"For people to achieve and grow, it's not about the title or the status.
It's about accomplishing things."
- David Cornhill
David Cornhill is a pragmatist with a vision. He has taken small regional player Altagas and turned it into a diversified energy giant. And he has some strong views on where the energy industry needs to go in being a responsible corporate citizen. When he was president and CEO of Alberta and Southern Gas, which supplied much of California with natural gas, the company was wound up. Cornhill had the unpleasant task of laying off 120 people. He took 20 of those corporate refugees and founded Altagas as a midstream gas business in 1994. Since then, the company grew into a diversified income trust before reverting to corporate status last year. Today, it is growing its business into power generation, including massive wind farm and hydroelectric projects in B.C. and gas-fired generation. Cornhill has also worked for Gulf Canada and other energy companies. He shares some of the insights gained from 25 years in the gas and power business.
AV: Bear Mountain is an ambitious wind power project, the biggest in B.C. Why did you get into wind power and what is its commercial potential for Altagas?
Cornhill: We got in the power business in the early 2000s with the acquisition of a purchase-power arrangement in Alberta. Clearly, our strategy from day one was to reduce the carbon intensity and grow our power business. When we looked at the opportunities, clearly wind fit that opportunity and we were looking at Western Canada, which we knew. There wasn’t any great vision other than we wanted to grow our power, we wanted to be responsible and generate clean power, to reduce our carbon intensity. It fit the bill. We looked at various technologies and we felt the technology we were using was reliable on capability. It fit our strategy and we went forward; we looked at how we could reduce risk, how we could work with the people of Dawson Creek and try to build a project that would create value for the community but also create value for our shareholders. When we made the choice for moving into renewables, I guess I stepped back to think what our children and grandchildren think of where we should be going. Clearly, wind power is one part of the equation to generate green power and we believe that the need for electricity will increase in our economy. It seemed to be the right thing to do for the future, for what our children will be thinking of and what they will be looking out for in 25, 30, 40, 50 years from now. It was as simple as that, and then we worked hard to bring it in on time and on budget, minimize the impact on the environment, and I think we did a good job. And that was the big insight.
AV: What is the biggest lesson you have learned as a CEO?
Cornhill: Hiring the right people is critical. And if you make a mistake, it’s dealing with it quickly. I think that talking more, communicating more – and that continues to be challenge for me, as I like to listen more than I like to talk. I always say you can’t learn a lot when you’re talking, but you sure learn a lot when you’re listening. So those are the things: you need people who can help you offset some of your weaknesses and make sure you’re aligned. I think having the confidence to make decisions and move forward and commit to them is probably the biggest learning and I think we’ve done that successfully. We’re not afraid of new challenges and new learnings and to stretch our capabilities and to work hard to make sure we’re reasonably successful.
AV: What would be the single piece of advice you would offer to a rising young executive?
Cornhill: Work and think like you’re the CEO. Make decisions that are right for the shareholders, have confidence in your employees. You need to do the work and understand that. The other is don’t get overcome by the position and the titles and everything around that. If someone’s going to be successful, it’s once you accomplish things, once you create things. For people to achieve and grow, it’s not about the title, it’s not about the status, it’s about accomplishing things; it’s about increasing societal value, not individual value. If you do the right things, your own personal wealth will increase. But if you’re all about driving flashy cars and you’re all about the status, it doesn’t fit with what I want Altagas to be. If that’s what somebody wants, they should be looking at a different company.
AV: Has there ever been a corporate move where you’ve wanted to ask for a mulligan or a do-over?
Cornhill: The decisions I made around people. I’ve often sat in a meeting and wanted to go in a direction and there was active debate. At the end of the meeting, we went in the direction that I wanted to go. Then, on reflection, you realize that you’re wrong. Then you have to go back and change the direction because you were eliminating certain points of view that were really important. Then, with time to reflect on it, and I’ve done a lot of this – I want to go this way but I’m wrong, so we should adjust to take these other things into account. The biggest thing is to be able to listen. You may not immediately say, ‘You’re right.’ But then you go back and reflect on it and you say, ‘Where I wanted to go doesn’t make sense and we should be adjusting it for these reasons.’ You should have the courage to say, ‘Let’s go this way.’ I get mulligans all the time that way.
Any final thoughts?
Cornhill: It’s hard to reflect. When you look back, it’s all about the journey. Just go out and do it. If you think it’s too complicated, you’ll never accomplish things. If you understand the simple fundamental questions and act on them, and then be willing to learn and adjust as you move down that journey, you’ll do quite well.
For the full interview go to: www.albertaventure.com/cornhill
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