I grew up when the work ethic was so strong that talking to others and enjoying yourself at work meant you were wasting time.
Friendships in the workplace were seen as distractions. But recent Gallup data indicates that having a best friend at work actually improves employee performance and motivation and is strongly linked to business outcomes, including profitability, safety, inventory control and retention. Employees who have a best friend at work are significantly more likely to engage customers […]
Boundaries and Bravery
Boundaries are healthy and important, but can the idea of a boundary give us an easy out and prevent us from being brave and stretching ourselves? Years ago, in a family counselling session, parents were complaining that their 25-year-old son living in their basement wasn’t employed or contributing to the family in any way. The […]
How To Inspire People Through Basic Human Goodness
John Coltrane, the American jazz saxophonist and composer, once said that to be a better artist you have to be a better person. He could have been talking about leadership. We understand that leadership is too important to be diminished to techniques or titles. Leadership is about the character and integrity of a person. It’s […]
The Call To Citizenship
In the very early months of WWII, my father excitedly rushed to enlist at the first opportunity. However, upon the discovery of his poor eyesight, he was declined. Unable to go to war, he returned to his work as a youth leader on the inner streets in Calgary. Forty-five years later, if asked about being […]
Have you considered what impact your actions make?
It has been said that the true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. Not long ago I received an email from a childhood friend who was in my boy scout troop when I was a teenager. My father had been our scout leader, and in […]
What drives your life? A Phone or a Compass?
It’s been said that the average person will spend up to five years of their life looking at their phone. To me, the phone represents the mountain of success we are climbing. It’s about being driven by the world’s expectations. It’s about appointments, schedules, goals, productivity, and achievements. It’s about comparing ourselves to others, developing […]
What was your annunciation moment?
According to author David Brooks, an annunciation moment is when something sparks your interest, or casts a spell, or arouses a desire that somehow prefigures much of what follows in one’s life. For many who have found their vocation, there is a defining “annunciation” moment that sets an early direction for their life’s work. In […]
How to Create a Growth Plan for 2023: EQ, Authenticity, and the Power of Self-Awareness
A great deal of research suggests that emotional intelligence (EQ) – the ability to identify and regulate one’s emotions and empathize with the emotions of others – is vital to success at work and in life. A high EQ helps you build healthy teams, reduce stress, increase engagement and motivation, achieve higher productivity, foster psychological safety, defuse conflict, and […]
What is your development plan for 2023?
As you map out your personal and leadership development plan for the coming year, it’s important to understand the difference between horizontal growth and vertical growth, between learning about leadership and true leadership development. We live in a world of horizontal growth, a world filled with sixty second sound bites, 300-word posts (case in point), […]
Peaceful New Years
Peaceful New Years This is a good time to reflect on the past year and refocus for the coming year. I always take a day between Christmas and New Years to take an inventory and clarify my goals and intentions for the upcoming year. I don’t make New Years resolutions. I make a list of […]
