A former West Vancouver MP has written a book on leadership he hopes will offer practical advice to readers in an age where discourse has become increasingly negative.
John Weston, who represented the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country federal riding from 2008 to 2015, has released his first book, On! Achieving Excellence in Leadership. Weston said he felt compelled to write the book to combat his growing sense of frustration that discussion regarding leadership issues was almost entirely negative.
“In the United States, it was a contest on who was disliked the most,” he said, referring to the country’s presidential election last year. “There was a sense that people were increasingly focused on what they dislike and that’s no recipe for creating value in people or helping people invest in their communities.”
Eight chapters comprise On!, each corresponding to a theme that Weston sees as essential to effective leadership. He said he technically started putting together material for the book about five years ago during a period where he’d write letters to his kids on important themes while he was making trips back and forth between Ottawa and West Vancouver.
“The letters clustered around themes that became chapters in the book,” he said.
The book’s first chapter is on integrity, a concept that for Weston is about building trust. In the book’s opening pages he alludes to lapses in integrity – or perceived lapses – from public figures such as Sen. Mike Duffy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump.
But Weston is quick to point out there were even moments during his tenure as a Conservative Party MP where he felt that former prime minister Stephen Harper should have better attempted to defend his own integrity so the public wouldn’t jump to hasty conclusions. “All leaders suffer when integrity becomes an issue because people start to lose trust in leadership.”
Weston said it was a disappointment after he was unseated by Liberal Pamela Goldsmith-Jones during the 2015 federal election.
“My wife Donna and I decided that rather than just wallow in the disappointment, we would make it the best year of our lives,” he said.
Weston rewrote the bar exam and now practises law at McMillan, dividing his time between West Van and Ottawa.
He’s still involved with some of the initiatives he had a hand in forming while MP, such as recently helping to kick off activities for this June’s National Health and Fitness Day on Parliament Hill.
He said that writing a book was a great challenge, but he’s still committed to doing good things with his writing, legal profession, and advocacy for health and fitness. “The biggest takeaway for me is that you don’t need a title to do good things,” he said.
Weston will speak at West Vancouver Baptist Church this Thursday at 7 p.m. and at West Vancouver Memorial Library next Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
