Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 88
88
( 2025 )
SPONSOR CONTENT
A new approach to leadership emerges at Kinross Gold
W
hen Matthew Hart
stepped into a new
role at Kinross Gold
Corp., the mining
engineer already had the technical
background and dedication
required to succeed. But it was
the people skills he developed
through the company’s Emerging
Leaders program that helped him
to thrive.
“It’s been an essential step in
moving forward,” says the project
manager for the Great Bear gold
project in Ontario. “It solidifies
that I have the foundation to be a
good leader – not just a technical
expert.”
Emerging Leaders was founded
in 2021 to help new managers
develop the tools to lead successfully. It is the newest of several
leadership development opportunities at Kinross and has been
hugely popular since its inception.
“It's about building future resilience through leadership,” says
Kathleen Grandy, senior vice-president human resources. Grandy
helped found the program, which
is sponsored by Joseph Kemp,
vice-president and general manager for Kinross Nevada.
“The further you go up the
chain,” says Grandy, “leadership
skills – which sometimes get
neglected for technical skills – are
critical to the success of a business
over the long term.”
Grandy saw the opportunity for
a structured leadership program
after seeing staff move into a
leadership role for the first time.
“Going from contributor to leader
can be a tough transition,” she
explains.
The program goes beyond
practical skills to teach leadership
through a people-focused lens.
“We aim to give them some
self-awareness,” she says. “Leading
people is different – you have
to take a bit of a different view
of yourself and your role to be
successful.”
For Hart, a key takeaway
has been helping him better
understand his role, particularly
when navigating the dynamics
of technical experts who are not
direct reports.
“It’s helped me with how to
motivate people towards our
common goal and to lead with
influence, rather than authority,”
he explains.
Having entered the program
midway through his transition to
project manager, Hart has also
found the Emerging Leaders
program helped reinforce positive
behaviours.
“There's been a reinvestment
by Kinross in its people
development. Mining is a
really competitive market
and paying people more
won’t keep them. You need
to be able to develop and
motivate your people.”
— Matthew Hart
Project Manager
An employee at Kinross Gold conducts field samples at the organization’s Great Bear location in northern
Ontario.
“It's been an interesting before
and after lens,” he says.
When he first joined the Great
Bear project, Kinross’s major
development project in northern
Ontario, Hart had a tight timeline
to perform an important scoping
study. Leveraging the team was
essential, and Hart completed the
robust study and was recognized
with a Living Our Values Award
from Kinross.
“We have a very talented technical team. Delegating properly
and making sure your team is fully
engaged is critical to success,” he
explains. “That was something
that I was already doing that was
reinforced during the program, so
I've continued to latch on to it.”
