I grew up in this business, literally. I was homeschooled and spent years of my life following my father around as he did business. I grew up walking the streets of Calgary, couriering documents. I grew up in a mineral recession, I know what it means when the world shuts its doors to our industry, and I understand what failure can feel like.
My dad taught me stuff, lots of stuff, and some of it’s not easy to explain, but I wanted to write a list of some of those things here:
- Just because you cannot do something, does not mean you are disabled.
- Get up every day and do something.
- You can be the only right person, and everyone else can be wrong; the key is to simply survive until you are proven right.
- Don’t get angry; anger is never the solution to the problem.
- The junior person you are dealing with will be a senior person someday; how much respect you give him early on will be repaid when he makes it.
- There is option value in everything. Keep cheap options open.
- Admit your mistakes and move on.
- Make sure you plan and plan and keep on planning.
- Always unload the airplane.
The early years of my life watching that cycle of business completely colored how I work and the people I have working with me. I know that my father and I do not see eye-to-eye on how to do things, but I am proud to be his son, and I can tell you that being his son saved me 15 years of my career.