My team of 'Avengers' - the professionals I get to work with (that can help YOUR business)

​I am my own boss (well, Mrs Donald is) and I love what I do – Helping Organizations & People ACHIEVE More. Almost 6 years ago now someone suggested I go out on my own. It was scary, exciting, challenging, rewarding and scary (did I already say it was scary?).
 
When you are really challenged, you really grow.

You also learn a lot about yourself - especially what you are good at and what you need to keep working on. I have learned I am pretty good at helping others. Don’t get me wrong, I am still a work in progress - but at 55 years young I have some experience and a willingness to help and give back. Specifically, I am continuously improving at helping others learn about themselves (strengths and areas to improve) and figuring out what is most important to them.
 
But that’s not the point of this blog. I have written about myself enough (for now). This blog is about something else I have learned over the past several years: You can’t truly be successful without being surrounded by and working with other like-minded professionals.
 
For me there are a couple reasons for this:

1. It’s great to share ideas and collaborate on a variety of topics. I have the good fortune of being able to share thoughts, vent, discuss, collaborate etc. with a large group of really really smart people.
2. You can better serve your clients. By teaming up with these really really smart and talented people, I can say to someone “I don’t do that, but I know someone who can help you.”

Although I have written about this before (http://www.sbdgrowth.ca/blog-posts/story-of-scott-reminiscing-and-whats-around-the-corner-on-our-professional-journey) I want to do a bit of a deeper dive into these super-duper talented people I get to work with.
 
Here is the list of some of the friends and all-stars I get to work and collaborate with on a regular basis.

I have known Gord Dmytriw for over 20 years. In fact years ago I once interviewed for a job with him. He was later a client of mine and since then we have kept in touch for all these years. These are Gord’s areas of expertise:

• Adapting your corporate culture to the changing environment
• Improving the speed of decision-making within your company
• Creating high performing teams
• Developing leadership potential

Gord’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordondmytriw/

Doug McCartney is someone I have gotten to know better more recently. His experience in both the public and private sector is ridiculously extensive. Doug helps in the following areas:

• Drafting multi-year business transformation plan
• Sourcing financial support
• Improving operational processes
• Implementing innovation focused organizational culture

Doug’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasmccartney/
 
Gary Brownstone is a newer professional connection mine. His person’s back ground, experience and professional network are exceptional. His value for organizations is substantial and how he helps can be summed up simply as follows:

• Buy businesses
• Sell businesses
• Solve growth-related challenges.

Gary’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garybrownstone/
Catchfire Group’s website: https://catchfiregroup.ca/
 
I have known Tim Phelan for about a decade and more recently he has ventured out on his own (as per my recent LinkedIn post). Tim is really talented at helping organizations tell their story by providing:

• Marketing consulting (strategy, KPI’s etc)

• Multimedia production (video, drone, audio, photography)
• Online content creation (social media, brand copy, blogs)

Tim’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timphelan10/

Winnipeg ‘Hooligans’ business group –At one point someone playfully referred to all of us hooligans and the name stuck. I have been part of this Winnipeg based business networking group for about 10 years. This collection of local Winnipeg professionals provides services in a variety of areas and will be detailed in a future blog. Stay tuned

The Envision Group – I worked at Sprint Canada with Envision Founder & CEO Pat Lipovski waaaaay back in the 90’s. We reconnected to work together almost 4 years ago. The Envision Group (EVG) is a diverse team of professionals across North America focused on “helping People, Leaders and Teams achieve far more than they believed possible”. Solutions include:

• Capital Sourcing
• Management Consulting (including Strategy Development and Alignment)
• Leadership support (including Business Development, Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) and DE&I)

Envision Group’s website: https://www.envisiongroup.ca/

As a Sales and Leadership Coach, I gain incredible value working with this diverse group of professionals.  I am part of a team that helps me, challenges me and makes me better. They also allow me to better support my clients. Each of them are really good at what they do. Working together, we can do even great things (like saving the world from Thanos).

​So while I may be my own boss, I have come to realize that working with other professionals is critical to my success in helping clients.
 
Need help? I know people (lots of people)…let’s talk.