Author: Pete Smith
Death by meeting?
March 1, 2021
Are you suffering from “death by meeting”? During the pandemic, consistent feedback is people are often back-to-back in meetings from dawn to dusk. Have you noticed your meeting load has increased and are you burning out from Zoom fatigue? Is this a pandemic and work-from-home phenomena or has the upward trend of meetings been increasing ...
Read moreShould you prepare for your employer to outgrow you?
February 24, 2021
This is a conundrum. You are early in your career in the tech industry and you love working for a small start-up. You enjoy the pace, the energy, and the innovation. Every day you feel you are making an impact. The company is laser focused on growth and success and the culture is all about ...
Read moreWhen the going gets tough, the tough get going (to Cancun)
February 19, 2021
Similar to a post that I wrote in December about “A lesson in (poor) Leadership”, a political leader is once again in the news, accused of failing to lead from the front. In this case, it is Texas senator Ted Cruz who reportedly left Houston for a vacation escape to Cancun at the height of the ...
Read moreOutcomes Only – Ground Hog day version
February 1, 2021
Happy Groundhog Day. Somehow, that phrase takes on a different meaning in 2021 during our pandemic times. Today, February 1st was a strange day. My conversations ranged from a friend who bemoaned that unless Ontario allows ski hills to open, that this may be the first season in over 60 years that he has not skied; to ...
Read moreManaging managers: Is it different?
January 25, 2021
As careers’ progress, many people aspire to become a manager and progress upwards to director, vice president and executive levels. As promotions occur, a question that I am often asked is whether there is a difference in how leaders manage a team of individual contributors versus a team of managers? I believe that there is. ...
Read moreHow senior executives make decisions?
January 5, 2021
I recently was in the loop of an email thread that went something like this. A junior level candidate was referred to a senior executive as a possible hire for their team. The senior executive inquired with their management team as to candidate fit and positive feedback was provided so introductions were done. The recruiting ...
Read moreA lesson in (poor) leadership
December 30, 2020
Often, I do not have to look further than the newspaper for stories of strong and poor leadership. Today’s multiple stories of Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips travelling to the Caribbean island of St Barts for vacation is one such example. While this article involves political leadership, and therefore will raise partisan emotions, it is not meant ...
Read moreCourage
December 5, 2020
Everyone knows that an executive’s job is to achieve the outcomes that they have been tasked to achieve. “Say it > Do it, No Excuses” is a common mantra used to describe performance expectations for a senior leader. As people rise in corporate ranks, what many leaders are sometimes slow to grasp is that their ...
Read moreAre you climbing a career ladder? Or using the staircase?
November 23, 2020
After you read this title, you may be asking, what’s the difference? Many people talk about “climbing the corporate ladder”, getting promoted from an individual contributor to a Manager, then Director, then Vice President, and onwards into the executive ranks. Many think about their career as a ladder, each step moving you higher vertically. Unfortunately, ...
Read moreThink Like An Executive
November 17, 2020
I was recently asked by a client to be a guest on a monthly leadership series that they host for their approximately 200 leaders in their 1500-person business unit. The topic that I was asked to speak on was “How to Think like an Executive”. The audience ranged first line managers to vice-president level. Given the ...
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