Empowering the Team

I guess the shoe is on the other foot now.

In previous work environments I was sometimes asked for my opinion on a specific matter or to provide feedback as part of a larger group. It was frustrating to find that when the final decisions were made, it often appeared my voice hadn’t been heard at all. Consequently I wondered why I had bothered to contribute in the first place and would be tempted to hunker down and just mind my own business.

Nowadays the position is reversed as I’m the one who as project director is soliciting feedback… More Posted on 08-31-08

Importance of Sports

Except for the somewhat puzzling, seemingly excessive, Canadian TV coverage of volleyball, I must say I’ve really enjoyed watching the Olympics even though it resulted in far too much late night TV.

Unfortunately, instead of being inspired by the Olympics, exercise in our house has consisted largely of wrestling for control of the channel changer or sprinting for snacks during the commercials.  Ironic isn’t it? 

I am crossing my fingers in hope that with the Olympics now being over I’ll be motivated to let my own games begin.

I’ve also been thinking more about sports because we just hired… More Posted on 08-25-08

Losing Ourselves

It’s been a while since my last pajama party.

Our all-female community development team (we’re working hard to change that) needed some intense planning time. As a result, one of our staff offered up their family cottage. At virtually no cost, it would allow the nine of us two days of uninterrupted work as well as some fun bonding time.

Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, I learned I’m much too old for sleepovers.

It took me another two days to fully recover from the aftereffects of too little sleep and too much… More Posted on 08-18-08

Creating Communities that Care

Not that I’m name dropping or anything but I had a meeting this week with Susan Aglukark, a unique, three time Juno award winning singer.

It’s a long story as to how that came about, but the point is that her name and a comment she made during our conversation is responsible for the thinking tangent that prompted this column.

During the talk, Susan, who is by the way a lovely, intelligent, thoughtful woman known for her social activism, shared a bit about the cultural influence of her Inuit background.

She explained that the harsh reality of the… More Posted on 08-10-08

Exploring Nature

One of the qualities I love most about my husband is his amazing patience.

It was especially evident during our recent vacation with our respective extended families at a Haliburton cottage. Ultimately the two weeks included fifteen adults, four kids, one surprisingly wimpy Pit Bull, one Shih Tzu, and two somewhat yippee Bichon Frise.

Both the dogs and the kids were absolutely delighted with the outdoor setting and the activities. Always safely buckled into life jackets the kids rowed, paddled, swam, explored, and chased bubbles and dragonflies until they were so tired they couldn’t see straight. One night my… More Posted on 08-03-08