Continuing Our Reconciliation Journey
Today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. Something that everyone can do to contribute to Canada’s reconciliation journey is learning about Indigenous history, culture, and land. Continuing our reconciliation journey also means connecting in community (I…
Three Types of Culture Practices Your Organization Needs Today
Values describe the culture you want. Rituals reveal the culture you have. Strategy says “we will innovate responsibly.” Culture is what happens when someone proposes an unfamiliar, yet creative, idea in a meeting. Strategy says, “we are one enterprise!” Culture…
My Coaching Philosophy
Coaching unlocks potential. From my perspective, all leaders should have a coaching philosophy because coaching is one of the best ways to cultivate self-awareness, unleash empathy, and foster personal accountability for taking action. Whether I am coaching my kids’ soccer…
Play Without Fear
The FIFA World Cup concludes this week. It feels like Canada’s Men’s National Soccer Team has been out of the tournament for months. Even though we lost badly to Morocco, the experience was rewarding because results do not always tell…
Why You Should Laugh at Yourself
What if I told you that laughing at yourself might be the most underrated leadership skill nobody teaches in business school or the campus career centre? Let me paint you a picture. You’re in a team meeting. Someone makes a…
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the highest form of love because it is the only force powerful enough to rebuild what violence, division, and resentment destroy. Communities cannot be safe, healthy, connected, or self‑actualized without it — and the evidence is overwhelming. Forgiveness…
Employee Ownership
Giving workers a meaningful stake in their organization builds accountability, loyalty, and shared purpose. When employees are also owners, decision-making aligns more naturally with long-term sustainability than short-term profit extraction, resulting in more cooperative organizations and more equitable distribution of…
Leadership Courage
Leadership courage is the ability to do the right thing even when it’s hard—which, let’s be honest, is basically always. If leadership were easy, we’d just let algorithms handle it. For example. Let’s say we know a director who notices…
Learning is a Non-Discretionary Function
Overseeing upskilling, leadership development, and career growth at a learning organization has eliminated a very specific occupational hazard of mine: involuntary eye-twitching during budget season. It still happens every time I hear or read the phrase “learning is discretionary spending”,…
Three Leadership Agility Lessons from Canada Basketball’s Superclinic
A few weekends ago I joined players, coaches, and referees from across the Greater Victoria Area at a “basketball superclinic” that was delivered by Canada Basketball’s Mike Mackay. The coaches spent the morning learning about a practice we would be…