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If you are a community builder and collaborator
looking to make wiser decisions faster,
you’re in the right place.

Collaborative Planning

I am an insightful and high energy collaborative strategist; a world class facilitator who has served as a trusted advisor to hundreds of mission-driven organizations in Canada and internationally for more than 20 years. I bring intellect, enthusiasm and varied experience in strategy development and collaborative leadership to my speaking, writing and mentoring. I am a skilled communicator, with a particular gift for helping leaders make wiser decisions faster.

I provide planning and governance support to CEOs and Boards of Directors; strategic analysis to social and health policy makers; multi-stakeholder consultation processes to governments; training in various collaborative skills to teams, and strategic coaching to leaders. Let me leverage my experience as a speaker and mentor for your team.

What’s new?

ELASTIC: Leaders who stretch without snapping back

Join me for a FREE workshop on Monday, November 29 at 12 p.m. EST to learn more about ELASTIC leaders. This new series of workshops will run monthly from December 2021 to June 2022, each focusing on one dimension of ELASTIC leadership: energy, likeability, adaptability, strategy, trust, imagination and curiosity. Sign up for all seven workshops at a discounted rate or choose individual sessions throughout the year. 

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Designing Public Engagement for the Tired and Distracted

This candid, practical session provides road-tested tips for building effective engagement when people are exhausted, distracted, irritable or entrenched, and a deeper toolbox and a more flexible mindset is needed to channel their attention productively.

Join me Monday, December 13 from 2-5 pm EST for a workshop through IAP2 Canada.

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Wiser by Choice

Interested in a leadership book club where you don’t have to read the books? Join me for Wiser by Choice. Feed your curiosity and stay up-to-date on the latest business thinking from bestselling authors, without leaving home and without reading the books!

Register for the winter session: January 21, February 25 and March 25 at 7:30 a.m. ET.

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SIGHTLINE

Even in uncertain times — perhaps especially then — we need a plan.

To gain traction, that plan doesn’t only rely on other people to make it happen, it needs to be crafted with and by them.

My new book spells out the why and the how of collaborative strategy building.

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Podcasts

I love being on podcasts! I love the range of topics that all have some relevance to the collaborative planning work I do. Have a listen!

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Evidence of Wiser Decisions Faster

Check out my video series showcasing the impacts of collaborative planning.

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Thoughts

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Picture a Curious Leader

I recently wrote about my struggle to find just the right word that is the opposite of “oblivious.” Along those same lines, what do you consider to be the opposite of “curious”? Various dictionaries suggest “incurious; uncurious” (sigh), “apathetic,” “indifferent” or “uninterested.” I’m not sure any of these are quite right. (Interestingly, this list is …

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Imaginative Leadership

“Now there is an imaginative leader!” Says almost no one ever. Innovative yes. Visionary occasionally. Gutsy sometimes. Imaginative? Rarely. In fact, “imaginative” can carry negative connotations when applied to leadership. Impractical? Lost in their own head? Childish? Disconnected from reality? Yet I’m becoming increasingly convinced that we’re missing out on something very powerful when we …

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A New Take on Trust

If you’ve been following this space, you’ll know we’ve recently been working our way through the leadership characteristics captured in the acronym ELASTIC that will form the basis of my upcoming workshop series and book: energy, likeability, adaptability, strategy…the T stands for trust. When we think of trust, we often think of integrity. Being true …

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