Bravo for Balsillie

No one can say that Jim Balsillie, the gazillionaire co-CEO of Research in Motion, isn’t entertaining. His speech last night to the annual CP Dinner was one to remember. At times erratic and flighty. At times pointed and focused. Always funny.

Balsillie came to the podium with speech in hand – or at least he had paper – then for the next 45 minutes refused to refer to it. He very much comes across as a humble guy still more surprised than anyone else that his little gadget, the Blackberry, has become an iconic and necessary tool for business around the world. 

Much of his speech was spent talking about his current passion of raising money for those less fortunate. He has donated $100 million of his own fortune and twisted the arms of his corporate buddies to do the same. He is proudly Canadian – a corporate trait that is becoming harder to find in an era of mega multi-national corporations.  And yes, he really does love his hockey. Of his failed attempt to buy an NHL franchise, Balsillie described himself as the dog that runs to the curb to catch a school bus, misses and then saunters back to the front step. Balsillie is confident that one of the these days he is going to catch the bus.

It’s an odd analogy for a modern corporate titan to use. Hard to imagine Henry Ford or Sam Walton describing themselves as a dog chasing a bus. But that is the charm of Jim Balsillie. He is brilliant. He is driven. He is wildly successful. And he is also humble. As he said: “If you travel the world and you can’t be thankful, you should get some thankful lessons.”