Gertrude could see them looming in her peripheral vision.

They scared her.

She kept going - checking tasks off, attending meetings and more meetings.  

Until suddenly they were too close to ignore!

What are they?

They are opportunities to make a REAL impact.  

They are CRITICAL big-rock Strategic Initiatives.

Yet, too caught up in minutiae and meetings, she was never getting to them until it was too rushed to do them justice, or until they simply got pushed forward to next fiscal year.

🍏 Don’t be Gertrude.

Easy enough for me to say, right?  In the end, we are all Gertrudes from time to time.  I see this conundrum OFTEN in my work with Talent leaders, and sometimes even when I look in the mirror :) 

Q: But how can you shift OUT of this Gertrude-like state where you are rarely/never getting to your big rocks??

A: Get yourself a THOUGHT PARTNER and some INTENTIONAL time to get your big-rock strategic Talent initiatives moving.

• Block the time - a BIG chunk of time -  minimum ...

Have you ever held off on speaking up at an important meeting?  

You know, the type of meeting when you might have held back or gone silent in the company of senior stakeholders who don’t appear to value what you bring to the table because you’re a cost centre not a revenue generator or because you are “just HR?”

Unfortunately, our fear of being judged not important enough can cause us to edit ourselves and to suppress our own voices. 

The irony is that by holding back, we are buying into the perceived judgement that we ARE less important, irrelevant or not worthy of being heard.  

🍏What if those senior stakeholders simply don’t KNOW what current and compelling data and experience your opinions are based on? 

🍏Or maybe they have valid views and concerns that you COULD address successfully? 

🍏What if you gave them - and yourself - the benefit of the doubt? 

🍏How might you approach these same people and situations differently if you let go of the FEAR?

🍏How much more strategic mi...

A while back, a client told me she was feeling really STUCK.  She felt restless yet unable to move forward.  

She knew she needed to make some changes with her team at work, and while she kept making task lists to make the reorg happen, she never managed to check anything off.    

What was going on? 

Well, coupled with a truly heavy workload, she was stuck in FEAR!  

She hadn’t given herself the space to figure out what exactly was worrying her.  When she did, she recognized that she was petrified of the things that could go wrong.

So I asked her:  

🍏  What are the reasons you decided you needed to restructure your team in the first place?  

🍏  How would that change serve you and others?   

It was like a flood gate opened.  She immediately listed off all kinds of rational and compelling benefits.  

She had been here before, staring at a list of benefits and making the decision.  

And then when she started to think about ACTING on the decision, she froze.  She lost sight...

Ever realize at 7pm that you forgot to take the chicken out to thaw, you need to get your kid to Tae Kwon Do, and then you think “WOW did I even eat lunch today?”   

Ever wish desperately for more hours in the day?

Ever hold off on washroom breaks because your meetings are ALL back to back?

Me too.

But you don't need MORE time.

You need more INTENTIONAL time.

You need to let go of the excuses and commit to yourself.

This is the year to get the support, community and mentorship you need.

🍏You deserve dedicated focus time.

🍏You deserve white space on your calendar.

🍏You deserve a community of thoughtful peers and mentors.

You deserve to be part of The Talent Trust, our  6-month program EXCLUSIVELY for Talent leaders who are ready for unparalleled and meaningful peer support, mentoring, inspiration and results. 

Organizations move fast.  It can be so easy to get swept up in what I call the VORTEX, the place where less than 20% of your time is spent in an INTENTIONAL WAY.  The ...

14 years ago, I was:

• newly back from mat leave AND
•  in a new role with a steep learning curve.

It was an extraordinarily busy time in my life. There were some rough moments and huge personal and professional highs. I remember it with great fondness and gratitude.

This team is a huge reason why my memories are so positive. What made this team so GREAT?

🍏 Every individual in it was committed to bringing their best to work AND we had clear goals and intentions.

We accomplished a LOT and celebrated those successes.

Of course, we weren't perfect and we made mistakes. We didn't all get along, all of the time. And yet, this team stands out in my memories of one of my favourites!

In fact, many of us are still in touch regularly!

🍏 Q - What do YOU believe makes a team GREAT, based on your experience?

This is my piano. 🎹

 Why am I sharing it with you, you ask?

Well, I’ve been thinking about the concept of PRACTICE. 

Practice is one of the themes we discuss inside The Talent Trust.. 

Now, my piano is beautiful - I recently painted it so I would love it more. 

🍏 But you do NOT want to hear me play it.

🍏 I am out of practice by about 30 years!

Can you imagine paying for a ticket to go see the Toronto Symphony Orchestra 🎵, and they haven’t practiced recently?  

Or going to see the Blue Jays ⚾when they’ve all skipped practice for a few years?

Nope.

The truth is, we all expect and accept that professional musicians, actors and sports professionals spend 80-90% of their time practicing, rehearsing.  And only 10-20% of their time actually PERFORMING.

But what happens in the corporate world most of the time?  

TELL or SAY > Now DO!

There’s a gap in the middle there.   

And it’s a gap that Talent Leaders - all leaders - can influence if they choose.

 🍏QUESTION for you:  How can...

How much did you get done today?

That’s the question that puts a chokehold on me some nights as I try to go to sleep.

I’m drawn to the idea of MORE. 

➕Get MORE done.

➕Be MORE efficient.

➕Start MORE new stuff. 

➕Finish MORE old stuff.

It’s a powerful want and sometimes causes me to lay awake,  re-processing my day, wondering if I got enough done.  How I could have accomplished MORE - and why didn’t I?!   

In my client work, I often see this same pattern of focusing too much on output.  It leads to unhealthy behaviours such as:

• Not spending enough time on rest and leisure
• Not being present with friends and family
• Not moving our bodies

🍏 So what is the antidote?  

DECIDE TO TRUST YOURSELF.

• Trust that you know what you need and make choices in line with those needs.   
• Trust that it’s a practice over time and you won’t always get it right.   
• Trust that you can make new choices that lead to new results.  

I notice that when I intentionally build in time for being, ...

“All my work - out the window! He doesn’t even know what he wants!”

Have you ever worked really, really hard on a program design or strategy - only to present it to your senior leader and find out it wasn’t what they wanted?

If you’re like me and every one of my clients, the answer is YES - even if it was a long time ago.

Last week I wrote about one of the biggest mistakes that Talent Management Leaders make:  over-using HR/Talent-speak with stakeholders.

Today, I’m talking about another mistake.

Mistake #2:   Falling in LOVE with your own solution too early

It’s easy to blame the boss or stakeholder and tell ourselves they’re impossible and have no clue what they want.

We whine that they know ONLY what they do NOT want.

But what if that’s a good thing? 

What if starting with what clients don’t want is a normal, helpful part of your needs analysis/engagement process?   

A way to start to “unlock” what they really want and need?

Here is an approach that works:

🍏ASK what they...

Dreams can come true…

A couple of weeks ago I was with my accountability buddy for our quarterly retreat.  We were talking about our goals for the next quarter.

I mentioned that I wanted to think beyond the quarter and articulate my vision for the next 2 or 3 years as well.

Suddenly, I was reminded of the fact that I had done a powerful exercise back in 2016 when I created a vision called “My Personal Belize,” based on a story told by Don Campbell.  

The story was about a person whose vision was to have the freedom to live and work permanently in Belize.  

The idea was to write a detailed description, in present tense, of my life in 5 years.

So, get this…

🌡️ Despite a global pandemic that wiped out all my facilitation revenue for over a year;

🌡️Despite needing to step back from work to be take care of my dad and then deal with his estate;

80% of my vision statement has come true! 🍏🍏🍏

Back in 2016: 

💭I wanted to go out on my own as a consultant and coach.

💭I wanted more time...

What is one of the biggest mistakes that Talent Management Leaders make?

🤔 Mistake #1:   Overusing HR/Talent-speak with stakeholders

Example: “We will use design thinking to develop and embed this employee enablement program in order to cultivate an authentic culture of learning.”

Now, don’t get me wrong - if you said this to a Talent peer, they’d likely have a general idea of what you’re getting at.  And so would some leaders in other departments.

But not all of them. For many, their eyes will glaze over and they’ll tune out what they see as vague, fluffy HR-speak. 

An authentic culture of learning?   For you this may mean learning is embraced and embedded throughout the organization where employees can learn on the job, in courses, through mentoring, be open to making mistakes etc. 

For the stakeholder without a background in Talent, it might simply mean that you’ll offer more formal training than before.

The antidote?   💊

Get clear on what your clients and stakeholders envis...