Welcome to Leaders and Legacies

by Roderick Benns 

My earliest political memory was when I was eight years old, in the spring of 1979. My father, not a political animal by any stretch of the imagination, was casually watching the federal election results roll in. It was past my bedtime but I remember begging my parents to let me stay up to finish watching the battle that pitted Pierre Trudeau against Joe Clark. There was something mesmerizing to me even then about the nature of leadership and about the democratic process at work. It is a feeling that has stayed with me.

Those same feelings led us to create Fireside Publishing House a few years ago. Fireside’s ‘Leaders and Legacies’ series on Canada’s prime ministers as teens places our former PMs in mysteries and adventures in historical fiction novels.  Thanks to former Prime Ministers Brian Mulroney and Paul Martin for their involvement, the novels have captured nation-wide attention for youth.

Something was missing, though. We were touching on youth leadership and inspiring young people through tales of our prime ministers, but what about adults? This news site is the answer to that question.

So, welcome to Leaders and Legacies, a place for unique, strengths-based articles about Canada’s leaders. What does that mean exactly? It means we look for the best in people. It means that we feed our successes through our questions and through the articles that we share.

Since our former prime ministers and governors general are quite active, the news site will cover their under-reported activities. We will also feature stories about our late leaders, from new biographies, analyses, or special projects.  You will be inclined to read this news site regularly if you are not focused on reading about scandals and yet are interested in federal politics, leadership, entrepreneurship, history, and social change.

Some might ask, why emphasize our prime ministers and governors general? The answer, at least for the PMs, is that they are the most visible leaders in Canada. Former prime ministers were not only the head of government; they represented us on the world stage through the highest elected office in the land. Through that office, they reflect our hopes and dreams back to us as Canadians.

Former governors general played an important role in our constitutional monarchy as the queen’s representative in Canada. Their leadership, though largely symbolic, is of profound importance as they hold the reserve power of the monarchy which has helped uniquely shape our country on this continent.

What about other ‘leaders’ in Canadian society too? It’s a valid question. That’s why we’re adding other leaders into the mix. We will find people who have been change-makers in their respective fields in Canada. We will find the people in business, technology, education, the environment, and entrepreneurs of all kinds who have been making a difference and working to start movements.

What we believe

• We believe leadership is more important than any other single factor in determining the success of an enterprise
• We believe there are leaders of large organizations who are doing innovative things that impact society in exceptional ways
• We believe there are leaders on the ground, who are catalyzing and leading change from the grassroots and in small organizations
• We believe that good leadership can be found in our youth, and that these same young people can become even greater leaders tomorrow

Our intent is to play a role in linking people and ideas together, using the power of appreciative, strengths-based journalism. We do believe that as we affirm good leadership we will end up seeing more of it.

If you believe Canadian society benefits from good leadership, please share these stories with your friends and colleagues in your preferred way. Write to us here if you know of someone who should be featured in a future edition of Leaders and Legacies.

Sponsorship

As you can imagine, Leaders and Legacies takes time, money, and effort to produce and to that end we are actively looking for a corporate sponsor to help us in this endeavour for a one year term. If you think you can play such a role we would love to hear from you.

As an interested and engaged reader, if you feel you can donate something to this cause, you can do so here, with our appreciation and thanks.

 

– Roderick Benns is the owner and founder of Leaders and Legacies.