Desk Jockey Leaders – Where Did That Come From?

The inspiration that tipped the scales and served as a motivator to write about Desk Jockey “Leaders” came from a headline that appeared on the front page of Friday’s edition of the Toronto Sun (October 25, 2013): “Despite $862M repair backlog, housing boss says: I need a bigger office! – Keeping Up With the Jones – TCHC Eyes $2-Million Reno […]

Desk Jockey “Leaders”

Behind The Desk For some people, being bound to a desk is an inherent and perhaps unfortunate part of the work they do. But, the last place I would expect to find a lean leader is sitting behind their desk. I recognize the need for an office and understand that managing a business does require some desk time. However, it’s amazing how […]

It’s Time to Celebrate! Happy Thanksgiving Canada

It’s Thanksgiving Monday here in Canada and I want to thank you – our valued subscribers, contributors, and visitors – for your continued support.  This is also a day where we turn to family and friends to celebrate and share the many things that we are thankful for. I am also reminded that we need to be thankful for the […]

Leadership – Get Thirsty …

We are likely to find as many definitions for leadership as there are leaders. I recently downloaded an excellent app titled “Leadership Development” from Apple’s App Store and this definition of leadership was presented in one of the many videos: “Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the […]

Leadership is NOT an Event

We’ve all been to the employee “town hall” meetings where a senior executive attempts to motivate the team and clarify the vision just one more time. A captive audience, donuts, and free coffee are all it takes to reignite the passion and synergy that once was – or so they like to think. Leadership is not an event, it’s a […]

Collaboration …

Great minds don’t necessarily think alike, they think together. ~ Redge How many times have you heard someone say you should just set aside your differences and move on? I suggest that bringing our differences to the table is an opportunity to create something that is new and better than we ever imagined. We tend to be quite content when […]

Learning From Mistakes

An event occurred this afternoon that required an immediate resolution. When asked whether we were going to pursue the root cause, I could only respond with this question: What’s the point of making mistakes if we’re not going to learn from them? This is likely the shortest post I ever published here, however, I think the simplicity of the message […]

Apple-opoly: It’s Not a Game

Some people can hardly contain their excitement when a company like Apple is thriving with sky high profits in the midst of a dismal global economy. Yet, this same excitement is seldom shared when banks or oil companies report similar results. Wouldn’t we all prefer reduced fees or lower gas prices over excessive profits from the very companies that portend […]

Goals Without Means Are Meaningless

The new year is upon us and, as is typical for this time of year, resolutions are one of the primary topics of conversation. With just over a week into the new year, it is very likely that the discussions of resolutions and goals have already begun to subside. Unfortunately, for the many who do make resolutions, very few ever […]