Phases of Team Development and the Value of Relationship Building for New Managers Joining a new team as a leader, whether as an internal or external candidate, presents a unique set of challenges that I have seen very few managers gain mastery of. Over the past several years I have had the opportunity [...]
The Significance of Recognition and Positive Feedback in Team Development This post explores the importance of recognition and positive feedback in cultivating the development of a high performing, motivated team. In it I’ll talk a little bit about the responsibility of managers towards their teams, the science of positive feedback, and tools and [...]
The lessons that I learned in Ironman that helped me in my MBA I raced my first Ironman triathlon in 2011. That’s a 3.8km swim, followed by a 180km bike ride, and a 42.2km run (aka a marathon). Nine years later I began my MBA in 2020 in the midst of Covid, which [...]
What I Learned About Hiring While Working in Retail I worked in the retail sector for several years, managing retail teams as large as 120 employees. During this time, I was responsible for hiring and talent acquisition within my organizations. I led hiring both directly through screening and interviews, and through others within [...]
Read this before you– or your partner starts their MBA A couple of days ago, a friend asked me about my MBA. Her partner was about to begin an MBA program, and she was looking for insights on how I managed the workload, maintained work/life balance, and any advice that I would give [...]
3 Things a High Performing Team Needs Last week I was having coffee with a friend who manages a team of about 30 individuals. Her team is going through what some organizational behaviour specialists would call the “storming” phase of a team lifecycle. With organizational upheaval impacting the job stability of several of [...]
Why they're Quiet Quitting Quiet quitting? Maybe its not about workers. Maybe its about workplaces. The concept of quiet quitting is something managers ought to be prepared for, and it is most certainly not anything new. You can go back hundreds, if not thousands of years to find statements describing how each generation [...]
The Science Behind Goals It’s the day before a project presentation to your director. You’re scrambling to finish the report that you’ve had weeks to work on. Every ten minutes your Outlook inbox chime lets you know that an urgent, attention stealing email is waiting for you. The hours slip by. It’s the [...]
Navigating Change "How much did they pay you to give up on your dreams?", Ryan asked. After a moment, Bob responded softly, "$27,000 a year". That's a line from a movie called Up in the Air. It stuck with me when I heard it and I've come back to it again and again [...]
Marathon Motivation Well, in my last blog post I opened by stating how marathon race week brings about a range of emotions. How true that was. Thursday evening I went down to the hot tub to listen to some music, have a stretch, and focus on what I would do on race day. [...]
