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More of the Story Behind the Moose Story

This is a really busy month as I hit television, radio, and print with a series of media interviews across Canada as Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work hits bookstores and I deliver Breaking Through the Bull workshops across the country. As soon as I know the schedule, I’ll be […]

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Breaking Through the Bull Keynote Address

On March 19th I gave my new “Breaking Through the Bull” keynote to the Greater Kitchener Chamber of Commerce. Here’s the video from the event in it’s entirety. I’m sure you’ll find it very interesting as I touch on the major themes of communication in the workplace. The response to this appearance was overwhelming, and […]

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The Complete Leader’s Package

Over the years I’ve developed quite a catalog of leadership tools. For leaders on the grow, the biggest question becomes “where do I start?” That’s why I’m now offering “The Complete Leader’s Package.” It includes books, workbooks, and multimedia leaders at every level should have close by. These tools are based on practical experience, and […]

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Do You Have a Dysfunctional, Average, or High-Performing Culture?

Here’s a quickie quiz I put together for my new Breaking Through the Bull workshop. It draws on our Consulting and Training division’s growing experience with assessing and helping our Client’s shift their culture. It also frames many of the issues Pete Leonard (the fictional manager in my new book, Moose on the Table: A […]

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“Breaking Through the Bull” Webcast is Posted Online

If you missed my complimentary webcast highlighting how you can break through the barriers to building a high-performance organization, you can now view this very informative (no bias there) webcast from www.breakingthoughthebull.com. This jam-packed presentation is a powerful tool for you and your team. Share it with your colleagues. There’s not a team or organization […]

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Leading Change from the Middle

Recently I was working with a Client struggling to bring about cultural change in her organization. Senior managers were paying “passionate lip service” to the organization’s core value, but their actions clearly conveyed that “hitting the numbers” ultimately trumped all other behaviors. Unfortunately, this is an all too common situation. This HR professional was reinforcing […]

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Health and Safety Program Versus Culture

Building on the highly customized Courageous Leadership for Health & Safety training program we designed for Barrick Gold (see July 2006, December 2006, and December 2007 issues – The CLEMMER Group’s training and consulting division has been rapidly expanding our offerings and expertise in this area. As word of the dramatic results of Barrick’s program […]

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Back from Panama

Heather and I enjoyed a marvelous two week cruise in February just as the winter’s worst stretch of snow and cold hit Central Canada. We were pretty happy with that timing. Our 20 year old daughter, Vanessa, who so ably looked after our home (and Riley, our little King Charles Cavalier Spaniel) wasn’t as thrilled! […]

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Most Popular January Improvement Points

Here are the three most popular Improvement Points we sent out in January: “Many people lose the boss lottery and, through no faulhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gift of their own, end up reporting to an ineffectual manager. You may not have chosen your boss, but you don’t have to be a victim of his or her weaknesses.” – From […]

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Management Team Builds Leadership with The Leader’s Digest

The Leader’s Digest: Timeless Principles for Team and Organization Success and its Practical Application Planner provide an explicit roadmap or how-to framework for the implicit approaches chronicled in Moose on the Table. As this pair of leadership development resources were designed to do, many management teams are now using them to learn together as a […]

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Thoughts That Make You Go Hmmmm…on Breaking Through the Bull

“Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.” – Gandhi “Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off. Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It’s inevitable, if you’re honorable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a […]

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More Moose on the Table Reviews

I wrote last month how my author anxiety was lessened by very positive early reviews (and our printer purchasing copies for his entire management team while the ink was still drying.) My stress continues to drop as many more written and verbal reviews are now rolling in. I especially like to get the “I could […]

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Alcohol and Drug Addiction is a Huge Moose

Peter Dunfield, Senior Advisor, Safety Health and Environment at Syncrude in Fort McMurray, Alberta sent this photo of a thank you memento he was given after his presentation a few years ago to The Construction Owners Association of Alberta (COAA). Peter had asked for my permission to use one of my moose-on-the-table slides to raise […]

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Breaking Through the Bull: Removing Barriers to Building a High Performance Organization

Writing Moose on the Table gave me the chance to bring alive many of the leadership principles I wrote about in my five previous books, and spoke about during my decades of facilitating workshops and retreats. Researching, outlining, and writing a book always deepens my thinking and provides me with a framework to create practical […]

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Tools, Tips, and Techniques for…Living True to You

Establish your three – five personal core values. These could be words or short phrases that represent what you care most about in life. Are these truly your own beliefs and values or are they what other people or institutions have said you should care about? Ensure that your day planner and calendar reflect your […]

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Thoughts That Make You Go Hmmmm…on Stories, Mythology, and Metaphors

“The universe is made of stories, not atoms.” – Muriel Rukeyser, American novelist, poet, biographer, and screenwriter   “Wherever a story comes from, whether it is a familiar myth or a private memory, the retelling exemplifies the making of a connection from one pattern to another: a potential translation in which narrative becomes parable and […]

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Most Popular December Improvement Points

Improvement Points is a free service providing a key thought or quotation from one of my articles, provided three times per week, directly to your e-mail inbox. Each complimentary Improvement Point links directly into the full article on our web site that spawned it. If you’d like to read more about that day’s Improvement Point, […]

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Leadership Is an Action, Not a Position

An early Moose on the Table reader e-mailed me that she quite liked the book. But she bitterly complained about not being in a position of power and authority as Pete Leonard (the central character) and the other characters in the book. She was very right about this book being directly applicable to those in […]

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Moving Out of Pity City

A day after long time Improvement Points subscriber, Larry Beckon, received the following Improvement Point he sent me the e-mail below: "A thirty-eight year old man was at his parent’s home for Sunday dinner. He mournfully turned the discussion to his many problems, ‘I’ve just left my third failed marriage, I can’t hold onto a […]

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Strung Up By an Unlikely Story?

In the November Leader Letter I announced we were building a Moose Gallery and asked for stories and photos (see “It’s Moose Hunting Season”). Within a week of that issue hitting inboxes, I had three readers send me the following photo and story: Pogo Moose Incident – Fairbanks, Alaska "They were laying new power cables […]

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