With today's open offices, people prefer a steady level of 'white noise' to drown out distractions. If it's too quiet we wonder if the rapture occurred and we missed it. Sometimes conversation levels rise above the background noise. You know 'something's up'. Strong leaders pay attention to the OBF: Office...
Avoid Obsolescence: Plan your next brain upgrade!
When I finished my last degree, I decided my brain was big enough. The Master's program for Organizational Psychology featured a large volume of dense reading in addition to lengthy lectures which distilled decades of knowledge into a firehose. I loved those days, devouring the writings of great thinkers like...
Gauge the impact of change with two simple questions
Change is HARD! Change is RELENTLESS! The pace of change is ACCELERATING! We hear these messages all of the time, while glossing over the following: The rate of change has been high for a long time. Nothing new here. We are built to adapt. We incorporate change into our lives all the time with minimal disruption. Change...
Values kill careers: How leaders tune in to avoid derailment
Quick Quiz: When a woman presents an opinion at work, do you give her the same attention as you would a man? Do females get the same promotion opportunities as men in your company? If you witnessed a woman being treated unfairly, inappropriately would you step in and end it?...
How You Demean Employees and the Key to Stopping it
I hate riding exercise bikes. In fact, I consider all machine-based cardio to be evil. It's boring, even with a TV in place, to be working so hard to get nowhere. No one associates the word "engaging" with cardio equipment. Gallup's engagement data is often quoted for it's mind-numbing finding...
How to Avoid The Number One Mistake in Corporate Communication
Calgary is famous for its annual Stampede celebration, which features a fantastic fireworks show every evening for a week, visible across the city. It's nice to watch from your home, but something incredibly different to experience sitting up close at the Stampede grounds as fireworks explode above your head in an...
From Survive to Thrive: How to Align People on Success
When companies want to grow, differentiate, or compete effectively, they don't take baby steps. They transform. If your involved in a transformation initiatives, your success will be directly correlated to how well you engage people. Without having everyone pulling in the same direction, your chances of reaching your goals are...
Join the Lamborghini Club: Career Trajectory is Governed by the Company You Keep
"Before you start, let me remind you that you are expected to obey the rules of the road.' And with that final word from the organizer of Royal Rally - a travelling scavenger hunt that would cover 750km in a single day - we were off. As fifty supercars,...
The Secret Skill that Separates Leaders From Managers
Dawn has some fantastic ideas. She is the regional GM for an IT services company, having fast-tracked from a tech role in just four years. She figures she can add another $2M to the company's bottom line if they add two service options that clients keep asking for. Sounds like...
Simon Sinek says Millennials are Victims: 7 Secrets to Parent your Staff to Success
Have you noticed that the work ethic is woefully absent in many people? Kids have learned that success is measured in likes, comments and emojis rather than discipline and hard work. I caught a snippet of a Simon Sinek talk explaining why Millenials are perceived as lazy, unfocused, and go to work feeling...
