The Potentiality

John Horn's Website for Community Builders

Competencies

Three Ways to Lead Amidst Ambiguity

Navigating uncertainty. Working in the grey. Change management. Process transformation. Whatever you call it, in many organizations working without clarity and amidst ambiguity is the new normal. Priorities, tools and people are changing more frequently than ever in order to…

Five Ways to Achieve Focus Through Listening

I’m on a journey to become a better listener. This journey will make me a better leader, dad and partner/friend. For the most part, my listening skills are fine; this said, I am an enthusiastic talker who loves to fill…

How to Walk Away from a Volunteer Role

Getting involved with amazing organizations is easy. Walking away from a volunteer commitment, particularly one in which you’ve played an important role, can be very difficult. Sometimes no matter how fulfilling and important the position is you’ll know it’s time…

Five Professional Lessons from the Mission: Impossible Movies

Action mega-star and semi-controversial human being, Tom Cruise, has done it again! Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation has hit theatres and is receiving critical acclaim and all of our money, too. Kurt and I love action movies and we also…

Three Questions to Ask Before You Go to Work Sick

Getting sick sucks. It’s particularly frustrating when it happens and you have to work the next day. Agonizing over whether to stay home and let your boss know you’ll be out of commission for the next day (or three) is…

How to Learn from Summer Interns

Interns are adding value to companies, non-profits and the public sector around the world this summer. At Vancity, one of the things that we want from this experience is an exchange of ideas – put another way, we want “reverse…

Three Career Lessons from Vancouver’s Craft Brewers

It’s summer in Vancouver and odds are you’ve noticed the proliferation of craft breweries across the city. There’s a reason they are so popular. Craft breweries offer a tempting and tasty opportunity to try new brews in interesting and engaging…

How my Mom is Winning the Sharing Economy

“In the collaborative economy, people can get what they need from each other – instead of buying from you,” says Jeremiah Owyang in his awesome presentation called “sharing is the new buying” that outlines how to win in the collaborative…

Four Professional Lessons from Northern Italy

Italy is hot, beautiful and the home of some of the best food in the world. While renowned for its gastronomical delights, Italy also has plenty to teach us about our professional selves. After traveling there this summer, here are…

Three Career Lessons I Learned from Tossing Hay Bales

I grew up in a small rural community on Vancouver Island, British Columbia called Merville. When I was a kid I helped my dad help his best friend clear hundreds of hay bales from his field. When I was a…