“Profit for a company is like oxygen for a person.  If you don’t have enough of it you are out of the game.  But if you think your life is about breathing you’re really missing something.”  Peter Drucker I came across this quote recently when reading an excellent book by John Blakey called, The Trusted Executive.  I had to stop …

“That guy is full of vim and vigor!” That’s really not an expression we use very much nowadays.  What exactly does it mean? Well, according to dictionary.com, “vim and vigor” means, “Ebullient vitality and energy…This redundant expression uses both vim and vigor in the sense of ‘energy’ or ‘strength.’” Does it make sense that we should lead with energy and …

“Now when we fought you had the eye of the tiger man, the edge.  And now you gotta get it back, and the way to get it back is to go back to the beginning – you know what I mean?” “The worst thing happened to you that could happen to any fighter – you got civilized.” “See that look …

“Who do you think is a great leader?  Pick someone past or present.  Who do think has had a significant impact on people’s lives?  Why?  How did they do it?” When I speak to university students I often ask these questions.  I give them some time to think about it.  Sometimes I will put them in pairs to discuss it.  …

He knew he was going too fast.  He also knew he would not make the corner… He had been quadding with a group of friends in the mountains above Naramata.  He stopped to take care of something while the rest of the group headed down the trail.  He then set off at high speed to catch up to them.  Being …

He stood there talking with his best friend Jenny.  They weren’t bothering anyone, they were simply standing chatting in the shade of a large canopy of trees on the dirt road on the way home from school. Then the bullies arrived. They mocked him and threw things at him, all because he wore braces on his legs. He had weak …

“If you don’t read you can’t lead.” I heard this sage advice many years ago.  When you choose to read a book on leadership you get years of the author’s experience in less than 200 pages for under $20.  That’s a good investment. If we choose not to read we are really choosing to lead based on our own limited …

A good friend and I share a boat in Vancouver that we use to cruise through the Gulf Islands off the coast of British Columbia.  These waters are some of the most spectacular cruising waters in the world. When cruising in ocean waters you need to know how to navigate effectively.  When we first began our boating adventure we used …

Our crossing of the Gulfo Dulce had been magical: calm blue waters, cloudless skies, brilliant warm sunshine and a personal escort by a pod of dolphins. The arrival at our destination was like a scene out of Jurassic Park.  The gentle lapping ocean gave way to a 20’ deep black sand beach that abruptly ended where the thick Costa Rican …

We’re in the midst of Olympic fever right now.  Whether or not you love or hate the Olympic movement and all it has become, there is no greater forum where we witness the magnificent human drama of athletic competition. Sport is an area of our culture, particularly world class amateur sport, where we see the depth of wholehearted, passionate pursuit …