Oftentimes the best speakers are those leaders who have walked the talk and lived through dramatically life-altering business decisions. Real Bergevin, the founder of Nucomm, has been in situations others would consider calamitous: facing bankruptcy, watching Canada’s high-flying currency erode his company’s gains, and faced with the prospect of reinventing his business to avoid what might have been irreversible setbacks.

The story of Nucomm is about unforeseen dilemmas and stirring triumphs. It is a compelling case study of the drive and determination it takes to succeed. Real started his company as a consulting firm in 1991, and by 1995 he had created a call centre in Canada for Canadian Tire Financial Services. In the same year an American client of Nucommm’s went bankrupt, and the loss in revenue almost caused the same fate for Real’s company.

Instead of succumbing to despair, he faced down the crisis by buying out his partners and mortgaging every asset he and his wife had. He held onto Nucomm and the subsequent boom in call centres saw the company secure a contract with U.S. cable TV giant Comcast that helped fuel growth of 75% over the next few years.

Real says he practices “possibility thinking”. As a leader he has a penchant for grappling with problems and making the decisive moves required to succeed. For example, when Canada’s currency began rising from 65¢ to 80¢ and higher, as an exporter Nucomm began to feel the pinch. Real looked for possibilities and came up with a 6-point plan to re-invent his business that included securing a line of credit for $35 million to take operations offshore to the Phillipines . In the end, the plan worked and led to a multi-million dollar merger with European company Transcom Worldwide.

This is a discussion every leader should have and that’s why PEO is pleased to invite you to our next Eye of the Executive Event to hear and meet Paul Robson and David Patterson, President and CEO, respectively, of Northwater Capital Management Inc., an internationally recognized institutional investment company with offices in New York, Chicago and Toronto. David formed Northwater in 1989 and launched a number of firsts in the investment industry, including obtaining a Revenue Canada ruling that allowed pensions and RSPs to exceed the 20% foreign content limit and offering the first Canadian mutual fund permitting up to 100% foreign diversification. Success followed and he grew his two-person startup into a hugely successful firm that has 90 employees and manages over $14 billion in institutional investments.

Some of the lessons from this session include:

• Understanding that there are certain types of financial strategies appropriate for leaders at various stages of their careers.
  
  
• Learning whether you are behind or ahead in the world of personal wealth.
  
  
• Coming to terms with whether your current personal financial choices are the right ones.
  
  
• How to avoid the perils of having wealth and not knowing how to fully cultivate it.
  
  
• Discovering the latest tax planning tips for CEOs.
  
  

Some of the lessons from this session include:

• Ensure that you continually challenge your company’s status quo to avoid complacency.
  
  
• Don’t be afraid to face the hard decisions and present a completely new way of looking at the business.
  
  
• Constantly remind people in your organization about its vision and strategy.
  
  
• Recognize that business partnerships can work to find solutions and create value.
  
  
• Understand that conflict can produce new ways of thinking about vision and strategy.
  
  

• Defining value based management and its impact on an organization.
  
  
• Understanding the link between performance measures and shareholder value.
  
  
• Learning how to align strategy and shareholder value to achieve prosperity and growth.
  
  
• Discovering how to make better decisions relating to the creation of value.

Gaining insight into the measures taken by major corporations to reinvent the way they do business to implement value based management.

Has the concept of sustainable growth not always been at the top of every leader’s agenda? What’s changed in the attitude of the leader and/or the organization today – has anything changed or are we bound by an endless conversation? In too many cases, leaders may have the vision but the follow through never materializes. The formulation of strategy and concepts is one thing, but unless development goals permeate throughout an organization nothing gets accomplished. What steps as the leader of your organization are you taking to translate this concept and strategy into an ongoing success? How do you ensure that your company is on track to consistently post profits while building for the future?

Mike will be discussing how to establish business practices that can be integrated into an organization, translating theory into action. He will provide a better understanding of sustainable growth, which many people believe relates only to increased profitability. Mike believes it also means driving the values of a company, allowing it to attract and retain high-quality employees who may become part of the future leadership team. Using best practices case studies from Suncor Inc. and Catalyst Paper Corp., Mike will illustrate what he calls the three pillars for sustainable growth: profits, environment and corporate social responsibility.

Some of the lessons from this session include:

• Learning what you need to be an effective public speaker.
  
  
• How to make speaking look natural in front of large or small groups.
  
  
• How to maintain control of business meetings.
  
  
• Recognizing those things that speakers are already doing right.
  
  
• Eliminating the “pomposity of speaking”; being too smooth and polished.
  
  
• Understanding what listening skills really mean.
  

Some of the lessons from this session include:

• Understanding how demographic trends will result in a shortage of executives and leaders.
  
  
• A more comprehensive definition of leadership and how it can be developed.
  
  
• Learning how to prepare for future opportunities by exploring executive development options.
  
  
• Experiences of major GTA companies in creating and running executive development programs.
  
  
• Information on Deloitte’s recently launched Leadership Development Program

Warren is a member of the C.D. Howe Institute's Monetary Policy Council and has been involved with economic policy committees of the Canadian Board of Trade.

For many executives and managers the fear of making the wrong choices often results in strategy that is both cautious and unremarkable. Yet even breakthrough strategy can fail due to unforeseen circumstances. Understanding how to resolve this strategic conundrum is essential for today's leaders as they look for opportunities to create sustainable growth.

That is why I am pleased to invite you to hear Michael Raynor, a consultant with Deloitte Consulting LLP, to discuss his timely and compelling new book The Strategy Paradox: Why committing to success leads to failure (and what to do about it). Michael is a gifted writer and business observer who has worked with senior executives of leading corporations in a wide range of industries. His new book offers groundbreaking research and a fresh perspective on strategy, including real-world case studies from major corporations

Karen Seward, Sr. Vice-President of Business Development and Marketing at Shepell.fgi, one of North America's leading providers of health and wellness solutions for employers and their employees. For over 11 years, Karen has been in the forefront of the personal and organizational wellness field and she will be providing valuable insight into the wide variety of factors that have an impact on physical, mental, emotional and social health.

Her discussion will offer tips and techniques for coping with executive stress, and recognizing the conditions that over time can lead to physical, mental and emotional issues. Using real-world examples, she will illustrate how she has helped leaders and executive teams overcome personnel issues and create healthy, productive workplaces to build sustainable growth. The success of any company relies on leaders having proactive tools in place to get the best from themselves and their people.