With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1508543
OCTOBER 2023 BCBUSINESS.CA 31 body, help somebody, it's the most fulfilling feeling. I'm the kind of person who goes out of my way to buy something at a grocery store or butcher because of the relationship I have with that person. "Why are we driving so far away?" Because we're doing some- thing for that person. That's what mentoring is: a level of caring for that person. And you feel so fulfilled when you do that—then you can go out and conquer the world. BA: I wouldn't like to kid myself and say that I'm a men- tor to my children, but at 20 and 22 years old, they are my best teachers. What they're experiencing is so relevant and important. I learn from them every single day. That's the mindset I take from that relationship. JS: Can I just add to that? I don't have children, but I have parents. I love them; anything good that I have comes from them and I've always respected them. But as I'm getting older, this is a cliché, but wow, they have such great life experience and wisdom. When I was 22, I maybe didn't think they were the smartest, wisest people around. Now I'm going to them with all kinds of problems. It's the perspective and the experi- ence that they have. One thing with mentorship and leader- ship—everything is about the quality of the relationships you keep and grow and cultivate. They should really focus more on how to make and keep friends in school, that should be part of the core curriculum that they cover. RC: And it's the people you surround yourself with. You're going to learn so much from them and they reflect who you are as a person. BCB: On that note: in a couple words, how would you describe the ideal employee? JS: Someone who can lead with both head and heart. That's essential when we talk about strong leaders. RC: The willingness to work with gusto. You must have the fire in the belly and that gusto. And curiosity, which is about the pursuit of knowledge and excellence. BA: The willingness to learn and grow. Being a good human and a good communicator. Those are things that I always look for. JS: And honestly, someone who's had it hard. I think that when you're hiring an employee and working with them, it's going to be tough. There will be high performance expectations and it's going to be stressful. So someone who's had it tough, never had anything handed to them, they're scrappy and curious and they've come out on the other side of it. You want the grit reservoir that's going to be required to be successful. BCB: And how do you find out that information in an interview setting? JS: You ask them about their life. I always say to [prospec- tive candidates]: Tell me about your life. Let's not go on about your resumé, I've read it. Tell me about your leadership story and your life's story, that's where you get it. BA: That's where you find out if someone's a good human. Are they going to go to bat for their teammates? Are they someone you can count on? You don't want to hire jerks. You're asking people to come to work eight to 10 hours a day. You want to create a great envi- ronment for people to work and spend their time. To do that, you need trust and great relationships. RC: I agree completely with Juggy. The people coming in to our firm, you look at their CVs, they're going to be high- ranking students in law school and all of that. I put that aside and say, tell me about your life experiences. Tell me about your choices. We are a product of our choices. We are who we are today because of the choices we make. JS: When they tell you these stories, when there's a good ending, what are you looking at? You're looking at resource- fulness and resilience, and you're looking for a path to suc- cess. If you've seen it and built it, you can repeat it. I think that's important. BCB: Experts have been predicting a recession for the prov- ince for almost a year now. How do you think B.C. businesses and individuals will find the next few months? BA: Juggy and Radha can give some specific perspective from their industries and sectors. But broadly speaking, I'm really concerned. There's no question that Vancouver suffers from an affordability challenge for families and individuals. But that applies to businesses, too. We recently released a report in May around the costs of doing business. It showed $6.5 billion in government-imposed costs to business. The fabric of our communities are small and medium businesses, people who work every day to put food on the table, to provide jobs for their families and for young people. They're being hammered by additional costs right now. On top of that there's soaring inflation and rising input costs. There's a break- ing point for these businesses, particularly small and medium ones, and I'm very concerned. It's one of the things I've spent a lot of time on over the last few months, talking to all levels of government about. Because I think that while there is a recognition around affordabil- ity challenges for individuals and families, I'm not sure that governments are connecting the dots on additional costs to businesses. Businesses keep people employed: those are jobs, livelihoods. I'm very con- cerned and I think government has a responsibility to lower the costs to businesses. JS: Hear hear. I think puni- tive regulatory policies are really impacting the ability of businesses to be successful. It's