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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,…

Growth usually feels risky. The feeling is a protection mechanism, a way to avoid failure or even the fear of failure. Of course, risk also feels risky (or at least it should). Differentiating between the two is difficult, which is why finding institutions, methods or coaches that have experience in the difference is valuable. When…

Sub Title: Seven stories of talented people held back by the fear they weren’t good enough In a nutshell: I have imposter syndrome, and I suspect many other people trying to have a big impact with their career do, too. For a long time, imposter syndrome massively limited the impact of my career by causing me…

During an interview on The Creative Classroom Podcast with John Spencer, John shared with me that he was resistant to the idea of coaching when he was in the classroom. Resistance is a mask. When faced with resistance, your job is to figure out the underlying emotions and issues at play. One helpful tool to use in…

Generative A.I. has created some very real challenges with academic integrity. Schools have been scrambling to create systems and policies that address the potential for cheating. In the past, I’ve written about how we might redefine the essay in an age of A.I. or how we might incorporate it into our creative projects. But it’s…

A business deal or a sacred promise? The handshake depicted on this Treaty 6 medal is understood by nêhiyawak to symbolize asotamâkêwin – a sacred promise to live together in the spirit of good relations. In September 1874, Treaty Commissioners representing Queen Victoria traveled to Fort Qu’Appelle to negotiate the terms of a sacred promise…