Advice to young mining professionals from veteran mining executive Larry Clark

MINING MENTORS

Passion tempered with compassion leads to understanding

Advice to young mining professionals from veteran mining executive Larry Clark

By Tom DiNardo

Larry Clark began his career as an underground miner at the Henderson molybdenum mine in Colorado in 1978. He graduated from the Colorado School of Mines in 1986 and, after stints working at a consultancy and a mining software company, Clark was hired by Newmont. He was there for 17 years, finishing as senior director of mining technology before moving on to Jolimont Global Mining Systems as the North American principal. From March 2018 to March 2020, he was COO of Newtrax Technologies.

A lot has changed in the industry since Clark first went underground in the 1970s, particularly the technology used. Whereas electric equipment was once scarce, companies are now adopting battery-powered trucks – not to mention the use of smartphones at underground mines. But the challenge, said Clark, is that the industry is still risk averse. According to him, the next generation of miners will be the one to overcome the industry’s technology aversion and push it forward. CIM: What is the most important quality that you look for in a young professional? Clark: It’s the person’s drive, passion, energy and self-motivation. My view is that, from a technical perspective, [any] school is competent and can provide you with a technical background. What I’m looking for is work ethic. I’m looking for the person who’s eager to come in and solve problems. I’m looking for young people who, even without direction, will run out, gather some information, come back and say, “Here’s where I think we should go.” I guess it’s best captured as someone who’s eager to learn all the time.

CIM: What was the most difficult but worthwhile professional quality for you to cultivate? Clark: Developing the skill of active listening. I have been in so many meetings where some people take all the oxygen in the room and other people don’t get a chance to say a word. Develop

the skill of not just being there and hearing, but actually listening to the content and absorbing it. Don’t have your cellphone with you. Don’t have your laptop with you. Don’t think about the other things that are on your plate. Be in the moment. That’s a skill that, certainly for me, has been difficult.

CIM: How has apparent failure set you up for future success? Clark: People learn through experience and observation. Most of the time you learn from what didn’t go right. The thing that generally gets in the way of learning from those failures is your ego. It gets in the middle of things and says, “Well, I didn’t really fail. They didn’t prepare this in time for me to get that in time.” You’re going to have to look in the mirror here because often it was something that you did personally or your team did, and you just need to suck it up, drop that egotistic unwillingness and learn from it.

What I’ve told both young students when I mentor them and people within even our own company is to fail fast and fail cheap. Then please don’t fail the same way twice. That’s called a blunder. But I’m not going to punish people for taking a calculated risk.

CIM: What’s one seemingly insignificant habit that makes a big difference in a young professional’s career? Clark: [Punctuality.] In my opinion, somebody calls a meeting, you’re not on time if you’re not five minutes early. I might have worked hard to put an agenda together for this meeting and the fact that you didn’t show up means you don’t really respect the fact that I did that in advance of this meeting. Everybody else is there, and if you come in late and we have to repeat what we said because we need to bring you up to speed, that’s just not efficient. And it just doesn’t convey respect and it doesn’t build the right work ethic. What I try to demand from people is be punctual. For me, that’s five minutes ahead of the meeting. And come to the meeting prepared to have an intelligent conversation.

CIM: If there was one decision in your professional life that you could redo, what would it be? Clark: Confronting people in ways that were not compassionate. One of my bosses, who I would consider perhaps my best boss, took me aside once and she said, “Larry, I love your passion, but don’t forget passion with compassion.” You want to be exuberant, and energetic, and lively, and all that stuff, but don’t let that mask your own ability to understand other people and be compassionate. I try to live by the adage, “always assume positive intent.” People are generally motivated to do the right things, but it’s pretty easy to jump on something and say, “had he paid closer attention to that…” or, “had he been on top of this thing…” but you don’t know all the context.

CIM: In your opinion, what is essential reading for any young mining professional? Clark: I’m of the opinion that you need to keep your technical skills polished. Attending conferences, reading papers, reading slide decks or attending those kinds of new technology presentations is important. I’m also a firm believer in improving your leadership in management understanding and skills. There’s a great book called Managing from the Heart [by Hyler Bracey, Jack Rosenblum, et al]. It’s all about that passion with compassion.

I always recommend that students and new graduates stay up with their industry associations like SME or CIM. Those are extremely important because the magazines not only give you current event information but being a participant in those societies gives you a bond and keeps you abreast of what’s going on in the business. The conferences are great because they bring the newest technologies to the table and allow you to bump elbows with what is a fairly small fraternity in the mining business.

The last thing is looking at more of the psychological side. Michelle Ash, the former chief innovation officer for Barrick, is a good friend. She has a degree in mining engineering and an MBA, but she also has a degree in psychology. I asked her about that at one point, and she said it’s actually something that she would recommend to students or recent graduates. Take a class in the softer sciences like anthropology or psychology – things that use the other side of your brain. Read about what motivates people. What sort of behaviours do you get from different types of people and how do you deal with those people? Learning about yourself and learning about people is really important from a team-building and team-effectiveness perspective. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni is another really good book. And by the way, read some stuff that’s not about mining. Read Lord of the Flies or something that gets you away from the business.

CIM: What advice would you give to a young person who would like to approach a potential mentor but may feel intimidated? Clark: Ask someone that you actually would like to be your mentor for suggestions. Just say flat out, “I’m looking for someone who can help mentor me in this, this, and this area. I really enjoyed your presentation,” or whatever it was that made you interested in them as a mentor. And then ask them for suggestions of who would be able to help you from a mentorship perspective. Either they’re going to say, “You know what? I really like your style. I don’t mind spending some time with you,” or, “Here are some suggested names.” You’ve got to get over the shyness. You just have to ask. If the answer is no, well okay, that’s my second favourite answer. But you don’t get it if you don’t ask them.

CIM

Further recommended reading from Larry Clark

The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership Powered Company by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter and James Noel What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential by Robert S. Kaplan

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Running throughout 2020, our Mining Mentors series will feature conversations with industry veterans and budding professionals on strategies for building a career in mining. Do you know someone who should be featured in this section? Reach out to us at editor@cim.org.