Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER February 24, 2014 February 24, 2014 EXECUTIVE SERIES EXECUTIVE SERIES 13 13 Barbara Kofman Organizational Effectivness Dave Crisp Leadership In Action How do top-notch leaders develop? How do top-notch leaders develop? e burning questions one asks about top leaders are often how do they develop and how much is born versus built? ankfully, Corus Entertainment CEO John Cassaday shed a little light on these questions and his comments were insightful enough to be interpreted pretty clearly. It's obvious he had some instincts that helped him rise quickly from early on in his career, every step of the way. Whether these evolved from family or skills learned be- fore he started working, or wheth- er he was born with some, it's im- possible to tell. When a fi rst job painting fi re hydrants suggested there must be better options, Cassaday was open to the idea of a temporary assignment promoting cigarettes to golf clubs and their members. So far, this is not a big diff erence from what most of us probably ex- perienced in one way or another. What distinguished Cassaday was something that clearly runs through all his career steps, in- cluding the present ones — he had ideas and saw them as valuable, like most of us, but he also took the concrete step of putting them in a letter to his bosses, suffi ciently impressing them so he was off ered permanent employment after col- lege. Clearly, some of that is luck — he hit a resonant chord — but a good deal is initiative that many would not have taken. Is that a skill, a trait, a family habit? Whether the courage to try was innate is something we can't know and neither, perhaps, does Cassa- day. Most of us can trace our own fundamental personality inclina- tions to a combination of "just how we've always felt" and rein- forcing events we encountered along the way. It's probably safe to assume we tend to fi nd situations and people who reinforce what we're already interested in, but exactly how much of each is involved in devel- oping the skills we arrive at work with is moot — we don't need to know. What's more important is the openness to ideas to begin with — openness being one of the big fi ve personality traits many psycho- logical tests measure and suggest are innate. Cassaday was not only interested in his own ideas, he has consistently recognized it is best to be open to value in the ideas of others in every job he undertook. At Corus, he encourages a culture that helps managers innovate and he credits that with creating their tremendous success. He solidifi ed his early personal tendencies, clearly through trial and error, learning and listening on job after job, to build a compa- ny on stated values — four out of fi ve of which are specifi cally about creating ideas, continual learning, empowerment and the teamwork that makes them happen. ( e fi fth value is simply to make those ideas actually happen, not just sit unexpressed or untried.) Cassaday is very clear — he builds on his strengths and we can see that in operation on ev- ery level. He's been a steward and instigator of ideas from day one. at's a valuable orientation in today's business world, but no- tably something other compa- nies could copy. at more don't is a testament to just how much a CEO's (especially a founding CEO's) personality stamps itself on every part of the organization. Cassaday's initial traits certainly wouldn't have taken him this far without good learning experienc- es — in marketing, large compa- nies, handling budgets and profi t and loss statements and managing people. But we have to note his fun- damental skill is trainable if we realize it is important and we de- velop programs and job rotations to promote it in more executives. Clearly, Cassaday trans- mitted this skill to many other managers in his organization. It's great when we can see so clearly the key in- gredients and how they work. Now we just need to ask "Why not?" in other organizations — build the envi- ronment and people will deliver. Dave Crisp is a Toronto-based writer and thought leader for Strategic Ca- pability Network with a wealth of ex- perience, including 14 years leading HR at Hudson Bay Co. where he took the 70,000-employee retailer to "best company to work for" status. For more information, visit www.balance-and- results.com. 'Hire tough, manage easy' good recipe 'Hire tough, manage easy' good recipe e spotlight was on the essential role a CEO plays in creating the framework for success in an organization. But as John Cassaday, CEO of Corus Entertainment, emphasized, in de- fi ning a company's culture, the CEO must take the necessary steps to en- sure the right conditions are in place for facilitating buy-in from every employee. His formula for doing so pre- dictably echoed the message de- livered by other well-respected CEOs who have taken the stage at Strategic Capability Network events. e mechanism for driv- ing success at Corus, just as it is at Maple Leaf Foods, is an underpin- ning of core values that permeate every aspect of the organization — from hiring practices through performance appraisals and promotions. At Corus, employees are mea- sured every day not just on their eff ectiveness in getting their work done but on their ability to live up to the core values of accountabil- ity, knowledge, initiative, innova- tion and teamwork. While the responsibility the CEO holds in establishing the conditions for success is pivotal, the foundation of any thriving or- ganization is its people. One can- not overstate the importance of having clearly articulated values at play in defi ning what it means to be a good organizational "fi t." e degree to which this care- ful inculcation of values into every aspect of corporate life has been taken at Corus was made clear by its hiring process. e hiring phi- losophy put in place is one other companies would do well to fol- low and can best be summed up by that old adage: Hire for fi t, train for skills. All jobs are open to anyone who meets the basic qualifications, interviews are conducted by a panel and no one gets in simply by knowing somebody. e focus is fi rst and foremost on alignment with values, and then on factors such as a burning desire to suc- ceed, integrity (versus unbridled ambition) and, fi nally, skills. As Cassaday summed it up, if you make it a point to "hire tough" you're then in a position to "man- age easy." It would be interesting to see the results of exit interviews to fi nd out how often this culture mismatch was a factor in deci- sions made by managers to let staff go and by individuals to leave Corus. A quick check on Glassdoor. com to get a fl avour for how em- ployees past and present view the company revealed that while Corus has its share of people criticizing it for such things as poor management and restricted budgets, it also has numerous positive reviews referencing such things as the engaging work culture, creative atmosphere and the inspiring CEO. Once again, we heard from an esteemed leader championing a straightforward formula for or- ganizational success, one that is easily transferrable to any orga- nization no matter what business it is in — communicate a clear vi- sion, infuse your corporate values into all aspects of your company so they truly come to life, embrace being a good corporate citizen and an environmental leader and, if you can, build a creative work- space with certifi cation in Leader- ship in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). In doing so, not only will your organization be activating the value chain we've heard so much about (engaged employees lead to happy customers and an en- hanced bottom line), it will also be putting in place an unbeatable generation-Y attraction strategy. After all, one of the primary things that generation — your company's future — is seeking is an organiza- tion with a conscience. Barbara Kofman is SCNetwork's lead commentator on organizational ef- fectiveness and founding principal of CareerTrails, a strategic career coach- ing and HR solutions organization committed to providing clients with the personalized processes and infor- mation they need, to achieve the indi- vidual and organizational outcomes they are seeking. She has held senior roles in resourcing, strategy and out- placement, and taught at the univer- sity and college level. Based in Toronto, she can be reached at (416) 708-2880 bkofman@careertrails.com. CEO weaves consistent web across company CEO weaves consistent web across company One would expect that John Cassaday, president and CEO of Corus Entertain- ment, with a strong background in me- dia and packaged goods would have great sound bites to share — and he did. His lively presentation included nuggets such as: •"Great leaders see greatness in others." •"As a leader, my brand is me." •"You can't say thank you enough." But he also painted a picture of careful attention to integration. e focus was not just on a sin- gle approach or initiative but on weaving a consistent web across the management of multiple as- pects of an organization — vision and values; leadership and people; process; and place. Vision and values: Corus has maintained the same values and vision since its inception in 1999 and through more than 20 acquisitions. In a business known for volatile change and diva-style personali- ties, these values have set behav- ioural expectations and contrib- uted clarity and continuity during rapid and disruptive change. The balanced values of ac- countability, knowledge, initia- tive, innovation and teamwork are inputs for success. "Results" is not a value but an output. Divas who value only their own skills and results-only leaders are just not a cultural fi t. Leadership and people: ere are a number of ways Corus in- vests in its people, such as train- ing, mentoring, open job op- portunities and town halls. Two examples stand out as specifi cally supporting integration across the organization. e fi rst is a birthday breakfast with the CEO. On the arbitrary basis of month of birth, a group of people from different ages, genders and departments get to know each other and the CEO better and share opinions and insights. e second is the concept of hiring tough to make managing easy. Factors taken into consider- ation to improve hiring fi t include: values, desire to succeed, integrity (to bridle raw ambition) and skills. While the individual is valued and recognized, the expectation is skilled individuals work within the broader team to achieve over- all success. Process: Often in the context of people and culture, consideration of process is restricted to those related to people management, such as performance, succession and talent. This keeps employees in the dark with respect to the business environment — they do not know what to expect. Having a proactive, regularly scheduled and known busi- ness and strategy process with Karen Gorsline Strategic Capability e focus is on values, a desire to succeed, skills and integrity. INTEGRATION > pg. 14 Cassaday is very clear — he builds on his strengths and we can see that in operation on every level. He's been a steward and instigator of ideas from day one. at's a valuable orientation.

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