ChristianEntrepreneurCentre

A collection of entrepreneurs are selected each year to be included in a volume titled, Entrepreneurial Leaders: Reflections on Faith at Work. These are respected entrepreneurs who are striving to integrate their faith into their entrepreneurial pursuits.

Entrepreneurs are either nominated by peers or selected by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leaders. The entrepreneurs are presented with an “Entrepreneurial Leadership Award” in front of their peers and the business community at the annual Entrepreneur Forum.

Biographical Summary

How did you identify the opportunity that led to the setting up of the business?

    I started in the industry of personal and professional development by purchasing a sales training franchise. With my successful sales background this was a natural transition into this field. It was during a local chamber learning event in 1990 that I met Dr. Terry Anderson. Terry founded CRG while teaching at Trinity Western University in 1979. Terry saw that there was a need in the marketplace to create educational experiences that included the learner as part of that process replacing less desirable assessment options like MBTI and DISC. From that meeting at the chamber luncheon I became involved with Terry and CRG as Vice President of Marketing. I was Vice President of Marketing for five years while continuing my own automotive training firm Results Consulting Group. My contract with Chrysler Canada was to provide all soft skills training programs nationally in English. This contract grew to the point that I could no longer fulfill both roles and as a result I resigned my CRG VP of Marketing position and focused on my automotive training company. Many of our automotive training solutions included CRG resources and assessments so I stayed connected to CRG as one of their top producing Licensed Associates. After 9/11 our large automotive contract ended and the opportunity to purchase CRG came into play. The senior principals/owners of CRG all wanted to pursue other interests and I was one of a handful of individuals who understood the content and vision of CRG. I had also matured to understand that my purpose was to help others discover and live their purpose and there was no other organization better suited to fulfill this globally than CRG. With my automotive training contract I had been traveling 300 days a year and for certain knew that I could and would not continue that lifestyle. So with this new found passion I purchased the company six years ago. If I look back on it - the past 19 years have been influenced by that single meeting with Terry at the chamber luncheon in 1990. This was no accident!

What was your most triumphant moment?

    I don’t know if there’s a specific moment, but certainly we feel triumphant every time we certify professionals on the use of our tools. At the end of our three day certification training program the participants say, ‘Wow, I had no idea about the depth and breadth of CRG.’ Those moments are fulfilling. Or when individuals call and share that our resources had some part in them realizing their purpose and potential. We get frequent calls where they share that we saved their marriage, helped someone find the business venture of their dreams or decrease conflict on a team. Completing the three year project of revising all the core assessments and publishing my first book, My Source EXPERIENCE Journal, was very satisfying.

What are the three most important lessons you have learned with respect to starting and running a business that you pass on to an aspiring entrepreneur?

1. You need to appeal to YOUR purpose and passion. In the end, any epreneurial venture is not about serving customers, or even making money, it is about serving your purpose. If that’s not your first priority, than you won’t have the personal energy and the entrepreneurial motivation to stick through it and commit to it. That is why some of my business ventures
failed. I had no personal passion for the business. It was out of my desire to help out my friends that I bought into their business or it had the potential to be a successful financial venture but that is not enough.
Last year, I had an epiphany with respect to running and building my business. The CRG team had previously created a list of values that were the baseline of our company operations. But I did not relate to over half of the values. Why? We had used a team process to determine the company values. But many of the individuals who contributed to the values list no longer worked at CRG. So in that moment I asked myself: who owns company? If as the owner I did not connect to the values as priorities, then I could neither support them, nor would they be sustainable. So I proceeded to re-craft the companies’ statement of core values and I got the team together to explain them. There was no debating the values list; only an explanation to what they stood for. To my surprise the team appreciated the process and felt it was about time. My conclusion was that you should never build your venture to meet other people’s needs, but you must make sure that your endeavour is personally rewarding and sustainable.

2. Focus is very important to your businesses success, especially if it is a start up. I learned that being completely engaged in the right opportunity is more important than being partially connected to many. I have experienced far more energy and fulfillment since I sold and discontinued all my other business interests to concentrate solely on CRG.

3. Carefully surround yourself with trusted advisors who can mentor you or can be a sounding board. They must be individuals who have a proven track record. Everyone has an opinion; very few have wisdom. Do not seek advice or feedback from unqualified sources. When you run into a difference of positions between you and your advisors go back to lesson number one: you own the company and you are the one that will have to live with the decisions that you make so make sure they fit your vision not someone else’s.

The complete interview is available in Entrepreneurial Leaders (Vol. 4), which can be purchased online or at the TWU Bookstore.

President & CEO, CRG International Inc.