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...]
The Illusion of Progress and the Discipline of Priority
There’s a strange kind of exhaustion that sets in at the end of the day - not from working hard, but from working on the wrong things. Most people don’t waste their time; they give it away. They wake up, open their inbox, start replying, join the calls, jump between tasks, and try to keep up. By … [Read more...]
The Rhythm That Replaces Resolutions
How intentional check-ins can shape a life more meaningfully than any new year plan ever could I’ve never believed in January 1st resolutions. It’s an arbitrary starting line drawn by calendars and collective sentiment. But life doesn’t begin on schedule. Purpose doesn’t wake up with … [Read more...]
Stop Predicting the Future, Start Creating It
I spent a good part of my 30s trying to master the art of predicting the future. Not as a gambler or a mystic, but as someone driven by strategy, responsibility, and a need to stay ahead. I studied trends, followed signals, built models, and asked smarter and smarter questions. I thought if I … [Read more...]
Where Did the Butterflies Go? The Quiet Cost of Clean Yards and Loud Inaction
There’s a certain kind of silence that creeps in slowly. You don’t notice it right away, especially when everything else looks just as it should. The flowers are blooming, the grass is green, the trees are full. But something feels off. The buzz is missing. The flutter is gone. And then you … [Read more...]
Think Sharper. Move Smarter. Lead Better.
Over the last few weeks, in quiet moments before class or during open conversations with students in my leadership course at Lambton College, HCL4103, here in Ottawa, we’ve kept circling back to one question - what does it really take to thrive out there? Not just to get hired or finish school, but … [Read more...]
Strategy Doesn’t Fail for Lack of Models. It Fails Because People Do.
We are drowning in strategy frameworks. Over the past sixty years, the business world has become obsessed with the architecture of strategy - from Ansoff’s growth matrix in the 1950s to Porter’s Five Forces, the Balanced Scorecard, Blue Ocean, and Transient Advantage. Each new decade brings new … [Read more...]