Class Act

As Alberta's Business Person of the Year, Sam Shaw proves he has learned the lessons of success

Dec 1, 2004  

by Cheryl Mahaffy

Businesses incubated in the McNeill Centre will have access to students seeking real-world assignments, faculty with expertise in more than 200 areas and intensive entrepreneurial training, Janzen tells the SpringBank duo. “Somebody may have a great idea but not necessarily be grounded in the business principles to package it, whereas here, that is our core business. So we can supplement a great idea with a great education. We can marshal resources around business start-ups.”

On the way out, we swing through the HP Centre cafeteria. Back in 1997, food services drained $250,000 a year from the NAIT budget, Shaw says. Determined to flip that around, NAIT began purchasing franchises such as Mr. Sub and Pizza Hut, which now generate $850,000 a year. “So these facilities fund what we want to do on the academic side.”

As envisioned, the business incubator holds similar promise. “We’re not going to be in the business of being in business,” Shaw tells SpringBank. “What we want is to leverage an equity position for NAIT and translate that into a fluid fund that can contribute to other projects around academia.” The enterprises started there should boost Alberta’s economy and funnel dollars into NAIT’s core business.

On the phone from SpringBank a few days later, Abbott forecasts at least a loose affiliation with NAIT’s incubator, attracted in part by Shaw’s “refreshing” leadership style. “If you compare it to others in public sector leadership roles, it’s kind of a breath of fresh air, the way he’s tackled problems there and helped to grow the organization,” Abbott says. “It looks like things are getting done around there – it’s not just all talk.”

“How about you call on your cell phone when you’re finished?” Shaw is working out logistics with daughter Robyn, who’s using Dad’s office as a supper-hour way-station. One of three children born to Sam and his wife Claudia, she’s the second to attend NAIT; older brother Clayton is in the business program while younger sister Amanda has yet to choose her path.

Robyn will be tackling an interior design project tonight while her dad teaches organizational behaviour. It’s a usual Wednesday evening gig for Shaw. Even when out of town, he conducts his class by addressing students in one of the HP Centre’s two videoconferencing suites, a smart use of the technology.

Holding an MSc from Dalhousie University and an MEd and PhD in applied psychology and higher education from the University of Toronto, Shaw’s own learning took him through biology, physiology, biophysics, measurement evaluation, computer applications and Harvard’s professional development program. Discovering a love of the classroom during a stint at Ryerson, he has carved out a chunk of time for teaching ever since.

Arriving in his fourth-floor classroom with a full 10 minutes to spare before class begins at 5:30 p.m., he doffs the jacket and chats with arriving students. “I think he unwinds here,” one says, and it looks as if he’s right.

Case studies and stories pepper the evening, as one might expect from a scenario planner. Tonight’s topic contrasts emotions, attitudes and core values, triggering numerous flashbacks to happenings during the day, including an encounter with a speed trap en route to that multi-zero plea for funds. “Emotions are very powerful triggers that direct us to act on our environment,” Shaw says, recalling how the sight of a radar camera set his pulse racing as he hit the brakes. “The same thing happens in organizations, and you’ve got to train staff. We have a lot of industrial classrooms, and when the red light goes on, it means something.”

“The highlight of my week has got to be last night,” Shaw tells me the next day. “I love teaching – being close to the customers. I can take my coat off and we can talk about concepts that we apply on a daily basis.”

A framed choo-choo train holds a place of honour on the executive boardroom wall. Along with the huge pink energizer bunny (a gift from staff) and various memorable hats, it’s a must-see on our tour of the memorabilia that inevitably collects in the CEO suite. Perched atop a steep incline, the engine recalls Shaw’s stint as chair of the United Way of the Alberta Capital Region’s year 2000 fundraising campaign. Story-based as always, he gave each member of the campaign cabinet a “little engine that could” to track progress. When the campaign succeeded in attracting $12 million, 10% up from the year before, he made sure each team member received a framed “We Can Express.”

Shaw’s passionate leadership as a United Way volunteer, in fact, helped convince George Andrews to leave that organization behind this fall and join the NAIT team as vice-president external relations. “It wasn’t a huge leap from the United Way,” he says. “It’s all about helping people to become empowered.” Given the expensive projects ahead, it’s a plus that Shaw’s connections stretch wide in both corporate and educational circles, he adds. “I bump into people all the time who say ‘How’s Sam? Great that you’ve got him.’”

Many of Shaw’s less visible volunteer roles also reflect a desire to empower, such as his role on the board at Goodwill Industries of Alberta. “It’s a privilege to be involved with community groups that are making a real difference in our community,” he says. “When you start looking at our community, its quality of life really is supported by people contributing their resources, including time, to some really worthy causes.”

“Where’s Mave Dhariwal? Stand up, Mave. He’s the man. Mr. Open House.” Having gathered senior NAIT staff for a breakfast briefing, Shaw is warming up the crowd. Ignoring the lectern, he wanders the room, singling out deserving souls whose work illustrates key points. Like the elephants marching across his tie, his brain hangs onto things, names included.

Briefings like this, coupled with a culture of consultation, give staff the information they need to set their work in the larger context while enabling managers to take the organization’s pulse, Shaw later reflects. “I don’t think a senior executive is ever too busy to gather what I call emotional intelligence. Although I don’t see them every day, I make a point of trying to meet my staff. It’s that kind of conversation that will lead us into the next generation.”

The room as a whole gets its share of praise. “I gotta tell ya, when we go out to potential donors, the good work that you have done gets us in the door,” he enthuses. “There is no question that the companies we’re talking to and the people we’re talking to want to partner with NAIT because of what you’re doing every day.”

Shaw closes the breakfast with a nod to his top team’s “summer reading assignment,” Joe Collins’ From Good to Great. Why read Joe Collins? Because it both reflects and challenges the NAIT culture, he says. “I think we’re a good organization, and I think we’re hitting the cusp of being a great organization. We’re only 42 years young, but we’ve been able to master some things in a very big way that will take us to that next level. There’s a buzz. People want to work at NAIT, want to be part of a team that can go to that next level.”

What holds NAIT back? “Time,” Shaw says. And with that, he checks his watch and strides off to face his next challenge.

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