Mike’s Blog

I was heading to a meeting to talk about a thorny issue with a Vice-President. For me, I was about to do something bold and felt confident I was about to be fired. In hindsight, my clients often turn corners when I think I'm about to be fired. The client turns the...

A team member was sitting in my office, crying. He was exhausted from trying to fit in. During his performance review, his manager told him his future with the company was uncertain if he didn’t change his personality. As a leader, your job is to bring out the best in...

Corporate objectives help establish a direction for a company. The challenge with objectives, though, is they're often big or portraying a time far into the future. For many people, they might be busy in their day to day jobs and don't feel connected to the...

Dealing with conflict can be uncomfortable and leave you feeling disoriented and vulnerable. You might even have a physical reaction to conflict, such as sweating or freezing. When I find myself amid conflict, I like to start with a little silence. The silence gives...

The best time to solve a problem is, of course, before it becomes a problem. It’s at a time when the problem is more of a concern and anxiety is low. When you confront problems early, you will more easily be able to resolve them. Good leaders want their teams to be...

When challenged, do you find yourself churning and trying to figure out the right thing to do? Churning might be normal, but it’s not overly helpful in resolving your problems. In challenging moments, you might feel stuck trying to figure out the right action to take....

What is the best way for a leader to get promoted into bigger leadership roles? The only way I know is to outgrow your current leadership. Otherwise, your leadership might not be ready for the promotion. Stop focusing on the promotion. Focus on your awareness of...

I thought it would be easy to sit down and write a post about servant leadership. The problem, though, is the word ‘servant.’ While I don’t get too hung up on labels usually, I’ve seen how they can result in the wrong behaviours. When you peel back the layers and look...

You’re walking along a sidewalk and trip over something. You suddenly find yourself lying on the sidewalk. If falling is a failure while walking, then embracing failure might mean you’re going to stay down. Falling isn’t the important part — getting back up to...

At times, you likely find yourself toiling over a difficult decision. You might be losing sleep over the need to make the decision. So you give up and drop the idea altogether. Deciding not to decide is not giving up in my books. You are choosing something by not...

Leadership is creating the conditions for others to succeed. What if, though, people aren’t following you? When people seem unwilling to follow you, take the time to look at your leadership. What is making it difficult for them to follow? Are your values out of...

Leaders tend to spend a lot of time thinking about others. How to help them succeed, grow, learn, and more. Then, there are challenges, emotions, frustrations and more. What would be different if, for the next year, you make yourself the priority? I’m not advocating...