Why We Should Do Hard Things
We should do hard things because they shape us into resilient and confident learners. When we embrace challenges that push us out of our comfort zones, we not only learn more about ourselves, but we also develop the mental fortitude to overcome any obstacle. For all...
Why Conflict is a Good Thing
The Potential of Dialogue Meaningful dialogue is an elusive thing in our communities. Having a respectful conversation with someone about something on which we do not agree isn’t common. Yelling opinions overtop of someone else or building a newsfeed that reinforces...
A Taking Stock Haiku
Observing the world. Privilege and potential. Gratefully taking stock. – A haiku about taking stock of our worklife by John Horn
Three Professional Lessons from Edge of Tomorrow
Edge of Tomorrow is a science fiction action film featuring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt and a bunch of scary aliens. The film tells of the story of Major William Cage, a public relations officer with zero combat experience, who is busted down to private, and then...
Three Governance Lessons from Serving as CERIC’s Board Chair
Next week I will end my two-year term as Chair of the Board of Directors for CERIC, a charity purposed with advancing career development in Canada. I’ve run a bunch of meetings that (mostly) ended on time, co-created/co-facilitated strategic planning sessions, opened...
A Personal Reflection on Racism and Anti-Racist Allyship
Sometimes I see an event occur and I marvel at the humanity of people. Other times, I see events occur and I wonder, where is our humanity? The last couple of weeks have been more of the latter. It has been a very difficult time, internalizing and processing all the...
Black Lives Matter
I want to be on the record – on this side of history – as someone who stands against systemic racism and who believes that Black lives matter. This is also a time for guys who look like me to listen and learn. This said, there are some things that I know right now. I...
10 More Career Development Questions about The Last Dance
A few weeks ago I answered 10 career development questions about The Last Dance asked by Kurt Heinrich, the non-basketball-fan-co-founder of this website. Like everyone on the planet who has finished season three of Ozark, I watched and loved the Jordan-centric...
What I’m Learning from Using Gender-Neutral Pronouns for My Bike
Last year I joined several of my Vancity colleagues in a gender identity workshop delivered by Adrienne Smith, a transgender human rights activist and drug policy lawyer. Adrienne shared simple tips for fostering inclusive communities, especially for folks who...
10 Career Development Questions About The Last Dance
Like tens of millions of people around the world, I’m watching and loving The Last Dance. The story of Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls is one of realized potential amidst spectacular circumstances. For me, the viewing experience is so enriching because it...
Four Ways to be OK with Life Sucking Right Now
Coronavirus continues to reshape our communities. Many of us have now been in isolation for over a month and things are weird at best and crippling at worst. Increasingly, it seems for many Canadians that physical distancing isn’t just some weird interregnum from real...
Three Ways to Keep Redeployed Employees Engaged
Businesses everywhere continue to evolve their operations in response to measures for stemming the spread of COVID-19. In some instances, businesses are strategically redeploying employees temporarily to business units that can be better leveraged in states of...
Three Things I’m Doing to Lead a Remote Team
So there’s this global pandemic happening. While the far-reaching economic and social impacts of COVID-19 are still unknown, the return to normal will take a long time and, when it’s over, we probably won’t live and work the way we did six weeks ago. Like many people...