Leadership Development

employee-engagementTalking about Employee Engagement

The risk of latching on to the term employee engagement – even with the best of intentions – is that it is a complex concept requiring leaders to really open the organizational kimono and reveal what’s on the inside. And once the obi falls to the tatami, what’s underneath isn’t often pretty. I have an interest – sometimes I’d characterize it as a passion – for anything relating to employee engagement.
16 January, 2013 /

2012-olympic-games-oddsDispelling the Talent Myth

A couple of weeks ago I sat watching the US Olympic Gymnastic Trials on NBC. Some Olympic athletes make it look effortless. Their performance flows with a grace and rhythm that seems almost magical. It’s tempting to watch people perform extraordinary feats and chalk it up to talent or giftedness. But what is talent? I think it’s overused. It’s become a catch all to explain what we often have a hard time describing in tangible terms. Belief in the talent myth holds many of us back both as leaders and in terms of our own potential for high performance.

It Comes Down to 3 Factors

It seems plausible that we need a certain level of natural ability for success in sports, or any other high performance arena. But the amount of natural ability needed for athletic success is strikingly low, and constitutes only one of three factors that build athletes into the elite ranks:

10 January, 2013 /

london-2012-olympics-logoIt was time.

As Brent Hayden walked from the ready room to the platform there he reflected on all the work he had done to get to this moment. Back in 2008 he failed to qualify for the men’s 100m freestyle final, but here in London his preparation paid off. In a few moments he would swim with the best in the world for Canada’s first medal ever in this event. Confidence is critical here. From lane seven he looked across at the competitors beside him and a few doubts entered his mind. They looked strong. Their semi-final times were faster than his.
11 October, 2012 /

London-2012-Olympics-torch-3It’s 6:30am on August 13, 2008...

Michael Phelp’s alarm clock went off, he rolled out of bed in the Olympic Village in Beijing, and he began his routine. He’d already raced and won three gold medals earlier that week and had two more that day. He pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt and walked to breakfast in the cafeteria. By 7am he was eating his regular race day menu of eggs, oatmeal and four energy shakes, and enjoying the company of his team mates. Just an ordinary day.

23 July, 2012 /
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