Insights Gained from Leadership Amidst Tragedy: Steering a Family Logging Enterprise
Hell yeah, let's dive into the world of corporate governance with Rod McQueen, a bloody freelance contributing columnist for the Star's Business section. Rod's got a wealth of experience under his belt, chatting with powerful CEOs, and now he's sharing the lessons he's learned. Based in Toronto, you can drop him a line at [email protected].
Now, imagine conducting an interview via phone - whatever, bro. But Rod prefers in-person meetings because they're like an all-you-can-eat buffet of knowledge, not just on the topic, but also about the individual.
So, when Rod approached Guylaine Saucier for an interview and she extended an invite to her swanky apartment on Montreal's Sherbrooke Street West, he was all in.
Saucier, being the chair of the joint committee on corporate governance sponsored by the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Canadian Venture Exchange, and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, had just produced a report called "Beyond Compliance: Building a Corporate Culture." Talk about being a bloody important person in the corporate world.
For the interview, Saucier chose her bougie library, a room that was painted a bold tomato, reflecting her vivacious personality. The room was decorated with books, documents, and all the tech gadgets one would expect in a modern workspace.
Saucier was petite, had brown hair, rocked a casual checked jacket, and had a smile that was natural and inviting - the kind of executive whose warmth radiated as powerfully as their influence.
When it came to governance, Saucier was all about gradualism.
"I want to get people to change their behavior," she said, "Should we press for total revolution, or is persuading them to adopt reasonable positions a better strategy for a quicker buy-in?"
The governance committee agreed that creating fair rules for companies of every size and circumstance was a bloody challenging task.
"Listen, I'm a quick learner," said Saucier, "But when you're attempting to change a culture, it takes time. You've got to allow for a digestion process. It sucks, but it's necessary."
I dubiously looked up the meaning of her name later. A saucier is the kitchen assistant of a great chef, responsible for creating sauces. Just as delicacy is required in that role, so is finesse when it comes to guiding corporate governance. In Saucier's eyes, a board's key responsibility is selecting the company's CEO.
"If you pick the perfect CEO at the exact right time, everything else will fall neatly into place. But if that first foundation stone is crooked, no board can replace the work of the CEO. In the end, it's about judgment. How would you regulate that?"
Saucier's family business background played a significant role in molding her views. In 1975 her father died in a plane crash. With her five siblings scattered, Guylaine, the eldest sibling at twenty-nine, was chosen to run the family sawmill business, Saucier Forest Products in Abitibi, in northwest Quebec.
As a chartered accountant, Guylaine had served as the company comptroller for four years. Suddenly she was chairman, president, CEO, and the only female boss in a man's world. Her tenure was a resounding success – employment tripled to 1,200, and sales reached $85-million before the family business was sold in 1988.
Corporate governance wasn't really trendy yet, but Guylaine put some principles into practice at the family firm that have since become widely accepted, like expanding the board beyond family to include outside directors. It seemed blooming obvious to me that a woman would excel in a leadership role – their egos don't crave as much validation. As an entrepreneur, Guylaine knew that regulations were the last thing a company needed. When she accepted the role as chair of the joint committee, she already had a radical thesis in mind.
"I wanted to tackle behavior, not structure. If a shareholder isn't satisfied, they can sell. If enough of them sell, somebody will get the message. This is how we try to change behavior. I don't think you change behavior through regulations."
Over time, her views have become largely accepted – it's better for boards to do the right thing, not merely follow rules. The prestige Guylaine garnered meant she served on a variety of boards, from the Bank of Montreal to the CBC.
"I'm not one to pat myself on the back," Saucier said, "I've got some fundamental principles that matter to me. When you're managing others' money, you're accountable to them. I believe that better governance leads to better performance, and that's how you breed stronger leaders."
Lessons for life learned while logging in the woods.
- Rod McQueen, a contributing columnist for the Star's Business section, expressed his opinion that in-person meetings are more beneficial than phone interviews, as they offer a buffet of knowledge about the individual apart from the topic.
- Guylaine Saucier, the chair of the joint committee on corporate governance, based her leadership style on gradualism, preferring to persuade people to adopt reasonable positions for quicker buy-in instead of pushing for total revolution.
- Saucier, whose family business background shaped her views, believed that the key responsibility of a board is selecting the company's CEO, asserting that if the CEO is chosen correctly at the right time, everything else will fall into place.
- Saucier's radical thesis, which aimed to change behavior rather than structure, has been largely accepted, with the prevailing belief now being that it's better for boards to do the right thing, not merely follow rules.
- Saucier's success in business and her influence on corporate governance in Canada have led to her serving on various boards, such as the Bank of Montreal and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
