While his classmates practised the twist and conspired to get behind the wheel of dad's new Studebaker, Ken Martin dreamed of running a business.
"Right from a very young age, probably in high school, I wanted to be the CEO of a company," he said.
Today, he's president and CEO of Pacific Blue Cross, though as a kid he wouldn't have guessed he'd be in the insurance business. Mind you, he admits, he didn't know what he'd be doing – just that he'd be in charge.
It's not his first crack at running a company. He achieved that milestone before he hit 40, and he's been going strong ever since. In fact, he's on his third CEO job: before taking the helm at Pacific Blue Cross, he headed Sedgwick Noble Lowndes and before that, Sedgwick Canada Limited.
Leadership is different now from how it was when he began scaling the corporate mountain. Back then, he said, leadership was autocratic. He's quick to acknowledge that bullishness is neither an effective nor accepted way to direct a business any longer.
"You must be much more inclusive," he said. "Transparency, openness, honesty; these are the character traits required of today's leaders."
Martin lives up to his own advice, speaking freely about what he sees as one of his shortcomings. "If you ask me one regret that I have had in my career, it would be not being very good at work-life balance."
He's quick to acknowledge the good will of his family, which he says has been extremely tolerant of a work schedule that often had him travelling 100 days out of the year.
He's equally complimentary to his parents, attributing his drive to his mother's emphasis on hard work and his education to his father's insistence that he attend university.
Senior vice-president of IT Cindy Bratkowski came to Pacific Blue Cross in 2000 as the manager of customer services. She spoke of Martin's drive for excellence and its effect on those around him.
"His passion inspires all of us, me included," she said. "It's infectious."
Bratkowski sees the impact of Martin's personal interest in the company's success and his genuine care for staff, which has been borne out by her own movement in the company.
By 2003, Bratkowski had moved up to a position of director of client services. Martin recognized that she wanted an executive leadership position, so he offered her opportunities to learn and grow.
He invested in her personal development, she said, taking time to understand her goals and share the wisdom of his own experience. He encouraged her to step outside her comfort zone, giving her charge over the company's IT operations despite her lack of experience in the field. After meeting the challenges placed before her, Bratkowski was invited to join the executive team in 2006.
Martin actively works to instill confidence in the company's team, she said, letting them know he believes they can accomplish what they set out to do, and inspiring them to work together.
When Martin first joined Pacific Blue Cross, according Bratkowski, the company lacked vision and its finances were floundering. Martin recognized that the company lacked a joint vision, leaving it without the direction required to achieve the company's goals.
He developed a long-term strategic plan, created a growth strategy, implemented a plan to improve operational efficiencies and developed a balanced scorecard that helped keep the company focused on products that would foster success while ensuring business plans aligned with overall goals.
"He also improved our investment strategy and helped us put together a plan to refresh our technology, [which] was outdated," said Bratkowski. "We're a different company today because of his vision and strategy." •
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