Close

Blog

Reading, Leading, Succeeding: The Transformative Power of Books

My mother read me lots of books and taught me how to read before I went to Grade One. I loved reading so much that I read anything I could find. I recall the Bobbsey Twins as a favorite book series. The story I remember most from my childhood is Dr. Goat by Georgina. Later, […]

Read post »

The Hypocrisy of Return-to-Office Mandates

  It’s bacckkkkk. Despite numerous studies showing return-to-office mandates don’t work — and often backfire — the federal government is the latest of way too many organizational bosses to spew management double talk. The Ottawa Citizen reports that Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council Christiane Fox argues “in-person work is necessary for team building.” She […]

Read post »

Best Riches: A Heart Core Source of Deep and Lasting Happiness

Periodically our three adult kids get together with Heather and I for dinner. This helps us reconnect outside of the joyful energy and jubilant chaos of all fourteen of us at family events. Heather and I feel so fortunate that Chris, Jen, and Vanessa are raising their families (each has two kids ranging from 4 […]

Read post »

Are You Wearing C.R.A.P Glasses?

As I reset and rebalance with summer R & R (relaxation and rejuvenation), I am giving you some blog R & R (reusing and recycling). Many of this summer’s blogs are past favorites. May you use them for your own R & R (review and refocus). Hope these R helpful! P.S. – What’s a pirate’s […]

Read post »

Yeah, right. Overcoming Organizational Cynicism and Mistrust

As I reset and rebalance with summer R & R (relaxation and rejuvenation), I am giving you some blog R & R (reusing and recycling). Many of this summer’s blogs are past favorites. May you use them for your own R & R (review and refocus). Hope these R helpful! P.S. – What’s a pirate’s […]

Read post »

Bluster Buster: How to Bring Your Values to Life and Strengthen Your Culture

As I reset and rebalance with summer R & R (relaxation and rejuvenation), I am giving you some blog R & R (reusing and recycling). Many of this summer’s blogs are past favorites. May you use them for your own R & R (review and refocus). Hope these R helpful! P.S. – What’s a pirate’s […]

Read post »

On Purpose: What Condition Is Your Mission In?

As I reset and rebalance with summer R & R (relaxation and rejuvenation), I am giving you some blog R & R (reusing and recycling). Many of this summer’s blogs are past favorites. May you use them for your own R & R (review and refocus). Hope these R helpful! P.S. – What’s a pirate’s […]

Read post »

Are You Green and Growing or Ripe and Rotting?

As I reset and rebalance with summer R & R (relaxation and rejuvenation), I am giving you some blog R & R (reusing and recycling). Many of this summer’s blogs are past favorites. May you use them for your own R & R (review and refocus). Hope these R helpful! P.S. – What’s a pirate’s […]

Read post »

Who Are You and What Do You Want?

As I reset and rebalance with summer R & R (relaxation and rejuvenation), I am giving you some blog R & R (reusing and recycling). Many of this summer’s blogs are past favorites. May you use them for your own R & R (review and refocus). Hope these R helpful! P.S. – What’s a pirate’s […]

Read post »

If You Can’t See It, You Can’t Be It

As I reset and rebalance with summer R & R (relaxation and rejuvenation), I am giving you some blog R & R (reusing and recycling). Many of this summer’s blogs are past favorites. May you use them for your own R & R (review and refocus). Hope these R helpful! P.S. – What’s a pirate’s […]

Read post »

Moose Hunting Tips and Techniques

  My last few posts drew excerpts and scenarios from the fictional story of Pete Leonard in Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work. Pete’s story showed how he avoided, discouraged, and finally encouraged courageous conversations. These difficult discussions identify and address the problems that are reducing a team or organization’s effectiveness. […]

Read post »

We’re Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo…How About You?

  As I was writing Moose on the Table, I facilitated a retreat at a ranch resort in the foothills of Alberta’s beautiful Rocky Mountains. This was a group of 21 managers and supervisors in a mid-sized family business. They were highly participative and keen to improve their leadership skills and further strengthen their company […]

Read post »

Moose on the Loose: Three Reasons for Using This Symbol of Communication Barriers

    During a media interview after publishing Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work, I was asked if there was any one incident that led me to write the book. Good question. I don’t recall my response. However, since my comebacks usually come back well after the discussion, I later reflected on […]

Read post »

Of Moose and Managers

  My blog, Moose on the Loose: Boeing Panic Over Quality and Safety, explained how I started using the moose-on-the-table metaphor. It also linked to a few excerpts from my only work of fiction, Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communication at Work. The following few excerpts are from Chapter Four: Of Moose […]

Read post »

Moose on the Loose: Boeing Panic Over Quality and Safety

Yet another article on the leadership and culture mess at Boeing was recently published in The Guardian. The article reports, “Boeing’s largest factory is in ‘panic mode’…with managers accused of hounding staff to keep quiet over quality concerns. …one mechanic at the complex, who has worked for Boeing for more than three decades, has claimed […]

Read post »

How Leaders Make or Break Team Effectiveness

  Authoritarian leadership seems to be resurging. The Oxford Review Encyclopedia of Terms gives this definition; “Authoritarian leadership refers to any situation where a leader keeps hold of as much power and authority as possible. Also known as coercive or dictatorial leadership, authoritarian leaders, tend to keep all the decision-making authority to themselves and make […]

Read post »

Making Teams Work: What’s Your Type and Decision Vision?

In Working with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman reports on a study by the Center for Creative Leadership of top American and European leaders whose careers derailed, “the inability to build and lead a team was one of the most common reasons for failure.” He goes on to quote a highly successful Silicon Valley venture capitalist, […]

Read post »

Avoid Being Swamped by the Quitting Tsunami

The Hays Canada 2024 Salary & Hiring Trends report warns, “Quiet quitting was the dominant theme in 2023, defined as ‘putting in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than necessary.’ This trend is evident in labor productivity, which has declined nationally in six consecutive quarters. But this quiet quitting trend could be about to turn […]

Read post »

Training and Development: Top Ten Lessons Learned

I was recently invited to be a guest on a podcast concerning training techniques. That got me reflecting on decades of my journey in this field. Waayyy back in the early days of my career, I was a young door-to-door sales rep and then sales manager with Culligan Water Conditioning. I took Dale Carnegie sales, […]

Read post »

Only Learning Leaders Can Transform the Extreme Rate of Transformation Failures

As Yogi Berra would say, “It was Deja vu all over again.” Five years earlier, we’d conducted introductory service/quality improvement workshops for senior management and head office staff of a large company. Culture and feedback surveys gathered input before and during these follow-up workshops. The company clearly had problems with low engagement, faltering customer service, […]

Read post »