Second wind
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29/05/2011 8:00:00 PM
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He was grateful for the extra time it gave him with his family. Coaching his son’s hockey team is something he wouldn’t change for anything, but after the batteries had been recharged and some time had been spent deciding what he wanted to do next, there was really only one thing Gord Dahlen wanted to do after spending nearly a quarter century in the mortgage industry – keep going.
“Why am I still here?” he asks. “Because I love the challenge.”
After leaving Invis at the end of last year, Dahlen says he had many conversations, with people inside and outside of the mortgage business, before deciding that he still had a passion and a need to contribute to an industry that he says, “has been unbelievably good to me and my family,” referring to his wife Dini and children, Megan, 22, Katie, 17 and Connor, 10.
“I had numerous conversations with different people and definitely had options to go in different directions,” he recalls of this time away. “I felt my strength was relationship-building and felt I could help not only the company I chose, but also the industry.
“Before I retire I want to make sure to do my part to leave the industry in a better position than when I started.”
His receiving the Canadian Mortgage Award for Lifetime Achievement in the mortgage industry came as no surprise to those who have crossed paths with Dahlen.
“[Gord] has over 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry and applies that knowledge every day to help and mentor his friends and associates,” says Brian Devries, head – mortgage strategy at ICICI Bank Canada. “Gord has assisted many people in our industry to achieve success yet he is also so humble that he would never admit it. He is an amazing ambassador for our industry.”
“I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of this award,” says Rosa Bovino, an Invis mortgage specialist based in Winnipeg. “He is an amazing individual with such drive and passion for our industry and always looking at ways to make us all better and stronger at what we do. We are all so very lucky to have such an outstanding individual in our industry and as a friend.”
“What fantastic timing for Gord, such an important figure in our industry and my own life, to be honoured for lifetime achievement, just as he embarks upon an exciting new leg of his career,” stated Dustan Woodhouse, an Invis broker in Toronto.
That start came in 1984, when he entered the industry with a role at Household Finance (HFC), going into the broker realm three years later with Household Trust. After that, Dahlen says, his involvement with brokers became “serious” as he moved to Mutual Life, which later became MCAP.
“In the last 22 years I’ve only had two jobs – 11 years with Mutual Life and MCAP, then over to Invis in 2000.” Ron Swift, a friend of Dahlen’s from the B.C. Institute of Technology and current president at MCAP, was responsible for introducing him to the broker realm.
“I was in Victoria when Ron called me up and offered me a chance to go back to Vancouver with Mutual Life. I was happy it was a chance to go back to Vancouver but I didn’t know what I was getting into at all. I didn’t seek it out to be honest, but I’ve enjoyed every minute ever since and wouldn’t think of leaving it.”
After leading MCAP’s Western Canadian team to the top spot among non-bank lenders in 1999, Dahlen was approached by Dave Nichol Kevin Clarke about joining them as vice-president of British Columbia at a newly created brokerage named Invis.
“I saw it as an opportunity to carve out my own reputation,” he says. And he was right as the company quickly became the No. 1 brokerage in Western Canada.
After that he became part of the ownership team and then president before moving on.
As for where the next place would be, Dahlen says it came down to a pair of very serious offers. After much consideration, he accepted the position of executive vice-president with Dominion Lending Centres.
“Choosing Dominion was about branding and momentum and also looking at my skill set and seeing where I could help and I really felt that I could help,” he says.
“It’s an exciting time for me and my family, because it’s a chance to join a company that has huge momentum.”
Dahlen says that the history between himself and Gary Mauris is what appealed to the DLC president. “[Gary] says my strong voice in competition with DLC is what drew him to me.”
“It’s been fun to watch Gord settle into DLC,” says Mauris. “His calm demeanour and easy going disposition has made him an instant hit with our entire organization. Gord’s contribution to DLC is already paying dividends and we look forward to a bright future together.”
There was some surprise in the broker community at Dahlen’s move from Invis to Dominion
Lending Centres, but he insists there’s nothing at work other than moving forward with his career.
“I am proud of what we accomplished and the relationships that were forged at Invis. I realize this may be difficult for some to understand, but I have now chosen to do what thousands do every day, take on a new challenge and explore a new path in my career. This in fact is only my third venture in 22 years.”
For Dahlen, the forging of a partnership between former rivals also signals a commitment to the mortgage industry as a whole.
“I had an opportunity over the past six months to really look at what was going on in our industry, the good, the bad and the ugly and it became apparent to me that the biggest issue we have as mortgage brokers is branding.
“We seem to be topped-out at 25 per cent market share and we don’t appear to be growing.
We’re not doing enough to build our business in the eye of the consumer. We’re not understood by the consumer and we’re not branded at the consumer level. I think that we’ve done a good job of branding our companies to the brokers. I’m not sure we’ve made the consumer understand how brokers work and why they should be dealing with mortgage brokers.
“We need to start prioritizing the consumer. We have to understand what the consumer needs and from there we can track being a better channel.” Dahlen believes that the industry can only be strengthened by working together.
“I think we have to do a better job as an industry in pooling our interests, he says, before mentioning a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “We don’t have to be in harmony, but we need to be in unity.”
That sense of cooperation and relationship-building also extends to lenders in Dahlen’s mind.
“We are at a crossroads in terms of how we’re going to interact with the lenders and how we’re going to be the most valuable channel,” he says. “We have to make sure that not only do we remain competitive, but that our lenders can justify our existence.
“I want to help our company and in turn the industry, come to the table with more viable long-term solutions so that the lenders will see us as the most valuable channel going forward. We want to be partners, not customers.”
Growing the industry will also require a steady stream of young people choosing the mortgage broker industry as their career and that, Dahlen says means the industry needs to promote itself and prove itself as a career worth seeking.
In order to provide a respected and worthwhile career track choice for the next generation, Dahlen says mortgage brokers need to create an environment in which professionalism and the highest ethical standards are rewarded, and “I’m not sure that they are right now,” he says.
“When we turn that corner, the numbers will follow.”
Gord Dahlen has never been a follower and he’s not about to start now when it comes to the only career he’s ever known.
“We’re willing to put our hands up and lead this industry to a place where people want to get their mortgage through a mortgage broker.”