Seven tips for when you have to speak truth to power
Managing up is part of peoples’ jobs. Being able to respond to superiors when you don’t agree with their position is a key skill. Many organizations foster this sort of feedback – particularly those that recognize the importance of radical…
Four Leadership Lessons from Show Me a Hero
Show Me a Hero is an HBO mini-series classic. Based on a book by New York Times writer Lisa Belkin and written by David Simon and William F Zorzo, the series explores the political career of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest…
Four Project Management Lessons from the Fyre Festival
The Fyre festival was supposed to be a luxury music festival starring models and social media “influencers” on Pablo Escobar’s island in the Exumas. Instead, festival goers arrived to chaos – the luxury villas were emergency shelter tents, the gourmet…
Three Ways to Manage People Who Are Smarter than You
As we climb the organizational ladder, it can be tempting to show your direct reports your subject matter expertise. After all, teams are highly engaged when their manager can do their job. For many first-time managers, it is important to…
Balancing Work and Life in Transition
When you transition to a new role in work or life, be it taking on a new job or becoming a parent, your daily schedule and priorities can be thrown into a tizzy. It can feel overwhelming and this feeling…
Three Professional Lessons from the Fugitive
In the hit 90s film, The Fugitive, Harrison Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, a brilliant doctor falsely framed for killing his wife. After being convicted, a shackled Kimble is sent off to death row on a prison bus. During a…
Five Ways to Succeed When Collaborating with a Recruiter
As you move forward in your career, there’s a good chance that you will be working with a recruiter – either an internal specialist or external search firm. If it’s your first time working with a recruiter, it can be…
Three Ways to Relate to Fundamentally Different People
Last month our book club tackled Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. The book gave us an illuminating look at moral and evolutionary psychology, exploring the moral pillars that underpin the morality…
Five Ways to Support a Partner in Professional Trouble
It happens from time to time. Your partner comes home from work defeated. A project went off the rails, they failed to hit their annual target, or were fired after making a big mistake that cost their organization big bucks….
What I Learned about Resilience from the Crushing Defeat of my Team
Its World Cup time and this year there will be plenty of teams whose hopes and dreams will fall by the wayside in the coming month. Meanwhile, back at home, I recently returned from a soccer tournament in Alert Bay,…