#braveaf hashtag we created to draw attention to upcoming events we are hosting at bravelylead.com

I’m sitting at home alone on a Friday night drinking a glass of wine, watching romantic comedies, writing in my journal and nursing a massively huge vulnerability hangover. Massive.

My husband is away skiing in Japan, the child who lives at home is out tonight and I’m coming down from weeks of putting myself out into the world in open, risky and vulnerable ways. I’m feeling the...

Me, wearing my super hero cape, stepping into my super powers that allow me to have brave, honest conversations.

No one is born knowing how to brave, honest conversations about issues that really matter. This isn’t a skill anyone comes out of the womb with, and being in a particular position or role doesn’t mean you’ve figured out how to talk about the tough stuff. It takes a combination of skills, knowledge, attitude and behaviour to be able to really have brave, honest...

I was sitting in a workshop last week and a friend turned me after the Florida school shooting and told me this was her town and asked me this question. She was heartbroken, overwhelmed and at a loss about where to start doing something. When she shared her anguish, others in the group echoed her sentiments.

• Where to start making change?
• How to make a difference?
• How to have the conversation?

Let me start here. Rule #1 about brave, honest conversations is that there are no magic wands,...

I get asked a lot of tough questions in my work. People weren’t born knowing how to have brave, honest conversations and it can be really scary, intimidating and anxiety producing to have a tough conversation with a partner, a colleague or a large group of people talking about an important issue.

In this new monthly series I’m going to tackle some of these tough questions. Every month I will address new questions that YOU send me. So if you’ve got a challenge, struggle or...

I turn 50 in 2018. I don’t even know how that happened; how I’m suddenly that old. Which I realize is such an old person kind of thing to say.

I was talking to a dear friend a couple months ago and she said she was making a list of 60 things for her 60th year and I was so struck by the idea I decided to outright copy it. It’s a way of looking at the world that is expansive and full of growth and possibility, and it allows you to intentionally plan ways to expand your...

It can be surprising when you need to have a brave, honest conversation. Sometimes, when you least expect it.

Recently, I took my mother-in-law to the Doctor. The trip left me with some heartache, grief, and a need for a brave, honest conversations with myself.

First, let me say this has been a hard post to write. I’ve had to wrestle with some demons—why am I writing about this? Is this my story to share? Am I hurting anyone in the sharing of the story? How would my mother-in-law...

The Peel Watershed. Photo credit: cbc.ca

Friday December 1, 2017 marked the end of a long battle in the courts…and the start of a new journey, one just as potentially fraught with conflict, misunderstandings and mis-steps as the journey to this point.

If you don’t know about the Peel Watershed, you can read may of the details on CBC or at Protect the Peel. To summarize:

• A multi-year collaborative consultation process led by an independent commission between First Nations,...

Wallowing in the depths of self-doubt is common. It’s what you do when you realize you are there that makes the difference.

Here are some recent insights on how to be messy AND brave in your life.

I’ve been rolling around in the muck of self-doubt lately, trying to get balance and clarity on the positive change and impact I really want to have in the world, but mostly worrying whether the change I want to create is possible. Then the universe gave me a couple of gifts that helped...

Picture source: Americabythenumbers.org

Protests, marches, petitions. Riots, police barricades, people injured and killed. Anger, righteous indignation, tragedy and discrimination. Natural disasters, food insecurity, terrorism, poverty. We have some real challenges on this small planet. Some real struggles we aren’t dealing with very well.

What we are doing a lot is talking at each other, over each other and about each other.

We need a new way.

I’ve worked in the arena of public...

• Violence in Charlottesville.
• Climate Change impacts destroying property, wildlife, the environment.
• A growing divide between rich and poor.
• Discrimination, polarization and a rise in hatred.
• Globalism and the refugee crisis.
• Depressing levels of trust in government, media and big corporations.
• Addiction, substance abuse and family violence.
• Impacts of colonization on indigenous peoples.
• Burnout, stress and a lack of innovation inside companies.

Should I go on? The list is endless. All these...