Over the holidays, I got distracted while making caramel sauce. The melted sugar overflowed all over my stove and burned to the bottom of the pot. As I was cleaning up the mess, I tried several ways to remove the char. At one stage, my regular scrubber made no difference, but when I tried a scrubber with a slightly different texture, made of a coarser plastic, it worked like a charm. Continue reading “Bricolage”
A Complicated Happy New Year
“Decision fatigue is real.”
Those exact words were sent to me by three separate colleagues the week before the holidays. And now that we’re back at our desks after the holiday break, I’m curious if we’re actually feeling any more rested. I’ve enjoyed slower days that blended together, full of good food, board games, watching sports on TV and lots of knitting. I’m grateful for the time, but the decision fatigue is still there. Continue reading “A Complicated Happy New Year”
Adaptable Leadership
If you were to name the most important leadership skill heading into 2021, what might it be?
A couple of years ago, I wrote a book called Nimble. It’s mostly about holding loosely to your script when facilitating meetings and workshops, but I could never have predicted how the broader concept of nimbleness would come to shape my entire practice now. So my vote for the key leadership skill most needed today would go to adaptability. (No kidding, right?! Good riddance, 2020…) Continue reading “Adaptable Leadership”
Allowing for Change
When our second daughter was 12, we rented an RV and toured around Alberta, Canada. Family vacations were not her favourite at the time. Famously, at one point she sneered at us with derision and said, “YOU want ME to go hiking in the Rockies??!”
Today, at 22, she is in Banff, Alberta and sent us the following text: “I am having so much fun. How did I not like this before?”
No one wants to be held to the opinions of their 12-year-old self. Continue reading “Allowing for Change”
Glad We Did…Wish We Had
I’ve spoken to several Executive Directors over the past couple of months who’ve started their stories with, “I’m so glad we….” They finished their sentence in various ways, ranging from “…were clear on our priorities” to “…invested in culture-building” to “…had the right people around the leadership table” to “…trusted each other.”
A few others have had the opposite story to tell, that began, “I wish we…” For them, the ending has often been some variation of “…figured out remote work well before now” or “…made those changes we talked about but never got around to.” I suspect there are likely other endings they are reluctant to admit out loud.