Prepared teams can weather almost anything. There’s something spectacular about a summer thunderstorm in Canada. The air changes first. The humidity builds. The sky darkens. Then comes the distant rumble, followed by flashes of lightning and the kind of heavy rain that makes you stop what you’re doing and watch. When you’re safely inside, a storm can be beautiful. Powerful. Even calming in its own way.But that same storm feels very different if you’re caught outside without s

The issue isn’t always the person — it’s the system around them There was a stretch when my daughters — twins, same school, same class — were late for school every day. Naturally, the blame started flying. One was “disorganized.” Not trying hard enough. The other, hyper-competitive, would rather leave her sister behind than risk being late herself. The easy conclusion? One needs to step up. The other needs to be more supportive. But stepping back, the pattern told a different

Strong teams can still struggle to move forward I once worked with a leadership team where everything took longer than it should have. Decisions dragged. Work overlapped. Clients felt the gaps — even if they couldn’t quite name them. And yet, on paper, this was a strong team. Smart operators. Clear goals. People who cared about doing good work. So what was getting in the way? No one owned the whole picture. Each leader was focused on their piece — doing it well, moving it for