A career built with people
I’m Harry Erskine, a Canadian entrepreneur whose career has spanned sixteen businesses across multiple industries. I’ve started companies, acquired them, grown them and sold them. I’ve also closed businesses. Some decisions worked well. Others taught me lessons I would have preferred to learn an easier way.
Through it all, the most rewarding part has been working with people: watching them develop, take responsibility and accomplish things they might not have thought possible. “It’s about we, not I” describes how I approach business and leadership.
A foundation to build on
Rowing and wrestling were the sports that shaped me most. They demanded preparation, commitment and the willingness to do difficult things consistently. They gave me a strong foundation to build on.
Those early lessons stayed with me as I moved into business. Preparation, commitment and consistent effort mattered there too.
Good intentions need good habits behind them. Preparing properly, keeping commitments and dealing with problems while they’re manageable are ordinary actions. Repeated over time, they make a difference. The habits we practise need to support the outcomes we say we want.
Choose your hard. Choose your response.
Being successful at work is hard. Being unsuccessful at work is hard too. Staying fit takes effort; neglecting your health has its own cost. Addressing a problem can be uncomfortable. Leaving it unresolved rarely makes it easier.
We don’t always get an easy option. We can choose where to put our effort. I try to choose the hard that moves me toward the life I want, then build the habits to support that choice.
I also choose to respond as a victor rather than a victim. That doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine or that every circumstance is within my control. It means acknowledging the challenge, deciding what I can control or influence, and owning my next step.
I can’t change every situation. I can choose how I respond, what I learn and what I do next.
Building, growing and handing things on
My entrepreneurial journey began with GCR Irrigation, better known as Rainmakers. We built the business and sold it in 1989. It gave me an early experience of starting something, growing it and eventually handing it on.
Xerox became an important professional training ground across sales, major accounts, sales support and management. In 2000, I co-founded Advanced Office Solutions, bringing that experience into a business of our own.
As AOS expanded, we transitioned our Thunder Bay and Kingston businesses to employees who had helped build them. Seeing people step into ownership was particularly rewarding. That experience remains relevant to the succession work I do today.
Other ventures broadened my experience across technology, consulting and hospitality. Different industries brought different demands. Relationships, accountability and clarity mattered in all of them.
Still moving forward
Outside business, staying active gives me fresh challenges and new places to explore. There is always something more to learn.
I’m still taking the stairs.