Tweet

Lesson #4: “My hope is to the see the benefits of my labour spread out in the community”

Article Overview: Perhaps it is the fact that his mother was a social worker who opened Wilson’s childhood house to anyone that needed it. Or, perhaps it is the fact that he survived an advanced case of prostate cancer in his early 40s. Whatever the reason, Wilson has committed much of his adult life to giving away much of the money he has worked so hard to make to a wide range of charities.

Lesson #4: “My hope is to the see the benefits of my labour spread out in the community”

Perhaps it is the fact that his mother was a social worker who opened Wilson's childhood house to anyone that needed it. Or, perhaps it is the fact that he survived an advanced case of prostate cancer in his early 40s. Whatever the reason, Wilson has committed much of his adult life to giving away much of the money he has worked so hard to make to a wide range of charities. During his time with FirstEnergy, Wilson gained something of a reputation for demanding a donation cheque as the price of admission to all of his fundraisers, whether fancy ballroom galas, or simple outdoor garden parties. In one of his more famous moments, Wilson organized a birthday party for 12 business associates who, along with himself, were celebrating their 50th birthdays in 2007. With a performers' guest list that included the Guess Who, the event raised $3 million - the most money of any single one-day event in Calgary's history, all of which went towards prostate cancer research.

In addition to the corporate fundraisers, Wilson has also donated much of his own money to charities near and dear to his heart. He established the Wilson Centre for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Saskatchewan, donated $100,000 to the North Battleford United Way, and $500,000 to the Battleford's Union Hospital Foundation. Not to mention the event he co-chaired for the David Foster Foundation in 2007 that raised more than $3 million for families of children requiring organ transplants, an event which won an award for Best Event Produced for a Non-Profit from the Special Events Magazine International Gala Awards. He also regularly visits Mexico with his children to build houses for the less fortunate, has hiked Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise funds for Alzheimer's, and shaved his head for children's cancer research.

But Wilson's passion for the people around him amounts to more than just dollar signs. In 1999, FirstEnergy was held responsible for a tragic event that would change the way it did business. "In 1999, just days before our annual fundraising event called FirstRodeo, we contracted with a company to erect tents on the rodeo grounds. The tents were the standard variety used for weddings and large events," recalls Wilson. But very quickly, something went very wrong.

"During set-up, a metal pole came in contact with an overhead wire and an employee of the tent rental company was electrocuted. It was a tragic accident, and we were subsequently sued," says Wilson. "Certainly no one intended this sort of outcome from an event that was to raise money for charities in our community. Very shortly after, we implemented a company-wide policy to ensure safety at our corporate events - safety for workers and safety for guests. Although we couldn't change the outcome of this tragedy, we owed it to our employees and all those we contracted with to ensure changes were made. It was the right thing to do."

And that is what concerns Wilson - the right thing. "Always keep honesty and integrity at the centre of everything you do," he says. "There's right and there's wrong, and nothing in between."

Related Articles
  SME's - left wing politics in the new South African government
  5.11 Rights and labour law reform: Working Out of Poverty
  Community Involvement the Wrong Way
  1.11 Working to end child labour: Working Out of Poverty
  Does your guests buy what you want them to ?
  SMEs - SMEs and labour rigidity
  6.4 Limitations of participatory skill development
  Human Resources Development
  What marketers actually sell
  7.5.3 Public sector services for the poor: Institutional design and capacity building
  5 Steps toward Getting the Most out of Search Engine Optimization
  5 Reasons to Start an Online Brand Community
  1.6 Investing in jobs and the community: Working Out of Poverty
  There Is Such A Thing As A Free Lunch!
  SMEs The African error
  Changes to Benefit plans - Proceed Carefully
  What Does Your Gut Say?
  How To Make Your Business Message Go Viral
  The Power of Hope
  Leadership Lessons Heard

Article Tags: 50th birthdays, adult life, business associates, david foster, david foster foundation, dollar signs, entrepreneurial excellence, firstenergy, gala awards, galas, garden parties, hospital foundation, mount kilimanjaro, north battleford, organ transplants, price of admission, prostate cancer, prostate cancer research, s union, university of saskatchewan



Related Forum Posts
Try manufacturing in New Zealand - In New Zealand you can work on a level playing field where capital and labour costs are relatively cheap, labour skilled and the ability to start a business extremely uncomplicated. Make the product in NZ and export take care
New poster! Thought I would start by saying Hi. - Hi, my name is Ringo and I'm new to the forum. A little bit of background. I am from Toronto, Canada. I recently completed a BAH Economics. My professional interests are in marketing, finance and management consulting. I hope to own my own business one day. But before that I would like to learn as much as possible. Either from the community of entrepreneurs around me or from work experience. I hope our conversations will be fruitful and engaging!
Re: In-House or Outsource? - Unfortunately, in the South African context, very few SMEs see outsourcing as an option. They believe it is too expensive, and they are paranoid that someone will "steal their ideas". I believe that the three main functions that cannot be outsourced are marketing, sales and strategy. These must be done in house I believe. If you do not have the marketing skills then get them. Hire a consultant or attend a course, but get the skills. Even if you use a consultant, you need to understand what marketing is about, as no one knows your market like you do. Marketing is made to seem difficult and complex, but everyone who really understands their markets, can easily learn to do their own marketing. In South Africa, labour legislation is extremely inflexibile, and consequently labour broking is a large industry. This is an ideal starting point for SMEs in South Africa, as it is a legally complex area, whih comes with severe penalties. I say do it! Rob Smorfitt
Re: Life on the go! - hey friends I have joined this forum to share the entrepreneurial ideas with this community and I hope i wil enjoy the stay.
Re: How do you back up your computer? - I am the CEO of Backblaze and new to this community, but noticed you were discussing Backblaze and backup. We found sophisticated users historically had been doing some type of backups - often burning DVDs or saving files to USB drives. Unfortunately, much like eating healthy and going to the gym, doing backups falls off the list of to do's and does not get done. This is why we started Backblaze - with the hope that you would never have to ask "How do you do backups?"...because they just happen automatically all the time. I hope we can help many of you protect your personal and business data from being lost. Gleb


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Soda Vending Machine = Energy Hog

Do You Pretend To Listen To People?

What I Really Want Is...

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.