More Than Burnout

One might pick up The Burnout Challenge: Managing People’s Relationships With Their Jobs and assume, if only from the title, that it is pop psychology. We have all seen these volumes in business or self-help sections of bookstores: burnout, balance, and a few bits of general advice for workers after the pandemic. The media is…

On Coaching – With Wit & Humor

Business books are usually serious, grounded in wisdom, data, and an unshakeable faith that reading to learn will facilitate improvement. We don’t read business books for pleasure; we read them for action. As a literary form, they are inherently earnest. It’s the outlier that often defines the norm. The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More…

Actionable Student Voice From Canada

All who work in higher education are drawn to stories of growth and success. Be it a student navigating roadblocks or institutions changing lives, we seek narratives with positive academic arcs, triumphs overcome and dreams realized. Attention is given to critiques and criticisms, to be sure, but are they embraced and acted on by the…

Hungry, Humble & Smart Teams

Patrick Lencioni is a wise and savvy management consultant – and not just because he’s wildly successful. His best-selling book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, is outstanding and has helped numerous organizations for more than two decades. I’ve found it useful over the years, assigned to me and assigning it. Reviews have been consistent:…

Learning From Sommeliers

Learning on one’s own is tough. The pandemic is an outstanding reminder that we need guidance, practice, encouragement and criticism to make real gains when we want to learn and grow. Most go only so far when working solo, especially when siloed on a screen. For the academically inclined, it’s further validation of Vygotsky’s zones…

Unanswerable Questions

Questions can come a place of curiosity, of genuinely wanting to know. Asking a person, or especially a child, can be a form of validation, affirming both. “I am interested in you and your answers. You matter to me.” These are the sorts of questions that I believe, perhaps with undue optimism, can bridge difference…

Racism’s Wicked Legacy

To truly understand the wicked legacy of racism in the United States, look to well-researched history. Current media may buzz about critical race theory – and it can be provocative – but history has staying power. And really well-done history explains so much in ways that can engage and enrage, that can make you weep…