What a great evening. The indomitable Jon Love, Executive Chair and Founder of KingSett Capital, joined me for a one-on-one discussion about his extraordinary career, his reflections on leadership and current public policy issues in a rapidly changing world landscape. This was part of the Association for Corporate Growth’s The Influencer Series and we spoke to a record-breaking packed house at the TMX Broadcast Centre in downtown Toronto. The Private Equity group at Bennett Jones was proud to sponsor the event.
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Pictured: Simon Crawford (left), Partner and Head of the Real Estate Industry Team at Bennett Jones, and Jon Love, Executive Chair and Founder of KingSett Capital
Here are some key takeaways from Jon on the critical ingredients in business leadership, the responsibility of business leaders to help shape public policy and why Canada needs a prosperity agenda now more than ever.
I learned that as a leader, you need to look after the people you deal with, care about their interests and see things from their perspective. When you do, good things happen.
The first thing I look for is values. KingSett Capital is founded on them. Values run deep and the lessons they teach are remembered.
I want to know if a person is curious and wants to learn. And people need to have the right attitude. They must fit within the culture of the organization. A strong culture is essential for success.
There are four important things to do in succession planning:
All of this takes time. It’s about taking gradual, incremental steps. It is an evolution, not a revolution.
If you do this, new leaders will emerge, and others will recognize them.
When you are leading in a time of crisis, what works is transparency, vulnerability and communication. You also have to be realistic.
Leadership requires vision, that you trust people and communicate with them. And you have to walk the talk.
In a civil society, business must have a voice. Labour, government and media all have their voices, and business needs to be a part of the debate.
Business leaders should have conversations about issues that matter to them. It is important that people get exposed to what businesses think.
When leaders share their views about what they see as priorities for the country, it helps build trust. People can understand where they are coming from.
Business leaders also need to be at the forefront of technology. When I first started using social media and LinkedIn, it was relatively new. I found it to be an effective way to communicate and engage with others. I still do.
We are in a political recession. The priorities of politicians are not the priorities of voters.
The economy went off the agenda 10 years ago. This is a serious problem. If there isn’t business growth, we can’t support our high standard of living. We have to get the narrative back to the economy. This is how we create better jobs and generate growth.
This is an opportunity for Canada. It’s an opportunity to create a dynamic and resilient economy that’s focused on growth and productivity.
The first thing we can do is get rid of interprovincial trade barriers. This will boost growth and is entirely within our control.
We should also become an energy superpower. Canada has all of the tools, know-how and resources. Let’s start with creating an east/west energy corridor.
We need to do the hard work to make this happen.
We can unlock all kinds of potential by making Canada a more attractive tax jurisdiction and easing the regulatory burdens on business. We can change this quickly if we’re decisive.
We have too many heavily taxed and regulated industries. Real estate is just one example. If an apartment building costs C$150 million to build, C$50 million of that is tax. And when things are over-regulated, everything takes longer so it costs more.
Just look at how many resources we put into taxing things. The United States has a population of 335 million people and 94,000 work for the IRS. Canada has a population of 40 million and 68,000 work for the CRA.
The game has structurally changed with our largest trading partner. It’s a wake-up call.
Voters must ask political candidates and elected leaders what their plan is for prosperity—and hold them to it. Will we compete or retreat?
We can realize our immense potential if we just focus on doing it.
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Bennett Jones’ Private Equity group leads their field in Canada. The team represents all sides in private equity transactions, with particular depth on the buy-side on behalf of US and international financial sponsors.