The Halifax Explosion and Saint John Toastmasters First President

I’m interested in the balance between humility, and recognizing and celebrating achievement.

Recently I’ve read some articles on an increasing narcissism in society, and our general inability to productively and politely manage disagreements. As I explored this theme, I discovered the article below in which the author asserts that we need more humility in our society.  I do agree. But are we sometimes too humble? Are there times we fail to recognize and celebrate achievement?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/meaning-making/202008/how-to-become-more-humble

 

Learning About Saint John Toastmasters First Club President

A few weeks ago, I learned about Les Harrison, the first president of my Saint John Toastmasters club (#1479), which was founded in 1954.

Lieutenant Harrison, was undeniably an absolute hero, saving hundreds, and maybe thousands, of lives on December 6, 1917 during the Halifax Explosion.  A New York Times headline from December 10, 1917 reads;

 

(https://www.nytimes.com/1917/12/10/archives/prevented-second-halifax-explosion-harrison-boarded-blazing.html)

 

The disaster occurred 30 minutes after two ships had a collision. The subsequent explosion killed 1,800 and injured 7,000 in a city of 60,000 people. The 250-foot-long ship Mont Blanc, full of explosives on route to support WW I allies, was launched 1,000 feet into the air. This was the largest manmade explosion that had ever occurred to that time, before the nuclear bombings in WW II.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion)

 

Lieutenant Les Harrison and his father Captain James Harrison happened to be in Halifax Harbour when the massive explosion occurred. Soon after the explosion, they boarded a second ship full of explosives and extinguished an onboard fire. Their actions saved many lives.

I learned of their heroism, and humility, because I received an email from Les Harrison’s grandson, Ian Bliss. Ian lives in Ottawa, and is President and CEO of Northern Shield Resources, a company traded on the TSX exchange. He wrote that his family was downsizing, and he possessed a silver tray that had been presented to his grandfather Les to commemorate his term as the first president of the Saint John Toastmasters club on its founding in 1954. The tray is now in the club’s possession.

 

Founding Members

 

Our club houses a list of the charter members, the founding members of the club. The name Les Harrison was not familiar to me. Several other names were familiar to me, such as Philip Oland, who led Moosehead Breweries through a tremendous period of growth and expansion (Oland was born in Halifax in 1910 and his family moved to Saint John after the explosion in 1917).  During his career, Oland received the Order of Canada, and the Canadian Forces Decoration award.

Tom Simms oversaw a similar growth period in the paint brush factory his father started (https://www.simms.ca/)

George Crosby started Crosby Molasses and developed a company that sells product across Canada and the United States (https://www.crosbys.com/)

As I was unaware of Lt. Harrison, I asked Ian about his grandfather’s career. He wrote that Les Harrison and his dad were ship captains, guiding sail and steam ships from Saint John, Halifax, and Portland across the Atlantic.  More details about the ship they boarded, The Picton, and the event are contained here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Picton

 

Ian also wrote that Les, in 1917, was “one of a relatively few number of people that had a working automobile so (they) spent days shuttling injured to hospital.” Of note, on the day after the explosion, Halifax endured a major blizzard, complicating rescue activities.

 

For More Information - The Legion magazine

The publication The Legion Magazine has published articles on Canadian Military history and veteran affairs since 1929. Below is a link to a comprehensive review they published on the Halifax explosion and in which they write of the heroics of the Harrisons in boarding The Picton and extinguishing the onboard fire.  

https://legionmagazine.com/features/halifax-explosion/index.html

 

From The Legion magazine;

 

“Capt. James W. Harrison, Marine Supt. of Furness Withy Co., recognised the danger of the ballast exploding, and made his way to the ship with help from his son, Lt Leslie Harrison. He commandeered the tug Weatherspoon and ordered its captain take him to the Picton.”

 

“Picton’s survivors had been taken to hospital, but marine superintendent Captain James Harrison headed for the ship, knowing 1,300 tonnes of munitions were still in the hold and that fire was consuming the nearby sugar factory. When he arrived aboard, Picton’s bow was metres away from a burning pier and the bridge was on fire. He put out the flames and ordered tugs to pull the ship away from shore.”

 

Conclusion

Undeniably, our society could benefit from more humility and less self-regard.  But I also believe we could benefit from a greater culture of celebration of recognition and achievement.

I was delighted to learn about the heroism of Lieutenant Les Harrison, and his father Captain James Harrison. Such heroism should be recognized and celebrated.

Poor Communication Skills Are a Career Killer?

Recently I spoke with someone who has begun a job search. He is highly qualified and has a record of solid achievement. However, I did observe that his listening skills are not strong, and I thought about how this could affect his interviews and interactions. I will soon ask his permission to offer what I experienced during our interactions. Ideally, a new interaction will provide me with a couple of fresh examples and an opportunity to request permission to offer my observations.

His listening skill gap became obvious to me as we talked and he would interrupt before I completed some sentences. Such habits would not play well in an interview.

At times when I was responding, he appeared to be thinking about what he would say next and I would often have to repeat what I had said.

Cost of Poor Communication Skills

Poor communication skills can be costly during a job interview. Sometimes interviewers can’t pinpoint poor communication skills as their concern, but will simply feel that the candidate isn’t strong.

Our ineffective interaction made me curious about the cost of poor communication skills in general, and particularly poor listening skills.  I found some excellent case studies linked below that pertain to written content and poor communication as it relates to companies, but I’ve not found much about the costs to individuals.

https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/chapter/casestudy-costpoorcommunication/

Cost To Business

This article below further discusses costs to businesses

https://www.vantagepartners.com/insights/costs-of-poor-communication-skills

 

A “Career Killer”

A “career killer” is how this writer considers poor personal communication skills.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/silent-career-killer-how-poor-communication-skills-can-sadharajan/

 

How to Improve Personal Communication Skills

Communication is a skill. Skills can be developed. Skills can be taught, learned, and developed if someone is interested to learn the skill. The best athletes in the world practice basic skills such as making free throws, putting, dribbling, and fielding.

To be an effective communicator an individual will need some knowledge of effective skills and techniques, a regular opportunity to exercise the skills, and performance feedback on their effectiveness and opportunities for improvement.

For over 35 years, my Toastmaster club (www.toastmasters.org) has been my primary vehicle to develop and practice elements of strong communication.  Other interactions in many business and personal engagements provide me with additional opportunity, however, for me Toastmasters remains a regular occasion to plan, speak, listen, and receive suggestions for further communication and leadership development.

 

Practices of Effective Listeners

 The most common advice to improve listening results is to exercise “active listening.” A key for me in active listening is to paraphrase and repeat, and avoid formulating a response. When you begin formulating a response, you become eager to offer your thoughts, and you disconnect from the work of listening.  

Paraphrasing or simple repetition demonstrates that you are listening, and further invites the speaker elaborate.

Avoiding a response causes the listener to organize what she has heard and to ask further questions of clarification.

For more on effective listening see https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-active-listening-3024343

If Told You’re Not Listening

Here is a point of view on how to manage when you’re informed that you’re not listening

 

https://kellblog.com/2020/02/08/what-to-do-when-someone-says-youre-not-listening/

Conclusion

Poor communication skills can be costly to people and businesses. Communication is a skill, and with intention and practice, skills can be developed.