He soon entered the world of finance
and, in the early 1990’s set up FirstEnergy, a merchant bank for the oil
industry. Unlike traditional regular and merchant banks it concentrated on
helping small oil companies be financed and raise money.
Brett was immensely successful in
business but at an equally great cost to his personal life. He recounts his
limited involvement with his children and the erosion and collapse of his
marriage. As his personal life faltered he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
As the 20th Century ended
he re-evaluated his life and priorities. Too late to save his marriage he
re-established good relationships with his children. He took the time needed to
treat his cancer. He re-balanced the time spent on work, family, friends and
community.
Brett is among the few writers of business
autobiographies and biographies to emphasize integrity is at the heart of his
business deals. Striving for good deals he is not desperate to extract the last
dollar out of every transaction.
Brett lives by prairie ethics. He
says:
Ask anyone in the Calgary corporate community and they’ll
tell you: if you want to hire a trustworthy person who understands that a hard
day’s work earns a fair wage, just hire someone from Saskatchewan.
In his investments he hearkens back
to an earlier era of business. He invests more with the people seeking his
money than the numbers they present to him. I was reminded of famed American
banker J. Pierpoint Morgan who said character was the most important asset in
considering a loan.
In Canada he is best known for the 3
years he was a panelist on the Canadian edition of the T.V. series, Dragon’s Den, where real life business
moguls evaluate pitches for investment from fledgling businesses and sometimes
invest in those businesses. During his years on the show Brett was the most
positive about ventures and made more investments than any other Dragon.
It can hard to evaluate whether a
writer is truthful about their life. I do know one of the businesses in which
Brett invested as a Dragon. He did make a fair deal. In his description of the
investment in the book he did not over-state the facts. He provided an accurate
picture of the investment and what has happened since he made the investment.
Even rarer is his business
commitment to philanthropy. When Brett and his partners set up FirstEnergy they
decided to donate 2.5% of the firm profits to charitable organizations. They
have maintained that principle through the years.
In his personal life he has
creatively raised millions of dollars. One of his favourite means to raise
money is to host a party for which he pays all the expenses and then invites
friends, colleagues and other members of the community to provide a cheque at
admission for his charity of choice for the event. He asks them to provide what
they would pay for a good meal and consider adding something more. Individual
parties have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I was probably more impressed by his
personal commitment. He travels almost every year to Mexico to physically help
build houses for poor Mexicans in the Baja region.
Brett believes all students should
be taught classes in:
1.) Marketing – “Understanding the value of brand, goodwill
and the purchasing decision-making process is an invaluable competitive
advantage over others, even when it comes to preparing your own resume and
business card”;
2.) Entrepeneurship – “Studying examples of great Canadian
entrepreneurs can plant seeds that will bear fruit decades later”; and,
3.) Philanthropy – “I fundamentally believe that giving back
is an opportunity to change the world you and your family live in, to improve
the brand of your business, to invest in the future”.
My only regret in the books is the
lack of examples of business mistakes from which he has learned. He provides
significant illustrations of his personal mistakes. I wish he would write
another book on his business mistakes and what he learned from them.
Few people can match his passion and
energy. All readers could benefit from a personal re-definition of success.
(Jan. 6/13)
Bill - I wish more business leaders learned the lessons he has learned. There are ways to be successful in business and be a full and complete human being too. And when people like that are at the top of a company, others tend to follow their lead.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. I agree!
ReplyDelete