THE FOUR Rs

In business and in life, Eric Lidemark tries to live by four Rs: reliability, responsibility, respect, and resiliency. The first three came out of a conversation with his son about a few key words that can steer you through life. The fourth occurred to Lidemark during the pandemic.

“I realized that my peers in this business, we’ve all been around a long time and we’ve all had our share of difficulties, tough times … or even reversals of fortune. But we carry on. To me, that’s resilience,” he says. “We have to find a way to get through it, survive it, live with the results, and try to do better the next time.”

Lidemark credits past chair

Randy Reynolds, CLU, for his Advocis involvement. At a fateful meeting in a parking lot in Vancouver in 2000, Reynolds told him he needed some help.

I don’t want to be president!” Lidemark replied.

He was president of the Advocis Greater Vancouver chapter in 2005 and chair of Advocis’s Chapter Leadership Council in 2011, followed by a stint as a trustee for The Institute for Advanced Education. In 2015, he chaired the inaugural Strategies for Success, a sales conference for insurance and financial advisors in Vancouver. On the Advocis Board of Directors, he served as treasurer, governance chair, and vice chair before becoming chair.

“[Advocis president and CEO] Greg Pollock introduced me to a new Advocis employee once, saying ‘This is Eric Lidemark. I think he’s done just about every job there is to do as a volunteer in this organization.’ I went, ‘You know what? I guess that’s true!’” says Lidemark.

He sees himself as an “everyman” in the business — an advisor who works with families and small businesses with down-toearth financial issues to solve. What happens if I die? What if I get sick or disabled? Am I saving enough for retirement?

To this day, he doesn’t require a minimum level of assets. He just wants to make sure the client appreciates him and

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