What Was Your Career Breakthrough?

InquiringMinds-5.jpg

David Emerson, executive chair and CEO, B.C. Transmission Corp.

“Every time I accepted a deputy minister’s job, colleagues would tell me I was crazy because the average tenure was only 2½ years, so I was just going to end up being fired.
The breakthrough point was when I realized you have to take risks in your career. Debt is a career inhibitor: you start making decisions in a way to preserve your job and pay your mortgage, and that is not the way to show leadership.”

Sue Paish, CEO, Pharmasave

“When I became managing partner for Fasken Martineau, I knew I was going to be travelling and working longer hours and wouldn’t see my family as much. I told my daughters, ‘This is going to give me opportunities, and if I try my very best, I’ll be able to do whatever I want.’ My seven-year-old asked, ‘You mean like work at a pet store?’ I thought, I don’t know if I want to work in a pet store, but I really can do anything I want to do.”

Timothy Taylor, author, Stanley Park

“There were two at least: winning the Journey Prize in 2000, then getting shortlisted for the Giller in 2001 for Stanley Park. Those combined to push me out of consulting and into writing full time. So things really changed after that. But a career is a series of breakthroughs, any career. Every project lends to a new way of thinking, a new idea. And life is all about the tomorrow that today’s idea makes possible.”