What's New With Peggy?

July 10, 2007

July is Bio Terrorism/Disaster Education & Awareness Month.

What does that actually mean for busy business types? It means that terrorism and crisis has become so commonplace that they have decided to give the whole situation its own month!

I suspect that they want to encourage people to take some time out to think about and educate themselves as to how they would respond in the event of a terrorist attack or crisis that has the potential to threaten life and/or significantly disrupt work.

Are you prepared? Would you know what to do if a 9/11 type event happened at your work? And, if you’re a leader, how would you handle yourself, respond to your people and their families and ….and here’s an important one for senior leadership folks….would you know how to handle the media if they came knocking?

The best readiness is in the preparation….if you want to get ready…let’s talk.

July 5, 2007

What inspires you?

It's been a while since I've sat through a speech, movie or play that has left me motivated to be more than I am; to take up a cause and fight against the odds. Amazing Grace, the movie, has done just that. I don't often cry at movies, I did at this one. I cried because it reminded me that the impossible really is possible. And that 'never giving up' isn't just a slogan - it's the way important things get done. Mostly, it has reminded me that one person really can make a difference.

Elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21 and on his way to a successful political career, William Wilberforce, over the course of two decades, took on the English establishment, eventually persuading them to end the barbaric selling of humans for profit, at a huge cost to their business enterprises. Asking plantation owners to do without slave labor would be the equivalent to asking U.S. business today to operate without petroleum. 

Wilberforce, almost single handedly, ended the slave trade in England. After a 20-year struggle against overwhelming opposition in Parliament, which the film artfully portrays, Wilberforce saw the end of British slave trading when, after numerous attempts, his 1807 abolition bill passed by a large majority.  Twenty six years later, just three days before his death, slavery was abolished across all British Colonies as well. And, ultimately, British abolition had a profound effect on the conflict over slavery that led to the American Civil War, and the eventual end to the practice of slavery in the US. 

William Wilberforce's example has inspired me to think about transformation. I recommend you go see the movie - and take your Kleenex. What about you? What cause, situation or circumstance in your life, community, or sphere of influence needs transforming? Does it seem impossible?

The motto for the US Navy Sea Bees in World War II was, "The difficult we do right away; the impossible takes a little longer."

What 'impossible' task will you take on this year? What skills do you have that some cause, project, family or non-profit organization are just crying out for? And, what are you willing to never give up on?

June 14, 2007

Paris Hilton is a changed woman….well, maybe not. Hollywood and CNN are fond of sensational stories and the idea that Paris – or anyone – goes from being self-centered, attention seeking and addicted to a role model for young girls in a matter of days, is the stuff fantasies are made of.

Don’t get me wrong, people change – and sometimes in dramatic, life altering ways. And there’s nothing like a stay at the county’s finest to motivate a person to begin the change process. Significant change often begins with an ‘ah-ha’ moment; a point in time where our behaviour collides with our world and we ‘see’ what we had been ignoring. But rarely is a dramatic event enough to ensure lasting change.

So, what does Paris (or anyone) who wants to make good on their promise to change their ways do after the shock of the ‘initial sensitizing event’ has faded? Hard work. Lots of hard personal work. There are specific steps to making significant personal change. She can use her jail stay to remind her of the pain of going back to her old ways….but it will take more than that to keep her on the path to a sober, more balanced life.

June 4, 2007

When was the last time you took time out to play? Child development professionals tell us that, for children, play is their work; and that children learn and retain the most  while playing. Forgive me, but I think the same is true of adults.

My siblings and I used to play a mean game of Monopoly. I say mean because the stakes were high. The looser had to do the winner's dishes for a month. A month! My older brother was a genius at the game, so I had to learn quickly - or spend my childhood at the sink. We'd play for days; we'd set up the board, divvy up the cash and plan our moves. I learned many valuable business lessons during those heated exchanges around the gaming table. Monopoly taught me to think strategically, to forgo immediate gratification, like when I had the chance to crush my little sister - when she landed on one of my prime properties. I learned to be patient and allow her to stay in the game (for a few of her hotels mind you ) so I could position myself to capture the true prize - victory over my brother! We learned to count and manage money, consider purchases, negotiate, bluff and ultimately win or loose with grace. Well, grace is what my mother called it, 'be a good sport Peggy', she'd say when I had lost and all I wanted to do was to overturn the board and walk away in righteous indignation!

Well, there's a new game in town! It's called, Transition Poker™ - and I created it! After spending several years with hundreds of business folks tasked with leading significant change in their organizations, I decided it was time for some fun! Transition Poker™ is based on solid change theory coupled with the fast-pace, high-stakes atmosphere of a friendly game of poker. Players are forced to grapple with their choices and strategies for leading change, bet on their hunches and deal with hostile cards.

Transition Poker™ is part of my Leader's Summit program, a comprehensive learning opportunity for those individuals and teams facing organizational change.

The Transition Poker™ Workshop is exciting and interactive and teaches foundational concepts and provides tools for any group to master the power of the 6 Success Factors for leading successful organizational change.

The Transition Poker™ Workshop is composed of:

• JCI People Change Process – a solid foundation as to how people move through change and how leaders can motivate, model and monitor change success
• The 6 Success Factors for making significant change – an understanding of the importance of each factor and how to compensate for missing elements
• The experiential, real-play of the Transition Poker™ game engages players to create the best options, bet on their success and defend their choices to colleagues
• The Change Style Index - understanding your Personal Change Style can help you decide what you need to be successful during a time of transition.
• A Change Map – creating the action steps necessary for a group to bring change success into their organization.

Transition Poker™ Players:

• Experience the push-pull of competition during a change
• Understand how to negotiate and persuade change partners
• Appreciate how important communication and leadership style are in helping people change
• Learn how to consider and choose strategies that will mediate negativity and resistance and invite success!

Whether players bluff, bet or are bold enough to go all in, Transition Poker™ tests their knowledge and skill at leading change when the stakes are high!

May 8, 2007

I've spent most of the morning hauling broken limbs, half-decayed tree stumps and fallen brush out of our back yard. It's that time of year when life returns to the foliage and brings with it the task of pruning and purging the dead wood. It always makes sense to me to toss out the limbs and twigs that crunch when you touch them - they are obviously dead; their only real future is the compost pile. But I always feel a bit uneasy about those other branches, those that still have some green at their base; those limbs that are still attached to the tree, still participating in photosynthesis but not really producing any visible foliage. So, I angst - do I leave them, hope that this will be the year they come back to life, or do I take a more radical attitude and cut em loose?

As I hacked and dragged bush to the curb I couldn't help but reflect on how anyone with the authority and/or responsibility for organizational effectiveness faces this same choice daily. There is a natural law in the universe we live in; a tree cannot grow to its full potential when there is too much dead wood competing against the live parts for resources. The same is true for teams and organizations.

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric speaks of the dead wood as the 'bottom ten percent.' He advocates getting rid of them, not once in a while, but every year. Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett Packard agrees. She says in her book, Tough Choices that, one of her key strategies in the success of the most controversial merger in high-tech history, was to rid the company of the 'dead wood' and keep only those who could get to the goal.

But, what about those half-green, half-dead branches; those - I still show up for work, attend meetings and don't cause any trouble, but I've lost interest and the will to innovate or push myself employees? What do we do with them? When does a leader cut their losses and clear out a spot for a more productive employee? And, when do you wait-and-see if an employee will turn around? There is no magic formula; this decision is a challenge for any thoughtful leader.

A few ideas for consideration:

• Have possible organizational factors contributing to this employee's drop in productivity been assessed and resolved? (their manager's skill, unclear expectations, training needs, etc.)
• Does this employee respond to attempts at re- engagement? (honest feedback, training, appropriate recognition, etc.)
• How long have I been debating what to do with them? (time does not heal all - action does)

Answering these questions may shed some light on the best next step. Of course, the really big question for all of us is - am I the dead wood on my team?

March 16, 2007

Peggy is moving! She will be back in the office and in the full swing of things March 21st.

March 12, 2007

I know it’s a bit odd to have an article like this on one’s blog….but this attempt to attack Christianity is just wrong. I’m a Christian and I want to lend my voice the correction of the misinformation floating around right now….and, I think this article by Brent Bozell III says it best….hope it helps.

What Bones of Jesus?
by L. Brent Bozell III
February 28, 2007 Tell a friend about this site

The press releases of the Discovery Channel boast that its parent company, Discovery Communications, is the "number one nonfiction media company." That identifier is now in shambles, and the paper it's printed on fit only to be crumpled and thrown away. The folks at Discovery have rendered themselves carnival barkers peddling sensationalistic garbage, trashy money-making gimmicks dressed up as real journalism.

The Discovery Channel is hyping to the heavens its new documentary on "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of "Titanic," has joined filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici in publicizing claims that a 2,000-year-old tomb containing 10 boxes of bones belonged to the family of Jesus of Nazareth. It also echoes the dopey "DaVinci Code" novel by asserting that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that the couple had a son. They claim the son was named Judah and that all three were buried together.

So much for the Resurrection. So much for the Bible. So much for the divinity of Christ. So much for Christianity. It's all a fraud – if one is to believe the non-fiction of the Discovery Channel.

Other than a syrupy boost – an embarrassingly syrupy boost -- from an "exclusive" appearance on NBC's "Today" show, the national media for once aren't buying into this cheap publicity stunt and have found a load of skeptics to denounce the film, perhaps because the list of experts, both scientific and religious, is endless. Perhaps the most important debunker is the professor Amos Kloner, who oversaw the original archaeological dig of this tomb in 1980. "It makes a great story for a TV film," Kloner told the Jerusalem Post. "But it's completely impossible. It's nonsense."

Joe Zias, who was the curator for anthropology and archeology at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem from 1972 to 1997 and personally numbered the ossuaries at the center of the film, was even harsher. "Simcha has no credibility whatsoever...He's pimping off the Bible...Projects like these make a mockery of the archaeological profession."

Hebrew University archaeologist and epigraphist Leah DiSegni said that the names found in the tomb, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were among the most common names of the day. It would be like finding a tomb with the name George on it in the future and asserting that it must have been the tomb of President George Bush, DiSegni told the Cybercast News Service. In addition, biblical scholar Stephen Pfann has questioned even the actual inscription on the tomb, claiming it's "scratchy" and hard to read. For all we know, it's Johnny, Mabel and Jerry.

How do the producers defend themselves against the avalanche of criticism? It's so, so typical. On the "Today" show Jacobovici and Cameron the "Titanic" director finally were pressed to respond to critics like Zias. They quickly fell back on the laughable concept that they weren't – surprise! – experts. Both said they weren't archaeologists. One insisted he was filmmaker, the other a journalist. Cameron found it "compelling" as a layman.

In other words, neither has credibility, and neither does the non-fiction Discovery Channel.

When it comes to ancient Christian sites, the Discovery Channel already had a huge credibility problem on its hands. Discovery aired a 2002 special on the alleged "Ossuary of James," which was declared a forgery in 2003 by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Its promoter, Oded Golan, is currently on trial for forging part of the inscription. Jacobovici produced that badly flawed documentary, too.

The Discovery Channel, like most of the national TV elite, display a dramatic bias in target selection when it comes to religion. There are no controversies over the historical claims of Islam, Judaism, or any other religious faith. But Christianity is another story. It is routinely the subject of sensationalistic TV exposes, complete with breathless claims about how Jesus "might be" the son of a Roman soldier, or he might have survived the Crucifixion. And now he's a dad, with kids.

What's worse is that these shoddy alleged exposes always air in the most sacred Christian seasons, like Lent. Last year during Lent, on April 2, 2006, "Dateline NBC" offered part of its show to alleged Jesus-debunker Michael Baigent, even as reporter Sara James declared: "Baigent acknowledges there's no proof of his theory, but points out that it was possible to survive crucifixion."

If the Discovery Channel fails to cancel this slanderous 'documentary,' it will have to explain why it is intentionally misleading the public. This network should be embarrassed by this plunge into sensational speculation masquerading as 'science.' To slander Christianity at the start of the Lenten season is unconscionable. This isn't news. It's sensationalism on a stick. Or in this case, on a cross.

February 28, 2007

Peggy was quoted in an article in Invesment Executive about connectin with your community to promote happiness and health.

February 20, 2007

Peggy was quoted in Investment Executive in an article about prioritizing your values and your work flow.

February 13, 2007

Peggy was quoted in a article published in the Edmonton Sun today. The article is about the growing industry of life coaches helping isolated professionals be successful and happy at the same time.

February 6, 2007

Check out Peggy's feature article Bringing Association Teams Together—One Game at a Time! in the Canadian Society of Association Executives Association Magazine.

February 2, 2007

Peggy is off today to speak at the 2007 HRPAO Annual Conference & Trade Show. Seems that one of their speakers can’t get across the border from the US. So, they called Peggy! If you’re in town, drop by the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and catch Peggy's presentation ‘Capitalizing on People Power’ at noon today.

January 3, 2007

Hear Peggy discuss Setting Goals and New Year’s Resolutions with host Rita Celli on “Ontario Today” on CBC RadioOne at 91.5 FM Ottawa, 1:30pm EST. Click here to listen live.

December 31, 2006

Peggy completes her year as President of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (Toronto Chapter)

December 7-9, 2006

Off to the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers National Convention in Vancouver!