John Tolkamp

The Business of Giving Back

By InnerVoice

January 6^th, 2017

Drive and passion

For me, being active was always a drive. Living rurally in my youth, cycling was a means to explore, hang with friends and get to and from school, as I’d rather bike than bus. As a 12 or 13-year-old my cousin and I did an overnight camping trip to a Bear Lake, some 75 kilometres away. We arrived way faster than we anticipated and shocked our parents who figured we’d never make it and turn around. I’m not sure what intrigued me to the sport of bike racing, but I did one race in my hometown of Prince George, BC, so the passion was there early. When I moved to Ottawa for Engineering grad school I was looking for a physical outlet and it was during this time that my cycling passion really took off. I joined the Ottawa Bicycle Club and took a Learn to race course after being inspired by a young and talented Gord Fraser. Eventually, I became a regular at the local races and my riding frequency and volume increased.

I moved backed to Prince George to start my career in earnest, and with our first child on the way, I joined the PG Cycling Club. Despite a smaller northern community, there was a vibrant and active cycling club with multiple races a week through the summer months. I started to train with more structure and purpose and found local success, which fueled my motivation. Soon, I found the sport becoming a passion; the discipline of training, the joy of being on a bike, the adrenaline of competition, and the feeling of health and fitness was all a compliment to my growing family and expanding career.

In Prince George, my “career” in Cycling Administration also started. Growing up with family values of giving back to the community, it was natural for me to begin volunteering in the club, whether that be putting on events, raising funds or developing coaches and programs. Gary and Lillian Schlesinger were the force behind the club and I admired their drive, passion and learned much from them. I was the Club President for a period and Lillian Schlesinger encouraged me to pursue a board role with Cycling BC. Looking back it is clear to me how important the cycling volunteer work was in developing me as a leader and manager.

the business of cycling.

My career as a corporate executive augments the skills and value I can bring to my roles in cycling — having a business perspective is key, but also the skills which come with leading large teams and working with a broad range of stakeholders. On the flip side, my business leadership skills have also been developed immensely from my involvement in cycling. I always say the best leadership development program I have ever taken has been my involvement in cycling. I write my involvement in cycling into my performance development plans at work and have found all my employers have been very supportive and recognise the work in cycling has developed me into a more effective business leader and overall employee.

After several years of being on the board at Cycling BC, I moved onto a board role with Cycling Canada, and then, with the encouragement and support of key leaders, was elected as President of Cycling Canada – a role I have held for more than 8 years. In the early years of my presidency, we focused on strengthening the national organisation; ensuring we move Canada towards being a world-class cycling nation. Now I also find myself more and more involved in the international cycling world, including a stint as a member of the UCI Ethics and Track commissions. I'm proud that we (Cycling Canada) have been leaders in ensuring the sport of cycling is moving to clean and fair competition.

“There are times when work demands are high and physical pursuits need to be curtailed, but my personal values and principles include having a balanced life, and I know that if I am not active and taking care of my fitness I would not be true to myself and I would need to make necessary changes.”

The stress and anxiety would melt away.

Having studied mechanical engineering, I progressed from engineering into management with Northwood Pulp and Timber (a mid-sized forest products company in Prince George). In the late 90’s I was promoted to Director of IT and shortly after it was announced our company was being acquired by one of the world’s largest forest products companies, Canadian Forest Products. This was a tremendously stressful time as no one’s job was secure, and it was clear there were going to be significant headcount reductions.

On top of all the work turmoil, I was also going through a divorce, having being married for 12 years and with two children under the age of 10. This was by far my most difficult period and I was challenged both at home and at work. There were days where I felt paralysed with anxiety and stress and feared having a breakdown. Fortunately for me I had cycling, and it was the bike that provided a channel to manage the stress and emotions. I’d hop on my bike absolutely at wit’s end and start pedalling, and the stress and anxiety would melt away. By the end of the ride, I was centred again. I remember hopping on the bike one day after work, and hardly remembering how I’d ended 50km out of town. I had to turn back to make it home before the light faded. The time alone on the bike was also an effective “problem-solving time” — leaving myself voicemail messages with creative solutions and strategies to dealing with the challenges of life and work.

Singular focus.

For me, time management is key. At work I live by my calendar, aligning my time with the needs of the business and empowering my team with the resources and competencies so they can deliver with minimal intervention on my part. Training wise, I take care to ensure my equipment and gear is ready to go, my workouts are efficient and focus on quality. I regularly fit in a lunchtime workout and know that rather than taking time away from my day, they make me more effective and productive at work.

When I am training intensely (knocking out lactate threshold intervals) my mind is singularly focused on monitoring my technique, breathing and effort, and encouraging myself with positive and motivational messages. These efforts, while physically demanding, provide a healthy distraction and a way to burn away the stresses of the day. Lighter intensity efforts, like longer endurance efforts, free up my creative mind, and it’s a perfect time to analyse complex issues and think strategically. One of the beauties of cycling is the social aspect of a group ride; which is a great way to get to know a fellow athlete or network and drive business.

“My inner voice really varies depending on my mood or motivational needs. At times, my focus is on continuing to execute; reminding myself how privileged I am to be in position to be competing. Other times, I am tough on myself, my inner voice yelling, cajoling me to not fail, not fall short and not having to face myself the next day knowing I could have done better.”

Hard self-reflection.

My biggest regret is not being present for my children through their teenage years. I made some poor choices and bad decisions post-divorce and with my ex-wife and children moving to the US Midwest I allowed myself to become an absent father. With some hard self-reflection and the challenging and support of a dear friend, I am proud to have rebuilt wonderful relationships with both my son and daughter. My ex-wife did an amazing job raising the children and they are beautiful, successful young adults who I enjoying sharing my life with.

I lack self-esteem and confidence in myself.

I’ve come to realise through the years that I lack self-esteem and confidence in myself. This manifested itself in extreme shyness as a youth. As I found success academically, my confidence began to grow and, outwardly at least, I was not as paralysed as I had been. But underneath, I still struggled. Success in cycling, the process of training, the discipline and drive it takes, help improve my confidence and sense of worth. In addition, the opportunity to lead as President of Cycling Canada has also been huge in helping me develop self-confidence. I’ve also come to realise, my challenges with self-confidence bring along certain positive qualities such as valuing broad perspectives, being a consensus builder and seeing the value others can bring to a team and situations — key qualities for any executive in the business world.

As I matured, and in concert with being comfortable with who I am, having strong relationships with family, partners and friends has become a key element of my life. It’s interesting to me, where in the past my relationships at work and in cycling were quite separate from my personal life, today some of the strongest friendships I have come from colleagues at work and cycling.

Exciting time ahead.

Athletically I’ve been struggling with some chronic back issues which have severely curtailed my cycling in the past year and a half. I'm continuing to rehab with the goal set to get back riding pain-free and strong.

Career-wise I’m at a very interesting and exciting time. Having just gone through a major acquisition and merger, I was given the opportunity to take a senior role at the new head office in Toronto. Moving to Toronto didn’t fit with my goals, so instead, over the past year and a half I’ve had the opportunity to play a significant role in merging the two companies together, and at the end of January 2017, I will move on. The easy thing would be to immediately look for the next job, however, an opportunity to take an extended “corporate sabbatical” doesn't come along too often. I plan to use most of 2017 to explore, to volunteer with 2nd and 3rd world relief organisations and the international cycling world. I could be putting my feet up on the beach, but instead, I'll use the time to give back and I have no doubt I'll develop my skills and competencies further as I go.