About The Author
Clifton Isings grew up in the colorful and multicultural city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Montreal is where he met his wife of 31 years, Cynthia. Early in his life, Clifton moved around several times exploring his interests resulting in him attending 4 different universities in Canada and the United States. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto, and a Masters of Business Administration degree from McGill University.
Growing up, he unknowingly looked at most things as having some kind of hidden ultimate working model of existence. He only later formalized his thinkings in the business world into frameworks in this book. After different employments and entrepreneurial forays in his twenties, he went to work for a large Canadian pension fund as a long-term investor for the retirement dollars of the workers. He started as a summer student at the pension fund of Canadian National Railway and ended almost 30 years later as head of the entire fund. The fund enjoyed tremendous growth over his tenure and moved from a deficit when he joined as a summer student to a large surplus by the time he retired as CEO of the fund.
Clifton also served as the chair of the board of directors for an oil and gas company and as an investment committee member for both the Canadian Olympic Committee and the McGill University pension fund. He will always be grateful for all the things he learned, all the amazing people that taught him things along the way, and his incredibly fulfilling career.
In his own words
Where did you get the idea for this book?
Before the age of 30, I was drawn into a career of investing where I was given the privilege to analyze, research, and interview thousands of companies around the globe. Over the years, I conducted over 1500 one-on-one interviews with top management and CEOs in businesses all over the world. And, as an investor for almost 30 years for a large private Canadian pension fund, I started to see patterns exhibited by some of the most successful companies regardless of the industry they served and regardless of where they were located in the world.
What was the most surprising thing you uncovered?
It is quite incredible to see a company selling industrial gases in the US using the same business model as a financial company in Hong Kong. They use the same strategy and they have the same stress points on their operations. My experience taught me that there are a limited number of successful business models in the world. I have identified only 14 distinct successful business models operating around the globe and have assembled the top 10 for this book. While investigating these businesses in my career, I was so impressed with what I uncovered, that I felt a pull to actually work for many of these incredible companies because I wanted to participate in their successful journeys. Working for so many companies at the same time is of course impossible, so I would instead invest the pension fund’s dollars in these companies and watch the workers’ dollars grow for their retirement. You should do the same for yourself.
How did you know that you were on the right track as a young financial analyst?
Over my career, I found that the most brilliant business builders and leaders settle into a winning business model without realizing that others in various industries have also settled into the same successful great model. Sometimes during my interviews with these business leaders, I would discuss what I was observing in their operating model and how it was similar to some other company in some other industry around the globe. The conversation would often shift and top management would begin probing me for examples of how the other businesses maneuvered through certain operating stress points that they are currently trying to tackle. This was the ultimate validation that I was on the right track of uncovering what was going on below the surface of the organization.
Why the name: Secrets Below the Surface?
The name seemed appropriate for me for a few reasons.
1. The business models of companies often reside as a Secret Below the Surface. They are inherently hidden and usually only top management knows of their existence. Not sure why that is a good idea. You want people to know what your business model is so you can attract top talent and investors.
2. When I was working and started to see the patterns of the same business models operating in different industries indifferent geographies, I could not contain it and keep it inside me as a Secret Below the Surface. It was an incredible epiphany for a young analyst at the time and it became one of the most important keys for me to become a successful investor for the pension fund. I felt I just had to write it down to be able to sort it out in my head. I needed to write it down to be able to share it with others. By writing it down, I moved it from BELOW THE SURFACE into the light.
3. The individual who is responsible for the illustrations in the book, Christopher Zelt, is a remarkable geologist who spends his life finding Secrets Below the Surface of the earth’s crust.
