"You were so close to excellent and didn't even realize it!" That was the feedback our facilitator gave during a simple team challenge at my leadership course last week. A challenge where we had to pass three tennis balls through a group in a set sequence as fast as we could. On our first try, we got it in 35 seconds! After a few more rounds, we had proudly shaved it down to 3 seconds. We were feeling good, like we had done the best we could. Then we were told someone else had done it in 0.9...
7 days ago • 2 min read
It’s easy, especially as leaders who care, to spot what’s broken. The missed cues, the slow sidewalk walkers, the spatially unaware...and when I’m tired, overwhelmed, or in go-mode, I fall into that trap too, in all areas of my life and...HARD. This past week, I made it a priority of mine to put the phone down, zoom out and see what I noticed. Here were 20 subtle moments of human connection, quiet, generous, simple, and all of them...free. First: The airport.Yes, the airport. The lawless home...
14 days ago • 2 min read
Earlier this week, I got asked a big one: “What drives culture?” It came from a senior leader who felt like he was doing everything right: The social events. The shoutouts. The themed Slack channels. And yet…their culture was crashing. He was frustrated, exhausted and at his wits' end. Here’s what I told him: Culture isn’t built on "fun,"It’s built on trust, respect, and integrity. The “fun” activities reinforce a healthy culture, they don’t create one. If your team doesn’t feel safe speaking...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
You don’t work with difficult people. You work with different people. People with differing opinions, communication styles, priorities, and values. And when we don’t talk about those differences, we start saying things like: “Bob’s a jerk!” (He’s probably not. But your story says otherwise.) Most personality conflicts aren’t actually about personality. They’re usually a by-product of misalignment that went unaddressed. Here are 4 common types of workplace misalignment that quietly turn into...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
When a company is small, decision-making tends to be fast, flexible, and personal. Everyone wears multiple hats. People check in across functions. Collaboration is a natural byproduct of survival. As your business and your team grow, things change. Decisions carry more weight, teams specialize and outcomes become more visible across the organization. And suddenly, the idea of “everyone gets a say” starts to slow you down. I see this all the time with scaling companies. Leadership wants to...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
I’ll never forget the first time someone told me I needed to “manage across, not just down.” I nodded like I understood. I didn’t. For most of us, leadership starts with the team right in front of us. The people we coach, protect, and advocate for. The ones whose names are top of mind when priorities shift or the pressure kicks in. But in my recent conversation with Paul Lewis, CTO of Pythian he introduced a leadership lens that’s been turning over in my mind and honestly, it's something I...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
I used to have to physically sit on my hands before replying to an email. Seriously, my emotional reactions were that bad. It wasn’t just the emails, either. A sudden piece of feedback? My stomach would flip. A last-minute change to a plan I’d worked hard on? My jaw would clench. Someone questioning my decision? My ears would burn. And if you think that’s dramatic, trust me...I’m not alone in this. We all have moments where emotions hijack our brains. And in leadership (or honestly, in any...
2 months ago • 3 min read
It's Thursday you've finally carved out some focused work time and just as you're making progress, boom, you’re pulled into a meeting, back in the weeds, because a member of your team isn’t sure how to navigate a tough conversation, set clear expectations, or push back without damaging relationships. You have a million things to do and they’re new to this role. These are the people pieces of a business the messy, nuanced, unpredictable challenges that don’t come with a playbook. So what...
2 months ago • 2 min read
For a long time, Reader, I thought resilience meant gritting my teeth, muscling through, and proving I could handle anything...no matter how tough, no matter how much it sucked. I wore that like a badge of honour. Strong leaders kept pushing, right? Never slowed down, right? Never asked for help, and definitely never admitted when they were in over their heads....right?! That belief ran deep. So deep that once, while hiking, I literally fell off the side of a cliff. (Okay, not a whole...
2 months ago • 3 min read