October 10 is World Mental Health Day
While many people have a physical fitness program, my friend, Jay Lamont, Partner at L2 Health Management, reminds us of the importance of having a mental fitness program. At some point in our lives, we will face a crisis, a loss, or a tragedy. What are we doing to prepare ourselves? How do we get […]
Reflections On Thanksgiving Day
On this magnificent and beautiful Thanksgiving weekend in Western Canada, I have much to be grateful for. I have been richly blessed: with a family who inspires, supports, and loves me, with good friends who see the good in me when I can’t see it in myself, with good health, with a career that allows […]
DIVERSIFYING YOUR IDENTITY: A Key To Becoming Resilient
For several months I’d been helping a client prepare for a speech she was to present to one of her important clients. Knowing that this one presentation could be a key to leveraging her career, she put all her energy, including many coaching sessions and a great financial investment, into the crafting of the speech. […]
Be the leader you’ve been searching for. Why not you? Why not now?
It’s easy to complain about a lack of leadership – in our workplace, the community where we live, or our country. It’s easier to sit in the stands and criticize than to be a player on the ice. Complaining is a way to keep ourselves safe so we don’t have to do the work required […]
Replacing Perfectionism with Being Human
I’ve spent a good deal of my life trying to be the best at everything I do – at school, in sports, in my work – in every part of my life. While this drive for perfection has led to the achievement of many goals, it has also contributed to much tension and stress in […]
Leadership is not always easy, but it’s worth it.
Here are a few ways that indicate you are doing a good job as a leader – even when it feels like you may not be. Connection. People initiate a connection with you. They come into your office. They reach out to you. They seek your advice. Initiating connection is an indication of trust. Results. […]
Simple Art of Living
Nellie McClung is regarded as one of Canada’s most prominent suffragists, helping to grant women the vote in Alberta and Manitoba in 1916. In my library I have a book written by Ms. McClung, published in 1930, titled Be Good To Yourself, personally signed to my grandparents. Here’s a quote from page four: “We are […]
Burnout, Leadership, and the Tyranny of the Transactions
Every job has a transactional aspect and a transformational aspect. The transactional aspect deals with such issues as budgeting, planning, performance management, and administration. The transformational side of management is about inspiring, connecting, mentoring, and visioning. Every job has both of these components. Even in the case of a grocery store clerk, the transactional side […]
We all have blind spots
Despite our sincere efforts to be a good leader, we all have blind spots – behaviors that are harmful to our leadership and we are unaware of. And because we don’t see them, we just keep managing the demands in front of us, with our blind spots leaving a destructive wake. Just as there is […]
The Power of Accountability Partners
For the past forty years, I’ve been helping people make changes in their life. Rarely, if ever, do I see lasting change without support and some accountability from others. It’s just too easy to drift back to familiar patterns and habits when we attempt to make changes on our own. Years ago I came across […]
