Answer extracted from the Executive Wins Podcast — listen to the full episode below.
What should leaders prioritize before business success?
The primary job of leaders is building more leaders—before celebrating business success, annual results, or quarterly wins. Human potential is the capital that matters most in modern organizations, and leaders must create environments where employees choose to invest in their development and succeed, whether they stay with the company or move on to their next chapter.
This principle reframes what leadership actually means. It's not about hitting targets first and then thinking about people—it's about recognizing that people development precedes sustainable business results. When you build stronger leaders, the business outcomes follow naturally.
As Eric Dillon explains in the episode, this commitment goes beyond occasional mentoring conversations. It requires a deliberate, structured approach where leaders actively invest in developing others throughout their tenure.
Creating environments where people choose to stay and grow
Building more leaders means creating conditions where employees feel valued, developed, and set up for success—even if they eventually leave your organization. This counterintuitive approach actually strengthens both retention and culture. When people know their leader genuinely invests in their growth, they perform better and stay longer.
The responsibility extends to how organizations treat departing employees. If you've developed someone well, supporting their transition to the next opportunity reflects the leadership culture you've built. This generosity builds trust within your current team and signals that your organization genuinely cares about people, not just labor hours.
"The primary job of leaders is to build more leaders. Like before the business success, before celebrate the results for the year or whatever the case may be, the primary job of leaders is to actually build more leaders."
Eric Dillon — President, General Bank of Canada. With 30 years of experience in the finance industry, primarily in Alberta, Dillon has led teams as large as 2000 people. He has mentored over 122 individuals through a structured, tracked mentoring process and is deeply passionate about advancing gender diversity in banking and finance while building the next generation of leaders.
Dillon's commitment to this principle is concrete: he maintains a detailed scorecard tracking over 122 mentoring relationships, recording the nature of each relationship, mentoring goals, and progress markers. This isn't aspirational talk—it's a measurable practice embedded into his leadership approach.
If you're curious about the specific framework Dillon uses to structure mentoring relationships from the first conversation, including how he sets confidentiality expectations and defines clear goals, the full episode digs deep into his proven process.
Key takeaways
- Leader development must come before celebrating business wins or quarterly results—it's the foundational responsibility of any executive.
- Human potential is the strategic capital of modern organizations; people-centered leadership directly enables business performance.
- Create environments where employees feel genuinely invested in, whether they stay long-term or move to new opportunities.
- Structured mentoring at scale requires tracking, measurement, and intentional process—not just ad-hoc conversations.
See also
Why should confidentiality be a two-way commitment in mentor-mentee relationships?
Confidentiality works both directions: the mentee protects information shared by the mentor, and the mentor protects sensitive details shared by the mentee, creating a safe space for honest dialogue.
How can leaders build the next generation through scaled mentoring while maintaining quality and personal investment?
Dillon maintains a detailed scorecard tracking over 122 mentoring relationships, recording the nature of each relationship, mentoring goals, and success metrics to ensure consistency and genuine impact across a large portfolio.
What framework should leaders use to set up effective mentoring relationships from the first meeting?
Eric Dillon emphasizes establishing clear structure from the initial conversation: addressing confidentiality expectations, defining specific mentoring goals, and setting realistic timelines for progress and growth.