Five Simple Recovery Tactics for Your Wellness Plan
It’s mental health week. If you’re like me, you definitely need more hours in the day, probably use the word “busy” to answer the “how’s it going?” small-talk-question, and there’s a strong possibility that you feel overwhelmed. All leaders need self-care. When people...
Four Leadership Lessons from our Reconciliation Journey
As a member of Vancity’s leadership development program I am on a journey to become a better leader. Engaging in deep self-reflection, peer-mentoring and self-directed learning with the intention of creating new habits that help me to be more present, focused and...
Five ways to take your interview performance to the next level
Over the past few years, I’ve had the good fortune of interviewing some outstanding candidates. Whether I’m interviewing for junior or senior roles, the consistent success factors remain the same. Here are five ways to take your interview performance to the next...
Three Ways to Break Your Bias
Vancity Credit Union is completing a month of learning about unconscious bias. Partnering with the NeuroLeadership Institute (NLI), all employees are completing online learning and discussing bias within teams. A quick Google search will reveal dozens of articles...
Four Tips for Planning your next Trip
Most of us travel. Before you leave your home it’s critical to set yourself up for success by preparing with a good trip plan. You’ll want to consider the theme of your trip, where you will eat, sleep and frolic as well as the needs and desires of your travelling...
Six Professional Lessons From Six Movie Side Hustles
We tend to remember Indiana Jones as a Nazi-fighting, world-saving, rough-and-tumble adventurer, not as a Professor of Archeology. We tend to remember Erin Brockovich as a feisty, community-minded legal aid who held corporations accountable, not as a single mom. And...
10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Taking Paternity Leave
This is my second week back at work after about three months of parental – or paternity – leave. I’ll use the term “paternity leave” going forward because this is a story for dads, or soon-to-be-dads, who are thinking about taking time off work to spend with their...
Six Ways to Support a Spouse Running for Public Office
This fall my partner ran for public office. It was a first time for us both. While she was unsuccessful, losing by a mere 300 votes, the experience was very instructive for both of us. Running for public office requires you to “put yourself out there” and invest...
Seven Ways to Embed Co-operative Principles in Your Organization
Co-operatives are an underutilized model for running an enterprise. October 16-20 is International Co-operatives Week and I work for one of Canada’s pre-eminent co-ops, Vancity Credit Union. I am quite biased in my thinking that the world needs more co-operatives. I...
Three Ways to Sustain Thanksgiving Gratitude
Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday and it just happened. In addition to the spectacular food and drink (thanks, Auntie Sharon and Uncle John!), I love spending time reflecting with my community about what makes us thankful. Expressing gratitude enhances human...
How to Give a Proper Apology
Saying sorry is hard and most of us suck at it. Apologies are uncomfortable, difficult and they can be embarrassing. They can also be healing, transformative and satisfying. Great apologies are authentic and about the wronged person’s feelings, not yours. They work as...
Reflections from my Paternity Leave
This September I head back to work after a six month paternity leave. It’s been a great half a year full of plenty of morning snuggles, afternoon coffee meandering, rambunctious baby-time at the library, and more pool time than I ever thought possible. As this chapter...
Six Collaboration Tips from PAW Patrol
As a father of a toddler with a reasonable social network, I am becoming immersed in the world of the hit (I think) children’s animated series and consumer products juggernaut, PAW Patrol. The show’s premise is simple enough. Ryder, a “tech-savvy boy” with a passion...