ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR

CEO AND PRESIDENT, ST. JOHN’S ICECAPS ERNST & YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2013 ATLANTIC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Danny Williams shares what he’s learned in a long and storied career, plus a round-up of Ernst & Young’s award winners.

Danny Williams might not seem like an obvious choice to be handed a lifetime achievement award for entrepreneurship, but that’s likely because his colourful political career as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador overshadows his business accomplishments, chief of which was starting Cable Atlantic Inc. “The sad thing about all of that is that I’d like to be known as a lawyer too,” he says, pointing out he practised law — family, criminal and then personal injury and insurance — for 30years. “I guess in some ways I’ve used the revenue I made from law and put it into other areas.” One area would be helping to found the American Hockey League’s St. John’s IceCaps, which is now into its third sellout season. “I got this award and I thought this is it, this is the end,” says Williams, ever ready with a quip. “I did my estate planning in the afternoon, I get a lifetime achievement award in the evening and they’re probably going to bury me in three days time.” Here, he shares some of the things he’s learned during his career.

BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY My philosophy in everything I’ve done is work hard. Work hard, play hard. I’ve worked extremely hard all my life and I don’t mind taking risks. That doesn’t mean I’ll bet the farm on everything I do, but I don’t mind taking some risk. That’s basically what I did in the 1970s and 1980s when I took over control of the cable company. I always paid the top price with dealer/shareholders. If I remember correctly, there were about 18 shareholders in Cable Atlantic and every time one or two, or even three or four of them went, we would always pay the top price for their share of the company because I had enough belief in the future of cable and communications and I couldn’t expect people of some means to sell out and get less than what they’re entitled to. Part of my motto, and I’ve always stuck to it, is that if you don’t anticipate the future, you won’t be part of it. I always try to be a few steps ahead. I’m more of a tops-of-the-trees, end-game guy, and then I work back through the details. RISK-TAKING I was fortunate enough to have a legal practice and I worked hard at that and built a good solid practice over time that gave me a good income. There were times when we had a very young family — we had four young children — that I was paying

“THEREWAS

ALWAYSA BATTLE

TO BE FOUGHT

AND, HOPEFULLY, ABATTLE TOBE WON”

more in interest payments on loans for fledgling businesses that I was starting — one of them being the cable business — than I was actually earning. Those were the tough times of the early ’ 80s. I remember starting a legal practice by myself and I bought a small building and interest rates were 21%. But I always felt there was light at the end of the tunnel. My father’s advice was to stay with your bread and butter. If law is your bread and butter, it will always put food on the table, it will always be your staple, it will always be there, and then risk what you can afford.

BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT The obvious one for anybody is rearing a wonderful family. We’ve been blessed, so having a healthy, happy family is the greatest accomplishment by far. On the legal side, there was a murder trial and I won a self-defence case for a woman who was battered by an abusive husband. Winning a murder trial may not be something to be proud of, but I was because she was innocent and she did act in self-defence. On the political side, it was bringing back the $2- billion [Atlantic Accord] cheque from the federal government after we went through a very long, protracted, tough, fierce negotiation. It was a high point because the other victories we had after that stemmed from that one allowing us to gain our confidence. And then on the business side, selling a company for $250 million, when I had borrowed $2,500 to invest in it back in 1974, was a big business day.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES The biggest hurdle was in politics and it was just wrestling with the many multi-faceted masters you have to serve. As a lawyer, you’re in charge of your own destiny. You run your case, you work with your client, but you run the show. Same thing in business. When you’re the head of a company, you obviously put a good team around you, whatever you do, but you still have the ultimate say. In politics, you do get that ultimate say, but you have several stakeholders: You have to deal with your cabinet, your caucus, the media, the opposition, and then you have to deal with your shareholders, the people you represent. You’re trying to satisfy a lot of different needs and keep them in sync and harmony when at times they’re very much at odds.

LEADERSHIP I got into politics when I was 50 and I had done really well in Newfoundland and Labrador and I really wanted to give something back. I said if I go at this, I really have to do it for the right reasons and the reasons were to try to correct some of the wrongs that had been done to people of Newfoundland Labrador and that over the years we had basically given away too much of our resources. In an effort to gain employment for our people, we sometimes gave up too much in our negotiations. My mantra was “no more giveaways” and I think it struck a chord that was in the heart and soul of every single Newfoundlander and Labradorian. Once they started to believe in me and the fact that I believed in them, the whole reciprocal piece was there and they realized we were all on the same page. The people gave me tremendous support, even when I took down the Canadian flag, fought battles with the oil companies, fought battles with Quebec. There was always a battle to be fought and, hopefully, a battle to be won.

GETTING ADVICE Just as I was making the entry into politics, I did seek the advice of former politicians in Newfoundland and Labrador and advice from other parties as well. I didn’t see myself as a hard-partisan Tory even though my parents from day one were Conservative, back in the Smallwood days when it was very fashionable to be a Conservative, I can tell ya. I can’t say there was one piece of advice that stands out, but I did try to surround myself with good people at the cabinet table and particularly my office. My office staff were good, sound, politically bright people, young people, who constantly kept me in check and gave me advice. I didn’t always take it, but I certainly got it and that’s really what I needed. I always sought counsel.

KEYS TO SUCCESS The first thing is you need to get as much important and relevant information as you can. Whether it’s in politics or in business, I read as much about the subject as I can. Gather as much information as you can and then work extremely hard to see it through. I’ve seen lawyers who were much, much brighter, but who lost cases because they were outworked. I’ve always said I have a horseshoe up my bum and I think there has got to be a little bit of luck. But you also need to be prepared to work hard and take risks. There’s no magic formula or recipe for success, absolutely not. But if you do the homework, put the right people around you and work hard at it, your odds improve every time you put a little more blood, sweat and tears into it.