I've always run on fear my whole life that this could all go away tomorrow. I have a bit of a view on that and that is it's pretty hard to have a work-life balance. I'm not a big fan of that term, frankly, if you really want to succeed and excel.
I know with so many different roles that you play and so many different hats that you wear. You go through a lot of stressful days. How do you recharge?
A couple ways. Number one, through exercise, trying to eat right, and when I'm not traveling, get to bed on time. And it's hard. I've got three kids that are very active, grade 10, 9, and 7. So there isn't a lot of free time. In fact, it's negative free time. But really, I think the exercise and diet really does help. You try to get good sleep to recharge. I think that's a key is making that a priority because I think without your physical fitness, you don't have mental fitness.
Yeah. Amazing. I love that. There are a lot of leaders out there that they want to have a high performance team, right? But they also don't want their team members to sacrifice their own well-being. What are some of your advice for those leaders to install this healthy high performance culture within their team or within their organizations?
Yeah, you know, I have a bit of a view on that and that is it's pretty hard to have a work-life balance. I'm not a big fan of that term, frankly, if you really want to succeed and excel. I think a lot of people want all the gifts, things that come along with success, but they also want to do a lot of time away from work. And frankly, others aren't going to do that and you're going to get beat because there's people that put in hard. So, I think you really have to figure out yourself the type of team you want. We have types here that are very, very hard charging people, but we don't bother them on the weekends. We don't bother them at night. They seem to get it done. They seem to have a way to figure it out. We don't have to counsel them. They just understand that they know they need their time. When they're on vacation, we don't email them. We don't bother them. We respect they're off, but when they're working here, it's all about work first. But, they seem to manage. And we have a very special team of people across North America.
When you want to hire someone, what are some signs you're looking for to make sure this person is ambitious and is going to be a great contributor to your team and your organization?
You know, it's funny. I've been blessed because I've had that same philosophy. So, I think I was born with picking talent a little bit because I certainly wasn't the smartest guy in the room. And I've been able to surround myself with excellent people. Some have been with me through the whole journey over 30 years. So that's a testimonial to I think just being able to see talent in people and bring it out in people. We've kept our team together and they've really helped grow the company. So I think it's just a god-given talent that I have to see talent in people. And you know, I think one of the things is if a potential prospect is coming into the company and they're asking about how much vacation they get and all this. And so I think there's little subtle signs you can see if someone's going to give all. And it's not in every position in the company that someone has to be 200%. But if you really want to be in the upper echelons, you want to be in the deal team, you want to be making big money and making that commitment, then you really have to just focus.
You're sort of well known for making big bets and that needs to come from navigating optimism by also having that fear that things may go wrong, right? I want to know what are some of your advice as a person who's been very successful in navigating that. How would you recommend people navigate that optimism and the fear of failure at the same time when they make those bold bets?
Well, number one, you can't overthink it. You just got to go out and make those bets. And they're not all going to work. And that's where that fear of failure, it's always there. It lives with me. You brought up a very good point. It's like a push and pull in your brain all the time. You want to do it. Halfway through a deal, you're saying, "Should I be doing this?" You question yourself. You question your strategy. A lot of times you do pull away. And some things we've passed on we shouldn't have. And other things we're really glad we did pass on. But you take the shot, take the risk, and then each deal you'll learn something from whether you fail or succeed. You learn more from the ones you fail. First thing you got to do is get in the game and that's by taking a shot, taking a risk.
Yeah. Sort of having that momentum is more important sometimes than the direction you're taking it. When making big decisions, one of the things that maybe we all fall into is that confirmation bias, right? When you want to make these decisions, how do you sort of manage that unconscious bias that you don't only listen to the advice that says you're right and seek also what might be on the other side of the argument?
I think having self-doubt inside yourself makes you rethink things a lot. And then try to come up with, hey, you've done nine good things in a row, doesn't mean the 10th is guaranteed. But I think if you've got that self-discipline and also that worry, I've always run on fear my whole life that this could all go away tomorrow. I wake up every day thinking like that, that someone's here to take it away. That's competition, that's healthy and that's good. And that's why not everyone's in business, they don't want to have to deal with that mental, it's a drag on you all the time. It's with you all the time. Like my businesses are in my brain. I can't shut it off. If I decided to just stop, I'd have to sell everything because if I own it and I'm running it, I've got to be involved in it. And that's my doing. I've got no one to blame. And I enjoy it.
As I learned more about your journey, I learned that you've also been through sort of a lot of situations that the odds were stacked against you. I want to know if you want to capture your story, what would be your underdog story?
Yeah, you know, I think I always considered myself a little bit of an underdog. I think being our ancestors from India were all underdogs coming over here and then to have success, you kind of look at things a bit differently. I think there's more of a natural hunger, a desire to win, a desire to do things the right way and build. And I think we're just naturally feeling that because of the history of being immigrants. And I think that's a really good driver. It's hard to teach, really. I think if you're humble all the time, I think good things happen. Don't get too high, don't get too low. Try to be level on your success or failures either way and I think that'll carry you a long way.
Amazing. Amazing. I love that advice. One of the things uniquely you did with BC Lions was the overlap between esports and entertainment. What's your philosophy on it?
Yeah, so, you know, obviously the CFL being such a very important piece of Canadian history and we want to maintain that and I feel very honored and blessed to have a professional sports team. Of course, one right in our backyard here that I've loved since I was a kid. So very passionate about the team and about the fan experience and about everything else. We do have a great management team running the club. I can't claim to say that I grew up being able to run a sports organization. So we hire the best to do that. But certainly, you know, the vision and I think one of the things that has happened and evolved over time now is everything is recorded, everything is on your phone, everything is these short videos and things like that except sports. And sports will always be, it's got a moat around it and it just always will. People don't like to watch sports that's taped. They want to watch it live. They want to go to live games. It's a live experience. And I think after COVID, people are coming back to these stadiums. They like being out. They like being noisy. People like being around people. And I think it's got a very nice moat around it. All sports businesses do, not just CFL football or anything else. It's wonderful to be part of the fabric though. And it's got a long-term life to it.
I want to know what are some lessons you learned from owning BC Lions that you took it and you applied in future on other businesses that you have that you think you wouldn't learn if you were not part of the sports industry.
Well, the other ones are easier compared to a sports team. It's a lot different because you're not really hands-on. You have a head coach, you have a president, a general manager. The owner is kind of way over here unless you want to interfere, but we don't want to do that. And it's sometimes difficult because like you're a fan as well. Why aren't they doing this? Why did they call that play? Things like that. But you have to just let that go. But, it can be frustrating. The highs are super high and the lows are extremely low. Everything I said about that earlier on business, I can handle. When it comes to sports, you feel it more emotionally. That means you care, though.
Yeah. Yeah. So, you practice that emotional regulation with your sports ownership.
That's exactly right. It certainly forced me to learn that more, breathing exercises.
Yes. Yes. Definitely. Definitely. Amazing. So, I want to go over different recharging activities, and I would like you to rate them from 1 to 10. One means it's not for me. 10 means the best thing ever.
Okay. So, one is no good, 10's good.
10 is the best thing ever. How would you rate getting a good night's sleep?
10. Do you get good sleep?
