Marc Petitpas

EPISODE RECAP

Servant leadership and executive level pivots with Marc Petitpas

Marc sits down with us three weeks into founding his new business, Marc Petitpas Business Coaching, where he brings he years of experience working at the executive level in large corporations to helping businesses and employees grow.

Streamlining operations and building strong, high performing teams are Marc's passions. With over twenty years of experience, James asked how he managed to multitask and oversee so many moving parts while at the helm of such large teams. As Marc reasons, "The bigger you get, if you have the right procedure in place, and the right people to support those procedures, the job remains the same." He brings a multi-dimensional approach to creating efficient operations:

1. Weekly one-on-one meetings with each employee across all levels to discuss what they're working on, where they needed support, talk about KPIs, etc.
2. Monthly senior management team meetings
3. Quarterly professional development strategy meetings with employees
4. On site "walk-arounds" to get a 360 perspective on projects

The importance of servant leadership is across all of those anchor points. For anyone not familiar with this method of leadership, Marc defines servant leadership as putting others first. It's understanding you will grow your business by serving your team and not the reverse. We ask Marc what servant leadership looks like in practice and how to measure whether it's working.

We also dig into the importance of mentorship and how to find a mentor and cultivate relationships that stand the test of time. As Marc shares, he never set out to find mentors but over his career he was able to build relationships that allow him to tap into advice and guidance at subsequent career moments. Marc's career has spanned numerous corporations where he has honed a wide array of skills, working for organizations such as MLSE, Telus, BMO Field, Ricoh Coliseum, and Dunsire Developments. How did that lead him to today, where he markets his business as "hiring a President without the head count"?

Marc strongly believes that if you put your effort into making your people better, your business can only grow, and that's why he is so passionate about coaching leaders. We talk about the importance of top-down change to a compassionate view of mental health in the workplace. Marc shares that he believes all employees should be given personal development plans to create coaching, learning, and growth opportunities. It's based on the fundamental belief that by investing in the employees you have you build a stronger pool to fill roles that might not even exist yet.

Marc and James delve into how to ask for opportunities and how strong leaders will respond - and of course, what to do if you don't have a strong leader and how to identify what that looks like. Marc suggests that leaders provide opportunities for employees to gain experience and skills in areas they're interested in, and how sometimes a sink or swim philosophy can catapult you to success.