When you are running for party leadership, there is one crucial task – making sure your supporters are party members. That is Caroline Elliott’s mission, during her run for the helm of the Conservative Party of British Columbia. This is a far cry from where she expected to be when she attended high school. But she could not escape the fascination from her first few jobs, including at the Victoria legislature, which taught her how something goes from politics to policy.

When you are a political leadership candidate, it is a “leap of faith” job, according to Iain Black. He is attempting to become the head of the British Columbia Conservative Party, which means building a team he can trust. Because of how money works in such situations, his team is almost completely volunteer-run, from all different personal and business backgrounds. And it requires more than a full-time job – working every day of the week, in all parts of the province.

What does it take to be a political leader? For Peter Milobar, it is a constant learning process, running in all different kinds of elections at the local and provincial levels, and growing his team along the way. His dream is to become leader of the Conservative Party of BC and become the premier of British Columbia, which involves listening to and recruiting personnel from all parts of the province.

How do you measure success? For Jacquie Griffiths’ role in Invest Vancouver, it has to do with how many jobs Vancouver attracts. She had always been interested in economics, but also people – and how those two are always linked. To her, the willingness to listen to your people (and change your approach if needed) is key to success.

Klaus Kleinfeld believes in people. To him, that is how businesses succeed or fail – knowing how to trust your people to do the right thing, even when circumstances change. And if you’re good at it and find it enjoyable, then you may have a chance to aim for a higher position, without it feeling “like a drag.”

Jennifer Geary is a writer but it may surprise people that she didn’t like to write. It started out of necessity as a chief operating officer, when she discovered that there was no how-do guide or book on that role. So she decided to give it a shot herself and it has morphed into a “happy part” of what she does.

Ellis Ross is shaking things up these days. He’s focused on attracting opportunity to the riding he represents in the BC Legislature. That is work that compounds and adds to the same focus he brought to his role of Chief Councillor of the Haisla First Nation.