The Star-Spangled mask

I’m a Canadian who’s been teaching leadership in the U.S. for almost 15 years. Yet this is the first election cycle in which I’ve been labeled a “foreigner” and told to stop “meddling.” It happened more than once, each time by a Trump supporter. The insecurity that President Trump has unleashed makes me question what…

Blog-Chicken-wings

When corporate diversity programs are like chicken wings

In America’s transactional culture, workplace diversity often amounts to slapping labels on individuals. Professionals wind up being packaged like products. They’re crammed into prefabricated molds (“Black woman,” for example) and get showcased to make the company look cutting-edge. Emphasize look. Funny how the diversity hires tend to be excluded from meetings of decision-makers but are…

Blog-Improv

Yes, And…

In work and in life, one of the scariest things to do is negotiate with someone who disagrees with you. It takes moral courage to start, and sustain, that conversation. When I teach this skill, a crucial part of my method is improvisational theater (“improv”). Each participant has to accept what every other participant is…