My Highlights from FEC’s Symposium 2026

A Great Vibe and Plenty of Learning

Each year I have a few can’t miss events on my calendar that fill me with energy because I get to spend time with others who really get what I do.

The recent Family Enterprise Canada annual Symposium in Vancouver is the latest, and this post will be where I share some of my best takeaways.

So much content makes this both an easy blog and a difficult one to write; no shortage of ideas, but probably not enough space to cover them all.

Oh well, maybe I’ll write another blog next week, like I’ve been doing for the past 650 weeks or so.

Section 01

“I’m a Relationship Guy”

The first day began with An Inspiring Family Story about the Stevens family and eponymous company.

One of my favourite quotes seemed to be a “throw away line” from Jay Stevens:

It was said in a way that landed so nicely with me, because, well, I guess I’m also a relationship guy!

And family businesses led by such people probably outperform ones led by, say, a numbers guy.

Section 02

Based On a True Story

The first keynote was done by Fotini Iconomopoulos, a negotiation expert, and my favourite nugget from her was to avoid making statements that begin with “I Think…”

She called them the two most dangerous words in a negotiation, and she suggested replacing them with two different words: “Based on…”

That evening over dinner, my colleagues ended up giving this a try.

Someone started saying “I think…” and I gently corrected them and pivoted to “Based on…”, with the same ending to the sentence, and we all started nodding along, acknowledging how this tiny reframe landed so much better.

Section 03

Founders: I Don’t Want to Interfere

In a breakout session about stewardship and founders’ ability to let go, Rocky Mountaineer founder Peter Armstrong left us with a gem:

Finding the right balance to remain involved is the key.

Section 04

Jung’s 12 Archetypes

The afternoon keynote featured Jill Nikoliation who led an exercise with the audience in which we each explored our Jungian archetypes.

I discovered that I’m an “Everyman” with a bit of a “Jester thrown in.

It was interesting to see that at tables where a few family members were sitting together, their ability to reinforce the choices of some people were contrasted with others where there was some kind of reframe necessary to help someone understand how they are perceived by others.

Section 05

Effective Decision-Making as a Family Sport

Governance guru Matt Fullbrook then did an interactive keynote session where my favourite takeaway was a simple question that did not have a simple answer.

He put 10 questions on the screen and made us write down our best guess (each answer was a specific number).

But he allowed us to give a range into which we thought the right answer would land.

For example, for “How tall is Shaq?” (7’1”) you got credit for a correct response whether you guessed a range of 6’6” – 7’6” or if you guessed 4’0” – 10’11”.

Based on a show of hands, people got between 2 and 10 “correct” responses.

Then he asked, “Why didn’t everyone get 10 on 10?”. Hmmmm.

Section 06

Sharing a Poignant True Story

I’m running out of racetrack as I roll into Wednesday so I will just share what was likely the highlight of the week in terms of a shared lived experience family story that began the final day.

I’ll spare the personal details and instead provide the title from the app:

This fireside chat was difficult to listen to but in the setting of other families and advisors to families, it was safe for the person sharing the unfortunate saga they experienced.

Having a family legacy almost destroyed and then having the most common response being “well you walked away with lots of money!” is something most people in the room could empathize with.

All in all, a few days packed with great learnings in a warm setting, highlighting the positive direction that FEC is heading under its current leadership.

Looking forward to doing it all again next May in Toronto.

Hope to see you there.