My grandfather, Amos, died a few weeks ago at the age of 95. We gathered as a family to mourn and celebrate his life. In the week after his death, we spent many hours with my grandmother, sifting through his possessions and reflecting on his life. Amos worked as a masonry contractor for 50 years in a small city in … Read More

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about managing change. For many of us, it’s graduation season. My son graduated last week and will be attending university out of province in the fall. He is the last of our three children to leave home, so my husband and I will be faced with a quiet house, less groceries to stock … Read More

In my last blog, I wrote about how to respond to unfair feedback as an employee. Now I want to explain how supervisors can give feedback that feels, and is, fair. For context, a friend of mine was recently stung when his supervisor handed him a letter at 4:20 pm on a Friday afternoon. The letter outlined a series of complaints … Read More

Negative feedback can be difficult to respond to, particularly when you feel that it’s unfair. A friend of mine was recently stung when his supervisor handed him a letter at 4:20 pm Friday afternoon. The letter outlined a series of complaints that my friend had been unaware of prior to receiving the letter – he didn’t even remember some of … Read More

We’ve all made our share of bad decisions. Decisions where the result surprised us, and not for the good.We thought it would work out differently but then we end up looking at a mess, or at an unintended conclusion. In classical mythology an oracle was a person who provided wise counsel. There is a story of King Croesus, who consults … Read More

Here’s the shocking news: We are all liars. Maybe that sounds harsh, but let me explain. Most of us lie just a little bit to make others feel better, prevent ourselves from being caught, simplify explanations, or get a small reward such as admiration from our peers. Our own lying makes it difficult to spot and respond positively to more … Read More

If I had a penny for every time I have heard “I don’t have time”, “If only I had the time” or “I’ll have time when I’m dead,” I would be rich. This seeming lack of time has become the new politics: we are invested in complaining about it, yet feel powerless to change it. Our culture of martyrdom, perfectionism, … Read More

What things are you a pro at avoiding? Or more gently said, what things do you mentally move to tomorrow? What are the tasks you should do that you just don’t seem to find the time for, the will for, or the interest in doing? We all have our list. These are the things we find a way to justify … Read More

I gazed at the 30 expectant faces. I opened my mouth to speak but the words weren’t there. My sentences began with “Um,” or “Uuuh…”. I had written the presentation, but it was coming out as slowly as an 8-year-old goes to bed. When I finally found the words, they weren’t quite what I wanted to say. I tried to … Read More

I recently asked a new hire how she was feeling about her new job, and she replied, “I love it. I had never considered doing anything like this before, but my friends tell me that it makes sense that I would like it.” This felt like incredible validation for our hiring process. Through trial and error, and some hard lessons, … Read More