Connecting The Dots - When Something's Gotta Change Maybe It's You

This week I have the pleasure of having a conversation with Mark Kerzner, the President and COO of TMG The Mortgage Group.  This was a really great interview for me as I have just recently gotten to know Mark a lot better working side by side on the CAAMP board of directors.  My respect for Mark started a number of years ago when, dissatisfied with the status quo in our industry, I started what I dubbed The Mortgage Revolution.  Mark took the time to contact me and made a point of catching up for a coffee when he was out in Edmonton.  To me it highlighted Steven Covey's habit 5 of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  The other really neat thing about this conversation is the fact that Mark and I, theoretically are competitors.  So for us to share information together really speaks to the level of passion for our industry and the fact that we both are prepared to put aside our own agendas to try and move the needle within the environment that we both share.

Brendan Calder is a man who many cite as a mentor.  He has probably helped produce more leaders in the mortgage industry then anyone.  It is my pleasure to spend an hour talking leadership and management with Brendan.  I certainly took some things away from this one that change the way I look at how I do things. About Brendan: Brendan Calder is the Entrepreneur in Residence and Adjunct Professor and Chair of Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking at Rotman where he conducts the award-winning course, GettingItDone®. He was the founding Chair of the Rotman International Centre for Pension Management. He also serves as the Director of EllisDon Construction, Equity Financial Trust Co. and FirstService Corp. Brendan served as the Chair, President and CEO of CIBC Mortgages from 1995 to 2000. He also served as Chair of TIFF and of the Peter F. Drucker Canadian Foundation. Academic Positions 2001-present   Adjunct Professor; Rotman School of Management 2002-present   Faculty: GettingItDone 2nd yr MBA course

Andy is the President and CEO of Canada Guaranty Mortgage Insurance.  He has a vast array of experience in the mortgage business.  He helped introduce the concept of variable compensation mortgage origination to the big bank. We talk about the lessons he has learned over the years in a variety of executive roles with major financial instutions.  We talk about the need to surround yourself with talented people.  We talk about how Andy has done that over the years. Andy tells us some of his personal leadership insights and talks implementation. "If you wait for a perfect plan you've waited too long."  He says "A good plan effectively executed today is better than a perfect plan reasonably well executed six months from now." It's all about execution. "Every one in the organization has a sales or customer responsibility."  It is all about the customer whether you face them directly or support those that do.   Scorecards are key to implementing the shared vision.  Individual scorecards need to be linked in to ince

Yousry is currently the President and CEO of Kanetix, the leading provider of online insurance marketplace.  He has served on numerous boards and been Chairman of several.  After holding senior executive roles with two of Canada's Yousry decided to step up his game becoming President and CEO of Filogix, a technology provider to the Canadian Mortgage broker industry.  Select Accomplishments at Filogix: - Grew revenue from $3 m to $60 m- Turned bottom line losses into $21 m EBITDA- Acquired and successfully integrated ten companies- Sold two divisions with a good return to shareholders- Changed shareholders three times while meeting or exceeding ROE hurdles for each- Invested in and successfully deployed significant system infrastructure for new software and database for financial institutions across Canada- Increased market share from 7% to over 50% of all Canadian mortgage originations  Yousry shares many leadership insights as he walks us through many of his career experiences.

Conventional marketing wisdom would suggest that you want to meet or exceed customer expectations.  The problem that we sometimes run into is that many times our customers expectations are grossly misaligned with reality.  Imagine you have a client that has seen you present at a First Time Buyer workshop.  They are extremely excited about the prospect of buying their first home.  You have given them hope, courage, wisdom and inspiration from your words at the presentation.  They follow up with you after the presentation to discuss the options for that $400,000 mortgage they are going to need to buy their dream home.  Sounds fantastic.  There is only one small problem.  They only qualify for a $250,000 mortgage.  You can see the look in their faces.  The dejection, the disappointment.  You know that they will likely walk out of your office and never return. So how do we deal with unrealistic customer expectations?  Well, we really have three options at this point.  We can do one of three things: We can meet t

Boris Bozic is a 25 year veteran of the mortgage business and has seen what it is like to be a feet on the street broker as well as holding senior positions at one of Canada's largest financial institutions.  Boris went on to found Merix Financial and bring a very unique value proposition to the Canadian Mortgage Broker market. As founding President and CEO of Merix financial Boris shares some of his insights and experiences that has helped him shape an extremely successful organization.  We talk about the difference between leadership and effective leadership.  Boris shares some of the lessons learned at their corporate retreat at Disney.

Dan Putnam is a true industry leader that has seen a variety of the different sides of the mortgage business.  Dan has advanced through a number of different leadership roles and has experience ranging from brokering, to running a small independent brokerage, to heading up one of the largest national broker franchises, to senior executive positions on the lender side of the equation. Dan shares insights on sales and leadership lessons learned from his experiences.  Let me know what you find for take-aways.

Very pleased to bring you this interview with Kathy.  She does a wonderful job of sharing her passions, practices and philosophies.  You will find links to some of the things we discuss under her bio below.  Please let me know if you find this valuable.   Kathy Gregory has over 20 years of executive leadership experience in the lending industry. She is the founding President and CEO of Paradigm Quest Inc. Paradigm was incorporated in 2004 and launched to market in 2005. It was the first mortgage BPO in Canada and the first to provide end to end Private Label mortgage products in Canada.   Kathy was ranked #1 in Profit Magazine’s “Ones to Watch” in the 2009 publication of Profit’s Top 100 Women in Canada. She has led Paradigm to final nominations in two categories of the industry’s most prestigious awards ceremonies in 2009 - Best Industry Service Provider and Best Employer.   In 2010, WXM ranked her as one of the "Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada." Kathy is the past President-Elect of the Canadian Instit

“The difference between a good race and a bad race is how you manage the (inevitable) pain” Chris “Macca” McCormack on triathlon. In 2013 I completed my first Iron Distance triathlon.  In the lead up, and training to complete that race I started paying a lot of attention to those that had been there before me.  My coach, other triathletes that I knew and I especially started paying attention to the pro field of triathletes that graced the covers of the triathlon magazines I had started reading.  Chris “Macca” McCormack soon became one of my favourites.  In early 2013 “Macca” published an article entitled “Embrace the Suck”.  The quote above his opening line.   I think that statement holds equally true for life.

Hali Strandlund is the Senior Vice President Residential Mortgages and Broker Relations at Fisgard Capital Corporation.  Hali says she was born into the business and she is not kidding.  Hali is a leader at Fisgard, she has been the president of the Mortgage Brokers Association of BC (Twice), she is a past chair of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals and has recently helped found WIMI (Women in the Mortgage Industry).   Hali shares her leadership philosophies and lessons that she has learned over the years.  A life of consistent action has made her who she is.

Drew Dudley creates cultures of leadership by helping organizations and their people plan to matter.  I had the good fortune to meet Drew when we hired him to speak at the Axiom Leadership Summit in New Orleans in 2013.  Drew has a fairly simple yet powerful message about what it means to be a leader.  He shares strategies to maximize your leadership potential. On this Thanksgiving weekend I feel very thankful to have met Drew.  He makes a regular impact in my life and our organization.  I hope you like this one as much as I did creating it.

In this episode I share a story of a seemingly inconsequential statement from a man at my toastmasters club that had a huge impact on my life.  We all have the opportunity to be leaders.

In this episode I talk about why I listen to podcasts.  I touch on how to listen to podcasts and talk briefly about my favourite five podcasts

This week we talk about the importance of using concise, specific language in your sales and business communications.

This week we talk about the importance of taking the sale on the customers terms not your own.  

In this episode I discuss the importance of a balance of challenge and support to foster growth.

In this episode we talk about the concept of connecting the dots.  What it means and where it came from.