BCBusiness

nesses. Health care is a huge challenge for Canadians and many jurisdictions across the world. If we can improve outcomes and processes, that has a huge impact on all of us and our family members. And with Telus Agriculture, as the world's population con- tinues to grow, we're not creating new land; we have to get more efficient in order to reduce waste. And we often forget the impact our core telecommunications busi- ness has—especially after COVID and how everyone shifted to working remotely on a dime. I like to link purpose to everything we do, and it's exciting to see how clear that purpose is across the business. You've talked a lot about your team. With so many people under your guidance, how would you describe your leadership style? The simplest way to say it is work hard, play hard. I want to get up every morning and be super excited to come to work. As a leader, it's my responsibility to create that same excitement for our team members so that they're excited, passionate, they feel like they're contributing. They feel like they're personally growing and developing and getting what they want in their careers. Our most important competitive advantage is our team. If we have a highly competi- tive team that's executing well and driving outcomes, that's how we win. It gives me great satisfaction to see team members accomplish more than they thought and see them grow in their careers. At the end of the day, we're here to drive great out- comes and great results for our customers and shareholders; I just try to work back- ward from those goals and have the team set up to execute. Are there any leadership or communication tips and tricks you've learned over the years to keep people motivated and hungry? Just being direct and personable with people. And asking them a lot of questions around: What does motivate you? What are you excited about? If you were 60 and look- ing back on your career, what would you want to be doing now to achieve those goals and outcomes? Find a match between what you personally want and what the business needs. When you create that match, great things happen. That's what I try to do. Rogers and Shaw are planting a lot of seeds in B.C., especially after the merger. How do you envision Telus continuing to improve, holding onto that market share and expanding it as well? I think competition is good for everyone. It's good for Telus because it forces us to be better and look at innovative and creative ways to be one step ahead. At the end of the day, we're always going to have com- petitors. That competitive environment is going to evolve and change. And the way I look at it is, how do we always deliver what our customers want better than everybody else? It's a big part of our culture to put our customers first. When you do that and work back from the customers, that's how we win. It's how we've been a global leader for over two decades and how we'll con- tinue to do that. In all your time with Telus, what's the one thing you're most proud of? That's tough. Eight or nine years ago I was asked to lead our Telus Business Solutions organization. It was a tough time back then—the Alberta economy was hit hard in the oil and gas downturn. There was a lot of technology disruption in business. We were not geographically diverse enough, nor were we diverse enough from a seg- ment standpoint to be able to absorb a lot of those shocks. Building the turnaround plan for that business, bringing in amaz- ing key members that wanted to be part of that turnaround and building a plan and a strategy to expand geographically across different segments and actually turning that business around—three years later, we were the only global B2B telecommu- nications company that was actually grow- ing. That was a huge accomplishment for the team. This interview has been edited and condensed. HOBBY I love to travel and try new foods—I have to pay for it in the gym once I return. PET PEEVE People fighting internally. We're one team—let's direct that energy toward beating the competition. RECENT TV / PODCAST BINGE Yellowstone. GUILTY PLEASURE A great tequila or scotch; an Aero Mint chocolate bar (but not all together!). FIRST JOB Woodward's Department Store—I sold men's suits. MOST MEMORABLE CONCERT Spending time with my daughter at Taylor Swift in Vancouver—what a great show. IF I HAD A SUPERPOWER, IT WOULD BE To be in any part of the world in a flash. It would be great for my global portfolio as I love interacting with people face to face—you learn so much more and make better decisions. FAVOURITE PLACE IN B.C. Emerald Lake. So peaceful and beautiful. I love the lodge there. LAST BOOK I READ The Sound of the Future, about the future of AI-powered voice technology. It's a Wall Street Journal bestseller written by my friend and colleague Tobias Dengel. CIRCLING BACK 15 B C B U S I N E S S . C A A P R I L / M AY 2 0 2 5

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