I Have No Clue

A few years ago, I decided to speak at MoMondays, a very popular event in Toronto and other cities in Canada and the USA. Michel, the organizer gave me a date and then asked for my topic. “I have no clue what I am going to speak about,” I told him. Somehow I found a topic just […]

True Leadership

My sister Carole studied dance, unlike my brother and me who went to the pinnacle of business success with MBAs from Harvard Business School. Yet throughout her working life, Carole has quietly made a difference as a leader in our family businesses and working for others. For many years she ran Best Regards, our greeting […]

4 Steps to making your expectations clear

4 Steps to making your expectations clear: I recently spent 10 days in warm, sunny Jamaica. Except that on the last 2 days, a cold front moved in. And I was cold. What was the temperature? About 21°C! On arriving in Toronto to -2°C temperatures, replete with snow and ice, I realized that I didn’t […]

5 ways to make sure the right people and ideas get to you!

  Every leader has gatekeepers – people who limit and control access. This is most understandable, as the leader cannot possibly respond to every request personally. Who are these gatekeepers (or “handlers” as I now hear as the new, sexy title)? They are the assistants, deputies, receptionists, security, electronic filters on recruitment sites – may […]

Before Leadership 101 – your personal vision, mission and values

Do you have a personal vision for your life?  Do you have a personal mission statement and are you absolutely clear on your personal values? As a leader, it is likely that you have a vision for your organization along with clear mission and values statements.  This is par for the course in nearly all […]

Listen…Silent

  Did you ever realize that the word “LISTEN” has the same letters as “SILENT”? How profound. Listening is a skill that is fundamentally important to the success of any and all relationships – love, business, family, friendship. Yet most of us have a very, very hard time really LISTENING. Speaking is vaunted as a […]

Diversity of Olympian proportions

  I am loving the diversity in the Olympics – almost-40 year old gymnasts (grey hair and all); 15 year old female gold medalists swimming faster then men; a blind archer; a sprinter without legs; an African American gold medal gymnast; a white Jamaican Olympian (equestrian), women competing for the first time for their Islamic […]

Manners – the foundation for great leadership?

“Good morning” “Please” “Thank you”   How often to do you say these words at work (indeed in your entire life – but that is the subject of another blog)?  And how genuine are you?    When you ask a team member “How are you today” – do you REALLY want to know? Have you ever […]

“Do we have the right people”?

This is a great question for a leader to ask.  Like all good questions it is simple, forthright yet profound.  One could answer a simple “yes” or “no”, but a silent breath waiting for the rest of the answer would follow that monosyllabic response.   There is no simple, definitive answer.  Like any good question, […]

Preparing to lead – The List

So many of my readers have requested “the list” to which I referred in my previous blog.  I am delighted to share it.  Bear in mind that it was prepared as a prelude to facilitating a workshop.  However, can you see its application to the daily task of leading? Prepare, prepare, prepare! Being fully prepared […]

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