Al MacPhee

President, A.F. MacPhee Holdings Ltd.

On the Road After 27 years at the wheel of one of Canada’s most successful and decorated car dealerships, Dartmouth’s Al MacPhee says his hardest professional decision was to sell it, which he did last year. It may also have been his best decision: “Making that decision had a tremendous impact on me, my family as well as my employees and their families. As a result, my decision has secured my family’s financial future and many of my former employees have achieved advancement within their new, larger organization.” Still, the multiple GM Triple Crown award winner (he has also received a Maclean’s Dealer of Excellence award, the Time Quality Dealer award and the Summit award) isn’t resting on his laurels just yet. The self-described “kid off the bus from Cape Breton,” who began his corporate career selling cars in 1962, has a new gig as president of Chebucto Ford in Dartmouth. He was also named chair of the Canadian Automobile Association last October. As to where he sees himself in five years, the answer is simple: “Growing.”

Under the Hood For Mr. MacPhee, effective leadership requires no silver bullets. It’s something you learn and practice over time: “Dialogue is my favorite tool. A good leader displays confidence and possesses foresight with humility.”

Kim Mason

Regional President, Atlantic Canada, RBC Royal Bank

A Bankable Record She’s been at the helm of RBC Royal Bank’s Halifax-based Atlantic operations for only 16 months, but already Kim Mason – a multiple awards nominee for honours like the Top 40 Under 40™ and the Halton Business Person of the Year – is making her mark. Thanks to her leadership, the East Coast district of 114 branches and eight commercial banking centres serving 800,000 clients has achieved large gains in market share and sales force effectiveness. In fact, it maintains the highest customer loyalty ratings in the retail and small business markets of all RBC regions in the country. Under her direction, the bank’s Atlantic Financial Planning business has jumped from the middle of the pack to number one in Canada for sales growth. Remarkably, the hard-working executive finds time to chair the Halifax Stadium Committee and serve on the boards of the Greater Halifax Partnership, QEII Health Sciences Centre, and the Dalhousie Dean’s Medical Advisory Committee.

Divining the Future What’s Ms. Mason’s secret? It may come down to transparent, compassionate and visionary leadership, qualities she admires in others. “A leader needs to know when to get into the details and when to take a view from the balcony. To me, a leader with vision implies a leader with a following.”

Francis McGuire

President & CEO, Major Drilling Group International Inc.

Drill, Baby, Drill! It may be a strange admission from one so demonstrably successful, but Francis McGuire, the executive in charge of the second-largest drilling services company in the world – which operates in some of the toughest terrains in more than 20 countries – says that what motivates him more than anything else is a fear of failure. That, he adds, and the desire to have as many people as possible reach their full potential. If you do happen to be associated with Moncton-based Major Drilling Group International, you’re more likely to enjoy the latter, than suffer from the former. For years since McGuire’s arrival in 2000, the company has been one of Atlantic Canada’s true industrial success stories. Specializing in the kinds of mineral exploration and extraction jobs that literally do strike fear into less experienced and equipped enterprises, it’s less than five years away from becoming a billion-dollar company.

Get the Job Done What are the most important qualities for a good leader to have? McGuire says he often asks himself that question – and remains perplexed. “I believe that you have to observe and listen keenly. I believe that you have to get a common direction started. I’ve been told that my modus operandi is to be prone to action.”

Dr. Brian McMillan

President, Holland College

Chief Coach and Bottle Washer For nearly seven years, the ebullient and accomplished academic-cum-university administrator-cum-sporting man, Brian McMillan, has been leading P.E.I.’s Holland College to national and international renown. His peculiar combination of athletic brio and intellectual rigor have ushered a wide variety of innovative achievements: strategic plans, private partnerships, campus infrastructure improvements and expanded government relations. Most recently, he led the revitalization of the college’s finances, student enrollment and services and faculty development. As McMillan observes: “The ramifications of not managing these relationships professionally could have resulted in funding not being approved to enable each of our numerous projects to proceed. Under my leadership, our response was to treat each of the government stakeholders with respect in a very professional manner. It was critical that all funding stakeholders recognized that our objective was to help them achieve their objectives and that we valued their contributions.”

No “I” in Team For Dr. McMillan, the principles of sound leadership have everything to do with personal virtue. “While the qualities of respect, empowerment, high expectations and accountability have been fundamental to my success as a leader, all these traits would be meaningless if you don’t have integrity … integrity is your ‘currency’ to success.”

Carole-Ann Miller

President,> Maple Trade Finance Inc.

What Lies Beneath In the “How’s That, Again?” department of corporate misadventures, Carole-Ann Miller says the worst thing that’s ever happened to her was being “kidnapped in Schenzen and having a gun placed at my back in Shanghai as an attempt to dissuade me from proceeding to take certain actions against a client.” Fortunately, most days for the innovative business lender are not quite as eventful. Still, they are busy. Over the past decade, the president of Halifax-based Maple Trade Finance has shepherded her $3-million-a-year operation into an enterprise with more than $1 billion in turnover. Unlike banks, which lend against hard assets and balance sheets, her company measures a client’s softer assets, such as receivables, purchase orders and contracts. The result: happy customers and a durable hedge against the calamities that undermine more traditional financial services companies.

Busting the Myths “I was told that a woman, operating out of Atlantic Canada, could never realize on the business plan and vision we had for the company,” Miller says. Today, Maple Trade Finance has surpassed its original objectives. Based in Halifax, it has regional offices in most major Canadian cities and is the largest Canadian transactional lender. “This, outside of my two daughters, has been my greatest accomplishment.”

Bret Mitchell

President & CEO, The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation

Toasting Creativity To say that Bret Mitchell has the pedigree to run the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation is to say that a sommelier knows his wine, or a brew master knows his hops. As it happens, Mr. Mitchell knows a fair bit about delivering these and other libations to a waiting public. A former grocery chain executive, he has been meeting the challenges of an under-performing economy and aging consumer base head on, inventing new ways to introduce new products to the marketplace in a fresh and socially responsible manner. In the process, he has presided over a company that has transformed itself into a nationally recognized Crown-owned retailer that employs 1,500 people, maintains 160 stores, and manages an international supply chain through 30 different countries. In fact, he says, “We’ve protected our contribution to our shareholder, outperformed our peers in the industry and have positioned ourselves for future success.”

Change for Improvement Flexibility, creativity, innovation and attention to detail may be Mr. Mitchell’s personal touchstones. But they also apply to his concept of leadership, which, he says, must be respectful. “Leaders must be constructively critical of themselves and their organizations. I believe in change . . . that doesn’t create chaos.”