Editor’s note. On May 21, businessman, contributor to the Journal and Quebecers’ favorite pollster, Jean-Marc Léger, received an honorary doctorate from HEC Montréal. We reproduce below the essence of the speech he then delivered to those present.
40 years ago, I was sitting like you with my friends to receive my diploma. At the time, it was not at Place des Arts, but in a dark room in the Jean-Brillant pavilion. The times have changed. In 40 years, one of you will be here on the podium sharing your life experiences.
I offer you five thoughts to inspire you, and which I would have liked to have known at your age.
When we receive recognition, we often talk about our successes. But in reality, we should celebrate our failures. We learn more from our failures than from our successes.
Churchill aptly said: “Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”
1D reflection: You have to listen to older people not because they are right, but because they have been wrong so many times and have a lot of experience about what not to do.
I made 15 acquisitions to build Léger, which today has 600 employees and is the largest Canadian-owned survey and marketing research company.
During my first acquisition, in Toronto, I made every possible mistake. Paying too much, bad partner, lots of gray areas. Having a clear plan, being transparent and honest pays off in the long run. There is no shortcut to success. I have learned.
I then opened an office in Switzerland and broke down. I learned that it is better to understand the local cultures of the country to succeed internationally. I have learned. Again.
Later, I bought a technology company whose technology I completely didn’t understand and which was supposed to revolutionize my business; it was a financial pit. I have learned. When you learn, you don’t make the same mistakes.
Before these acquisitions and [la fondation de] Light & Light, I had completed my master’s degree, but I never submitted my dissertation. I preferred to build my business instead, and I always blamed myself for not having followed through. It was a personal failure this time, and today I am turning that failure into success. This is why this honorary doctorate means a lot to me.
2e reflection: In business as in life, you never lose, you either win or you learn. I learned a lot. (Inspired by a quote from Nelson Mandela.)
Before we continue, I have a simple question to ask you. A pollster always asks questions.
Stand up, take the place of the person on your right.
Return to your seat. I just wanted you to feel an emotion. That of your reaction to change. A third of you stood up hastily, a third stood up as a result of the group effect and a final third remained seated and remained skeptical.
There are no right or wrong answers. The important thing is to understand how you react to change.
The first condition for success is to adapt to new realities that change every day. Everything is going faster and faster. Besides, the only thing that is constant is change.
Early in my career as a pollster, I started by doing political polling. The notoriety of my company comes from there. But political polls are only 1% of my turnover, but 99% of my troubles. Today, I also test products and services. Testing cans isn’t that exciting, but it’s so rewarding. This brings me to 3e reflection.
3e reflection: It is not the best product or even the best technology that wins, but the one that the customer will buy. And it’s not always the same thing. The customer does not always and only use his intelligence, but also his emotions.
The fourth reflection comes from my father, Marcel Léger, and […] inspired my whole life.
4e reflection: Always pay attention to who you will meet when you climb up in society, because you will meet the same people when you come down.
It takes humility and [nécessite] to surround yourself with people who believe in you. Get rid of those who bully you, those who stop you from moving forward and those who explain to you why it won’t work.
Tell me who you’re dating and I’ll tell you who you’ll be.
It’s those around you who will help you go higher and further. We congratulate you today on obtaining your diploma, but also everyone who allowed you to be here.
I think of the seven women in my life: my mother who is 95 years old and who is in this room, my sisters, Francine, Nicole, Françoise, Hélène, my mother-in-law, Monique, and my wife, Linda, who gave me accompanied on my life path. And to my two boys, Jérôme and Philippe, of whom I am so proud.
I was inspired by René Lévesque, Jacques Parizeau, Pauline Marois, Lucien Bouchard and Robert Bourassa, whom I knew personally. By my friends Pierre Karl Peladeau, Alain Bouchard, Serge Godin, François-Jean Coutu, Pierre Weill, who allowed me to grow as an entrepreneur.
If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. (Brian Kurtz)
Success is built one day at a time. Before you go to sleep tonight, ask yourself: What did I learn today?
The hardest thing is not to succeed, but to succeed every day, which is my fifth reflection.
My greatest professional achievement is to have given a voice to the Quebec people through my polls which, today, are published all over the world. Before Léger, it was the English firms in Canada that told Quebecers nonsense. When the polls move by 2% in English Canada, it’s collective hysteria, when it moves by 15% in Quebec, we call it a mood swing. The English in Canada have never understood us.
Saying out loud what Quebecers are thinking has always been my mission and my motivation.
Like you, I had doubts, hesitations and anxieties. It’s normal. It doesn’t go away as you get older, but it gets better managed. Your ability to turn difficulties into opportunities is crucial.
The best way to do this is to have mentors. I had professors who guided me: Robert Lacroix, director of the economics department, Jacques Nantel, Sylvain Sénécal, François Vaillancourt and my university friend Jacques Robert, who taught me a lot.
Like you, I spent hours studying, slaving away, trying to understand. I spent nights at the Université de Montréal Computing Centre compiling my surveys. Because back then, the doors closed at midnight. You had two options: you left before midnight or you spent the night there. I spent nights working. There were no personal computers, no emails, no social media, and no artificial intelligence. I often doubted that I would make it, but I never lost my courage.
And it was one night at the University of Montreal that the idea of creating the Léger survey firm was born. This is where the miracle happened. This brings me to my conclusion.
Conclusion: To succeed is to put your doubts and anxieties on hold long enough for the miracle to happen. (Inspired by a quote from James Redfield.)
Today is the first day of your new life.
Life is long, life is beautiful and you will understand over the years that the journey is often more important, more rewarding and more pleasant than the destination.
Your mission is to leave Quebec in a better state than the one you inherited.
It’s time to change the world one day at a time.
Good continuity.
Jean-Marc Léger, economist, founding president of Léger and columnist for Newspaper
