After over 15 months of working from home, many employees will be returning to their pre-COVID workplaces. With the rollout of vaccines and easing of public health restrictions, many workplaces are planning to return to a new normal when it comes to business operations. Some will be returning with high levels of anxiety and uncertainty about what the new normal … Read More

Early in my career, I worked as a mediator and saw firsthand how poorly managed conflict can impact a workplace. After years of simmering conflict, the owners of a welding business had finally decided to hire external mediators for some help. Many small unresolved grievances had built up over time amongst the staff, and when someone had a complaint about … Read More

I have worked in the health care field for 15 years and there has been no shortage of pressure, from increasing work demands to difficult situations with coworkers or customers requesting services that are outside the norm. Although some pressure can be helpful to motivate individuals, when stressors become long-term and/or unmanageable, leaders need to consider how they can mitigate … Read More

“I’m so frustrated!” exclaimed the person I was speaking with. “I can’t believe I even bothered to say anything at the meeting. They already knew what decision they were going to make. They just held the meeting to pretend they cared about what we had to say!” Unfortunately, I’ve heard this sentiment many times throughout my experiences as an organizational … Read More

“What is your dream job?” It was my first day in a new role and this was the question my manager, Joanne, asked me during our introductory meeting. I was hesitant to reply because, in this case, my dream job would have meant leaving my employer. I decided to muster up the courage anyway and bravely answered her question honestly. … Read More

Friday is date night for my husband and me. Typically we order takeout, play a round or two of cards, and then watch a movie. The sign of a good movie is when I go to bed and can’t stop thinking about it, which was the case for me this past weekend. My husband and I watched The 33 (2015), … Read More

When it comes to leading others, there is a barrage of tips, theories, practices, and models from which you can gain inspiration and guidance. These consider every angle of leadership, from motivating employees to generating shareholder value. However, one perspective on leadership that is less sought out is the practice of mindfulness. Many leaders may not think of mindfulness as … Read More

Over the past few years, I have come to appreciate the value of connected and healthy teams in the workplace. This became especially clear to me when we successfully planned and ran our first major conference. Conferences require vision, data management, marketing, speaker coordination, coaching, customer service, and so much more. It takes a whole team of talented people who … Read More

In the new reality of working remotely due to COVID-19, many leaders are scrambling to adjust. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to connect with and lead others on your team in a virtual environment. Given that face-to-face leadership is extremely complex, even for seasoned and skilled leaders, leading an effective, efficient, high-performing team in a virtual environment is still a … Read More

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a tsunami of changes to sweep across our world. The working world as we know it has been forced to change by government policy, and it will continue to change long after those policies have been revoked. We are living at a singular moment in history where we must make a choice between three options … Read More