Ed Staniowski: What It Means To Be A Leader

Emily Rodger  0:00  
Hi, I'm Emily Rodger, host of the Boiling Point podcast. My co host, Dave Veale, and I will bring you thoughtful discussions with leaders who are positively impacting our world. This is the Boiling Point: where leadership and inspiration meet.

Dave Veale  0:17  
Alright, hello, everyone. Welcome back to Boiling Point. Emily, good to see you. 

Emily Rodger  0:22  
Nice to see you, Dave. 

Dave Veale  0:23  
I'm going to introduce someone in a few moments, and he comes from a part of the world that I'm very fond of- Saskatchewan. He's a fascinating guy. And we- just before we got started, I had a chance to see a buddy who happened to be at his place, who I haven't seen for a long, long time, and a very good close friend of mine, when I lived in Saskatchewan for a time and we played hockey together. So I just- I'm feeling very nostalgic right now. 

Emily Rodger  0:51  
Nice. Well, what had you in- in Saskatchewan? Was that for hockey? 

Dave Veale  0:55  
Well, yeah, kind of, but it was my parents getting me out of the Yukon. Because I was ha- I was 15, and I was having some challenges. And they sent me way to school called Notre Dame, and Notre Dame is in this little town called Wilcox, Saskatchewan, and you're there. And there's really not a lot to do but play hockey and play other sports. And I was there for three years, and you make some great friendships and- and Kurt Kleisinger, who has been a former guest on here, on the Boiling Point a long time ago, was one of those really close friends. And anyways, we were just texting a few years ago- or not a few years ago, a few months ago. And he said, you know, you gotta meet Ed. And so we're gonna bring Ed on right now. We're gonna get him to introduce himself. And it's been a challenge, because he's like you, Emily, traveling the globe and doing all these amazing things. But we did finally find some time to connect with him. So hello, Ed. 

Ed Staniowski  1:52  
Great to see you, Dave. Great to see you, Emily. 

Emily Rodger  1:54  
Yeah, likewise Ed. It was fun to see- yeah, you and Dave and Kurt just kind of go down memory lane there for a few minutes, and then Kurt asking us if we were recording.

Dave Veale  2:08  
He got- he got a little nervous, right?

Emily Rodger  2:10  
Wait a minute, is this- who else is listening to this conversation?

Dave Veale  2:16  
So Ed, for our listeners, we always get our guests introduce themselves. So we'd love to have you introduce yourself the best you can, because you got an impressive bio, my friend, it's pretty long. So how do you introduce yourself? 

Ed Staniowski  2:29  
Well, I'll give you the Coles' Notes version. You're- You're- it's a real privilege to be- to be here on air with you both on- on the podcast. And again, I've heard a lot of really interesting things about how you reached out and the service you've provided, and the insight you've provided to a lot of people who take the time to listen in and- and whoever might be listening to this you're hearing from somebody who's had a life of fortune and privilege. Again, Ed Staniowski is my name. I might say Edward on the tag- on the screen there, but it's Ed Staniowski, and- and, again, fortune and privilege. I was fortunate to have played four years of junior hockey in the Canadian hockey league with Regina Pats out in Saskatchewan, and with the Memorial Cup in 1974 with a great, great hockey club. The folks who know sports and write about it and report on it said that that 1974 Memorial Cup hockey team was one of the- one of the great teams in junior history. We had Clark Gillies who went on to win four Stanley Cups with the Islanders, and Dennis Sawchuk who played 15 years. We had a lot of real good leaders and a great close team together there. My fortune continued, in that I was drafted by the Blues and played 10 years of professional hockey, over 400 professional games in the NHL Central American League, and played for three different NHL teams of both St. Louis Blues and the Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers. The big takeaway there is that two of those teams went under. But that was- I was very fortunate to have that as a 10 year career, and really enjoyed it. Met some great people, saw some great leaders, they're also teammates, played with Federko and Sutter, and like I said, Gillies, the playmakers and you just shamelessly dropped some names there. On retirement from hockey, I was 30 years old and had to find another purpose. I joined the Canadian Armed Forces, and was probably the oldest recruit in the Canadian infantry at that time, in 1986. And, again, I had the privilege of serving 29 years 11 months in the Canadian Armed Forces. And we all saw some great things done by some great Canadians in far off places like Afghanistan and Africa, Middle East and Balkans and- and it was a real, real privilege for me to be part of the Canadian Armed Forces and as my parents always reminded me, you know, there were a lot of blessings that came my way along the way.

Dave Veale  4:59  
I love how you describe yourself as a fortunate man. I sense there's probably a lot of hard work that helped create good fortune. 

Ed Staniowski  5:07  
Well, you look back on it. And maybe at the time, you don't think about some of those challenges and the hard work. There was. Certainly there was commitment, you know, common purpose with folks that are like minded on any hockey team, or in any military, organi- part of the organization, the infantry, the various regiments I served in. Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, the Royal Regina Rifles, you know, different units in the forces. And yeah, it's- it was a natural progression for me to take what I learned playing hockey, obviously, from junior to professional and from professional hockey, that internal integration, that teamwork, mutual support, the trust, you know, two environments where you're scrutinized, you know, outcomes are- are recorded, and you're committed to member well being, moral obligations and leaderships. You know, and then this external adaptability, you always got an opposition, whether it's in the military or certainly in hockey, but you know, there's adversity and friction, you have to work through stress and- and it- those two careers for me, kind of came together. And I was able to use the things I learned in sports, to be a leader in the military, and it served me well.

Dave Veale  6:20  
Emily, you'd have some experience, being an athlete, and understanding the learnings from that and how it plays out in the next career and that sort of thing.

Emily Rodger  6:30  
Yeah, and it is- it's so powerful, it's so powerful, about teamwork, about leadership, and about commitment about discipline, and that the higher up you get into that professional level, that the even- even more focus has to be on that, and not just, yeah, on yourself, but on everyone around you. And what it is that we're all doing. And even now, I always say, for me, my sport was cycling and- and in professional cycling, and looking back, it's like, gosh, that was not about the bike. That was about like, just who Emily was, just at her core, and those values and that- like, that is now just something that is just so deeply a part of me, that like you, it's like we can take those things into every single thing that we do. 

Ed Staniowski  7:16  
Absolutely, like, if I could comment on that, Emily. A professional cyclist, wow, talk about endurance, you know, the qualities of endurance. As a military historian, and again, I had the privilege of teaching at War College in- or Command and Staff College. And you look at the qualities that someone's going to be successful- One of the qualities is endurance. And I think it was General Ulysses Grant who said that in every competition- and he was talking specifically about battle- in every battle, there comes a time where both sides are completely spent. And the side that continues, wins. You know, there's nothing left, there's nothing in the tank, left in the tank. Somehow one of the two sides continues. And that's the side that wins. And of course, he was the commanding general of the Union Army in the Civil War. And then went on to be a two term president, and probably one of America's greatest presidents. So I love what he said about that. And, you know, I think of another leader that I started with in the military, Andrew Leslie, and he said, when leadership is not asserted, the vacuum is seldom filled with success. And that's still very true in the team concept. Because, you know, we have Brian Sutter in the dressing room in St. Louis, a great leader, and he went on to coaching and, you know, it's all about getting the best out of yourself and of your teammates, when you just don't have- sometimes nothing left in the tank.

Emily Rodger  8:44  
Yeah. So you're in Regina now, what are you doing?

Ed Staniowski  8:48  
I retired and I'm heading up a project to commemorate- one of the regiments I served in was the Regina Rifles here, a local reserve unit now, but in the second World War, they were frontline, a unit that was at the tip of the spear for the D Day invasion of Normandy. We've all seen private- Saving Private Ryan, and what that entailed. That focused on the American beaches, but for Canada, it was Juno Beach, on the- on the coast of France, and Regina Rifles were one of the Canadian regiments of the third Canadian division that landed a boat. You know, 10,000 on that first day of Canadians, had stormed the beaches of Normandy. So we're, we've got a fundraiser going, it's called Op Calvados, and we're raising money to erect a permanent statue near the Juno Beach center in France next year. We're taking a contingent of serving members over and we're going to walk in the footsteps of the veterans who accomplished so much and sacrificed so much 80 years back. So that's kind of my focus right now. It's taking a bit of my time and we're planning well in advance of the event, this is going to be huge next year. It will involve of course, you know, American- from the president right on down, the royalty of the United Kingdom and England, and our government, Canadian government, the French government, of course, so it's a very high profile thing that I'm privileged to be a part of.

Dave Veale  10:17  
Why is it so important for us to remember our history and to make sure we're honoring it in a way that we should, and understanding it in a way that we should? Like, why is that important today?

Ed Staniowski  10:28  
Well, I think there's many facets to that, specific to the military. Obviously, there's- there's lessons that have to be learned and things that we have to, I think, pass on to both the current generation and future generations, with regard to the amazing things that were done by Canadians. You think of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in the First World War, Canada, as a 200,000 plus corps of men and women, accomplished something that England tried to accomplish, France tried to accomplish, at a place called Vimy, in Europe, and the leadership that went into getting the Canadians ready for that terrible battle. And the accomplishments that were made, the sacrifices that were made, are staggering. Those things need to be preserved and passed on to future generations, there's a lot of lessons to be learned there. And then again, the liberation of Europe in the Second World War and the landings of D-Day and then the 11 months of follow. And specific to the regimen I served in, Regina Rifles, you know, 454 members of the regiment paid the ultimate price and sacrifice and that needs to be, I think, front and center for future generations to remember. It's a tremendous connection for the people from Saskatchewan, and the children and grandchildren of veterans who went over and served, and the people of, for example, Normandy, France, and Belgium and Holland- when you travel as a Canadian to Europe, and you're tied to an event like the liberation of Europe, it's pretty special. And it's pretty amazing what was done. And it's important, I believe, to maintain that, pass it on, to celebrate, and hopefully we don't- we- we as a world don't make the mistakes and go there again. But unfortunately, we are, if you look at- if you look at what's happening, for example, in Ukraine, we don't seem to learn our lessons. But we have to continue to try to.

Emily Rodger  12:23  
You speak about leadership, and how you were led by so many great leaders. And I'm curious if just like- just even just the term leadership, what does that mean to you?

Ed Staniowski  12:34  
Well, first of all, leadership, a lot of people think it's only about looking after or directing or achieving something with the people beneath you. And I think that's a bit of a- it's important, obviously, that's a bit of a misnomer. Leadership goes certainly to the people you're responsible for, you need to, you know, exemplify and give them leadership, but you also have to show leadership to the people, your peers. You know, might be teammates in the dressing room, it could be fellow members of your platoon or company or battalion, regiment, whatever you want. But it's also showing leadership to those that you answer to. You're showing leadership when you understand the purpose that you've been given, and what it is you are to do and how you're going to accomplish it. A good leader knows to do the right thing at the right time for the right reason. And that's important laterally to the people that you may not be responsible for directly, but certainly to get the job done, you're responsible to them. And so I say the people who are below you and the people that are above you, and I'm of the opinion that true leadership begins with knowing yourself. The first person you have to be a leader of is your own fears and your own purpose, and your own accountability, and your ethos, and the purpose that you have. So I'm sorry, Emily, that may sound like a- you know, a bit of a long answer, but it's important that we look- start by by looking to ourselves and looking to the four directions that leadership has to be exercised. And then there's other qualities and characteristics that come out of it. And Alexander the Great said, I'm not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep, I'm afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. Leadership is so very important. But imagine an army of lions being led by a lion. Those are the kinds of organizations that move the markers in industry. Those are the kinds of organizations that win battles and wars and win Memorial Cups and Stanley Cups in my opinion.

Emily Rodger  14:30  
Yeah, I love that you- you know you're speaking on that the leadership is about knowing yourself, and to be a leader of yourself. And I'm curious, like, even in your time of transitioning from ending your hockey career to then going into the Canadian Armed Forces. What was- if you don't mind speaking to it- what was your decision? What was your reason for wanting to even go that route?

Ed Staniowski  14:52  
I'm a first generation Canadian. My parents immigrated to Canada from Europe after the Second World War. My father had served in the Canadian- or sorry, Polish Armed Forces in the Second World War, my mother served as a nurse during the war. That was how they met by the way, my father was wounded and mom treated him, and they'll probably make a movie about it someday in Hollywood, the way these things go. But after the war ended, they immigrated to Canada. Mum and dad were both fluent in German and Polish, but they didn't speak English. So they had to learn English, they had to start out with nothing in Canada. Basically raised myself, my two brothers and my sister here on the prairies, my sister was born in a refugee camp in England, where they spent 18 months before they came to Canada. So there's a lot about giving back to Canada that is important to me and relevant to me. And we're very, very fortunate to have had the life that we shared as a family here in Canada. So this opportunity to give something back when I finished hockey, everyone needs purpose. And I- my purpose for me was to step into the military realm. And I did, and it was, it was very important for me to do that. And I'm thankful that I did.

Dave Veale  14:52  
I'm really glad you asked that question, Emily, because I was just thinking, what an interesting transition of careers, like from- and I know- I know, there's battles in hockey, but they're a little different than- I suspect, than, you know, what you would have saw in Afghanistan or something like that. Going back to hockey for a sec, you accomplished what very few athletes can accomplish, right, to play at that level, for that length of time. So like win a Memorial Cup, and then move on to the NHL. When you think of your hockey career, what are some of the biggest lessons you- you learned or what you took from your hockey career that maybe stayed with you and supported you in your military career?

Ed Staniowski  16:37  
Of course, my sport was a team sport. So it's a dependence on the other members of your team. You know, and again, I was very fortunate with that, you know, my junior experience, to win a Memorial Cup and be with the team that- in the Memorial Cup tournament, we were behind the eight ball, we were playing against- in the final game, we were playing- Regina Pats, we were playing against Quebec City, the Ramparts, and we were down three nothing at the end of the first period. And for us to come back and win that game, we really had to come together as a team, everybody had to step up. And one of the interesting things- were coached by Bob Turner, who won five Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, and Darrell Wilson was general manager, another executive in the Montreal Canadiens chain. And both of them understood the importance of leadership. Again, those great, great teams in Montreal, I mean the names, reads like a who's who of leadership. So they impressed that upon us, and to the point that we never had a captain on that Regina Pats team, we had four assistant captains. And Bob's approach was he said, you're all leaders, you all have to contribute. It's a team effort. And that came out in the second and third period of that Memorial Cup game in '74. In the spring of '74, we came back and won the game. And the rest is history, you name goes on the trophy type of thing. Other players on the team- I'm not sure the exact number. I think out of the eighteen players on the team, I think 14 or 15 of them ended up playing professional hockey at different levels. And then all came back to the communities that- where they're from, and left marks on the community as firemen and policemen and military folks and all kinds of things. So those lessons from that one hockey game, and from hockey in general, carried me into the NHL, and I had a privilege again playing with some great leaders in skilled people. And that all came with me when I went into the military, it was all about teamwork. I worked in large organizations, I commanded at different levels in the military, where you're responsible for you know, 130 and- and a battalion's worth, a 1000s worth of soldiers, but it's about teamwork. And those qualities, that was the big thing that came to me again. There's things you can accomplish by yourself in life, and there's things that you have to rely on others to help you do. That certainly served me well in my life and in the military.

Dave Veale  19:10  
Our friend Kurt mentioned that we have that in common, because I played a very short amount of time with the Regina Pats. One of my memories is of- they would have all the pictures up on the Agrodome, and the picture of your team- and I didn't know you obviously at the time- but really stood out because Clark Gillies, who you mentioned was a teammate, was so massive. He was this huge presence. This big guy. And Clark Gillies, if you don't know him as a player, Emily, was quite a force, you know what I mean? But- so I would have been staring at your team, you know, back years ago, with my little cup of tea with- in the Western Hockey League, but that's- that's such an interesting story to hear. You bring it down to one game, and what it took and the fact that you can actually look at how the coach decided not to make one captain, and how all of that helps support you guys, and in your mind, come back from this three nothing deficit, to win a game and to be- forever be Memorial Cup champ winners, which very few people can say.

Ed Staniowski  20:16  
There's another part of that team, the general managers, again, Dale Wilson and Bob Turner, created a common adversity for the team, in that at Christmas, we went to Europe and played in what was then known as the Aherne Cup, and it was against the best players in Europe. So you're talking about playing against Salming in Sweden, and we- the Aherne Cup was in Sweden, and we also played two exhibition games in Finland. And we played against the Red Army team, for example, a team that the 1972 NHL team played against in the World Class years. We played against them. And I'm not exaggerating by saying that we got our butts handed to us in every game we played over there. We were a bunch of 18, 19 year olds. So we're playing against some of the greatest players in the world, certainly two years before that Russian team was taken out of the NHL. And remember it was Henderson's goal in the last minute that lifted Canada into the victory of that series. Well we played against those same teams. We were in an environment where we couldn't speak the language, as a team, and it was over Christmas and New Year's. So we were there and we were challenged in that we couldn't speak the language, we were eating completely different diet than we're used to. We were somewhat shut in, in that we- you know, we could go and see the city, Stockholm and Helsinki, when we were there type of thing. But it created a healthy adversity for us. And I'll use the term healthy adversity, because we know that some coaches try and create adversity in all the wrong ways and means. Now we're talking about hazing and all kinds of nonsense, that there's no place for. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a healthy adversity where we were forced to rely on each other, on and off the ice, just for the 10 days that we were over there. And we did not have success. But I can tell you that when we came back to Canada, in January, February, March and April, working into the playoffs and such, we were unbeatable back here in Canada, playing the Western Hockey League against again, you know, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg etc. We were unbeatable. And we swept through the playoffs, the three series- four series, we had to play, you know, Calgary had a great team, and we had to beat them to get into the Memorial Cup. And we have to play Saskatoon and we had to play Swift Current which were all really tough series. And they all had good teams, but we were unbeatable. And I look back on and I think that healthy common adversity we shared carried us to that Memorial Cup, I think. And I- my teammates, I'm going to have a- we have a meeting actually tomorrow, the alumni, the past alumni, because we have very strong alumni. We have meeting tomorrow, and we're going to plan- next year is the 50th anniversary of that Memorial Cup team. So we're gonna- we're planning something for next year, and we'll put pen to paper tomorrow.

Dave Veale  22:56  
So you are- you're a goalie, and you were looking down the ice and Tretiak was the other net? 

Ed Staniowski  23:02  
Tretiak was in the other net.

Dave Veale  23:04  
Oh my gosh.

Ed Staniowski  23:05  
Kharlamov, Yakushev, you know, all the big guns were out there. And it was- you know, I was 18 years old at the time. And I got a lesson in what it is to play your angles and not be caught out of position, I can tell you that.

Dave Veale  23:19  
I bet. That is- wow, what a wild story. I just had to comment on that, because I just- I- that's something that was- I've never heard before.

Emily Rodger  23:27  
Yeah, what really stood out to me, Ed, was you speaking about your- the coach who did not just assign one captain, but four assistants. And you said how you were all leaders. And it just recently I had a conversation with someone who- he was speaking about his business. And he's like- all of these things around just like leadership positions, and that there's certain people that are just leaders and that there are certain people's that were ge- And it's like just this reminder that like leadership is not a position. It's not just something that you're put into, it's the way of being and that action and that we are all called to be it. And when we can take that, and see ourselves as leaders, and know that we are leaders, then that is when incredible things can happen amongst the team.

Ed Staniowski  24:14  
Absolutely. You know, Emily, you're at right on the mark there. You know, leaders had- have initiative, they seek and accept responsibility for themselves and for others, you know, good leaders in the military, they can plan and prioritize and make timely decisions and they're consistent. What they do when people are looking at them and what they do when they're not being looked at are the same thing. They have that purpose, that ethos, and integrity that it's just- and when you- when you have good fortune to be in the presence of a good leader, it affects you, you know it. Just like you know when you- when you got a bad leader, and it happens, but I think we've all probably been around someone. And it might be a family member, or it might be a coach or it might be a peer or you know, another player, whatever, and we say I want to be that kind of person. And especially- especially, you know, that's what we want to be to the young- young people that are coming up, you know, the young players in the game. And you're absolutely right. It's a whole lot more than just being labeled as a leader. I've always said, if you've gotta to tell people you're a leader in charge, you're the leader and you're not in charge. If you gotta tell people you are, you're probably not.

Emily Rodger  25:27  
Yeah, and those people who we kind of look up to, and those leaders who we look up to- and I always kind of take the time to think and look back on, like, who I have kind of admired in my life and who I still do, and just- what are the characteristics about that person? Because those are characteristics that I can build within myself, and instill within myself, and yeah, that is not necessarily the person per se, but maybe yeah, just all of those qualities and characteristics put together, and y'know, in even just this brief conversation and getting to chat with you a little bit before we came on, is that- two things. I think that like, gosh, if I was in a position, and I needed somebody to take charge, like, I'm calling Ed. Then it's also like, if I want to have some laughs and have a good time, I feel like Ed is also that person.

Ed Staniowski  26:20  
They're very kind. You know, there's, I guess a part of a good leader is that you have to have a little bit of humility, too. And especially- especially in sports, well, you obviously you have great success with your sport. And you know, you can't dislocate your shoulder patting yourself on the back, no matter what your sport is, you know, you got to keep a perspective. A true story I'll share with you- a little over a year- I played my last NHL game in Madison Square Gardens. And it was a little over a year later that I was a private, you know, recruit, in the Canadian Armed Forces and getting drilled. And it was right out of a Hollywood movie type thing, where the 25 year old Sergeant is about four inches in front of my face. And he's telling me- we were doing rifle drill, and he says Staniowski, you're the most uncoordinated thing I've ever seen in my life. And I was gonna say to him, oh, you watched me play. But I- you know, you just keep your mouth shut, you got to remember your place, a little bit of humility. And you press on. And you know, from those simple beginnings in the military, you move on up through the ranks where you're responsible for, you know, the lives of men and women in a place like Afghanistan, or in the Balkans, or in Africa or wherever the case may be. And- and, yeah, you got to remember where you come from. And you've got to be confident, too, that's the other thing. Final game of the Memorial Cup playoffs and it's being televised across Canada, the team that was highly favored, we're down three nothing, end of the first period, coach is obviously very irate. This is slipping- slipping away. And when Coach Bob Turner came in, and he was obviously quite agitated, and Dennis Sawchuk stood up and he said, Coach, we know you're disappointed in us. Know that we're going to win this game, and I'm going to score you three goals. And we went back out and one of the other members of the team scored the first goal for us, so we got on the scoreboard. And then Dennis scored three, he got a hat-trick. And he went on to have a great career, professional career that is. And that was the kind of leadership that you get exposed to in the game. And it's- it's a brilliant thing. And again, I'm going- other big names that were on that team, Clark Gillies who went on to be the captain of the Islanders for four Stanley Cups. You know, so a lot of what we learned in that environment was pretty important to us.

Dave Veale  28:33  
Totally. Yeah. The other thing that you mentioned, and I was thinking about, you know, like humility, and- and then the story you shared about having your last game in like the mecca of like, of any sporting arena would be Madison Square Garden, right. You know what I mean? Like, that's- all the biggest events happen, in North America anyways, right there. And then, shortly thereafter, you're in the army. And rather than walking in with, you know, kind of this 10 year NHL hockey career, you actually had to go through your paces, and have people probably talk to you in a way that, you know, wouldn't be typically talking to an NHL Veteran. I'm just imagining that level of humility you must've have had to, I guess, understand or embrace.

Ed Staniowski  29:18  
You made a good point there, and you reminded me that my first professional hockey game in the NHL was in Maple Leaf Gardens, the Old Maple Leaf Gardens. It was on a Saturday night, it was a Hockey night in Canada, and I just turned 20 years old. And I'm sitting in a dressing room with Gary Younger and the Plager brothers and you know, other greats from the game. And down the hall now is Borje Salming of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Tiger Williams and Darryl Sittler. Paul Anderson. Players who have already made their mark in the game, and you're sitting there. I remember being so overwhelmed by the feeling of being part of something much, much bigger than myself. I was a very small cog in a very big wheel. And the feeling that I had, even though I'd won a Memorial Cup and had success in junior and that, I'm thinking, can I really do this? This is way above my paygrade. This is way above my experience and everything else. But you looked at the teammates that are around you, and you approach it with humility and confidence, and you go out there and do your job. So 10 years later, as you mentioned, it's in the Madison Square Garden, you're playing your last game. I didn't know at the time it was gonna be my last game, but it turned out it was, but you're playing with a different outlook on the game. And then, like I said, you know, about 18 months later, 16, 18 months later, I'm in the Canadian military and private recruit, and I've got somebody telling me my left shoe from- left boot from my right boot, and how to do a salute and how to march and your- you know, someone who's 25 years old, was telling a 30 year old, who a short time ago was playing in the NHL, how to do business. And you've got to go back to that humility. And you're right back where you were 10 years before in Maple Leaf Gardens type of thing, in that you're part of something that's much, much bigger than you. And find your place, fit in, learn your job, be confident, approach it with a little bit of humility, and when the time comes to step up and do your job, then you do.

Emily Rodger  31:16  
That's- whoo. Speak about takeaways. So Ed, at the end of all of our Boiling Point conversations, Dave and I both share takeaways. And Dave, I love that you brought up that humility component, and Ed that you referenced that, because I think that that is such a powerful thing, and learning how to- which is something that I'm always continually learning how to do, I think we all are, but like, how do we let that pride go, that ego go that gets in our way? And you speaking about that first game at Maple Leaf Gardens, and- this is kind of what I'm really taking away from this conversation, so many parts of it, but- I just got back, I was on a big fly fishing trip in the jungle, in Bolivia. And I remember when I was leaving that jungle, and just thinking like, just feeling so small, and feeling like- I mean, the world is so big, and I am just this little tiny woman out there, just trying to do my thing, and just how, like, overwhelming it can feel at times, but that we all have a very integral part to play. And that, like, sometimes we are just so quickly humbled. But that yeah, we all have our part. And you had your part in that initial game, when you maybe felt a little overwhelmed and kind of maybe above your head, I don't know. And you had your part when you first stepped into being a private, and when we can keep putting ourselves into those situations- And then it's a constant thing, like that it's all being built upon to something so much greater. And the work that you're doing right now is- it's inspiring. I'm very fascinated by you, very intrigued by you, very grateful to have been a part of this conversation and get to learn from you about just what it means to be a leader.

Ed Staniowski  33:12  
Emily, you're very kind. Thank you very much.

Dave Veale  33:15  
So I gotta follow that up, Ed, with a takeaway of my own. That's gonna be a tough one. And I know you gotta go. One quick question I had for you was- Lani McDonald, did you ever run across him?

Ed Staniowski  33:26  
Yes, Lani is a quality individual. One of the things I- privileges I had, and I'll share a quick story about Lani, I had the privilege of taking the Stanley Cup to Afghanistan with some of the NHL players, and it was for the morale of the troops during that conflict in Afghanistan. Lani was one of the first people to step up. When we reached out, when we were organizing that we're going to take the cup over, we reached out to a number of teams and a number of players. And Lani was one of the first, and he was probably one of the folks that went over that really connected with the troops. And he wasn't over there to hear about- or tell them about Landon MacDonald and winning the Stanley Cup. He was over there to hear about the young men and women who were doing the job in Afghanistan, the tough, tough job they were doing. The sacrifices they were making. He really connected. Great deal of respect for Lani, love the man, would do anything for him.

Dave Veale  34:20  
Well, that story mirrors my story about him, was watching him- realized this hockey thing wasn't going to work out for me, and I was about to go off to Europe to travel and I happened to be invited to a dinner where he was speaking for Special Olympics. And he came down after and everyone's all over. He comes over to me and my buddy and he says, Hey, guys, what do you drinking? Budweiser. He says, alright, I'll be right back. And he comes down and slaps a couple Budweisers down. And he was wanting to know about us. And we were, like, awestruck, like, we were like, this guy is amazing. He is amazing. And you know, it's obviously emotional talking about him, he's just such an inc- but the definition of humility, Ed. Like, I couldn't believe what an ama- like, and then to get back from Europe, months later, my parents said, Lani MacDonald sent you this in the mail. And it was to the Bud boys. And it was a card from him. Like, I mean, what an amazing individual, like I ju- so this is like, what, 30 years later, I'm still talking about it. So yeah, anyways, I wanted to bring him up, because, you know, just I had that experience, I'd read about him being this way. And I assumed you would have an amazing story about him. And it feels like you're showing up in the same way. And I would say my takeaway from today, Ed, is- there's a whole bunch, the humility piece, certainly, but that Emily took that. I liked this, like, about healthy adversity, that concept, and I just think of like, how can I apply it in my family in my own world? And, you know, how di- how do we create healthy adversity? And you describing that story of being, you know, in Europe, and I just- that's a- that's a really neat concept. And so I just want to thank you for your time. And Curtis introduced us and his text was, there should be a movie about Ed and his life. And I- I would agree, I would agree, I think we just got the surface of the stories. And there's so many more. So, you know, occasionally we ask, would you come back on sometime? Like, because we'd love to have- you know, some of our guests- and we'd love to have you back on at some other point, just to hear more about what you're doing and the work you're dedicated to right now as well. 

Ed Staniowski  36:28  
Emily, David, it'd be my privilege. Anytime, if we can- I know we had to do a lot to bring this timing together. But let's hope it's not this hard next time. 

Dave Veale  36:37  
Absolutely.

Emily Rodger  36:37  
Yeah. So Ed, thank you so much. And for our listeners, we are going to list all of Ed's information and any extras we discussed in the show notes. And the best place to find that is on our website, www.BoilingPointPodcast.com. We are active on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and we will put this video version on YouTube and Facebook. And of course the podcast is available on all of your favorite podcast platforms. This was such a joy. Thank you so much.

Thanks Ed. I know you gotta go another call. Appreciate it.

Ed Staniowski  37:13  
Godspeed. Bye bye.

Emily Rodger  37:16  
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