Mike’s Blog

On Friday, the internet went down for cable subscribers in southern Ontario. Once I realized it was down, my first thoughts went to “how am I going to get my work done today. What about the calls I have scheduled?” While I do have the hotspot on my phone, it’s too...

I was coaching an executive near the top of one of Canada's big banks. She called me in one day to talk about running a leadership program for her team. On my way to her office, I had decided I would only do this program if it were for the right reasons. Too many...

Success, failure, famous, or unknown. What if none of it really matters and life could be easy. You just need to decide that it is. “Nothing really matters.” — Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody

It’s confession time! Historically, I suck at asking for help. For the longest time, it didn’t feel like a problem. I’d tell myself to justify not asking for help, like: It’ll take me longer to teach someone else what to do than to do it myself Someone else won’t do...

Let's start by listing some of the more pervasive problems people are dealing with right now: The war in Ukraine and the uncertainty it's creating. The ongoing pandemic and the debates around masks, vaccines, and more. The so-called freedom convoys and their impact on...

I've spent the past two years of working at home, perfecting what it means to be in front of a webcam. One of the most impactful skills I've learned is to look right into the webcam when I'm talking, coaching, or teaching. It wasn't easy to learn this skill when I...

I once quit a job that I really cared about. The reason? My boss used his positional power in ways that created many problems for the team. For example, one day, he phoned me while I was travelling home from a client site. He told me about a change that was happening...

After more than two years, we had Covid in the house for the first time. It started with one of us testing positive. Then, within a couple of days, the rest of us were testing positive. Thankfully, none of us had any severe symptoms. It also seems that none of us will...

I'm mediocre. There, I said it. It's hard to admit to mediocrity in a world that values those who stand out. However, there's nothing special about me or what I'm doing in the world. At least, this is the story I told myself for a long time. Take a moment and assess...

Several years ago, a client asked me to put together a plan to get the team trained and up to speed on a new way of working. While presenting the plan to the management team, one of the VPs became angry as he felt I was trying to upsell him. I was taken aback and...

There are times you need to be resilient and keep going forward in your life. Other times, it’s prudent to pause and recover.