 21 when she launched a small staffing firm in the Outaouais region. Tremblay paved the way for a new way of qualified job sectors with prospective employers particularly when it comes to filling executive roles. With its affiliated companies, excelHR has become a recognized leader in the delivery of recruitment and staffing services in Canada. Tremblay is an avid mentor for women in the workforce and encourages young people to pursue a career in entrepreneurship. She was also named the 2021 CEO of the year by the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Board of Trade.
Stéphane Brutus is currently the Dean of the Telfer School of Management. Between 2006 and 2017, Dr. Brutus served as Dean (Interim), Associate Dean Graduate Professional Programs, Chair of the Management Department and Director at the Bell Research Center for Business Process Innovation at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University. Previously, Dr. Brutus worked as a Visiting Professor at Universidade Federal da Bahia, in Brazil and Universidad Pablo de Olavide and Instituto de Empresa, in Spain.
James Price - Secretary of the Strategic Leadership Cabinet, is the Executive Director of Development and Community Engagement at the Telfer School of Management and is responsible for leading the school’s external outreach vision, development, and community engagement initiatives. Driven by a desire to make a positive impact on society, he takes great personal pride in building sustainable relationships and partnerships to advance higher education, research, innovation, and economic development. Prior to joining the School in 2019, James led Canada’s national stem cell advocacy and strategic funding efforts as President and CEO of the Canadian Stem Cell Foundation.
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The acknowledgement of the need for reconciliation through Truth and Reconciliation Day is a step in the right direction, but there is still more progress to be made as hundreds of Indigenous communities currently hold boil water advisories.
Advisories like these mean that in order to consume and use the water through their existing water systems, Indigenous communities must first boil the water to consider it safe. In some communities, the water is not usable at all.
University of Ottawa student and Project Manager of the Nibi Project at Enactus uOttawa, Alexandra Whiteduck, grew up with unsafe drinking water, despite only living an hour and a half from the Nation’s Capital.
As someone who has experienced the issue first hand, Alexandra now works on the student-led initiative, Nibi, to bring safe drinking water solutions to other Indigeneous communities through testing and purification solutions.
The map on the left shows the number of Indigenous communities in Canada with boil water advisories (note that the map does not include the do-not-use advisories) - via watertoday.ca.
The Importance of Clean Drinking Water
Without clean drinking water, the basic necessities of life are not met. Alexandra encourages you to ask yourself the question:
As you go throughout your day, consider these questions and ask yourself: could I do this if I didn’t have access to clean water? There will be many tasks where the answer would be no, and for Indigenous communities, it continues to be the truth for them everyday.
If we work hard towards a future where Indigenous communities all have access to clean water, their everyday lives and everyday productivity would change drastically.
The Nibi Solution
How they’re helping
“Michelle and Elisabeth founded this project because they saw a large gap in research and support for the water crisis in Indigenous communities. They were extremely passionate about the issue and wanted to find a solution to fix it.”
The two founders saw Alexandra speak on the issue, and instantly saw her as a good fit to join the team. As someone who has lived without clean drinking water, Alexandra is able to bring first-hand insights on where support was lacking and how it could change to better Indigenous communities.
The student-run initiative now focuses on three different pillars of support: Testing, purification solutions and workshops.
For testing, Nibi connects communities with certified partners that help teach them how to monitor water on site. This gives Indigenous people ownership of their water treatment and the ability to monitor the systems themselves.
“We conduct need-based assessments to identify purification solutions that meet their needs. It’s all their choice; if they want to work with us we will, but if they don’t, no problem.” The Enactus team then finds the contaminants in the water and asks the communities what they hope to see from the purification process.
Lastly, Nibi hosts workshops to empower youth to keep control of their water quality and infrastructure. The Nibi team also converses with Indigenous youth to see what they hope their communities look like in the future.
How to get involved
To join the cause with Nibi, you can attend their workshops and better understand this key issue. The team is also hiring a number of students to double their team’s size this fall including positions in:
- Science
- Outreach
- Business
- Indigenous Relations
- Marketing
- Sales
On this day of Truth and Reconciliation, it's important to remember that there is still a lot to be done. We hope everyone takes this day to continue to educate themselves on the lives of Indigenous people and how they are impacted by current legislations.
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The last 15 months have been turbulent to say the least. We have gone through many changes in the way we live, work and relate. Whether we’ve liked it or not, we’ve had to call on and build up our personal resilience. And by now, we’ve heard it all: from advice to eat better, do yoga, and take bubble baths, we know how to build our individual resilience so that we can “adapt to stress, […] harness resources to maintain well-being, and find personal growth as a healthy adaptation to crisis” (Southwick, Frederick, et al).
While building our own set of personal practices that help us bounce back from adversity is an essential part of being able to live and lead well, how do leaders make sure their teams are resilient, too? Individual and team resilience are not the same – according to Alliger et al., team resilience is about bouncing back from challenges that can jeopardize a team’s cohesiveness and performance. The focus isn’t just on individual recovery, but on the team maintaining positive dynamics and the ability to learn together.
As restrictions ease and many organizations begin a return to working together in-person, leaders will need to guide their teams through yet another period of change and adaptation. In the months ahead, leaders will be focused on creating an environment that supports the sense of belonging and motivation that their teams need, to not only recover from Pandemic fatigue, but to contribute to the transformation of this new workplace.
Shaping and strengthening resilient leaders and teams is part of what we do at Telfer Executive Programs. In a recent article from the Harvard Business Review, the authors share that a major component of developing resilience as a leader is building networks and connecting with peers facing similar challenges (Cross et al, 2021). Our programs help you build those networks and create opportunities for growth, which are defining characteristics of high performing teams.
How are you planning on supporting your team through this next phase? As you prepare for the upcoming period of change, we encourage you to consider creating an environment where your team can learn together. Part of our roles at Telfer Executive Programs is designing custom programs that meet the specific needs of your team. Custom programs allow participants to share a common learning experience which can facilitate the change management process and help promote feelings of inclusion, engagement, and motivation in your team so you can begin this next phase with confidence.
If you have any questions or are looking for more information on custom programming, connect with us at:
About the authors
Margaux Carson is the Manager of Program Development & Delivery at Telfer Executive Programs and oversees the design, development, and delivery of all program offerings. She brings her background in education and international experience in leadership development consulting to the role. Margaux is passionate about designing and delivering high-impact programming that supports leaders to grow and create cultures of trust, connection, and development in their teams so they can succeed.
Christina Tector is an Executive Coach and Leadership Development Facilitator. She draws on over 20 years of experience working in the federal public service as a leadership facilitator, personal development coach, change leadership mentor, organizational change advisor, and mindfulness teacher. She is passionate about facilitating, supporting and guiding leaders to discover their own personal development edges, fulfill their potential and elevate the teams of people they lead. Christina cares deeply about creating a climate of trust, compassion and authenticity for healthy humans to thrive in healthy systems.
References:
Alliger et al. (2015). Team Resilience : How Teams Flourish Under Pressure https://iranarze.ir/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/E3365.pdf
Cross et al. (2021).The Secret to Building Resilience https://hbr.org/2021/01/the-secret-to-building-resilience
Southwick, Frederick & Martini, Brenda & Charney, Dennis & Southwick, Steven. (2017). Leadership and Resilience. 10.1007/978-3-319-31036-7_18.
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- Category: National Indigenous History Month
At the age of 19, Audrey-Claire Lawrence (EMBA, 1997) started her teaching career in Rouyn-Noranda over 850 km away from Québec City where she has been living. Little did she know, this was only the beginning of a lifelong journey that would lead her to rethink Canada’s health and educational system.
Teaching in a remote region of Québec brought on a lot of firsts for Ms. Lawrence. Due to the lack of school past grade 6, Cree students were flown in from different communities in the James Bay area; ‘It was an interesting environment to be in,” remembers Lawrence. “The North was quite different then Québec City. At school, you could see kids were divided between Cree and Town Children, but the class they integrated very well.”
One day, a dentist sent by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (now Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs; Indigenous Service) came into her students’ class for what was presented as a routine visit for the Indigenous children. Lawrence (born Swaffield) was confused at the time, knowing there was already a dentist in town, but giving the official statement from the dentist, she sent in her first student. She was shocked when the young girl returned: “She came back green and looked terrible.” The dentist had explained that he needed to pull out 7 teeth to treat the young girl's cavities. After that, Lawrence immediately refused him permission to touch any more of her students and had the principal send the dentist away. “I simply didn’t understand the logic given how a local dentist could have taken care of the kids,” she added.
The consequence of this event sent Lawrence on a journey to understand the “system” regarding Indigenous relations in our education and health systems. Of Cree and Inuit Ancestry herself, she was already attentive to the Indigenous rights cause, but from that day, she knew she had to take a stand.
Starting On a Mission
After completing further degrees, Lawrence became an experienced facilitator, motivational speaker, and organizational development specialist. She has worked in management positions in government, education, and healthcare, most notably as Director of Educational Services at The Ottawa Hospital (Civic then) and as Director of Education for the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists.
She has also served in leadership positions in national, provincial, and local organizations involved with organizational development, libraries and concerns affecting Indigenous communities throughout Canada, including in Quebec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Author of several journal articles and study guides, Lawrence has presented at numerous conferences on cultural safety, humour in the workplace, stress and change management, and before retiring had her own consulting practice supplying facilitation and event services, customized to the needs of her clients.
In addition to her MBA from the University of Ottawa, Lawrence also holds an MA in Sociology and Organizational Behaviour from the University of Calgary, an Honours BA from McGill, as well as a Teaching Diploma in Later Childhood from MacDonald College. She is a Myers-Briggs Facilitator and has extensive experience in the provision of training and leadership programs.
Developing Critical Thinking Skills
Lawrence has extensive experience in policy analysis, report writing, and strategic planning. She attributes her success in these fields to her time at Telfer EMBA, which was known as the Faculty of Administration at the time.
“One of the classes I remember the most was held by Professor Raj Gandhi,” she recalled. “As he introduced his class on cost-benefit ratio, he said jokingly, that the biggest mistake we did was to put our money on an MBA when we should have bought a house. It’s a simple example, but it gets you thinking about how to develop your critical thinking as well as doing cost benefit analysis.”
Lawrence shared how the program helped her to further shape her skills: “My MBA helped develop my critical thinking as well as negotiations with teammates to get things done.” She noted that it helped one to be a system thinker so one can change the state of things: “When you have good people, but a lousy system, the barriers are too strong to do anything, the world is already too complex. When you get to fix the system, thinking and see what can be leveraged, that’s when change can happen.”
Lawrence is now a thriving member of the Telfer alumni community: “I enjoy seminars and the continuing learning opportunities offered by the University. I think I might be holding the record as the alumna with the longest time attending learning events” she said candidly. She continued: “If you have a good experience, it will build a lifelong learning objective, and I simply enjoy learning.”
The Career After the Career
Officially retired and living in Ottawa, it would be impossible to think that Lawrence would have left everything behind. She has been involved in the community through volunteer work at a few health and organizations and libraries, including serving as Chair of the Canadian Health Care Educators Association, the former President of the Ontario Library Board Association (OLBA), the former Chair of the Cumberland Public Library (now part of the Ottawa Public Library), and the Vice-Chair of the Southern Ontario Library Service Board and Volunteer Leadership Development Program (VLDP) of Volunteer Ottawa.
“I surely know how to keep myself busy. My husband would tell you that I’m spending more time volunteering now than I worked during my career,” exclaimed Lawrence.
Most recently, Audrey had served on the Public Witness for Social and Ecological Justice Committee. She now serves as the Indigenous Co-Chair for the All My Relations Circle for the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa for work on Reconciliation and has been on the Algonquin College Board of Governors since 2017.
Standing Up for Distance Learning in the Indigenous Community
The Online Bursary will encompass two $6,000 bursaries for full-time learners, with one preferably directed toward an Indigenous student. Additionally, three $1,000 bursaries will also be awarded to part-time students.
As a former teacher to Cree students at the very beginning of her career, it simply seems natural for Lawrence to give back to the community and encourage distance learning: “As I went on through my teaching career, I’m glad I could count on correspondence courses (distance learning process at the time) to complete my degree. I am very sensitive to the needs of distance learners,” she said.
Audrey mentioned that even if it has been a few decades ago, the gap in providing essential services, such as education, to the Indigenous community is still very much a topical issue. “Over the past 20 years, not much has changed,” she said. “Gaps are being identified, but little is done to shorten them in the end. We bring infrastructure to the communities, but we do not take the time with them to ensure the facilities have operational support - and that’s a big issue.” She concluded: “Apart from the mea culpa, we need to learn from the past to make positive action and the most important thing to do is to ask the community what and how it should be done above all.”
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The Telfer School of Management has just unveiled its Vision for a Better Canada. Director of Executive Programs, Glen Orsak, answers questions on how Telfer’s Executive Programs contribute to achieving this bold vision.
What are Telfer’s Executive Programs are all about?
Our focus is pretty much exclusively around leadership development. Lots of executive education shops have a much broader range of things that they do: how to be a better this or a better that. We have chosen to focus on Leadership. Leadership is about making things change, whereas management skills make things operate effectively. We work with leaders to transform their leadership capabilities. We also work with organizations who want to grow their leadership capacity. There’s always that dual focus. We’re serving an organizational need — a strategic imperative — and we’re serving the needs of the individual leader for their career or professional development.
How do these programs help contribute to a “Better Canada”?
You know, it’s funny. At one point our team penned a neat and tidy statement of purpose that declares that we are about: Transforming leaders. Shaping communities. Changing the World. It hasn’t gotten a lot of public attention, yet, but it still anchors a lot of our conversations. We’re all about transforming leaders. By doing that, we help shape organizations and communities. And by shaping and transforming organizations and communities, it is leading to a better world. Transforming Leaders for a Better Canada sharpens that focus for our programs, our community of practice and our customers and clients.
I know it sounds like a lofty goal — and it is. It made us stop and go, “Really? There’s only 17 of us!” But we realized that of course that’s what we’re doing. We are working with people every day who are going to become very accomplished and influential leaders, people who are setting out to have an impact in their own corner of the world based, in part, on the experiences they’ve had with us. So why would we shoot any lower than that?
Having a growing number of better companies in Canada, or better government institutions, or better healthcare organizations will certainly make Canada a better place.
Who are your Executive Programs for?
Lots of our clients are in the public sector, working for the public good — literally to make Canada a better place. Lots of our clients are in healthcare and they are, again, literally making Canada a healthier place. These people are absolutely committed to a better Canada. That’s what brings me back every day.
One of the things we tend to do really well is we create customized learning programs within certain communities and sectors. In the federal government there are communities of like-minded people. So, we created a leadership program for the policy community. We have a leadership program for the security and intelligence community. We have one for lawyers and people in the justice department. We have a leadership program for people in national defence and related sectors centred around huge complex projects — think military procurement. We try to find ways to build leadership programs that are contextualized, customized and relevant in those communities such that you’re not just gaining generic leadership skills but learning the practice of leadership in your own unique context.
How do your programs help leaders have a broader impact?
Some people have gone through our programs and five years later are sending their own leadership teams through our programs, too. They’ve described the huge impact it has had on the culture of their organization. The entire leadership conversation can change. Sometimes my team will know the entire executive team at such and such a health care institution or government department because almost every one of them has been through one of our programs. Obviously, that’s having a high impact on these organizations and communities.
I would also argue that our business has a very strong social mission. When you’re working in the healthcare or public sector, you’re working with people engaged in social, economic and community development. We’re trying to help leaders create culture shifts and to introduce progressive changes that will transform their workplaces. We have to bring these kinds of discussions into the room because our clients expect it.
What affect do you think your programs have on participants’ careers?
Can we attribute their success entirely to our programs? Of course not. It’s not a one-to-one correlation, but it doesn’t need to be. I wouldn’t take credit for your success, but I would certainly take credit for having nudged you in the right direction. And a nudge is good enough for me. I think that’s a valid intention to have, I think it’s the truth about what we do and it’s not too much hubris. We don’t set ourselves up as these heroic gurus of leadership. Rather, we position ourselves a co-pilgrims on a leadership journey — on the pilgrimage to make Canada a better place.
Has anything changed since the pandemic began?
Prior to March 13, 2020, we didn’t have much online programming. Since the first pandemic lockdown, every single minute of programming from then until now has been delivered in a virtual environment. The conversion to online was rapid and amazingly successful. You could say that the pandemic response in the executive learning space has opened all of our minds to virtual learning — and I think we will never go back to the old way. We can’t unsee the possibilities. Oh, we’ll definitely go back to the in-person learning experience, there’s no doubt about that, but there are a ton of things that we’ll no longer do in-person, because it no longer makes sense.
It’s given us all the push we’ve needed to innovate and improve how we deliver our programming — and that’s giving us access to a broader set of potential clients. We’ve already had people join our programs from across the country that probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Now, all of a sudden, we can enrich our engagement with communities outside of Ottawa and possibly have an even greater impact on shaping a Better Canada.
You can learn more about Telfer Executive Programs at telfer.uOttawa.ca/executiveprograms.
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The ninth of March marked the first day of Dean Brutus’ journey at the Telfer School of Management. Despite all classes being held online, the new Dean couldn’t wait to get in touch with his new environment: “When I signed my contract I was in Montréal and something was a bit off. The first thing I did on my first day was drive to Ottawa, get the key to my office, and worked from there,” Dean Brutus confessed. “It was important for me to be present and ‘touch’ Telfer and really incarnate the role from day 1. The next step is to get everybody else on campus and get the real feel, give some ‘high fives’ to everybody when it will be allowed, but it was a start,” he added.
Upon officially starting his mandate a week ago, Dean Stéphane Brutus has been looking forward to meeting with the student body at the Fireside Conversation: “I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the students”, he said. “With the lockdown, it is difficult for me to get the pulse of the School and this meeting allowed me to do so. Some of the questions were direct and I appreciate the fact that the students had the courage to ask me.’'
The conversation occurred Monday morning, March 15th, on Zoom with students in various programs and our staff.
Do You Know Your Dean?
Hosted by Isabelle Décarie, Student Experience Manager at the Student Services Centre, the Fireside Conversation event was a great opportunity for any students to ask questions to the Dean and get his honest opinion on important topics at Telfer.
To start the event, Stéphane Brutus had prepared a special video entitled “Do You Know Your Dean?” where he was put to the test and answered general questions about his vision for the School, and even some trivia questions about Telfer and uOttawa. His performance on the latter section was nothing to be shy about. He also had the chance to tell us a bit more about himself through rapid-fire questions about his hobbies and interests.
Getting to Know Dean Brutus’ Vision
Prior to the Q&A portion of the event with the students, Dean Brutus had the chance to talk a bit more about his objectives for the School in the short and long-term: “I want to augment visibility of the School by reinforcing the Better Canada pillars as mentioned in the video (Editor’s note: Greener, Healthier, Happier, Wealthier) through continued support of our research,” he stated. “I want to improve the student experience, that is already excellent, and focus on engagement with Alumni as their involvement is really important just as for any business school.”
Questions from Telfer Nation Students
Within the last third of the event, Dean Brutus had the chance to answer the questions received through the registration form and some additional ones asked directly in the session chat.
Many subjects were brought up by the participating students, including global recognition of our School, online teaching, the presence of equity, diversity and inclusion in the vision of the Dean, as well as the future of research opportunities for students at the School.
We look forward to the next years with Dean Brutus, and his development of our Vision for a Better Canada.
You can still watch the recorded “Fireside conversation with the Dean” session, in case you missed it. (MS Stream links are available to the uOttawa community only)
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Today’s article is written by team member Stephanie Thompson. Stephanie is a program officer at Telfer Executive Programs. She manages logistics and administration for a wide portfolio of programs, ensuring high-touch client service and maintaining a standard of excellence in program delivery. Among her portfolio of programs, she is responsible for the Boundless Leadership: A Breakthrough Program for Women.
International Women's Day has a long history and, like other holidays related to social movements, it has shifted in part from its original political meaning. When I was obtaining my Gender Studies degree at Queen’s University, International Women's Day was a day of protest to recognize the injustice that women – particularly poor, working-class, racialized, immigrant, trans, and Indigenous women – still face. As I flash-forward to the present day, my background as a social scientist helps me advocate for social justice in my work at Telfer Executive Programs and to maintain a balanced opinion and perspective.
As a Program Officer at Telfer Executive Programs, I was given the opportunity to take on Boundless Leadership: A Breakthrough Program for Women, a program we designed specifically to address the needs of current and emerging women leaders. It has been a great experience being involved in a program where I am surrounded by such accomplished women I can learn from and who motivate me to grow my leadership skills.
In my role, I have been supporting the program’s delivery, which allows me to sit in on program sessions. A few weeks ago, in one of the sessions, one of our guest speakers used a phrase that has been bouncing around in my mind ever since: the “tyranny of the day-to-day”.
It seems to have resonated with the program’s participants as well as it continues to reverberate through this cohort. I think it’s because it cuts to a deep truth we’re all feeling right now. We’re all working longer hours, attending more meetings, writing more emails, cooking more meals, spending more time and mental energy keeping ourselves and our families safe from the virus… there’s simply no time to pause and reflect. There’s also no time to consider the hardships we and others are facing, if we’re moving in the right direction, or if we’re shaping the world in the way we’d like it to be for the next generation.
I hope this year, on International Women’s Day, we can take a moment away from the tyranny of the day-to-day to reflect. Reflect on the progress we’ve made, and the work still to be done. I am a part of the Support Staff union at the University of Ottawa, which is made up of over 75% women, and I see the invaluable work we do to support a massive institution like the University. As a Program Officer at Telfer Executive Programs, I have been fortunate to engage with many women in positions of leadership, learn about their career journeys, and even watch them progress to hold more senior roles. I have the opportunity to see women like Dr. Virginia Roth graduate from the Telfer Executive MBA and become the first female Chief of Staff of The Ottawa Hospital. I see so much to celebrate, to pause and reflect on, before taking a deep breath and tackling the work still to come.
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By Dorra Jlouli, Ing, Agr, MBA
Part-Time Professor at the Telfer School of Management, uOttawa
Telfer School of management MBA’s students in the course Leadership & Management - MBA5636 – felt proud this semester about experiencing an interactive online simulation to acquire leadership skills preparing them to successfully lead change management process in their organisation!
« We are very proud to have been part of the first group in North America to complete Wallbreakers Leadership online simulation.! » said Vickie L. , Mireille N., Cherlande R and Charlotte K., candidates to MBA 2022, Telfer School of management. I warmly thank the University of Ottawa and Professor Dorra Jlouli for providing us with this rich experience as part of our MBA journey", added Mireille N.
Who had not faced challenges while managing one’s team resistance caused by a major process of organisation’s change ? Our recent context of COVID-19 is the best shared example.
Innovate in our way of teaching
"And honestly, I would r'ank this method at the top of the list for learning change management and leadership in general! ”, said Arlette G.
How does it work?
During the workshop, the students are divided into 4 teams where every team represents the manager of one of the major four departments of the company who have to lead the change and overcome the resistance of their 10 employee who have recently heard about a fusion between their company and an unknown one. The buses, the game’s metaphor for the department, are presented with different colours (green, red, yellow and violet).
The students are competing and every team see simultaneously the way the other teams are managing their change process. What you see inside the buses are not pieces of Lego game, but the employee. The students have to move forward the buses from the first phase of the change process (The Start-up phase) to the last one (the anchoring one). They are challenged to keep as many employees as inside the bus during the hole process of change. That’s a continued challenge as the “virtual employee” resist all along the three phases of the change process.
“Through a practical case on managing a merger of two companies, I had fun using the Wallbreakers tool. This allowed our team to have real-time feedback from employees on our various decisions and to regularly adjust our actions in order to get everyone on board ” Said Pierre C.H.
The debriefing session following the simulation is as important, if not even more important than the simulation itself, as the students synthetize on their experience, share their lessons learned, realize and understand the consequences of their leadership decisions and comment on their own leadership style and how it affects the team dynamic. They make the connection between the theory and their active learning experience.
How does it benefit MBA students?
“The Wallbreakers simulation allowed us to exercise our different styles of leadership and to understand that the situational leadership was the one that best suited team mobilization and goal achievement. “ Said Charlotte K., candidate to MBA 2022.
For MBA Students, who have already an experience in management, the active learning methods such using simulations is suitable. Indeed, it offers them a similar environment of a real professional situation they might had experienced. This stimulates their learning capacity by helping them to make some connections with their own experience. They learn from their mistakes and capitalise on their success.
"The Wallbreakers experience allowed me to put the theoretical concepts I learned in the course into action immediately. We had the opportunity to have several important team discussions on change management and leadership that will be useful throughout my career path.", said Justin Thibault, candidate to MBA 2022.
“Wallbreaker simulation give us the opportunity to practice the concepts learned in class. We really experienced it as a real business situation, sometimes forgetting that it was just a simulation, so heated were the debates to reach a consensual decision within the group!”, said Arlette G.
To learn more about Wallbreakers simulation, the recording of one of the debriefing sessions following the simulation of the course MBA5636 is available here.
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Since 2010, Project F.L.Y. (Future Leaders in Youth) has been run by Enactus uOttawa as a leadership program with the dedicated mission to empower youth. These university students strive to teach youth some of life’s most important skills through engaging workshops that will benefit them with the opportunity to grow personally and professionally.
With the help of Jack.org, ambassadors of Project F.L.Y. have created a mental health curriculum across local schools, community groups, and rural communities in order to educate youth of all ages about mental wellness, while also increasing their ability to seek for help and support when needed. Content topics within the elementary curriculum includes positive self-talk, care activities, and mindfulness instruction.
Enactus uOttawa has grown tremendously over the past year, collaborating with 8 new partners, and attracting 500 attendees to their workshops.
Learn more about the various initiatives prepared under Project F.L.Y. shared in the Star.
*Archive picture from 2019
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This year is a new experience for everyone due to the “new normal” we have been adapting to over the last six months since the COVID-19 pandemic began. These changes have brought about many new learnings, challenges, and even opportunities.
After having to postpone their usual in-person event in March, The Legacy Conference team is committed to delivering another memorable conference experience this year, even if it means going virtual. As the largest student-run conference in Canada, this year is extra special for the team as they celebrate 10 years of The Legacy Conference in Ottawa. In 2010, a University of Ottawa student saw an opportunity to inspire the next generation of student leaders through entrepreneurship, and thus, the Legacy Conference was born.
The Legacy Conference is designed for the learners and doers of this world. Speakers have a laid-back attitude and provide a personal experience, often wearing casual attire like t-shirts & jeans. “Legacy is all about sharing those genuine, real-life moments of entrepreneurship. We are empowering the future generation of leaders at our workshops, mentorship sessions, career fairs and more,” as their website states.
Legacy Conference 2020
As always, the conference is open to all University of Ottawa students with an interest in leadership and entrepreneurship intended to “provide the next line of leaders with the necessary resources to help them cultivate new ideas, kickstart business endeavours or build onto current ones.” This year's Director, Sally Adam, and the rest of the Legacy team is excited to present their first-ever virtual edition of the event, as they have made it clear it will be the same phenomenal experience, but “now all in your sweatpants.”
Sally her motivations for joining, and leading, the Legacy Conference movement this year: “I found out about Legacy randomly and since then, I've been hooked on our mission. We're focused on sharing the powerful moments of passion, failure, and perseverance that often define entrepreneurship. University is sadly when students let fear drive life-altering decisions about the paths worth travelling. Legacy is changing that for a lot of young people, including myself."
This year’s line-up of speakers include:
- Jason Fried, Founder and CEO of Basecamp
- Rob Villeneuve, CEO of Rebel
- Brian Scudamore, Founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
- Anne De Aragon, Vice President and Country Manager of GoDaddy Canada
- Shawn Kanungo, Keynote Speaker and Disruption Strategist
- Emily Anne Epstein, Editor-in-Chief of Narcity Media
- Mike Smith, Founder of Skate4Change and The Bay
- Travis Rosbach, Co-founder of HydroFlask
- Seth Godin, best-selling author and entrepreneur
- Izzy Camilleri, Designer at IZ Adaptive
Interested in joining the fun and learning from this line of leaders to cultivate new ideas, kickstart business endeavours or elevate existing ones? Grab your tickets to attend this year’s virtual Legacy Conference on Friday, October 2nd, 2020.
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“Every year, over 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally, with only 9% of it ever being recycled,” says Carter Barrett in the Enactus uOttawa team’s video submission for Regionals. After taking home three of the four titles at Enactus Central Canada Regionals competition, they moved on to compete at the National Competition.
With projects to eliminate global plastic waste and create sustainable businesses that use the abundance of plastic available in the world, Enactus uOttawa placed as the National Runner Up at the 2020 Enactus National Competition. They competed against 47 teams across Canada, showcasing the impact they have created with their sustainable and innovative entrepreneurship projects this year.
During the first-ever virtual edition of the national competition, the uOttawa team also received the following awards:
- Best Project Awards for Poly and Project F.L.Y. (mental health and wellness project)
- National Winner of the Youth Empowerment Challenge (Poly and Evolve Eyewear)
- Second Place in the National Entrepreneurship Competition
- National Runner up for the Entrepreneurship Challenge (Poly)
The team also received $2,000 each in grant funding for 3 of the 4 new project ideas they submitted.
How Poly Tackles Global Waste
They have been able to reduce plastic waste by working with organizations like Lush and Old Navy to repurpose the plastic items like hangers they would usually just throw away. These recycled products are then purchased by individuals, business owners, firms, and municipalities. Some businesses have even added their partnership with Poly as an extension to an existing business model.
Enactus currently plans to launch eight systems annually around the world. They already have a Poly workshop in Ottawa, and have expanded to locations like Saint John, New Brunswick; Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Ontario; Iqaluit, Nunavut; and Malone, New York. The Poly team works closely with the system operators to ensure they make their Poly business successful.
Evolve Eyewear Encourages Eco-Friendly Practices
Evolve Eyewear is an innovative social venture that creates environmentally-friendly eyewear using 100% locally recycled plastic, using the Poly machines to turn the plastic into glasses. The project encourages making more sustainable purchases and living a more eco-friendly lifestyle. With this business, the Enactus team has created job opportunities for Canadians, including employing 12 individuals with a disability to help them process their plastic and 4 at risk youth to operate their machines and produce the frames.
Project F.L.Y. Provides Entrepreneurial Skills to Youth
Project F.L.Y. is a program that works to empower and guide youth with hands-on workshops where they can learn practical skills. The team hosts an annual Perfect Pitch competition at the end of the year, a bilingual competition for high school students that introduces core business functions with a focus on entrepreneurship, creative thinking, and initiative. The students who compete are then offered the opportunity to attend The Legacy Conference hosted by Enactus uOttawa.
Another Great Year
The team has generated over $80,000 in revenue this year, and diverted over 150,000 water bottles worth of plastic waste.
“I’m incredibly proud of all the work our team has done throughout the year to make Ottawa, and Canada, a better place through sustainable impact,” shared Parker Selman, the president of Enactus uOttawa.
“Despite the challenging times, and the need for a virtual competition, we were still able to showcase our innovative projects and gain national recognition as a top team in the Enactus network,” Parker continued.
Congratulations to the Enactus uOttawa team for another highly successful year, and for your amazing work on your leading sustainable and innovative businesses!
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The Telfer Impact goes beyond the classroom. There are countless stories of students and alumni who have truly made a difference through their involvement, community engagement, entrepreneurial vision, and hard work. Over the last 6 weeks, we’ve shared some incredible stories of Telfer students developing into the next generation of leaders:
The CASCO Impact
20 years ago, two inspired Telfer students founded the non-profit organization, CASCO. Every year, Telfer students team up to host spectacular events that raise money for families at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). CASCO has donated over $560,000 to the cause ever since.
The Growcer Impact
After visiting communities challenged with food insecurity in Northern Canada, two Telfer BCom alumni, Alida Burke and Corey Ellis created a hydroponic system that grows produce in controlled shipping containers. From there, the business, The Growcer Inc. was born. Today, the company is part of Invest Ottawa’s accelerator program, and its systems are being sold across Canada, empowering communities around the globe to grow their own produce.
The PhD Impact
Telfer PhD candidate, Alex Chung researches the design of wearable technology that influences human behaviour change. As a result of the balanced program, Alex has been able to lead an active and fulfilling life, while impacting the future of wearable technology.
The Unscented Company Impact
BCom alumna, Anie Rouleau is living her dream, running her own eco-sustainable, B Corp certified cleaning product business, The Unscented Company (TUC). Through her innovative business model, Anie has caught the attention of the public with her Dragons’ Den deal to sell TUC products in 500 Canadian Tire stores across Canada.
The MBA Impact
After discovering the world of administration while working at Montfort Hospital, Mélanie Potvin decided to elevate her experience with an MBA in French at Telfer. Now she has the crucial knowledge and confidence in her leadership role as Project Manager for the Orléans Health Hub at the hospital.
These are just a few stories of the meaningful change that Telfer Students are creating. What will be YOUR impact?
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The CEOx1Day program from Odgers Berndtson offers student-leaders the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to spend a day with a top Canadian CEO.
For many management students, the ultimate career achievement is to earn the title of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of an organization. While being a CEO is a much sought-after position, the job is complex and constantly changing. This one-day event offers third and fourth-year students a unique opportunity to explore a CEO’s role at their respective company.
Last year, there were two Telfer students who advanced far into the program:
Audrey-Anne Délage, semi-finalist
Nayaelah Siddiqui, finalist
International Management and Entrepreneurship student and CEOx1Day finalist, Nayaelah earned one of 18 competitive finalist spots, getting to spend an inspiring day of learning and mentorship with Teresa Marques, CEO of the Rideau Hall Foundation. Nayaelah shared that she “had the opportunity to learn lots of different things” from meeting Former Governor General David Johnston, spending time at the Senate of Canada, and spending one-on-one time with Marques.
Nayaelah faced an intense and eye-opening selection process. To get her day with Teresa Marques, she went through four selection phases: Application, Online Leadership Assessment, Phone Interview, and In-person Evaluation. Nayaelah recalls that she “didn't know if [she] would be the finalist, but just getting through so many rounds gave [her] the confidence boost to never give up and be [herself]. There is a lot to learn even if you don't make it all the way!”
This year, the CEOs participating are from Facebook Canada, Sephora Canada, Capital One, CHEO, and many other companies. Check out the full list of CEOs you might meet here.
Apply for the 2019 CEOx1Day program by Friday, October 25th for your chance to connect with incredible students, business leaders and Canadian CEOs.
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For the 5th year in a row, Telfer is proud to sponsor the APEX Award of Excellence in Leadership that was presented at the APEX Leadership Symposium, held May 29-30, 2018 in Ottawa. The Leadership Award recognizes an executive in the Public Service that has demonstrated outstanding leadership and that presents a role model for leadership. This year’s recipient is Mr. Michel Doiron, Assistant Deputy Minister at Veterans Affairs Canada; Mr. Doiron received the award in front of over 800 attendees at the symposium. The award was presented by Mr. Michael Wernick, the Clerk of the Privy Council, Mr. Michel Vermette, CEO of APEX, and Glen Orsak, Director of Telfer Executive Programs.
“We are proud to work with public service executives and welcome over 200 participants from the public service into our leadership programs every year.” says Glen Orsak. “Telfer is mission-focused on providing learning and development that transforms the leadership capacity across the Federal Public Service and we are proud to sponsor an award that recognizes leadership excellence in the FPS”.
About Telfer Executive Programs
Telfer Executive Programs is the premiere provider of executive & leadership development programs across the National Capital Region, with a reach across Canada and internationally. More info: Telfer Executive Programs.
About APEX
Established in 1984, APEX is governed by a board of directors made up of fifteen executives representing the National Capital Region and every other region of Canada. The wide range of APEX activities and initiatives is designed to provide executives with opportunities to develop a strong community of practice, promote their physical and mental well-being, and support excellence in leadership.
To learn more on APEX and the Awards of Excellence visit their website here »
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On May 24, 2018, three speakers delivered powerful presentations on three unique topics at the Telfer School’s collaborative learning alumni event focused on Emerging Trends in Leadership and Management. The three presentations - cybersecurity, emotional intelligence and diversity & inclusion - were followed by a panel discussion and Q&A for all participants.
Here is a recap of some of the lessons learned from each session.
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Justine Hendricks (MBA 2004), Vice-President, Working Capital Solutions Guarantee and Bonding Programs at Export Development Canada
“You can be invited to the party, but not invited to dance”
When understanding the concept of diversity and inclusion, Hendricks is quick to assure us that she is not only talking about gender and ethnicity, but organizational needs to employ a compliment of employees with different professional backgrounds and mindsets which will allow for innovation in the workplace.
Hendricks continued her talk advising that diversity without inclusion is not enough, that inclusion is needed to be successful and that it is tough to achieve within an organization. Companies with inclusion are twice as likely to meet or exceed their goals, six times more likely to be agile and innovative and eight times more likely to achieve a better business outcome.
Throughout her talk, Hendricks repeatedly used the line “You can be invited to the party, but not invited to dance” as a metaphor otherwise saying that there is value in not only listening to employee suggestions but implementing them as well, which a lot of organizations tend not to do. There is value in performing a culture reset, measuring outcomes, setting targets and seeing if change is occurring in key areas.
Cybersecurity and emerging trends: Is someone going to hack my pacemaker?
Mari Teitelbaum (MHA 2010), Vice-President, Tech. & Chief Information Officer, CHEO
Cybersecurity is a very real matter, and public and private organizations consider it to be a priority. Although in the past it was possible to hack a pacemaker, today our knowledge of these possibilities for intrusion makes things much more complicated. Hackers must be more agile and creative and know how to exploit users. After all, as Mari says, the problem is a human one, and it is humans that open the door. Therefore, the solution lies in staff education and awareness.
Although major financial transactions are not occurring at CHEO and in the health sector, the confidentiality of patients and their medical records involves sensitive data that must be protected at all costs. Mari explains that many attempts to access the databases occur every day, but thanks to a prevention and risk management strategy, no intrusion has been possible at her organization.
It is essential to keep the risk in perspective, but the key resides in the concept of shared risk. When she needs to make a decision, Mari says that teamwork is crucial in developing her prevention strategy, and guidelines are made with the board of directors.
Integrating emotional intelligence to navigate through workplace conflict
Manali Haridas Scott, Spiritual Wellness Coach
Emotional intelligence starts with our own self-awareness. That is how Manali begins to explain the difference between intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ). Although both contribute greatly to each person's development, emotional intelligence is what enables us to face multiple challenges each day.
Manali has said multiple times that having continuous negative thoughts will negatively affect a person to the point of inhibiting the brain and its capacity for rational thought. Thus, it is important that we condition ourselves to think positively to maintain a balance and better ability to handle the unexpected and situations that require emotional engagement.
Her advice? Be open and curious, forget old emotional patterns and learn new ones. When facing failure, practise self-discipline and compassion, live in the present moment and move forward, and so on. In short, there are many pieces of advice, but these lessons can be summed up in five factors of success: resolve, record, reconcile, regroup and rejoice.
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- Category: Appointments and Honours
Professor Daina Mazutis has received an Honorable Mention for the 2016 Page Prize for Excellence in Sustainable Business Education awarded by the Darla Moore School of Business. Professor Mazutis was recognized for her undergraduate course “Leadership, Strategy and Sustainability” (ADM 4317).
This fourth year Bachelor of Commerce course focuses on corporate social responsibility and sustainability at multiple levels – self, others, the organization and society. It covers topics such as social entrepreneurship, carbon-negative enterprises, regenerative business models and the circular economy, instilling within undergraduate students and business leaders a keen understanding of the importance of sustainability in business.
This recognition underlines Professor Mazutis’ expertise in the field of sustainability and CSR. She holds an endowed Professorship of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability at the Telfer School, through which she focuses her research on the path to more socially and environmentally conscious organizations. Her research lies at the intersection of strategy, leadership and corporate responsibility, approaching environmental and social issues facing organizations today as critical strategic issues that require a broader understanding of business' role in society.
We would like to congratulate Professor Mazutis on this remarkable honour.
About the Page Prize
Now in its 10th year, the Dr. Alfred N. and Lynn Manos Page Prize for Sustainability Issues in Business Curricula is designed to encourage and support efforts to introduce or substantially upgrade sustainability courses or associated course work into the curriculum of business schools, both nationally and internationally.
The Page Prize is awarded annually for the best submission based on the integration of sustainability into business curricula. Submissions are welcomed from faculty, doctoral students and others related to innovative approaches to teaching sustainability to business students. Previous applications have covered a wide range of disciplines including accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, management, marketing, operations and supply chain management, and organizational behavior.
For more information on the Page Prize or on the recipients, please click here.
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- Category: Latest News
We are now accepting registrations for the second offering of the "LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT INTENSIVE - THE INNER WORK OF LEADERSHIP”.
In February 2016, the first offering of the Leadership Development Intensive (LDI) engaged a very diverse group of 12 senior leaders in a program that has been experienced by hundreds of participants around the world. The program is led by best-selling author and inspirational leader Dr. John Scherer and co-facilitated by Telfer Executive Programs associates Jean Ogilvie and Dr. Ingrid Richter. Based on the tremendous success of the launch of this program in Ottawa this past winter, the LDI is now a foundation in the our portfolio of leadership development programs that is offered to clients in this region.
The LDI is a highly experiential journey of self-discovery based on Scherer’s book Five Questions that Change Everything. The program is an intensive, short and focused leadership development experience designed to engage senior leaders and executives in making a leap in their ability to deliver extraordinary results in the face of obstacles and resistance. The participants in the program have likely already invested in their leadership development and who want to dive even deeper to refresh their energy for continuing the journey.
The program begins with pre-work and a one-on-one call, then includes a 3½-day “deep-dive” in-class session and two follow-up teleconferences with the facilitators. The program is designed with an individualized coaching approach to leadership development, but also features the special magic of a group dynamic that John and Telfer’s co-facilitators create with each cohort.
The next opportunity to be part of this leadership development experience will be from June 22-25, 2016 - the registration deadline is May 31, 2016. For further information about the Leadership Development Intensive and to register for the program you can visit the LDI webpage.
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Student Voices
The following article was written by a member of our student community. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Telfer School of Management. For more information or to flag inappropriate content, please
