Do You Believe in Santa?

Well, it's beginning to look a lot like, you guessed it - Christmas! What do you believe about this season? Some would say that, it's the most wonderful time of the year. These happy folks point to a celebration of God's goodness in sending joy, peace and love to we mortals, via the baby Jesus.

Looking around at the rising commercialism, rampant greed and frazzled families, straining to have the Hallmark Christmas, others would say that it's the worst possible time of the year.

Beliefs are powerful. Whatever you believe about the season will dictate how you think, feel and ultimately respond to the season's claims and activities. If you see this time of year as magical; a time when giving takes on new meaning and families reach out to each other, then those beliefs will prompt you to soften your judgments, open your wallet and arms to those you love and those in need around you.

Our beliefs serve as our mental operating systems. They kick in whenever we're faced with choices. Should we - shouldn't we? Do we - don't we? Our belief systems are in place by the time we are about 5 years old, and - for many - are never challenged. Our beliefs are a composite of our experiences and the sense we make of the things we have seen, done and had done to us. As small children - we live life, and then draw conclusions. If we were lucky, and life was good from birth to kindergarten, then our beliefs tend to be positive and life affirming. If we spent our formative years with negative or hurtful influences, then we often decide that life is painful and people - and the things they say - aren't to be trusted. Even if those people are Santa.

What do you believe? All of life's decisions get passed through the ole belief system and we need to dust ours off to make sure the beliefs we're operating on today are relevant, accurate and make sense for us now that we are adults.

If you can't change what you believe- you can't change! Let me leave you with a challenge. Take a look at what you believe about this season and ask yourself if what you believe needs updating. Then challenge yourself to learn, or participate in, one new thing this season that you've never done before or don't know much about. Then stand back and watch your belief system upgrade itself!

Got A Dog?

Ok dog lovers, take a look at this face! Isn’t she adorable?
Now, further to my comments in the e-zine I want to acknowledge that not all the Dr. Spock or Ceasar Millan ideas are faulty. Certainly we want to acknowledge people when they do what you need them to do at work. I just see too many employees that have no healthy respect for their manager’s authority, or sense of obligation when it comes to the unacceptable.

What do you think? What do you see where you work? Have we become – for whatever reasons – too lenient with bad behaviour at work?

Coaching Clinic for Health Care Leaders

Today’s health care environment demands that individuals, and their organizations, perform at higher levels and with greater speed than ever before.

Peggy Grall & The Hire Net.Work is pleased to invite you and your colleagues to an advanced communications and coaching skills program for health care organizations that are committed to challenging their leaders and managers to raise their standards, engage their teams, and improve their leadership effectiveness.

This dual component program consists of a two-day workshop (The Coaching Clinic®) with options for either an additional three months of individual coaching for attendees or group teleclasses. In the workshop, participants are given a new tool chest of coaching skills and over the following three months if the participants exercise the option(s), they are coached through the process of integrating their new skills into their own style and work place role. Coaching

Clinic Participants will:
  • Discover coaching as a communication and leadership model.
  • Develop competency in core coaching skills that can be implemented immediately, through experiential learning and peer practice sessions.
  • Understand and apply the Coaching Conversation Model® - an intentional conversation process that provides structure and creates conversation with tangible outcomes.
  • Experience one-on-one leader coaching to use the skills learned in the workshop with each individual participant’s style of leadership and communication.

Click here for more information or to register.

The Journey of Change: Don't Take the Wrong Path

When business leaders and HR executives think about managing change in an organization, they often focus on the new process or system being implemented, the communication regarding
that change, and the management of the overall project.

This can be a big mistake, however. True change management means recognizing and dealing with the journey of the change for you and your staff. Over 70 percent of the time, mergers
and acquisitions fail to achieve their projected economic and market share gains, due to employee resistance. You can put buildings and IT systems together, but putting people together is a challenge. A transition plan needs to be in place before the change is started. The most important work you [HR executives and senior leadership] do is up front. It starts with you— how ready are you and the senior executives for change to occur? If you are not ready, your employees certainly won’t be...

Read more of this feature article in the September issue of "Best Practices in HR" published by Business & Legal Reports Inc.

Company Magazine

I’m really excited about a new venture I’m involved in. TODAY (Monday September 17th, 2007) is the official launch of a new publication called Company Magazine!!!

This print and on-line publication is for Canadian women in business. I’m part of the editorial team of writers and my area to write about is Change. The editor of the magazine is Anne Day, former editor of Today’s Parent. Other contributing writers are Christine Desforges - Art Design, Jaclyn Desforges - Youth Perspective, Sue Edwards - Work-Life, Anne Peace - Relationships and Patti Lovett-Reid - Money.

The magazine is focused on professional, entrepreneurial and would-be entrepreneur women in the GTA. It will be distributed quarterly to 7,000 women. Take a look at see what you think. I welcome ideas for my column on change.

Super Nanny Saves the Day!

Have you seen "Super Nanny", the popular TV series where a ‘real’ English nanny comes to the rescue of distraught parents?

Week after week the nanny smiles as she enters house after house of screaming children and totally dysfunctional parents. The kids are a mess, and the parents - who are the real mess - have all reached their boiling point. You can just imagine these families dialing 911 out of sheer exhaustion.

It’s Super Nanny to the rescue! She sweeps into the situation, disciplines everyone, organizes workable programs, encourages the parents to become "real parents", and in her no-nonsense way - she puts the house right again.

By the end of the program civility is restored and there is hope that the "spoiled" children and irresponsible parents are now on the path to a more healthy life for everyone. Even the children want the Super Nanny to stay with them as the camera fades away and she drives down the street in her tiny British car.

What’s Super Nanny’s secret? I think its discipline mixed with real attention. Oh, not the paddle and punish type of discipline, but a steady, consistent, firm version of rules, schedules and acceptable behaviour. She sets expectations and then lovingly stands behind them. Simple as that.

Sometimes leading people through change is like raising children. They want boundaries, clear expectations and loving attention from those in charge.

What do you think?

Bio Terrorism / Disaster Education & Awareness Month

July is Bio Terrorism/Disaster Education & Awareness Month.

What does that actually mean for busy business types? It means that terrorism and crisis has become so commonplace that they have decided to give the whole situation its own month!

I suspect that they want to encourage people to take some time out to think about and educate themselves as to how they would respond in the event of a terrorist attack or crisis that has the potential to threaten life and/or significantly disrupt work.

Are you prepared? Would you know what to do if a 9/11 type event happened at your work? And, if you’re a leader, how would you handle yourself, respond to your people and their families and ….and here’s an important one for senior leadership folks….would you know how to handle the media if they came knocking?

The best readiness is in the preparation….if you want to get ready…let’s talk.

What Inspires You?

It's been a while since I've sat through a speech, movie or play that has left me motivated to be more than I am; to take up a cause and fight against the odds. Amazing Grace, the movie, has done just that. I don't often cry at movies, I did at this one. I cried because it reminded me that the impossible really is possible. And that 'never giving up' isn't just a slogan - it's the way important things get done. Mostly, it has reminded me that one person really can make a difference.

Elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21 and on his way to a successful political career, William Wilberforce, over the course of two decades, took on the English establishment, eventually persuading them to end the barbaric selling of humans for profit, at a huge cost to their business enterprises. Asking plantation owners to do without slave labor would be the equivalent to asking U.S. business today to operate without petroleum.

Wilberforce, almost single handedly, ended the slave trade in England. After a 20-year struggle against overwhelming opposition in Parliament, which the film artfully portrays, Wilberforce saw the end of British slave trading when, after numerous attempts, his 1807 abolition bill passed by a large majority. Twenty six years later, just three days before his death, slavery was abolished across all British Colonies as well. And, ultimately, British abolition had a profound effect on the conflict over slavery that led to the American Civil War, and the eventual end to the practice of slavery in the US.

William Wilberforce's example has inspired me to think about transformation. I recommend you go see the movie - and take your Kleenex. What about you? What cause, situation or circumstance in your life, community, or sphere of influence needs transforming? Does it seem impossible?

The motto for the US Navy Sea Bees in World War II was, "The difficult we do right away; the impossible takes a little longer."

What 'impossible' task will you take on this year? What skills do you have that some cause, project, family or non-profit organization are just crying out for? And, what are you willing to never give up on?

Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton is a changed woman….well, maybe not. Hollywood and CNN are fond of sensational stories and the idea that Paris – or anyone – goes from being self-centered, attention seeking and addicted to a role model for young girls in a matter of days, is the stuff fantasies are made of.

Don’t get me wrong, people change – and sometimes in dramatic, life altering ways. And there’s nothing like a stay at the county’s finest to motivate a person to begin the change process. Significant change often begins with an ‘ah-ha’ moment; a point in time where our behaviour collides with our world and we ‘see’ what we had been ignoring. But rarely is a dramatic event enough to ensure lasting change.

So, what does Paris (or anyone) who wants to make good on their promise to change their ways do after the shock of the ‘initial sensitizing event’ has faded? Hard work. Lots of hard personal work. There are specific steps to
making significant personal change. She can use her jail stay to remind her of the pain of going back to her old ways….but it will take more than that to keep her on the path to a sober, more balanced life.

Transition Poker - Where Change Theory Meets Real Play

When was the last time you took time out to play? Child development professionals tell us that, for children, play is their work; and that children learn and retain the most while playing. Forgive me, but I think the same is true of adults.

Well, there's a new game in town! It's called,
Transition Poker™ - and I created it! After spending several years with hundreds of business folks tasked with leading significant change in their organizations, I decided it was time for some fun! Transition Poker™ is a change leadership training games based on solid change theory coupled with the fast-pace, high-stakes atmosphere of a friendly game of poker. Players are forced to grapple with their choices and strategies for leading change, bet on their hunches and deal with hostile cards.

Transition Poker™ is part of my
Leader's Summit program, a comprehensive learning opportunity for those individuals and teams facing organizational change.
The Transition Poker™ Workshop is exciting and interactive and teaches foundational concepts and provides tools for any group to master the power of the 6 Success Factors for leading successful organizational change.


The Transition Poker™ Workshop is composed of:

  • JCI People Change Process – a solid foundation as to how people move through change and how leaders can motivate, model and monitor change success

  • The 6 Success Factors for making significant change – an understanding of the importance of each factor and how to compensate for missing elements

  • The experiential, real-play of the Transition Poker™ game engages players to create the best options, bet on their success and defend their choices to colleagues

  • The Change Style Index - understanding your Personal Change Style can help you decide what you need to be successful during a time of transition.

  • A Change Map – creating the action steps necessary for a group to bring change success into their organization.

For more information on Transition Poker or Peggy's other Change Leadership workshops pelase visit www.JustChangeIt.com