Montreal first-time manager, leadership training, Montreal leadership intensive - Vis-à-Vis Leadership

Breathe

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 16:49:20 -0700

This is likely not something you will see in a typical leadership training session yet something I have been doing for over three decades, and something I think is substantially important.

Breathing.

When a conversation becomes tense, when something unexpected happens, when we are frustrated, nervous, or unsure what to do next, our instinct can be to react in the moment.

We want to answer the question, solve the problem, defend ourselves, or make a decision.

Sometimes the better leadership response is to do nothing for a few seconds.

Take a breath.

Breathing creates a small space between what happens and what we do next.

It gives us an opportunity to slow down, gather our thoughts, and respond rather than react.

I also use breathing before I speak publicly.

No matter how many times I have spoken in front of a group, there is always some nervous energy before I begin.

I have learned not to fight it.

Instead, before speaking, I take 100 deliberate, deep breaths. It slows me down, settles my mind.

We spend so much time learning leadership techniques, communication strategies, and decision-making tools that we can overlook one of the simplest tools available to us.

When things become difficult, breathe.

Before an important conversation, breathe.

Before you walk onto a stage, breathe.

Then decide what comes next.

The beauty of this tool is that you already do it and it costs nothing to apply.

Breathe.

I don’t need to hit a home

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:10:30 -0700

I don’t usually use sports analogies, yet this came to mind when writing this passage.

Earlier in my career, I felt a regular need to prove myself.

Every project had to be great.

Every presentation had to exceed expectations.

Every challenge was another opportunity to hit a home run as they say.

Looking back, I realize that mindset came at a cost.

There were times when I sacrificed sleep, neglected my physical health, and carried far more stress than I should have.

I believed that my value as a leader was measured by great results, and I pushed myself to deliver and even spent a substantial amount of personal time on work matters.

Experience has taught me something different.

Today, I know what I'm capable of, I don’t doubt my skills, abilities and qualifications.

I don't need to prove it to everyone around me, or even to myself.

I've learned that consistently delivering meaningful results is far more valuable than chasing something above and beyond every single time.

And to be candid, many employers do a poor job in recognition and praise, so, who are you sacrificing yourself for?

Ironically, I've also discovered that taking care of my physical and mental health doesn't make me a less effective leader, it makes me a better one.

I am calmer, I think more clearly, I have better judgment, patience, and resilience all come from being well, not from being exhausted.

I have learned that leadership isn't about hitting a home run every time you step up to the plate.

More often, it's about showing up consistently, making good decisions, supporting your team, and...Read More

Moving forward

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 09:11:52 -0700

I recently did a talk and during the session I used the word “productivity,” and I immediately cringed at the same time.

I heard myself use a word that has somewhat become work-jargon in my perspective.

Is it about being busy, answering emails quickly, completing task after task.

The simple answer might be, yes.

It made me think about a journey I have recently been on and often, those of us who are on this journey talking about moving forward.

And, yes, I do believe I have been moving forward enough though at times it has been extremely difficult on a personal level.

I realized at that moment, aside from my personal life, I have always strived to move things forward everywhere I worked.

And, I have endeavoured to help my clients do the same.

From my experience, organizations do well not only when tasks are completed, yet when plans turn into action, decisions help garner good results and problems are addressed and even solved.

This to me is forward movement and is essential for well-functioning workplaces.

One of the most common challenges I have come across in organizations is maintaining the status quo for extended periods of time.

This lends to an environment where nothing changes when change is needed or things and people even regress.

All this to say, for me, it is less about productivity and more about asking, what has moved forward this week?

This is progress and this is what lends to good results for the people, clients and organization.

If you need to, start with even just step 1, step, step, step is what I did to be able to move forward.

When fishing is not possible

Mon, 04 May 2026 15:52:30 -0700

I have always taken the approach of teaching people to fish so that they can eat for a lifetime.

This is my default and preferred approach.

Yet, like many great sounding ideas, it can break down when context is not considered.

Imagine asking someone to fish when they can hardly raise their hands because they are exhausted, overwhelmed, or mentally depleted.

In that instance, imagine me handing them a fishing rod, it might not only be ineffective, but it might also even be harmful and negatively impact our relationship.

Should I invest my time and energy into something that simply won’t work at that time?

Might I make the people feel even worse because I am suggesting a certain expectation that they simply don’t have the capacity for?

I will suggest something that might be unpopular and even some might think is a bad idea, I’ll say, in that instance, the most empathetic thing to do is to just give them the fish.

I am not saying this is what must happen forever and become the default, only in extreme cases.

One way you may know this is a possible avenue is when you see people have continued periods of fluctuating capacity over extended periods of time.

Yes, ideally people can learn, grow and stretch, yet not necessarily when they are struggling to get through a normal day.

This is when leadership needs to be able to read the room and be flexible and support.

In my experience, there is a time to teach, coach and yes, there is a time to provide more directly.

If someone is at risk of burnout, emotional strain, or overload, the leader’s role needs to shift.

Stability is required first.

The leader...Read More

The leadership "Hail Mary"

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:42:16 -0700

In a very few number of instances in my career have I witnessed a near 100% lack of trust and respect from staff towards leadership.

And, in most of these cases, the leadership is in denial and want to avoid discussion on the topic.

Ironically, the business can still be profitable, and staff stay out of financial necessity.

What I have seen is leadership avoiding necessary conversations, playing favourites or having different rules for themselves, micromanaging, making dismissive comments as feedback, and failing to take accountability over a long period of time.

In such a scenario, I believe there is very little leadership can realistically do to regain trust and respect.

Not because people are unforgiving, but because they’ve come to expect this reality and have learned to live with it.

And, of course, they have stopped believing change is possible.

So, in a few rare instances when I was asked, “What can a leader do to fix this?”

My answer was, “Not much.”

But if someone really wanted to try, there is one thing I would suggest, and I am not saying it will necessarily work.

It’s a long shot.

A true leadership Hail Mary.

Become radically, consistently unexpected.

If your behaviour created the current reality, then small improvements won’t change perception.

You need to be shockingly different, in a good way.

Not once.

Not for a week.

But consistently, over time, long enough to disrupt your brand and the story people have about you in their head.

This means possibly doing the exact opposite of your past behaviour in...Read More

Necessary versus great to have

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:40:10 -0700

I have spent over a decade having what I call “necessary conversations” with staff.

Because, I had to address what could not be ignored.

When you look at courses on the topic of having conversations with staff, they are often entitled “having difficult conversations,” and perhaps rightly so.

For me, conversations are not always difficult, yet I have found, they are often necessary.

You will also see many suggest the practice of coaching or mentoring and I am not averse to these at all.

Coaching and mentoring are extremely popular topics and with good reason.

When done well, they can help employees learn and grow and develop the acumen they need to succeed in their roles.

Although coaching can take a substantial amount of time, it can help build capacity, confidence and help a manager become a leader.

Mentoring can provide much faster operational results by providing tried and tested tools and techniques for people to apply without necessarily much effort.

To be, this reflects a normal state environment where trust and respect exist in all directions and even whereby the employee is already a solid performer.

In my experience, sometimes, things go wrong.

I have come across many instances whereby a staff member was purposely, consciously behaving in a manner or saying something that had a serious negative consequence on the operations, clients, other staff or organization.

This is when a more direct necessary conversation needs to be had.

A coaching conversation might be framed around curiosity, an openness to share, learn and develop.

A necessary conversation is different.

It is about...Read More

How much is enough?

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:10:35 -0800

I’ve lost count of how many job postings I’ve read in the last few years that feel less like an employment opportunity and more like a wish list for a ‘Unicorn” employee.

30 “core responsibilities.”

Dozens of technical skills and higher education degrees and additional certifications required.

Ten years of experience in areas that barely existed three years ago.

Leadership. Strategy. Execution. Emotional intelligence. Project management. Content creation. Data analysis.

Oh, and don’t forget “other duties as assigned.”

All for a salary that’s either mysteriously missing or painfully low.

At some point, we must ask, “how much is enough?”

These postings often describe what looks like three full-time jobs wrapped into one.

They expect candidates to be endlessly adaptable, perpetually motivated, and deeply committed, while offering compensation that barely reflects one role, let alone several.

Not to mention the interview process that might span months and involve 4 or 5 rounds with numerous people and even panels.

I have personally experienced this myself a few years ago. A few peers of mine also told me they were required to travel for part of the recruitment process at their own expense just to be “ghosted” at the end.

What message does all this send?

To me, it tells people their time isn’t valued.

It tells them burnout is built into the job description i.e. “a fast-paced environment.”

It tells them transparency is optional on their part, and they are comfortable being in the position of power.

And then employers wonder why they’re struggling to attract or retain good...Read More

I don't need resolutions

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 13:00:37 -0800

I’ve never been good at New Year’s resolutions.

Not because I lack discipline or ambition, but because resolutions often start from a place of needing to fix something that you might consider is not going well.

My approach has always been about more productivity and better habits and more learning.

Over time, I have come to learn that real leadership, in my personal and professional life comes building on strengths and recognizing those that are already inside us.

So, this year as in previous years, I will try to do more of what I genuinely love.

I want to build around the energy that I have and my curiosity.

That said, this is challenging as my energy levels can vary yet my curiosity is always there.

So, given this constraint, I ask myself, what matters to me most?

And for this, I have a process.

On a weekly basis, I conduct a form of debrief.

What worked well, what did not work well. How were my energy levels in those instances.

The interesting thing is that even when things don’t work well, it does not mean I did not apply effort and energy, the result was just not a good one.

It does not mean I won’t try again, in fact, I have come to learn that if something is important enough, I need to try again even if things don’t work well the first time.

My energy is linked to my passion.

And, when I am working on something I am passionate about, I am not cognizant of time.

This is a pattern I have noticed for myself.

When I am not passionate about something I am working on, I look at the clock.

I also look for themes.

It begins with recruitment and clarity.

In recruiting, start with roles, responsibilities, and clear expectations.

When people know exactly what they are responsible for, what they own, what success looks like, and how decisions get made, they don’t need tasks assigned to them on a daily basis.

A hire that is resourceful and proactive does not need to wait for explicit direction.

They don’t waste time, they simply start learning, practicing and working.

Clear roles indicating who does what creates a form of natural work assignments.

It should not feel like a leader passing off work they don’twant to do, it should reflect what a person was hired to do and what they want to do.

A hire that chooses the work, job, position, title and yes, pay, may naturally take ownership and not need to be assigned.

In this sense, autonomy gives room for people to thrive, they have purpose and interest and the tools, training and support to get things done and most importantly, have success.

When staff truly own their work, they have autonomy and delegation becomes less important if not obsolete.

Building a work environment around autonomy is much moresustainable rather than an environment around delegation which in my view is a short-term, short-sighted tactic.

Yet, when I have asked team members to elaborate as to what they mean when they say “communication” very few people have been able to give me precise and concrete descriptions.

This does not mean that good communication is still not an issue, they know it, they feel it, they just can’t describe it.

And, for that same reason, they don’t have an elegant solution to address and improve it.

I personally believe that like the word “trust,” “communication,” is a heavy and high-level all-encompassing word; perhaps too big to address with one simple elegant solution.

Yet, left unaddressed, poor communication can cause substantial ambiguity, stress and conflict.

In some ways, a lack of a smooth day-to-day flow of communication can hinder progress.

This can take the form of quick conversation, email messages, the use of team collaboration tools and formal messages such as with memos.

I personally have never had anyone give me any orientation on organizational communication methodologies or philosophies.

For what I have observed, those in leadership incorrectly assume good communication is the responsibility of staff and not for them to set the tone.

I have even seen some leaders attribute poor organizational communication on “personality problems,” of staff.

You might even hear them use the now over-used terms of “responsibility and accountability,” transferring the ownership on others rather than themselves.

And, when this happens, the normal response from staff might be to do the opposite of taking responsibility and...Read More