How to be Consistent like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) is one of the most consistent high-performers on Earth. He has scored over 30 points for the NBA Western Conference’s top seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in 40 games this season and, to underscore how he’s a model of consistency, he has...
Three Leadership Lessons from Spider-Man
Plainly put, Spider-Man leads with a unique formula of leadership of kindness, humour humility, smarts, passion, and responsibility. And here are three leadership lessons that you can take away from Spider-Man. No, this not a “new idea” and “a few people” have “already written about this” in “2010” – this being said, my lessons get to the punchline quicker and better. And the artwork (see below) that I chose to adorn this post is both adorable and (probably) concerning.
An Imposter Syndrome Haiku
Leaders need these things. Confidence. Humility. Imposter syndrome. - A haiku about how, with the best of intentions, blending confidence and humility can lead to imposter syndrome because interrogating our decisions and beliefs fosters curiosity and can also sew...
Five Professional Lessons from Captain America: Civil War
Last Friday night Kurt and I saw Captain America: Civil War. The summer’s hottest movie taught us a lot about international diplomacy, teamwork, spandex, friendship, and ourselves, too. Here are five professional lessons from Captain America: Civil War that you can...
Three Ways to use the Waysfinder Model for Career Development
The Waysfinder Model provides a simple and flexible way to navigate worklife complexity. Its founder, Sonja Blignaut, suggests that the model expects multiple ideas or products to be simultaneously and collaboratively attempted based on the potentialities from each...
A Failure Haiku
Feeling like failure. Learning happens everywhere. Failing is learning. - This is a Failure - or a failing is learning - Haiku because it's been a tough month and I've learned a lot (humans always do!)
How to Talk About Death at Work
For the last decade I’ve worked for two of Canada’s leaders in financial services (Vancity Credit Union) and pension administration (BC Pension Corporation). Through activities like estate planning and benefits changes many of my colleagues are required to talk about...
Four Ways that Tough Feedback Makes Work Better
Our team has written quite a bit about feedback – both how to give it and how to ask for it and act on it. But in our day to day work, we are often confronted with input and criticism that we immediately feel is unfair or incorrect. It falls outside a more structured...
A Travel Haiku
Travel to learn. Culture. Knowledge. Connection. Oh, and lobster rolls. - A travel haiku written to reflect on the Horn family's recent awesome trip to Nova Scotia
10 Professional Lessons from Dancing
In April 2015, 25 colleagues and I danced to Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” as part of the entertainment for V After Dark, Vancity Credit Union’s annual employee recognition and celebration event. Here’s the video and a blog post about 10 professional lessons from dancing...
Five Ways to Triumph Over Jerks
This article tells the story of five ways to triumph over jerks and other mean people who will infect your community. Recently, I encountered a wide variety of jerks. Let me tell you, it took adaptability, creativity, thoughtfulness, and great leadership to win...
A New Friendship Haiku
Basketball* feelings. Infinite conversations. New friendship is here. - A haiku about new friendship, which started with *basketball feelings and has grown into the best vibes on Vancouver Island!
Four Lessons in Interdependency from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
In their excellent book, Laziness Does Not Exist, Dr. Devon Price argues that the myth of the heroes journey highlights how individualistic problem-solving and world/galaxy-saving is wrongly elevated in pop culture. While I take issue with some of Price's examples...