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Dedicated to spreading the word about the advantages of being a CGA, Halifax's Jackie Poirier is the first CGA-Canada Chair from Nova Scotia since 1950.

FROM: NOV-DEC 2006 ISSUE | BY PEGGY HOMAN

There is a long-standing Calgary tradition of adorning visiting dignitaries with white cowboy hats, which CGA-Canada's Chair for 2006-07, Jackie Poirier, FCGA, learned first-hand at the September Board dinner. Poirier accepted the honour in her usual fashion — with a broad smile and a sincere thank you.

Although facing a demanding schedule during a cool and blustery week in Calgary, Poirier, from Nova Scotia, breezed into meeting after meeting like one of the city's warm chinook winds. Her enthusiasm, determination, and positive energy are contagious. "I'm a big believer in setting large goals," she says, emphasizing that not setting limitations is equally important. "I believe that success is about working to create opportunities then overcoming any fear to take on new challenges," she states pragmatically.

Indeed, within a few minutes of conversation it is obvious that Poirier thrives on challenging herself and stretching to reach new heights. In keeping with her philosophy of not imposing self-limitations, not even the sky is her limit. As an air cadet, Poirier applied for, and (to her surprise) received, a flying scholarship — even though she was terrified at the prospect of learning how to fly a plane. True to her stated belief, she pushed past the fear and earned a flying license. "And that was all before I had a driver's license," she laughs.

Raised in New Brunswick, Poirier moved to Halifax to attend Mount Saint Vincent University. While her dream was to join the federal government as a public servant, the public service wasn't hiring when she graduated with distinction in 1988. With her bachelor of business administration in accounting and management in hand, she joined the Royal Bank and promptly underwent six months of management training. "Very close to the start of my career I was supervising a fairly large staff," she recalls. "I was in my early twenties and as an assistant manager, I was supervising people with much more experience than I had — some had been with the bank for 25 years and knew much more than I did, so I learned early to rely on and support my staff."

Poirier stayed with the bank for two years, but kept her goal of joining the federal government firmly in sight and continued to apply on a regular basis. Her diligence was rewarded in 1990 when she was invited to join the public service as an auditor. Her career progressed steadily and by 1997, she was a regional director in the Corporate Management Branch of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).

"I developed strong technical skills during that time, but I found the key to my success as an auditor was my strong people skills; I was good at building constructive relationships with the people in the organizations I was auditing. And I was persistent in getting the job done," she says, citing, as an example, one memorable audit. "The client told me some equipment I'd asked to see was being stored in a shed way out in the middle of nowhere, and that the shed could only be reached by snowshoe!" she exclaims. "So I asked if he had some snowshoes I could borrow. Once he realized I wasn't signing off on the audit until I saw the equipment in question, he found a way to bring it to the office, which meant I didn't need the snowshoes after all," she smiles, effectively proving her point that there is no substitute for persistence and perseverance.

In addition to these attributes, a positive attitude and straightforward approach are key to Poirier's success. Setting goals and steadfastly setting out to achieve them is a common theme running through her personal and professional life. While she has made many things happen for herself, she is quick to credit her family with encouraging her to pursue her dreams. "My parents were always extremely supportive and never set any limits on what I aspired to do. I remember them telling me that life won't always give you what you deserve, but if you set goals and work hard, you are likely to be rewarded."

A prime example of years of hard work paying off came in the form of Poirier's successful promotion in April 2005. "I was in Hong Kong for CGA business and had 24 hours to submit an application for the position of regional director, human resources, with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)," she recalls. Much like her perspective on applying for the flying scholarship years earlier, Poirier didn't think she had much of a chance but applied anyway. "I can honestly say I have my ideal job and I love working for CRA. It is a very focused, business-oriented, and well-managed department with many opportunities for CGAs," she says with conviction.

"Another thing I really value about my current position was the opportunity to work with my former supervisor, Bob Russell. He was a fantastic boss and a real coach. One of the top things I learned from him is that one can find time to balance personal and professional commitments. I need to achieve more balance in my life and watching a high performing individual achieving balance proves that it is, in fact, possible!"

Poirier says she's been fortunate to work with some exceptional leaders over the years and has learned some invaluable management lessons just by observing their styles and approaches. She offers some insight on her own philosophy. "I think that to be an effective manager, one must understand each individual's needs rather than managing all team members exactly the same way. That's not to say I believe in special treatment for anyone; rather, it means tailoring the approach for managing each person," she says, adding that creating a respectful work environment and having a team that gets along and supports each other is critical to moving a business agenda forward.

Her involvement with the Association began shortly after receiving her designation in 1993, when she was recruited to join CGA Nova Scotia's marketing committee at an admission to membership ceremony in Halifax. "Soon after, I heard about the national education committee and thought it sounded interesting, so I joined. It was an excellent opportunity to meet people from all over the country, to build relationships with them, and to keep the views of CGA Nova Scotia actively involved in national discussions," she says. Building on that experience, Poirier says ensuring the voices of CGAs and students are heard remains high on her agenda.

Now as Chair of the Association, Poirier emphasizes that she wants to build on the tremendous progress made over the past few years. As a past president of CGA Nova Scotia(1999-00) and a member of the CGA-Canada Board since 2001 and the Executive Committee since 2002, she brings to the role comprehensive knowledge of the Association and extensive experience at both the provincial and national levels. Chairing the Legacy Review Task Force and the Finance and Strategic Planning committees, and her involvement with the International Vision Task Force, has deepened her understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing the Association. In recognition of her ongoing contributions, Poirier was awarded her FCGA in 2002.

"We have a clear strategic vision and a highly effective Board in place, and I'm committed to keeping the Board functioning well as a strong team to achieve our six strategic goals," she says. "As for top priorities, we need to follow through on achieving full professional equity and to continue building the strength and visibility of the designation across Canada and internationally. And we are continuing to build the research function in order to make strong contributions to the development of public policy."

As well, Poirier is very enthusiastic about CGA-Canada working with the Office of the Comptroller General to promote the designation to public sector financial professionals. "The reinstatement of the Office in 2003 means terrific opportunities for students and mid-career professionals alike," she says. And unlike the situation in 1988 when Poirier graduated from university, the federal public service is currently recruiting accountants.

Even now, at the beginning of her term as Chair, Poirier is thinking ahead to what her next big goal will be when her term ends in the fall of 2007. She remains actively involved with Mount Saint Vincent University as a member of its advisory board for the Centre for Women in Business, but she looks forward to taking on new responsibilities in other areas as well. "I find I'm always asking myself what my next challenge will be, as I believe it is important to continuously improve. At this point, I think I could benefit from the pure learning of another academic experience and I might do an MBA or MPA degree in the next few years."

And once her CGA commitments have lightened a little, no doubt she'll commit more time to pursuing some of her other interests, which include gardening, genealogical research, travelling to new locales with her husband of 13 years, Paul, and spending time with family and friends. But for the next year, the bulk of Poirier's energy will be spent advancing the interests of CGAs.

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Peggy Homan is associate publisher and editor of CGA Magazine.