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Share Your Story - Scott Richardson

I remember when

I was an employee of the Board from 1980-1999, enjoying some exceptional opportunities from that of Pipeline Engineer and Team Leader to Secretary of the Board, Business Leader and perhaps most unusually Project Manager for the transition to Calgary.

I am writing to offer congratulations to the employees and members, past and present who have contributed so much to the reputation of the NEB as a leader in all aspects of its business.

What do I miss most since leaving the NEB?

I miss all the fun we had. For instance, that time after a hearing in northern BC in the early 80s, when project staff succeeded in getting their air fares upgraded to first class. Word was that they tried very hard to look intently out the window as the Board Members walked past them down the aisle on their way to their economy seats. The ensuing chuckle reverberated throughout the Trebla building for days. Changes to travel policy quickly followed!

More seriously, I miss the collaboration with team members, mentors and peers on how to improve NEB output both individually and collectively. I miss the day to day engagement with all the folks who became close friends and like a second family. Among these, I dearly miss Shawn Aitken and Diana Saunders, two outstanding employees that passed away in the prime of their NEB careers.

I miss too that unique sense of the NEB community. It was the pride in being both a part of the Canadian Public Service, and distinct from it. If not "better than...", then perhaps "best of". Is it still that way?

What is unique about the National Energy Board?

A decade into my second career as a leadership coach and consultant, it is perhaps not surprising that, what I find most significant as I reflect back on my time with the organization, was the quality of leadership that infused the Board from top to bottom. That the NEB has become synonymous with leadership is not just a result of a highly regarded regulatory reputation for innovation and excellence; nor merely the extraordinary Board Chairs, Members, COO's and other leaders that have served it; nor still the high percentage of ex-employees that have gone on to leadership positions in industry, government or their professions. It is also evidenced by the effort the Board chose to invest in a host of (annoyingly) time consuming but culture shaping activities, of which there are many examples. A few of those that occurred during my time at the Board include: establishing the NEB as a separate employer; conducting an organization climate survey and then choosing to 'lean into' the follow up; breaking down professional silos with the creed "NEB First"; creating multi disciplinary teams; defining leadership competencies for team leaders; aligning performance management systems with desired results; and even in taking the time in the midst of the move to Calgary to ensure that NEB and COGLA employees that chose not to move to Calgary, would be treated as equitably as those that did. While some might argue that the Board's identification of the retention challenge and its goal to be an employer of choice, (each having been declared 5-10 years before the 'war for talent' brought these terms into common usage) were a natural response to the move to Calgary, there is more to the embodiment of leadership at the NEB than a mere geographical move.

You see, I have a hunch that the NEB environment itself is biased to "producing" leaders. Consider that employment at the Board exposes one to finely developed communication skills, an acute understanding of fairness and public interest, and an appreciation for diversity in ideas and people; each of which are hallmarks of effective leadership. In my time, the NEB was relatively disciplined in seeking to improve its performance through 'post mortems', or 'review and learns'. What's more, the Board's role to inquire, adjudicate and regulate requires a prevailing disposition of curiosity from which evidence based analysis, reports and decisions are delivered. These twin outward facing qualities of curiosity and evidence based reasoning, when combined with an inward facing practice of review and learn, form a potent breeding ground for personal and organizational leadership development in any environment.

If my hunch is correct, we can rest assured that, with just a touch of nurturing, the remarkable NEB environment will continue to produce, throughout the organization, the exceptional leaders necessary to retain its respected place at the intersection of individual, public and private sector interests.

In celebration of past, present and emergent leadership throughout the NEB, respectfully yours;

Scott Richardson

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Date Modified:

2011-10-26