Q&A with Steve Whittington – Executive Vice President, Managing Director, Speaker and Author
STEVE WHITTINGTON
PHOTO CREDIT: jagerandko.com
I’ve known Steve for 20+ years now, he is one of my sisters’ best friends and my mentor/coach. Steve and my sister met while attending the University of Manitoba back in the 90s. When I moved to Calgary to go to school, Steve and I became workout buddies and would get together for a climb or run before heading to my sisters for dinner. Steve had a busy few years, climbing corporate ladders, moving mountains, getting married and having kids so we lost touch a bit, converging once in a while at my sisters for kids’ birthday parties. But once I went out on my own Steve casually mentioned he would be interested in mentoring me. Now, when you’ve known someone for as long as we have there are often preconceived ideas of what people are like, (i.e. imagine me as a disgruntled teen) but I’m so glad I reached out and took Steve up on that offer. It’s not only allowed me to grow exponentially faster than I would’ve been able to on my own, it has been amazing to re-meet and discover an old friend anew.
Tell me about your background? Where did you grow up and go to school?
I grew up in the northern mining town of Thompson, Manitoba. In those days I spent a lot of my time either at our cabin or at one of our fly-in fishing camps. As a result, for about 50% of my childhood I did not have running water or electricity, which means no TV among most other normal kid comforts; which really developed (forced) a love of reading and the outdoors. I attended RD Parker Collegiate in Thompson and then went to the University of Manitoba where I obtained my Bachelor of Commerce with honours. From there I bounced around taking several courses, from Red River College, Mount Royal College and the University of San Francisco, obtaining multiple professional designations along the way. School and learning for me is just part of who I am. So, I continue to take courses constantly and remain active in a variety of professional associations.
What was it like to be in the middle of the 90s .com boom?
It was wild, it was the first time the script was completely flipped on traditional business (or at least the first time I experienced it). I was part of a .com start-up with two other friends. There were not many companies in Winnipeg that were part of the .com boom and we turned into a media darling because of it. It was a fun time, at the age of 23 we would be presenting to a room full of grey hairs and they would hang on very word because they didn’t understand this new technology, but they knew they needed to be part of it. Never had there been such a leadership flip. The incoming generation was taking control, and it was completely out of control. Looking back (now I am the grey hair) the time proved to be another layer of my executive education in those fast and furious 4 years after I graduated. I worked 80 – 100 hours per week, learning about scaling up, venture capital, merger and acquisitions, international distribution, global supply chains and running a sales team – it was like learning about business by drinking from a firehose.
What led you to Flaman group of companies?
After the .com company failed, I pivoted to become vice-president of a web design and marketing firm servicing Western Canada. All our clients looked at me as an expert for online marketing because of my background, so it made business development and sales easy. Ironically, Flaman was one of the few companies I wasn’t able to sign up, even after almost all their vendors had become my clients. Eventually I became Vice President for one of their largest vendors and through various years of developing a working relationship with them, I ended up joining their team. So, I have been exposed to Flaman for around a total of 20 years, 10 years prior and now 10 years as part of the company.
Tell me about your relationship with Graphic Intuitions (GI) and how you ended up as Managing Partner there?
One of the owner’s was the Creative Director for the firm I was vice-president of after the .com business. When I left, he freelanced and started to develop his own client roster. Organizations I was at used his services from time to time, so we remained in touch, even working together on projects. While we had been at the web design firm together, we had talked about creating our own firm. While our paths took us in different direction, we learned that we could still partner. I ended taking an equity stake, becoming a Managing Partner in his business solely providing governance. It has been a fun ride for the last 6 years!
Why did you choose to take parental leave?
At first, I didn’t choose; it was a heated debate between my wife and me. She challenged me to think about one of my core values. Through those discussions I finally was able to see the depth of inequality between the genders in our society and in the workplace. After that discovery, I felt compelled to be a part of the solution to promote gender equality. I also wanted to create a bond with my son Finn, as this time only comes once and the bond that you can create with your child at this age is amazing. The disappointing thing is that the stats on men taking parental leave in Canada are still low, despite the cultural shift that is happening. It is a gift that our society gives to couples. The other point I find disappointing is the reaction to me taking parental leave again. Some of my executive peers are surprised, even shocked that I am taking parental leave again, it is like they felt “he’ll do it once and get it out of his system.”
Read Steve’s blog here: http://stevewhittington-5614178.hs-sites.com/blog/taking-parental-leave-changed
You’re one of the busiest people I know. How do you and Katie (Steve’s wife) keep it together? What does your family structure / day to day look like?
We use a family app called Cozi for scheduling, it includes all kids activities, day care, kindergarten, climbing etc., they are all in that app and it helps organize our life. Both Katie and I are disciplined and have pared down where we can. We don’t watch tv and we prioritize based on the pillars in our life; friends + family, mind + body, community + giving, and career + finance. Katie and I are a complete unit, we look at our entire life like a business and run everything past each other so there is complete transparency. Constant communication is the key. We also understand that there will be unbalance at times and we accept that.
How did you get into mountaineering?
I’ve always been attracted to adventure and extreme sports. This started with one of my first jobs as an initial attack forest fire fighter. But the actual push occurred when I was asked to help lead a mountain climb by a bishop for a group of young people. After I lead the group to the summit I was hooked. To date I have reached the summit of 50 mountains, that said as of this summer I decided to retire from extreme alpine style climbing. With a young family this level of risk doesn’t make sense anymore, there is too much holding me to the ground now. For instance, I used to be on the side of a mountain for a least 60 days a year, now I get out with friends and family to the mountains for 10 days at most. I am still climbing (it is my gym activity) and always will, as the mental focus climbing requires gives me clarity, but I am eliminating unnecessary risk.
Read about Steve’s Everest Climb here: http://www.thequestforeverest.com/
Why did you decide to write a book?
It has been on my list of things to do in life which I wrote when I was 22. I have tried 4 times before; this last attempt really took. What allowed this book to be successful was I found my purpose when writing. Small to medium sized enterprises I feel are under served and under supported, and these businesses represent 99.8% of all corporations in our country. But they need to understand how to manage their customer experience and what a branded customer experience can do for them. I want to support these types of businesses because without them our entire economy is in jeopardy.
Learn more about Steve’s book here.
What brings you the most satisfaction in your job roles/life?
Achieving goals with others. This could be as simple as getting to school on time with Harper (daughter) to making a wonderful dinner with my wife, to helping a non-profit to run better programs. Most of my satisfaction comes from helping others achieve their goals. I’ve never climbed a mountain alone, there have been no solo summits.
What has been your biggest challenge in life so far?
I’ve thought about that a lot, there are a few things that come to mind. Becoming a dad, folding up a business after the .com crash, some of the bigger mountain climbs such as the Mount Saskatchewan attempt and Mount Everest. Today I would say the biggest challenge is to make sure I stay challenged appropriately. I hedge with appropriately because I can push too far sometimes, like when I recently had to be rescued off the face of a mountain during an alpine climb (which is why I have decided to retire from extreme alpine climbing)
Do you feel like you’ve had an “I’ve made it moment?”
When I crested to the top of Mount Everest, I had an “I made it moment”. But I think what I have come to understand is for an individual to grow, they always needs to continue to climb, so as soon as you think you’ve made it, I believe, you’ve created a false finish in your journey. So, with life and personal growth being a mountain with no top, I just focus on enjoying the climb.
What qualities do you value most in your staff/clients/vendors/partners?
Integrity and candor. Without those two things, you have nothing. You don’t have workability; and when you do not truly have workability you have a false agreement.
Who have your greatest mentors/coaches been?
You can find mentors from a variety of people and I seek inspirations widely. I can be influenced by people like Seth Goldin, or mentored in person by my coaches and leaders.
Wally Berg stands out as my greatest mentor. He is a remarkable climber and mountaineer; he has been the expedition leader on many of my climbs and he always knew what to say and how to say it.
On one climb, I got to the secure base on a rock face and I thought I wasn’t going to climb any higher and Wally came up and looked around the corner and said, “the winds are tolerable, risk of avalanche is acceptable and we have a 1,000 feet left – let’s go.”
On my later climbs Wally was no longer climbing with me, just a voice on the radio as expedition leader. Even then he always knew what to say and when to say it, no matter how much misery I was in, or how scared I was. He would tell me, “you are right where you need to be and you’re doing exactly what you need to do,” he knew exactly what to say all the time. I never had to call him or prompt him, he just always seemed to know.
I look back at those climbs knowing those were rich days. My hope is I can use these memories to push harder and reach higher, to be a mentor to others that Wally has been for me.
What are the top books you think every business should have on their shelves?
Good to Great, James C. Collins
Great by Choice, James C. Collins and Morten Hansen
Outliers, Malcom Gladwell
What the Dog Saw - Malcom Gladwell
The Goal, Eliyahu M Goldratt
Outside in, Harley Manning
Scaling up, Verne Harnish
The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon
Deep Survival, Laurence Gonzales
Endurance Shackleton’s incredible voyage, Alfred Lansing
Grit, Angela Duckworth
Peak, Eric Anderson
Fundamentally Different, David J. Friedman
What does the future hold for Steve Whittington?
Creating experiences that matter.