In our Shaping the Future With… series, we spotlight the insights of directors who bring a grounded sense of stewardship and a forward-looking mindset to governance. In this edition, Watson Partner Rachel O’Connor sits down with Jim Carter — engineer, executive, and seasoned director — to talk about navigating new trends, staying true to your values, and why the best boards don’t get caught chasing every new acronym. 

Also: carving out boardroom time for strategy, timeless lessons from leaders of the past, and the experience boards are really looking for. 

Rachel O’Connor: Jim, we like to start with the same question for everyone in this series: how do you define good governance? 

Jim Carter: There are lots of ways you could answer that — the textbook stuff around fiduciary duty, risk oversight, and all the rest. But to me, it comes down to this: it’s a board and management team that follow the law, treat people with dignity and respect, and go beyond the minimum where it’s necessary and right to do so.

To me, it comes down to this: it’s a board and management team that follow the law, treat people with dignity and respect, and go beyond the minimum where it’s necessary and right to do so.

That means treating employees, suppliers, customers, governments — everyone you touch — with integrity. And it means being thoughtful about new trends. Over the last few years, boards have had to navigate all kinds of new priorities: ESG, DEI, AI. That’s where governance gets trickier. You can’t jump into every shift without checking it against your company’s vision and values.

If you haven’t done that work, these things can feel disconnected or performative. But if you embed them in the culture — if they’re real — then they’ll stick.

If you haven’t done that work, these things can feel disconnected or performative. But if you embed them in the culture — if they’re real — then they’ll stick.

ROC: You’ve served on boards across energy, education, construction, and financial services. Do you show up differently in each of those spaces, or does something stay the same? 

JC: I’ve asked myself that too. When I was invited to join ATB Financial’s board, I thought, “What do I know about banking?” But then I realized something: every organization is made up of people. And people need to feel valued, supported, respected. Whether you’re running a research facility, operating a mine, or working in a digital bank — those human challenges and needs don’t change.

Every organization is made up of people. And people need to feel valued, supported, respected. 

What’s different is the spectrum. At Syncrude, we had PhDs doing breakthrough research at one end and huge mining operations at the other. That taught me to work across a wide range of technical and human systems. In banking, the challenges are different — staying ahead of digital disruption, for instance — but they’re still fundamentally human challenges. 

ROC: With all that experience behind you, how do you decide whether or not to join a new board? 

JC: These days, I have a checklist. If it’s a public company, I want to understand the financials, the legal context, and whether the organization is under investigation or struggling with compliance. If it’s a private or family-owned business, I ask: who really has the power? What’s the governance structure? Are there shareholder agreements in place and are they clear? 

And then there’s the gut test — do I believe I can help this board? That’s not something I would have considered as carefully ten years ago, but I do now. Experience teaches you to ask the questions upfront. 

ROC: What advice would you offer to someone who is still trying to get onto their first corporate board? 

JC: The good news is, it’s getting better. For example, diversity efforts have opened more doors. But I think it’s still a bit of a wake-up call for people who think getting your ICD.D or another designation means you’re ready. That course gives you some tools, but it’s not enough. 

The harsh reality is boards are often looking for people who’ve run something — someone who’s signed the bottom of the page. Have you been a CEO, CFO, VP? Do you understand what it’s like to be responsible for a P&L? That kind of operational experience really helps you contribute. 

And I’ll say this too: there are no shortcuts. You can’t just declare yourself board-ready and expect a call to come in. 

You can’t just declare yourself board-ready and expect a call to come in. 

ROC: Can you share an example of a board decision you’re especially proud of — where governance really helped shape the future? 

JC: I’ll go back to Syncrude. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, we were under pressure from our owners to get costs down. We took the operation from 54 million barrels a year to 74 million without new equipment, dropped our costs per barrel, and did it while maintaining our R&D investment. That meant when the time came, we were ready to expand. 

And the board backed us all the way. They supported new leases, got the government to revisit royalties, and greenlit massive expansions — from 109,000 barrels a day to 350,000. That was a decision that changed not just the company, but Canada’s energy economy. Without that kind of governance support, it might never have happened.  

ROC: You’ve been part of governance for decades. What do you think boards spend too much time on, and where should they spend more? 

JC: Every board I’ve been on says they don’t spend enough time on strategy. They’re not wrong — but it’s also true that if your operations aren’t running, your strategy won’t matter. 

One board I’m on actually ran our board minutes through AI to see how often strategy came up. The answer? Not nearly as often as finance, audit, or operations. And that makes sense given we’ve built up layers of oversight since the days of Enron. But maybe we’ve gone too far. Maybe it’s time to rebalance. Trust your auditors, trust your CFO, and carve out more time for thinking about the future.

Trust your auditors, trust your CFO, and carve out more time for thinking about the future.

ROC: We like to end on something personal. Which leaders from today or history would you invite to your ideal dinner party ? 

JC: Along with my dear wife Lorraine, I’d invite Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, and C.D. Howe — and I know my old colleague Eric Newell would want to be there too! 

While times and views change, we can learn from them, and I’d love to hear them talk together. Churchill walked the bombed streets of London telling people they were going to win the war. What can we learn from that mix of courage and strategy?  CD Howe transformed our country. Ronald Reagan communicated with straightforward simplicity. There are timeless lessons to be learned from each of them. 

Jim Carter is a respected business leader, engineer, and director whose career has shaped Canada’s energy and resource industries. As President and COO of Syncrude Canada, Jim spearheaded innovations that transformed the oil sands into a globally competitive, more sustainable enterprise, while creating opportunities for Indigenous communities and future generations of skilled workers. Over his decades of service, he has championed collaboration across sectors, workforce development, and responsible growth. 

Today, Jim is Chair of CAREERS: The Next Generation, and a director for EllisDon Construction and Brand Industrial Services. He is a former Chair of the Mining Association of Canada, where he helped launch the globally recognized “Towards Sustainable Mining” initiative, and recently retired as the Chair of Finning International. 

A registered professional engineer, Jim is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Canadian Academy of Engineering. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia (now Dalhousie Engineering) and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. His contributions have been recognized with three honorary doctorates, multiple industry awards, and appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada and the Alberta Order of Excellence.