Posts by Adelee

If everyone is special – then no one is special. Written by: Adelee Penner My dad had a saying,” If everyone is special – then no one is special.”  As kids, we used to giggle and appreciate that he was calling out some of our teachers and loved ones on their behaviour.  As we grew…

How to keep leading through ambiguity Written by: Adelee Penner We all have the tools to lead through uncertainty, uncharted situations, and ambiguity.  We have been reminded over and over again in the last few years that we can do hard things.   Being able to move through hard times and leading our way through…

Do I believe the best in others? This is a question that I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. Because believing the best in others is not something to be assumed; you must be intentional in checking the lens you’re looking through when viewing others. John Maxwell teaches a simple exercise to help cultivate the…

During periods of economic uncertainty, a common response from leaders is streamlining their operations and focusing on what they deem as being essential to their organization’s ability to ride out the storm. Unfortunately, one thing that often is considered in these moments to be a luxury is taking time off work to go on a…

Aristotle believed in two kinds of happiness. Hedonic happiness is derived from pleasure. The second kind of happiness is eudaimonia. This comes from pursuing virtue and meaning. Let yourself be happy: Are challenges overflowing? Let Yourself be happy. Life without challenge is meaningless. Are your good intentions misunderstood? Let yourself be happy. No one on…

Dear Madeleine, I manage an operations department for the headquarters of a large media company. I have six direct reports and about 70 workers who report to them. One of my direct reports recently left, and I was absolutely shocked at the things he told HR in his exit interview. He worked for me for…

Have you heard of Jack Nevison’s research on the “Rule of Fifty”? In his studies on professionals and their productivity, Nevison found that working over 50 hours in a week actually reduced productivity. In fact, 50 hours on the job only equated to about 37 hours of high-quality work. Burning the candle at both ends is not…

Maybe it won’t surprise you, but studies show that 50% of people would fire their boss if they could. On top of that, 40% of employees between the ages of 24 and 35 are thinking about quitting their job. Those are some pretty sobering statistics. It seems that overall, we’re doing a shoddy job of keeping people…

Why Motivating People Doesn’t Work People are always motivated. The question is not if, but why they are motivated. Those two lines immediately stand out in the opening pages of Susan Fowler’s bookWhy Motivating People Doesn’t Work…and What Does: The New Science of Leading, Energizing, and Engaging. Do you understand the principles of motivation? If you do,…