On Friday, September 15, the halls of Sandford Fleming welcomed back their most prestigious alumnus. In some ways things came full circle for a man who, as he admitted to a room full of overly enthusiastic undergrads, had traveled a long and winding road. Paul Godfrey, a former chairman elect of Metropolitan Toronto, explained to a captivated audience the twists and turns that led a brash engineering student from North York to the big leagues of the Toronto Blue Jays.
“A lot of things that I became involved with, I didn’t plan on. When I became chairman of the city at 34 years of age, it scared the hell out of me because I didn’t know anything about running a city,” he admitted. Godfrey recalled a similar fish-out-ofwater feeling in his early years at U of T. Working towards a degree in chemical engineering, he struggled to keep his grades up and almost didn’t make it through his second year.
On a cool Friday afternoon, reflecting on exactly how far he’d come since then, Godfrey imparted this piece of wisdom:
“The most important skills you can develop are people skills. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, or whether you’re an engineer, politician or the president of a baseball team. You’ll go further in life if you have the ability to relate.”
A devoted family man and accomplished entrepreneur, the U of T graduate’s people skills were on full display during the hour-long speech as he charmed the audience with his eloquence and sardonic wit, at one point remarking self-effacingly: “From the time I was twenty-five to the time I was twenty-seven, I couldn’t have been elected dog catcher in this city.”
The venture certainly would have added to an already diverse and eclectic resume, as Godfrey also acted as publisher of the Toronto Sun prior to his Blue Jays days.
He’s certainly grown up a lot since then. Godfrey, now 68, recounted the day he got a call from his former boss at the Sun: “At the time I got the call, a lot of my colleagues were already retiring. We made enough money selling our stake in the newspaper that we never had to work again, but when a guy like Ted Rogers makes you an offer you have to listen.”
What Ted Rogers offered was a vision.
“I want you to run my baseball team,” he said.
Godfrey was incredulous at the time.
“I didn’t know you had a baseball team,” he replied.
The rest, as they say, is history. Rogers Communications bought the Blue Jays from Interbrew on August 31, 2000, and Godfrey was named president and CEO the following day. To an outside observer, Godfrey may seem like the kind of man who has stakes in many different ventures. Even for a man his age, his accomplishments and plans are difficult to imagine. Godfrey said that much could be attributed to his mother’s advice. “She said it’s better to quit two years too early than it is to quit two minutes too late. If you want to win, you have to know when to leave.”
So what constitutes success to this constant striver?
“Success?” he hesitated. “I think it should mean something different to each person. The bottom line is at the end of the day, you want to feel fulfilled personally and professionally, you have to be content with yourself.”
