The Canadian Business Hall of Fame celebrates visionaries who have excelled in business, innovation and philanthropy. Each year, Inductees are acknowledged for their remarkable national and global contributions and their pivotal role as mentors and wisdom-sharers with Junior Achievement youth, Canada’s future business leaders. Here, this year’s Companions of the Order of the Business Hall of Fame – Louis Audet, Jay Hennick, Stan Marshall and Prem Watsa – share a few pearls of the invaluable wisdom they’ve picked up along the way.
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Louis Audet
As he reflects on his 25-year tenure as former president and chief executive officer of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc., the cable and broadcasting companies founded by his family in 1957, Louis Audet shares some valuable advice for the next generation. “You have to trust yourself, not in a blindly obstinate way but where you know your strengths and weaknesses,” he says. “There have to be many points at which you ask yourself, ‘Am I going about this the right way? Is this the right outcome?’” Under Audet’s leadership, Cogeco has become a leading North American telecommunications company with more than 1.6 million customers across Quebec, Ontario and 13 U.S. states.
He continues to act as Board Chair of the company while also contributing to philanthropic and business communities.
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Jay Hennick
Want to be successful? Change your mindset. “Successful people don’t see problems. They see solutions,” says Jay Hennick, who oversees more than $4.5-billion in revenues as chairman, chief executive officer and controlling shareholder of Colliers International. Defying thyroid cancer, surviving brain cancer and emerging as a leader in global commercial real estate are all par for the course for the founder of FirstService Corporation, North America’s largest residential property management and services company. “Successful people fall six times and get up seven and that means you have to learn to deal with adversity in business and in life,” says the founder of the Jay & Barbara Hennick Family Foundation, which supports causes focused on health care, education and the arts.
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Stanley Marshall
A good leader is someone others want to follow – but that’s only part of the equation, says honouree Stanley Marshall. “Have your own vision but be prepared to act on it. And to build trust, never ask somebody to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.” During his 35-year tenure at Fortis Inc., Marshall transformed the Canadian utility giant into a North American powerhouse. Under his helm, Fortis became Canada’s largest investor-owned gas and electric utility. His strategic acquisitions propelled Fortis further into the U.S. and Caribbean markets. Post-retirement, Marshall revitalized Nalcor Energy as its president and chief executive officer. As a proud Newfoundlander, Marshall is known for his passion in preserving the region’s history and in championing young talent.
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Prem Watsa
Honesty, integrity and giving back to the community are guiding values for self-made billionaire Prem Watsa, who defines success on two platforms: faith and family, and honesty and integrity. His advice to business students? Never compromise those values, he says, recalling a Biblical quote: “What profiteth a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?” Watsa arrived in Canada from India more than 50 years ago with $8 in his pocket and his father’s lessons to “work as hard as you can, as though everything depends on you. Pray as hard as you can, as though everything depends on God.” To pay for his MBA studies, Watsa sold air conditioners door-to- door. In 1985, he founded Fairfax Financial Holding Limited, a casualty insurance and reinsurance company that now operates in more than 100 countries.
The Canadian Business Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, honouring Audet, Hennick, Marshall and Watsa, will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on May 23, 2024.
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with The Canadian Business Hall of Fame. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.