Last week I was driving home and saw a lone teenage protestor holding a sign in support of the anti-racism movement. Upon seeing her, I had an immediate feeling of solidarity – I only wish I would have been bold enough to stop the car and say so. I was inspired by the site of a young teenage girl who … Read More

Due to the impact of COVID-19, in the last several months I have been leading with a heightened sense of urgency. However, this isn’t entirely new for me as I have always lived my life with a level of urgency. As a teenager, I was antsy to leave home to go to university, and by my second year I was … Read More

For businesses and organizations that survive the impact of COVID-19, resilience is a required attribute. The definition of resilience is “the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.” Right now, we are all in “difficult conditions” – I know my organization is, and I’m sure yours is too. Whether we come out of this intact or not will … Read More

As we lead our organizations through the COVID-19 crisis, most of us are making decisions and communicating at a higher frequency than normal. When leaders fail to consider the impact of trauma when doing these things, we risk impacting employees in negative and sometimes harmful ways – words or decisions that are meant to inspire may actually deflate instead. This … Read More

During the current COVID-19 crisis, “How are you doing (as an organization)?” is a common question I receive from colleagues, friends, and clients. It’s asked in a genuine spirit of caring and concern. Given that most people are used to hearing how bad things are from leaders of other organizations, my response of, “We are doing pretty good actually,” typically … Read More

I have been communicating a lot over the last two weeks – with our leadership team, with our staff, and with our clients. The disruption COVID-19 has made to our business, and the speed of decisions we as an organization have made as a result is unprecedented. As a training organization, we are in the business of bringing people together … Read More

One of the sayings I have always resonated with is, “If you’re five minutes early, you’re already ten minutes late.” When my wife and I are meeting friends for supper, I’m worried about being late, so we try to leave in time to be there early. Part of what drives my need to be early is an enormous sense of … Read More

For those of you who have been reading my blog regularly or have read my book, The Ordinary Leader, you know that I have been dealing with post-concussion symptoms for a long time. A few weeks ago, I hit my head again. It was a silly incident that shouldn’t’ have happened – I hit my head on a door in … Read More

One of the most important decisions we can make as leaders is when to let someone go. Although it’s never a fun decision and an even less enjoyable task, I personally find it easiest to let someone go when their behaviors don’t align with our culture. There is no place for, and I refuse to tolerate, mean-spirited and disrespectful people. … Read More

[Excerpt from The Ordinary Leader] Many positive adjectives can precede the word leadership – servant leadership, empathetic leadership, and compassionate leadership to name a few. The adjective I like the most is authentic. For me, authenticity ties together so many of the words used to describe good leadership. Being authentic is about expressing yourself congruently – the person others see … Read More