Mike’s Leadership Blog
This blog is for leaders, coaches and everyone else who find themselves in any form of leadership position.
Achieving the big goals
I am a drummer with the Ceremonial Band of the Waterloo Regional Police. We are both a marching and concert band. One of the longest parades we do is the Kitchener-Waterloo Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade is over 4 km from start to finish. I have lived in this...
Dysfunction + Curiosity = ?
Think of all the people you interact with daily. Now think of the number of times you judge someone actions as dysfunctional. You might find yourself thinking, or saying, something like this: “What a jerk …” “I can’t believe how inconsiderate he is ...” “Why on earth...
Leading and your assumptions
A leadership team member pulled me aside after a heated meeting. She voiced her concern about the apparent divisiveness of the team. She went on to cite two things about the meeting to support her concern. She felt one of the leaders was frustrated with her. According...
Is leadership a paradox?
You want them to change how they work. The new direction makes total sense, so surely everyone will be excited by it. You buy the latest tools. You hired experts to help them learn new ways of working. You send the team off on courses. You even give them a funky new...
Don’t focus on happiness
A marriage based on the pleasure of sex won't usually last. Companies who try to keep people happy with cool furniture and snacks continue to lose their best people. People who have meaning in their life and no pleasure are miserable. Teams who focus on keeping people...
Pay attention to emotions in the workplace
What do you do when things start getting emotional at work? What if they’re your emotions? I’ve heard more than once recently, how some people believe emotions have no place at work. There was a period in my career where I subscribed to this belief. Things were...
What are you waiting for?
I’ve been listening to the book “The four hour work week” by Tim Ferris. It’s a self-help book in which the author describes his life, and how he’s transformed the way he thinks about work so now he only works four hours each week. The premise is pretty straight...
Stop worrying about missing out
I recently read an article which talked about the trap of not wanting to miss out on something. Not wanting to miss something is more commonly known as the fear of missing out (FOMO). When struck by FOMO you might find yourself saying yes to everything. I think I...
Learning is not optional; success is
You are not leading for change when you fail to provide time for learning. A failure to provide learning time is a pretty typical scenario I encounter. Leaders load their teams up with work as they’re under the gun to deliver. Then, they tell the team we’re going to...
Who is responsible for trust
I sometimes hear leaders claim the people don’t trust them. At times, they don’t even have a good handle on the amount of trust that exists. I’ve had leaders tell me they don’t trust their people. So, who is responsible for trust on a team? Is trust the responsibility...
