Murray Wright fell one step shy of a boyhood dream of playing in the National Hockey League, but his executive career has "major league" written all over it.

A former hockey pro, Wright reached the top step of his business career last October when he was named president of Lenovo Canada, the former IBM Canada personal computing division.

Yet, Wright's road to success hasn't always been a smooth one. A few months before landing the job with Lenovo Canada, Wright was temporarily relegated to the penalty box when he was dismissed from his previous job as general manager of PC wholesaler Ingram Micro Canada.

Wright's newest role figures to be his most daunting career challenge and one that may require the competitive spirit and perseverance of an ex-hockey pro. He is captaining the fortunes of Lenovo's Canadian operations through a crucial transition as the organization vies for market share in a PC sector dominated by the likes of giants Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

Brennan O'Connor, Business Edge
Lenovo Canada president Murray Wright says his company is well positioned to capitalize on exploding growth in mobile high-tech products.

Lenovo was formed a year ago when China's Lenovo group acquired IBM's PC division for $1.2 billion US, making it the world's third-largest personal computer company.

Competition in the PC space is fierce but, for a 49-year-old Etobicoke, Ont., native who made the leap from hockey's minor leagues to a starring role in technology product sales and management, that's all part of the game.

1. Who was your mentor or role model as a youngster?

"When I was a youngster, I was mostly focused on playing hockey. When I look back at that part of my life, Bobby Orr (hockey superstar) comes to mind as one of those people who was a role model from an athletic standpoint. He was an awesome player and I had the opportunity to play in the Boston Garden several times during the course of my own hockey days. I just marvelled at how he changed the game and dominated on the ice."

2. How far did you progress with your hockey career?

"I went to the United States on a hockey scholarship and played (as Division I college defenceman) at Clarkson College. After that, I played a couple seasons in the minor leagues (the minor pro East Coast Hockey League in the U.S.) a little bit after playing at Clarkson and rode the buses. I got banged up a little bit there. It's a tough way to make a living, I'll tell ya. It was always nice to be able to feel as though I was close. But being close and making it in the NHL is still a big gap."

3. When you determined that your hockey career was over, how did you deal with that transition in your life?

"I have a very vivid memory of that, actually. I think you can stay in the minors and make a career of it for a period of time. But I remember sitting on the bench (with the Utica Mohawks) waiting for a shift and there was a brawl on the ice. I just thought, 'I've got my bachelor of science degree and it's pretty evident after playing here that I'm not going to be called up to the NHL so I'd better get on with my life.' At the end of the season, I moved on and got a job at Xerox."

4. How do you think your athletic background has helped you in business?

"There are many parallels between a team sport and business, like winning, losing, coming together as a team and achieving common goals. I see those parallels in business every day."

Murray Wright has gone from hockey's minor pro leagues to the computer big leagues with Lenovo.

5. What was Xerox Canada like to work for (he spent 10 years with the company)?

"Xerox was a wonderful company. They had tremendous training and it was a fantastic learning ground. The opportunities that you had to use your own personal motivation and be successful in the marketplace were pretty much limitless within the boundaries of the organization. And the learning and coaching and calibre of people around you in the organization was excellent. I really enjoyed my time at Xerox and it really formed an excellent foundation for future business and personal development."

6. Can you talk about the circumstances of your departure from your previous job in which you were fired (as general manager for Ingram Micro Canada)?

"I just reached a point where we had wonderful results at Ingram Micro in Canada. In fact, in 2004 we had the best financial performance in five years. But there was significant directional change in how they wanted to manage the business. It's a U.S.-based organization and the head office was calling the shots on the strategic direction. I suppose I probably resisted putting in some of those changes. Instead of saying 'fired', we really came to a mutual agreement that we should part company."

7. What was that experience like?

"Over the years, people have said that if you don't push in business and if you're not pushing the edge, you're probably not getting as much as you can out of the organization or your team. So what did I learn? I learned that I probably crossed the line. I had a wonderful opportunity to take some time to reflect on what my next steps in my business career should look like. I had met Scott Smith, who is the president of the Americas (for Lenovo), in the past. And I was really intrigued by the Lenovo story and the future opportunity sounded very interesting. I was exploring and networking some opportunities in the technology arena. When Scott and I connected, this opportunity presented itself and it took me about five seconds to sit down with Scott and say, 'Let's get going.' " 8. What sold you on this role and this company?

"It's just a fantastic opportunity and a wonderful story. You've got the foundation of IBM and their (former) PC division. Although over the years they (IBM) had difficulty making money in their PC division, they've got a tremendously talented team and fantastic products. It was one of the first times that a company came out of China onto the world stage with all this manufacturing expertise and a desire to expand their brand globally. I thought that with the foundation from IBM, the entrepreneurial flair and the manufacturing and supply-chain expertise that Lenovo brought to the party, it could be a very potent combination. So I wanted to be a part of it. Actually, when I talked to Scott Smith, I had said to him, 'If you've got something anywhere, I'd be interested in discussing it with you.' " 9. So what has the transition to this job been like in your first six months?

"With Lenovo, globally and certainly here in Canada, we've made some significant achievements in the six months I've been here and I can see a bright future ahead for us. Any time you go from one organization to another, it probably takes about six months to get settled in and to understand the culture and the processes of the organization. You know, I think I'm at that point right now. We're working on some very exciting initiatives and I'm pretty sure they're going to pay some dividends for us."

10. Why do you think the merger between Lenovo and IBM's PC division has worked better than many people expected, considering the cultural differences of the two organizations?

"It's unique and I think everybody believes in that vision. It's a pretty powerful story, with these two companies coming together with a focus on product and innovation, and on making a real difference in the marketplace."

11. In your position, are you able to devise a unique marketing strategy for Canada?

"We've got an overall global strategy that we need to be implementing here in Canada and we have the latitude and the flexibility here to make the decisions required in the Canadian marketplace. We have that latitude to figure out what we need to do in the market, and then we need to be able to go and execute it. I like that challenge of being able to craft that challenge."

12. How does the Canadian PC market differ from other markets?

"If you compare it to the United States as an example, we probably have about twice the geography and 10 per cent of the population. So that in itself poses some challenges in how you go to market, what channels you go to market with and what programs and promotions you focus on. And Canada is primarily an SMB, a small and medium-sized business country, so that would differ from some of the other geographies around the world."

13. What is your strategy in marketing your PC products?

"First of all, we're going to focus on innovation as an organization and recognize that we are a product-oriented company. We think that the quality of our products and our innovation differentiates us from some of our competitors in the market. So we're going to make sure that the market understands that and do our very best to communicate that to our customers and our potential customers. But we're also going to explore new channels of distribution in Canada. We're looking at retaining our existing customers and continuing to practice continuous improvement, whether it's process improvements or productivity improvements. But then we want to look at how we grow the business by introducing new channel opportunities to the marketplace. And our products will support that as well."

14. What products do you anticipate to be the big drivers of growth for your business over the next five years?

"Analysts are forecasting a tremendous amount of growth in mobility technology. I would suspect as I look down that time horizon of five years that we're going to see a tremendous amount of growth in the mobile world and Lenovo is extremely well positioned for that. It's not only with our wide array of notebook products (that include the ThinkPad), but we know on the horizon there are hand-held devices and we know that our Chinese company is a top manufacturer of cellphone technologies. All of those potential production introductions could exist for us in the next few years."

15. Do you lose sleep over what your competitors are doing?

"You know, this is a crazy business. We have so many smart people in this industry and the pricing and margins and acceleration of technology are all factors that make this a very dynamic and crazy marketplace. So I don't lose sleep. I hope I'm causing some sleepless nights."

16. What's your outlook for the Canadian PC market?

"It's going to continue to be an extremely competitive market. There's no question about that. It's a very significant battle in the marketplace today and I think we have the best opportunity because there are markets that we're not in that we will be in. Our upside for growth is perhaps in better shape than that of some of our competitors."

17. What in your mind makes a great business leader?

"There are a lot of different strengths that you need to have to be a successful executive and everybody brings different skills to the party at different times. Communication is clearly one key. You have to have good solid communication skills and be able to communicate at multiple levels of your organization, your customers' organizations and your suppliers' organizations. And integrity is also a key. We've seen a lot of media coverage of perhaps some bad examples of integrity in business over the last few years. Today the spotlight needs to be on integrity. You not only need to have integrity, but you have to be able to 'walk the walk and talk the talk', as the expression goes. That's a critical skillset today."

18. Who's the business leader you most admire?

"One that I certainly refer to a lot is Jack Welch (former CEO of General Electric).

"I've read his books, I've met him in person, I've seen him speak several times and I think he did a fantastic job at GE over the years. He made some very difficult decisions (in staff cuts in some divisions) and perhaps was unpopular for those decisions. But I don't think there's any question that the reason that he made those decisions was in the best interest of the organization."

19. Do you think your management style is similar in any way to the way he was?

"No, I've got my own style. Yet, I think you can certainly take elements from other individuals and incorporate either new skills or new perspectives into your own personal style. I like to be an open communicator and make sure that I'm an approachable, authentic type of individual. I'm very straightforward in my communication style, whether I'm dealing with my team or with my boss. We are able to have good direct open lines of communications."

20. What's your ultimate career goal?

"In the foreseeable future, I want to participate in Lenovo and capitalize on the potential that I see. We've only just scratched the surface so I'm not really looking any further than that. I like the action. I like the interaction with people, I like the action and pace of the business. In the last year, we've accomplished an awful lot here at Lenovo Canada that sets the stage for another exciting fiscal year, which started on April 1. While at times it's very hectic, it's also very energizing."

Murray Wright

* Title: President, Lenovo Canada.

* Born/Raised/Age: Etobicoke, Ont./49.

* Education: Clarkson University (Potsdam, N.Y.), bachelor of science.

* Career: Prior to joining Lenovo Canada last October, Wright was general manager of Ingram Micro Canada. He spent seven years - 1998-2005 - with the wholesaler of personal computers and was vice-president of sales before becoming GM. He was general manager of Sharp Electronics from 1994 to 1998. Prior to that, he held sales and management positions with Triathlon Leasing (1990-94) and Xerox Canada (1980-90).

* Claim to fame: Wright once toiled in hockey's minor leagues as a defenceman in the East Coast Hockey League.

* Boyhood Idol: Hockey superstar Bobby Orr.

* Recommended Business Books: What the CEO Wants You to Know, by Ram Charan; Straight From the Gut, Jack Welch.

* Pastimes: Recreational hockey, martial arts.

Lenovo Canada

* Profile: Lenovo Canada, the former IBM Canada PC division, is a subsidiary of Lenovo, the world's third-largest personal computing company. Lenovo, based in New York, was formed in 2005 when China-based Lenovo Group acquired IBM's personal computing Division for $1.2 billion US. Based in Toronto, Lenovo Canada has offices in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Moncton and Halifax.

* Key Products: Lenovo Canada markets the ThinkPad series and 3000 Family notebook computers, and the ThinkCentre series and 3000 Family desktop computers, as well as PC accessories, monitors, projectors and printers.

* Roots: The Lenovo Group was started in 1984 by 11 computer scientists who set up shop in a small bungalow in Beijing. By 1994, the company had sold its one-millionth personal computer.

* Website: www.lenovo.com/ca

* Head Office: 10 York Mills Road, Suite 400, Toronto, M2P 2G7.

* Phone: 877-844-6572.

(Gyle Konotopetz can be reached at gyle@businessedge.ca)