What piece of business advice got you where you are today?
We surveyed 16 of our province’s most intriguing business, political and community leaders, and asked them one simple question: what’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I ever heard was something that Einstein said: strive not to be a success, but strive to be of value. That’s always rung true for me.
When I was about eight or nine years old, my family emigrated from the Ukraine during the war, and we travelled all over Europe. We ended up in Austria because we were trying to…
Founder and CEO, Nettwerk Music Group
I have to say, I owe my success to not listening to the advice of others. The music business is very central to Toronto, L.A., New York, Nashville and London. Vancouver is not really…
I can’t remember where I first heard this, but it’s a great piece of advice: don’t try to solve tomorrow’s problems today. People sometimes get tied up in knots over what their problem might be tomorrow, instead of…
My dad, when I was very young, told me always to be very honest. I never forgot it. I’ve lived by his words ever since, and if anybody asks me for advice,
Music director, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
When I was 31, I was conducting a show in Aberdeen with the Scottish Ballet, and Peter Hemmings, the creator of the Los Angeles Opera, who was then general manager of the London Symphony Orchestra,
CEO, Canfor Corp.
I was a middle manager at Finning International in 1982, and the business downturn at that time was very severe; we went from 2,400 employees to 1,200. Our CEO at the time, Vin Sood, told us in…
Very early on in my financial-services career, we were assigned mentors who were more senior people in management. My mentor–and I’m not sure I should…
Ultimately, the best advice is something I’ve heard from many places, which is to be yourself. Now they have a fancy word for it: authenticity. It just means that you can be effective without having to…
My dad used to say, "Always leave room for the possibility that you could be wrong." He also said, "The smarter you are, the more you allow for that possibility of being wrong." Society…
A friend of mine told me a long time ago to never burn a bridge. There may be people that you meet at certain times in your life and don’t appreciate, but you may never know…
