When people step into the professional world for the first time, the conversations they have often start in the wrong place. Too many begin with money. Some begin with certainty about what they believe they deserve, others with resignation to take whatever is offered. Both positions, while … [Read more...]
The Art of Pricing Before Value Is Proven
One of the more overlooked truths in business is that price is not always the first lever to pull. We often hear advice about charging what we’re worth, never undervaluing ourselves, and raising rates as a signal of confidence. There’s truth in that, but there is also a reality that markets … [Read more...]
The Meeting You Lose Before You Speak
It begins the moment you sit down. You look around the table and realize the faces are polite, but the decision is already tilting away from you. No one says it outright, yet you can feel the drift. Questions come that aren’t really questions. Support feels soft. And when the meeting ends, your … [Read more...]
The Funnel is Gone. Your Brand is the Algorithm.
Obaid was in Ottawa this past weekend, and of course we met. These days the core emphasis of our in-person conversations is for me to get a download from him on what is happening in the Valley. In our chat, he described something that felt small at first. It was just a reflection on how … [Read more...]
Staying in the Room Where Decisions Are Made
Every so often, you come across a piece of writing that doesn’t just make you nod in agreement - it takes thoughts you’ve been circling for some time and gives them a clean, sharp frame. That happened for me this week when I read a Linkedin post by Solon Angel. Solon not only crystallized the … [Read more...]
Plans as Mirrors, Not Maps
I stood in front of my class yesterday and invited them to sketch a five-year leadership plan. That invitation arrived with a confession. I am not, by reputation or by habit, a serial planner. At least not if we define a plan as a crystalline template that foresees every twist in the next … [Read more...]
Why I Love the Simplicity of the Eisenhower Matrix
Most days don’t fall apart because we don’t work hard. They fall apart because we don’t work right. We pour energy into things that are loud but meaningless, urgent but inconsequential. And somewhere in the middle of meetings and messages and multitasking, the stuff that actually matters - the … [Read more...]
The Quiet Strength of Forward Motion
We often think of leadership as grand gestures or confident speeches. But some of the most powerful leadership moments happen in quieter spaces - in a conversation with someone who’s struggling, in the pause between stories, in the subtle redirection of attention from the weight of what was to … [Read more...]
Decide or Discover – But Not Both at Once
We spend a large part of our professional lives in meetings. Some are energizing, many are draining, and far too many are just ... confusing. In my current role at the Ottawa Community Foundation and through my years in executive leadership, meetings with different teams, partners, funders, and … [Read more...]