Whether he’s sporting a suit in a board room or skis on a powder-fresh mountaintop, Ivan Smith is constantly striving to stay ahead of the pack.

During 15 years as chief executive of Circa Enterprises, a Calgary-based manufacturer of surge-protection equipment for the telecommunications industry, Smith has prided himself on instilling his competitive fires into business and building team spirit.

And, while leading Circa Enterprises to annual earnings of almost $1.5 million, Smith certainly hasn’t abandoned a sporting passion that grew from a boyhood embracing a pigskin.

1. What was your favourite boyhood memory?

David Lazarowych, Business Edge
Ivan Smith says sports taught him how important attitude is to winning.

“Winning the city high school football championship two years in a row (1967-68) with Queen Elizabeth. We beat St. Francis one year. I was an offensive halfback and defensive corner linebacker.”

2. Did you have aspirations to play pro football?

“I played a little at the University of Calgary, but it became pretty serious and started to take its toll (physically). It was fun in high school.”

3. Have you been able to channel the lessons from the grid-iron into business?

“Oh, yeah, absolutely. By being a part of a winning team, I learned about how important attitude is to winning. Being surrounded by people who believe in themselves and having a strong desire to succeed, that’s something I think I took with me.”

4. Did you have a role model or hero?

“Wayne Harris (ex-Calgary Stampeder and Canadian Football League Hall of Famer). He was so determined, giving 100 per cent with a full commitment.”

5. At what stage in your life did you decide you wanted to be a business leader?

“I entered a Canadian Enterprise contest in 1971. I submitted a proposal of a business plan that was associated with Canadian Fracmaster (founded by his father-in-law, Henry Henuset). I won first prize. I think that established in my mind that that was the direction I’d like to take.”

6. To which character traits would you attribute your success in business? “Determination. Persistence.”

7. Drawing on 28 years of business experience, what’s the best piece advice you would offer a budding entrepreneur?

“I guess it would be the same advice that my father-in-law (Henuset) gave me. He said: ‘Hard work.’ Those words seemed quite simplistic at the time but, as time goes on, you realize how important it is.”

8. What’s the key to building a successful business team?

“I think first and foremost you need to have people who get along with one another. So I spend a lot of time trying to cultivate that type of co-operation by making sure that there’s a lot of face-to-face interactions.”

9. Is that difficult considering you have plants in Calgary and Hudson, Fla? “We try to bring people in both directions so they can interact with each other so they can gain a sense of team spirit.”

10. What have you learned about coping with the pressures of running a major corporation?

“For me, I need to do other things. I play tennis and ski. It’s quite important for me to get away and athletics helps a lot. We have a place in Panorama (B.C.).”

11. What’s the ultimate getaway?

“My family and I went helicopter skiing for the first time last weekend. It was the most amazing skiing experience I’ve ever had. You really feel a certain sense of fear when you land on the very peak of a mountain at 11,000 feet.”

12. As someone who has never lived anywhere but in Calgary, would you ever live elsewhere?

“At one time, I thought I might want to move, simply because winter was seeming to be a bit long. But the more I travel, I realize that there are very few places that offer as much as Calgary.”

13. One accomplishment in your life of which you’re most proud?

“The thing I’m most proud of was that my two daughters (Michelle Waddock and Kristine Murphy) were both Canadian (age-group) tennis champions. My younger daughter (Michelle) ended up playing in the World Youth Cup, in the U.S. Open and the French Open.”

14. What was your role in their success?

“I didn’t coach them. Like in business, I believe it’s the day-to-day effort and the continual discussions that are very important and so I would always be there for that, offering the fine-tuning and the support.”

15. Are there similarities between success in business and tennis?

“The focus is much the same. If you want to be good at something, you have to completely commit to it.”

16. Your house is on fire. Three possessions you take with you?

“My bike. My tennis racket. My paper work.”

17. Your vision for Circa Enterprises for 2005?

“We have some core competencies. One of them is manufacturing. I think we can significantly increase the number of products we manufacture.”

18. And the other core competency?

“Engineering. I’d like to see us grow our engineering so that it becomes the brain of the company in a sense of coming up with new products, and really make this a world-class company as we add that brain-power strength to it. I think we’ve got a lot of things headed in the right direction, but we can make this company much bigger and much stronger.”

19. Are you disappointed with the performance of the stock?

“I think the price, in my opinion, is undervalued and it’s quite difficult to get the right exposure to help that.”

20. So what’s your life’s next adventure?

“My wife and I are going cycling in Costa Rica with (world-class cyclist) Steve Bauer. That’s something we’ve always wanted to do.”