I had the good fortune to present a virtual session to The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) on Psychological Safety In The Workplace.

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A significant part of the discussion was about the vitally important topic of creating safe spaces for marginalized groups such as women, indigenous peoples and people of colour.

We must recognize the blindness that comes with privilege.

Let’s stay self-aware of ways we make it unsafe for people and keep the conversations going. Let’s be open to feedback about how our actions impact others and continually learn and be open to change.

If you see someone across the room that you’ve never met, could you build trust with them in ten minutes?

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In ten minutes you couldn’t build enough trust to hire them, marry them, or invest your money with them, but you CAN move the trust needle.

Here’s how:

  1. Reach out. Waiting and hope are not good trust building strategies. Introduce yourself. Put yourself out there.
  2. Extend trust. People either distrust you until proven otherwise or trust until you proven otherwise. You’ll have a much better chance of building trust when you come from the latter approach.
  3. Be curious. Instead of trying to impress and be interesting, put your focus on being interested. Ask questions. Seeking to understand through listening to find common ground is one of the best ways to make deposits in the trust account.
  4. Demonstrate Caring. You can’t fake this one. If you don’t care, people will sense it, and if people know you care they are more likely to reciprocate trust. Demonstrate caring by remembering names and showing concern about what’s going on in their life. But when you care you don’t have to worry about demonstrating it. It will naturally come through.

We know about good leadership. What do we know about good followship?

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A leader is only as good as the people around them. Maybe we need to spend as much time building good followers as we spend building good leaders.

Good followship encompasses:

  1. Humility. It’s not about obedience and compliance. It’s about having a strong voice, being clear and direct, while being humble, teachable, and open to learn.
  2. Service. Choose service over self-interest. Look for ways to encourage others and contribute. Good followers are dedicated to the greater good.
  3. Accountability. Know that how you show up matters. See all blame as a waste of time. Good followship means being able to be counted on.
  4. Engagement. Rather than waiting to be told what to do, good followship means showing initiative and being engaged in their work while supporting others in theirs.
  5. Gratitude. Counter entitlement with appreciation. Avoid bitterness or divisiveness, and maintain a spirit of thankfulness, even in challenging circumstances.

Innovate Cochrane Community Innovation Ecosystem (CIE) Program Graduation Celebration

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At the Innovate Cochrane Community Innovation Ecosystem (CIE) Program Graduation Celebration this past week, I was pleased to present: Inspiring Innovation through the Power of Connection.

Innovate Cochrane is an amazing community-driven non-profit dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and business leaders in Cochrane, Alberta. They offer events and programs that foster growth, innovation, and collaboration, focusing on building stable, community-oriented businesses and organizations.

It was a pleasure to be part of this fantastic event.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovate-cochrane-ab/

Decisions change your life

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There’s a story about a man waiting in an airport who sees another man returning home from a business trip, enthusiastically greeted by his wife and three children.

The joy, love, and caring was so obvious that the first man asked how long they had been married. When told they were married for twenty years, he replied, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twenty years!”

At this, the family man looked him in the eye, and said something that left him a different person: “Don’t hope, friend… Decide.”

Decisions change your life.

How have your defining moments defined you?

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A participant in my leadership program shared a defining moment that completely changed the trajectory of his life. He was, at one time, a drug addict who had lost it all. His house was about to be foreclosed; his wife and children left him; he was fired from his job; had no money and was about to take his own life.

In one last ditch effort late one night, he called the suicide distress center. When the crisis counsellor answered, he told them about his plan to kill himself. Her response was that her shift was over and asked him to call back in the morning.

“I was so mad at that moment, I decided right there and then I would never again take something that is not mine. My life is not mine. It belongs to some kind of Power greater than me. And it’s not for me to take. I was on the road to the garbage heap and I decided it was time to walk on a new path. I came into recovery and have never looked back.”

We never know what experiences will change us forever. What I do know is that we all have a choice.