BCBUSINESS.CA NOVEMBER 2017 BCBUSINESS 47
What three things would you tell a young person who aspires to become a CEO?
Be patient,
because it doesn't
always happen
overnight or as
fast as you want
it. And you have to
sometimes have a
little luck, to be in
the right place at
the right time.
Be the leader of your
career. Seek out men-
tors. It doesn't have to
be a daunting task: "OK,
will you be my men-
tor?" It can be, "Can I
buy you a coffee, go
for a beer, have lunch,
and let's have a great
conversation."
Choose the right company. Don't go for the title.
It might mean you're taking a job title that doesn't
sound that great, like sales representative. You
might be vice-president of sales at
XYZ company,
and you're just a glorified sales representative.
Or you could be a sales representative for a
company like Procter & Gamble, and you can
get a lot of autonomy and responsibility with a
company that really is committed to developing
their people.
3 1 2
are, and then you try to earn
their loyalty."
Throughout his career,
Lightbody says, he's been
an engaged employee when
given a challenge—and the
autonomy to solve it. "That's
what we try to do here, is
give our people challenges
to overcome, and to work
in teams and to really col-
laborate to solve problems or
capitalize on opportunities."
BCLC also supports future
and current leaders through
two e'orts: its Emerg-
ing Leaders program and
another it developed with
UBC's Sauder School of Busi-
ness. In the latter program,
a cohort of about 20 spends
18 months learning about
everything from -nance and
marketing to innovation and
product development.
At
BCLC, Lightbody wants
leaders to make the business
nimbler by pushing as much
decision-making as possible
down to the appropriate
level. "It's what a lot of entre-
preneurial organizations do
every day," he notes. "We are
really trying to push that agil-
ity around this organization
by saying, 'Don't have email
chains going around. Get the
appropriate people in the
room, solve the problems,
and then move on.'" —N.R.
