The Potentiality

John Horn's Website for Community Builders

leadership

Business Strategy, but make it Cycling

I recently finished Holocracy by Brian J. Robertson and one of the metaphors he uses in the book is that business strategy should be like riding a bicycle. Good strategies adapt and adjust based on member and community needs, kinda…

The Cooperative Talent Cloud

The War for Talent is over. Talent won (and is still winning). The way we work is experiencing a significant shift. The conventional notion of a multi-decade career with one employer is being replaced by short-term, dynamic engagements that workers…

Three Ways to Break Your Bias

Vancity Credit Union is completing a month of learning about unconscious bias. Partnering with the NeuroLeadership Institute (NLI), all employees are completing online learning and discussing bias within teams. A quick Google search will reveal dozens of articles about how…

A Turn the Temperature Down Haiku

It’s too hot these days. Politics. Planet. Culture. Leaders turn it down. – A haiku about listening more than we talk, seeking to understand and find common ground, and probably riding bikes and walking around a little bit more.

How Language Creates and Erodes Interdependence

I agree with Batman that our actions matter more than who we are underneath because actions reveal our true character. I also notice how much language influences who leaders are and what we stand for. I notice this the most…

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 seeds…

Empathy is Harder than Math

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It involves perceiving and connecting with their emotions, fostering understanding, and often responding with compassion and support. Mathematics is the language of patterns and relationships in the world. It’s…

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…

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 (the…