Tag: Leadership
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Leading with Empathy
Theodore Roosevelt once stated, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” While you certainly need to demonstrate a threshold of competence in your field, it’s your capacity for caring that will set you apart from mediocre leaders. What’s the key? Leading with empathy. Imagine if you could reduce…
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Fighting the Fear of Feedback
Feedback. It’s a term that can fill many with trepidation. If you’re the one giving it, the thought of being critical to someone may make you extremely uncomfortable. If you’re the one receiving it, you may interpret the feedback as a criticism or a personal attack on your character. The result? Maybe you bear the…
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Remote Working
Remote work presents an array of challenges, and it requires strong communication and high levels of trust. Oftentimes group messaging can become overwhelming for individuals. There can be dominant players in the chatroom, distracted conversations, and miscommunication. 1. The Acknowledgment Function When sending emails or chat messages, encourage team members to acknowledge messages even if…
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Seeing the Forest for the Trees
As a kid I grew up in Nova Scotia and I was very lucky that my playground was the Atlantic Ocean. I grew up boating and fishing and even skating on the Ocean in the winter (yes, we had enough ice back then!) I loved nature, I loved being near the water and playing in…
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The Military Planning Process and COVID-19 Vaccines
Is a military approach the solution to current crisis management? In their updates and press releases, political leaders regularly apply military metaphors, using terms such as “wartime posture”, “waging war”, “mobilize”, “join the battle”, and “losing ground”. Applying militaristic metaphors and concepts in business, politics, and industry is not unique to current affairs. In the…
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What I Learned Getting Blown Up
During my six-month tour in Kandahar, I lost 6 of my 9 lives. Some brushes with death were closer than others—the closest was being blown up. In the immediate aftermath of major combat with the Taliban, my squadron was tasked to build a road linking two coalition forward operating bases in what was just an…
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Speak Less and Think More
I believe we should speak less and think more. Speaking less and thinking more demands vulnerability, which is perhaps why many of us fail in this regard. Instead of dialogue, we engage in duelling monologues. We eagerly wait for a break in the conversation so that we can insert our own brilliance—solicited or unsolicited. We…
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Target the Toxicity and Crush It
In 2006 I was a young officer commanding a troop of 36 soldiers in Kandahar, Afghanistan. There, we were met by the Taliban—a fierce and tenacious enemy with very little to lose and everything to gain. Notwithstanding our vast technological superiority, they were a skilled insurgent force, capable of exploiting our weaknesses. But one does…
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Habits and Goals- Part Two
For almost half a year, I grounded myself in working towards a fitness goal. I found a great sense of purpose when I was making progress and consistently improving. In my life, goals have acted as a roadmap and helped me understand myself better. When I reflect on the stages of my life, many of…
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Habits and Goals- Part One
In the fall of 2019, I decided to reassess my habits and set new goals for myself. One of my goals was to improve my fitness. I wanted to gain the knowledge and habits about nutrition and strength training that would positively benefit me for life. To accomplish this goal, I began an 18- week…