It has now been 100 days since I was fortunate enough to step into the role as the CEO of Rowing Canada Aviron (RCA). I wanted to mark this milestone by taking the opportunity to introduce myself more fully, share some of our progress over the last three months, and where you will see us go from here.
As all the business leadership books tell you, the new CEO is well advised to spend most of their time listening when they first arrive, and I have endeavoured to follow that advice. However, that does not mean that RCA has been inactive in advancing what we believe matters to our sport.
Those who are avid followers of the wider world of Canadian rowing, you may know that RCA welcomed a new club member, with the Salmon Arm Rowing Club (SARC) receiving official Board approval at our March meeting. It was a tremendous honour to speak with President David Miege and extend my congratulations on the effort to get SARC to where they are today, and I look forward to hearing more.
You will also have seen that Terek Been set a new Canadian men’s 2000m erg record on May 1st with a brilliant 5:38.2; edging out Conlin McCabe’s previous mark. Sadly, I was not able to coax Conlin out of retirement to attempt a response, but I hope you will join me in congratulating Terek and his coach, Lauren Fisher, on this achievement.
Going Forward
I recently had the opportunity to share the following thoughts with the RCA Board of Directors. Ultimately, I boiled it down to three C’s.
A Conviction to continue to focus on connection. I had a colleague once stress the importance of “drinking the other guy’s coffee”, by which he meant that we must make every effort to place ourselves in the environments of others. In that vein, I will continue to meet as many of you as possible in your coach boats, board rooms, and regattas. The first week of July will see the Powell family making their way across the Prairies to Duncan, BC, where we will be making our new home. So, Regina, Calgary and Kelowna, I’m looking at you!
I hope many of you will also join me at the BC Provincial Championships or Canadian Henley this summer for the racing and the sizeable return of our Senior National Team to Canada’s premier rowing event.
A Commitment to work with our team to streamline the organization. It is a reality of our broader sport system that funding models, legacy structures, and shifting partner priorities have meant a challenge for organizations to operate in as lean and effective manner as we might always wish. From a member interaction perspective, this will show up in the ease with which you can get the information or supports you need, the efficiency or effectiveness of the processes we have in place, and our ability to allocate resources internally to where they will have the greatest impact.
A Consolidation of my own areas of focus. During the CEO selection process, I shared with the hiring committee that it seemed to me that four central priorities for the (as yet unnamed CEO) ought to be our community cohesion, the stabilization of our financial model, working with Adam and his High Performance team to support the performance of our national teams, and advancing the National Training Centre project to conclusion. Having had the opportunity to look at each of these much more closely, I can reaffirm that they will be particular areas of attention for me.
I would also like to add an additional “C” that has come into focus in discussions with many of you. That C is a broad and dedicated effort in the area of Coaching and coach development. There are very few silver bullets in our world, but my increasing belief is that investment in coaching may be one of them. Where we see clubs growing membership, it is often a quality coach running quality programming that is driving that growth. If you feel that the technical quality of rowing in Canada could be improved, much of that is coaching. If you’d like to see more Canadians coaching national teams, that’s coach growth and development too. So, as we engage in the coming months, I hope your thoughts turn to how we might best grow, professionalize, and upskill our coaches and coach development and where, or how, RCA might play a role in that.
Very keen observers will know that RCA has committed to the release of its 2028 Strategic Plan this spring. Much work has been done to-date, and I must confess that the delay at this point is entirely my doing as I have wanted to fully understand the commitments we are making to all of you and ensure they are as compelling and as impactful as possible, while remaining achievable for our organization. Given that this will be an item to which you will quite rightly hold me accountable, we will prioritize quality over timeliness here.
Finally, I want to extend my deepest thanks to the Board of Directors, staff, and the broader rowing community for your interest, well wishes, and support. It has been wonderful to connect (or re-connect) with so many of you. In particular, I’d like to single out Jen Fitzpatrick for not only leading RCA through seven months in a dual role as CEO and Director of Partnerships and Sport Development, but at a personal level for her generosity, her care, and her counsel over these first few months. They have been invaluable beyond words; our community is very much the better for her being a part of it; and I am deeply grateful.
Wishing you all the best for your summer rowing seasons and looking forward to connecting over the coming months.
Yours in rowing,
Jeff
