Photo source: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

The media has been inundated this week with EVERYONE’s opinion about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock.

Everyone seems to have a perspective on the issue they feel we are entitled to hear:

• There is no excuse for what Will did and he shouldn’t have done that;
• Violence is never OK;
• What he did was understandable and justified because of what Chris Rock said;
• What Chris Rock said was offensive and insensitive to Jada Pinkett-Smith’s...

“What is your relationship to joy?” That question was voiced a few years ago by a colleague as we were talking about work with high emotion. In my work, I’ve got a friendly relationship with some of those intense and difficult emotions; fear, anger grief and anxiety. It’s not often that joy, happiness or excitement is present in my work so the question made me pause and reflect.

I’ve always just assumed that I’ve got a positive relationship with joy and...

My grandmother used the expression”hell in a hand basket” when it felt like everything was careening wildly out of control, when despair and danger were pounding at the door to be let in. It seems an apt phrase for the events of the first week of January 2021.

This blog isn’t structured or ordered, nor is it planned to come up with the “top 3 tips or insights” so you can take the chaos of where we are and life hack yourself into...

A Socratic Circle: creating space to talk about what matters most

I’ve been leading lots of sessions the last few months — and in so many of them there is this magical moment where it seems suddenly the conversation shifts from individual needs to collective possibility. I’ve stepped back to reflect on what might be happening to enable the depth of collaboration that is created and come up with a couple of ingredients that need to be present to go into the recipe. (Note: The...

Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash

What differentiates a great leader from a bad one? What character traits or behaviours inspire followers and create lasting change? What kind of leadership builds a world that improves people’s lives?

I often say that the world needs a new kind of leader who shows up, takes a stand and changes the world for the better. I always say that it starts with you. But what does that leader actually look like? How do they behave? What do they believe? What...

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...

• 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...

The news is full of stories of leaders; thoughtful, capable, accountable, inspiring leaders, and divisive, authoritative, polarizing leaders. Leaders succeeding, leaders failing, leaders being toppled. When we talk about leadership, it seems we each have different ideas and images that come to mind about what constitutes a leader, and what makes a good or great leader.

In a recent workshop I facilitated with a group of senior leaders, I asked “what is a leader?” I heard things...