I was participating in a division-wide virtual town hall recently during which employees had the opportunity to submit questions anonymously via sli.do. One of the first questions that got asked went something like this:
As a person and a leader, there are few things that I appreciate more than hearing someone say “Don’t worry Bernard, I’ve got this.” – knowing that the colleague speaking those words is reliable and will be taking care of things.
I am extremely fortunate that life has put so many good role models on my path over the years. Whether professionally or otherwise, I clearly wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the people who have, throughout my life, guided me along in one way or another.
I recently had a difference of opinion with a colleague at work regarding a business decision. My colleague and I could not resolve the issue at our level so it was escalated one level up.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been preoccupied with the very vexing issue of trust in the workplace. I say “vexing” because fostering genuine trust in the workplace has to be one of the most difficult nuts to crack of any that I can think of.
OK. So you’ve been put in charge of something – a business, a department, a project or a team. If you’ve been appointed from above, as most of us tend to be, you’re vested with some prima facie legitimacy: There’s an announcement somewhere, an appointment notice or a directive, whether formal or informal, that puts you in charge of that team or endeavor that you must now lead.
I live in Toronto, a predominantly English-speaking city, and have worked in English most of my professional life, but English is actually my second language. I grew up in Quebec and completed all my schooling in French, from grade school to high school, to college, to law school.
I can feel all the psychology majors cringing at the title of this article, never mind those who hold Ph.D.’s in this field. “Bernard, there’s no such thing as an introvert or an extrovert.
I’m a big, big fan of the idea that you have to make some time in your life to just stop and think. Not only is this important in order to maintain your sanity, but it also allows you to be more effective, as well as more creative in every aspect of your life.
We can’t always agree on everything. Nor, frankly, would it be desirable that we do.
Debate and disagreements are cornerstones of progress and innovation in all aspects of life and if it wasn’t for people disagreeing with each other from time to time — lone voices as well as groups of individuals large and small standing up against generally accepted views — many of the good and great things that we now take for granted — victories of reason such as human rights and modern science, for instance — would never have seen the light of day.
