Points of view

Culture isn’t a branding exercise; it’s about fixing what’s broken. For a strategy to work, leaders need to focus on the structures and behaviours that need to change. When senior managers treat company culture as a communications exercise, the chances of long-term...

Kids these days are so demanding ... or are they? For the last number of years, employers have been struggling to understand how to work with and integrate younger adults, such as Gen Zs, or Zoomers, into the workplace. Millennials, born between 1981 to 1996, largely...

One of the late Robert Redford’s films, The Horse Whisperer, is a beautiful film about grief and overcoming loss after a tragic accident. Much of the story focuses on unspeakable pain and how finding your way to honestly connect with others can lessen the load....

Ruth* made the choice to be a solo parent when she was in her early 40s. She worked in a well-paid senior corporate role and, although she hadn’t found a life partner yet, she’d always known she wanted to be a mother. The decision to become a parent on her own,...

Uncle John was rumoured to be the one who reported my grandma to the authorities. It was autumn of the 1922 Civil War, and the Irish Free State believed anti-treaty “trigger-happy harpies” were a danger to the fledgling state. My grandmother Maggie, only 14, was...

Have you “girled” someone at work or in sports? This is when someone intentionally or unintentionally belittles, demeans or excludes someone using sexist language. Calling a woman “girl” or a man a “big girl’s blouse” may diminish their authority and imply they are...

Family succession dramas are bankable “popcorn viewing” for TV, film and the media as seen with Succession, Yellowstone, Game of Thrones and real-life drama in the Murdoch, Gucci and Guinness families. When the cameras turn on you and your family, though, it’s...

You’re standing on stage at an award ceremony, and the event host hands you a microphone and says: “Five years ago, your company wasn’t making money, and nobody knew who you were. Last month, you sold the business for millions to a large firm, and everyone knows your...

Women are exhausted. Not only are 71.2 per cent of women aged 15-64 working, but many with a partner and children are still doing most of the housework, cooking and looking after the kids and older relatives. There’s the emotional labour as well: the endless...

It’s lonely at the top. The burden of responsibility, the complexity of leadership and the speed of decision-making weigh heavily on a CEO. Although little research exists on this topic, a small recent Canadian survey of 106 chief executives (46 of whom were...