Acadia University President and Vice-Chancellor Ray Ivany was recently recognized as one of Canada's Most Admired CEOs. The following is an excerpt from a National Post article: 

Whether they are building businesses, institutions or provinces, the winners of the 2016 Canada’s Most Admired CEO awards have been instrumental in placing culture at the heart of their efforts throughout their careers.

The awards were founded by Waterstone Human Capital and MacKay CEO Forums to recognize the Canadian chief executive officers who have fostered a culture within their organizations that enhances performance and sustains a competitive advantage.

“Each of this year’s most admired leaders are huge believers that culture is the greatest asset their organizations has,” says Marty Parker, president and CEO, Waterstone Human Capital. “They passionately believe it is how they do things in their organization that drives their people and their business success. In fact, in our most recent study, 88 per cent of respondents said culture is a direct reflection of their current or past leadership.”

Chancellor Emeritus Arthur Irving (centre) was on hand when President Ivany (right) received his award in Toronto from Marty Parker, president and CEO of Canada's Most Admired CEOs (left). 

Ray Ivany, president and vice-chancellor at Acadia University in Wolfville, N. S., for example, is a remarkable story of leadership and the role of culture in turning things around, Parker says. “But the bigger story is the impact he has had on the province with the Nova Scotia Commission Report on building the province’s new economy in 2014. That report has since been coined The Ivany Report. Ray really is a community builder and visionary both in terms of the post- secondary community and the province.”

Ivany says that in his many years in post- secondary education, he has always been intrigued by how to get institutions to be more relevant and have a greater impact on communities.

“As a 178-year-old institution, Acadia is often couched in terms such as ‘ bound by tradition’. But that’s not the way it is at all here. History and tradition create a wave of energy that propels you into a future that is not identical to the past, but is connected.”

Applying a culture and value lens to higher performance for an institution is not fundamentally different from a business, he believes. “In both cases you are talking about human potential. It doesn’t take long to go from cultural precepts to very specific actions that define the institution or company and provide a differentiated outcome.”

For Acadia University, the outcome is evident in the fact that it has experienced the highest enrolment growth in Canada over the past five years. “That metric is entirely driven by us doing a better job communicating just how different we are culturally in terms of experience,” Ivany says.

He adds that cultural alignment also played a key role in the commission report, which has now become an integral part of the province’s economic development and its culture.

“Whether it’s Acadia or the Nova Scotia story, culture has to drive excellence and high performance.”

Continue reading the National Post article.