"His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti." Let's face it: when it comes to public speaking, most of us feel like the opening of this famous Eminem song.

While team cohesion is a topic I am deeply passionate about, it is also something I typically don’t enjoy writing about. This is because the field has become so saturated in recent years. So there’s not much you can say that hasn’t been covered already.

We have heard it said there are 2 things in life that are inevitable: death and taxes. A mentor used to tell me there was a third… conflict. The more time I have spent working with organizations, the more I am convinced this is true.

One of the great benefits of entrepreneurship, and working in the coaching industry, is the flexibility it allows me to plan my day. If I have a dentist appointment or need to run errands, I can plan my day around the different appointments I have. Then if I need to catch up on work, I get a little done after dinner, or start work earlier the next day.

As a leadership coach, a big part of my job is helping leaders perform at their best. However, while leadership is often top of mind for many organizations, it can also be a very vague and ambiguous term. What exactly do we mean when we say “leadership?”

The modern-day workplace has always been a treasure trove for pop-culture references; one of the most recent being the AppleTV show Severance. If you have not gotten a chance to watch it yet, I would highly recommend doing so.

I once heard an excellent quote that said:

“Most conflicts are simply an argument over the definition of words.”

I believe there is a lot of truth in that. One of the main reasons conflict resolution remains so difficult is that the parties involved often do not start from the same place.

A couple of years ago I was coaching an up-and-coming leader in his company’s marketing department. He was hungry to grow but also carried a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Like any other session, we sat down and engaged in some small talk before I asked him what was on his mind.

Have you ever experienced that when you first meet someone new at work or school, you start seeing them constantly in the next few days? They were always in the same rooms and hallways you frequent, but you didn’t notice them before.

Ask any leader about the importance of teamwork and they will nod with a resounding yes. However, one problem I have noticed is that when working with teams, leaders tend to bias the transactional elements, while ignoring the relational ones.

Growing up a Canadian, I quickly learned the value my country places on being “polite.” I would hear it constantly when I traveled, “you’re a Canadian? I love Canadians! You are all so nice.”

As an avid sports fan, I often find myself seeing the world in sports-related metaphors. This is especially true in business, and for good reason. Throughout history, those 2 worlds have always been closely connected.