Peak Performance Leadership

Jennifer Allen started her career in the private sector in Human Resources and developed an expertise in organizational design.  She joined the public service in 2007 and worked at various government departments including Transport Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, before joining the CRA in 2017. Throughout her career Jennifer has developed skills in inclusive design, process improvement, and change management. She is now the Assistant Director responsible for Character Leadership Development for the Agency. Jennifer holds a Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce with a specialization in Human Resources. Jennifer is passionate about food, her family, and dancing!   Steve Virgin joined the Canada Revenue Agency in July 2018 as the new Director for Character Leadership. He is a former senior naval officer in the Canadian Armed Forces and he joined the Public Service in 2015. During his military career he was fortunate to have a variety of leadership experiences including submarine captain, frigate command, and a variety of strategic leadership appointments in National Headquarters in plans, policy and strategic resource management. His final appointment in the Forces was as the Deputy Commander of Canada’s Special Forces Command. As an Executive employee in the Department of Defence, he was the Director of Business Management and Director of Analytics for the Defence CIO. Steve holds a Bachelor of Military Arts and Science from the Royal Military College of Canada, he is a graduate of the Canadian Forces Command College, he is a fellow of the National Defence University of the PLA Beijing, and he recently completed a Certificate in Regulatory Leadership at the University of Ottawa. Mr. Virgin is a volunteer citizenship presiding official with IRCC where he very much enjoys the opportunity to welcome new Canadians. He was invested into the Order of Military Merit in 2015 and he was awarded two meritorious service medals during his career.     Topics During this interview Jennifer, Stephen, and I discuss the following topics: How they got into character leadershipWhat Character Leadership is what it is notComprises of Virtues, values, and traitsThe character leadership model aspectsThe cruciality of self-awareness in character leadershipHow to explore temperance and transcendence How to train in the areas where you are struggling For the complete show notes be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/240

Dane Espegard is a culture consultant who teaches, assists and executes the implementation of a Culture centered around Dream Achieving. The system is bottom-up and puts the emphasis on the development and personal lives of the team members. Dane works with companies in a very simple manner to get the culture started and leaves them with some very easy to implement steps. Dane has been public speaking and training individuals for 15+ years while implementing his system for Vector Marketing where he is a Division Manager and operating one of the top performing teams in the nation.  Topics During this interview Dane and I discuss the following topics: Where the idea of tapping into people’s dreams came aboutHis ideology of growth mindsetWhat the dreams mindset isHow dreams is about a journey is not a destinationHow to enable our team members to make dreamsHow to reward our team members with their dreamsHow to “Dreamstorm” For the complete show notes, be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/239

It has happened already and it'll likely happen again... You will fail as a leader. In this episode, I get real and raw about how I failed as a leader recently. But most importantly I talk about what I am going to do to overcome that failure to make sure it doesn't happen again. For that, it's not always about what we have done in the past but rather what we will do in the future.  For the complete show notes check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/238

Leaders know that high performing teams achieve better results faster and effective teams outperform effective leaders, so how do you get teams to operate as more than the sum of their parts more often? How can they achieve better outcomes working more interdependently? Bernard Desmidt is a renowned leadership coach, facilitator, and trainer. As a team coach his expertise is in in helping teams transition to become more collaborative, high performing teams so they access more of their collective capacity and capability to achieve the greatest things possible. Topics During this interview Bernard and I discuss the following topics: What the 5 different disciplines areDiscover our mandateDeclare our purposeDesign our cultureDeliver our resultsDevelop our learningHow trust, competency are utilized in these 5 disciplines.How psychological safety is required for High-Performing teamsHow to understand when one discipline is complete and when to move to anotherHow the hiring process can be utilized to ensure the integrity of the high-performing team For the complete show notes be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/237

Whether you are in a formal leadership role or are a rising leader, entrepreneur, or changemaker driven by a desire to use your voice to create change. The essence of leadership is creating a vision of an aspirational new future and then influencing people to change their behavior to make that vision a reality. Your inspiration to create aspirational change may come from your dissatisfaction with the status quo, joyful anticipation of an aspirational new future, or a new insight. To create such a vision and bring it into reality requires an emotional shift from hopelessness to optimism and inspiration, which then can mobilize any group - from dozens to millions. Reiner is the founder of BoomerangCoach, an executive coaching firm specializing in leadership and career development, innovation, and transformational change. Reiner’s mission is to mobilize and develop leaders to create a more sustainable and positive future for all. As an executive coach, he works with leaders and changemakers in a wide range of organizations, from start-ups and multinational companies to non-profits and local communities - all who aspire to create transformational change. Whether he’s working with corporate executives, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, or indigenous tribal leaders, Reiner’s clients appreciate his international business and cross-cultural leadership experience. Before becoming an executive coach, Reiner had a 30-plus year career in technology, started and developed software businesses, and led leadership development. At Hewlett-Packard, his home for 20-plus years, he launched new software product businesses and helped grow HP Software into a multi-billion dollar organization. While at HP, Reiner discovered his passion and talent in leadership development where he trained leaders in how to scale from leading one’s self, to leading others, to leading an entire organization. Topics In this episode Reiner and I discuss the following topics: How he came up with his list of 7 leadership behaviour and emotional statesEmpathyCompassionInterestOptimismInspirationTrustPositivityHow empathy is important and how to useHow to understand when we use too much empathyHow to be a compassionate leaderHow to be an "interesting" leaderThe different ways we can inspire othersHow to breed positivity in your organization For the complete show notes be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/236

Chris is a Wellness Professional with 20 years of experience designing, implementing, and coordinating wellness programs and behavior change projects. His experience includes Personal Training, Strength and Conditioning, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Exercise Physiology, Teaching and Public Speaking. Chris holds a MA in Exercise Physiology from ETSU and a MBA from UAB. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Personal Trainer with the NSCA, a Sports Performance Coach with USA Weightlifting and is a Certified Wellness Program Manager through the Chapman Institute. In his personal time he enjoys playing with his 3 children and spending time with his wife. Topics During this interview Chris and I discuss the following topics: How to find the time to prioritize your health and fitnessHow to start creating habits which will enable your success in health and fitnessWhy sleep is so crucial for peak performanceHow water impacts our daily livesThe importance of protein in your health and fitnessSome tips and tricks to start living a healthier lifeHow to beat the “all or nothing mentality” How to involve your team in better health and fitness lifestyle For the complete show notes be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/235

'Quiet quitting' isn't really quitting, but it is forcing employers to adapt. What it mean is that employees are holding the employers to account for their job descriptions. The phrase — which isn't actually intended to lead to a resignation — exploded into the popular lexicon last week when a TikTok video went viral.  Topics During this episode I talk about the following topics: What "Quiet Quitting" actually isWhy it has occurredWhy "quiet quitting" is not actually a bad thingHow to help your team members not need to "quietly quit." For the complete show notes be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/234

Whether you’re a solopreneur, a small business owner, an emerging leader or in an executive leadership role, life in the 21st century dictates that you need to know your numbers and use them to enhance your impact. Increasingly, executives and board members around the world are held personally responsible for knowing the data – meaning that this understanding helps minimize and mitigate risk not only for businesses but for individuals. Whether you’re organizing your home budget and feeding your kids, or running a multinational, multi-million-dollar organization, it is no longer sufficient to say ‘but I’m not a numbers person’ and believe that it is someone else’s job to keep track of the numbers. We all need to be data literate and able to ask the right questions at the right time. Dr Selena Fisk is a data expert and consultant who is passionate about helping others sort through the ‘numbers’ to tell the real stories and lead positive change. She fiercely advocates for a world in which we are all data-informed, not data-driven. Selena has mentored executive, senior, and middle leaders, as well as hundreds of others in data storytelling, which has positively impacted the organizations in which they work. Topics During this interview Selena and I discuss the following topics: Why people become “non-numbers” peopleHow people can get out of their fixed mindset of not being good at numbersHow to identity the right early adoptersWhat data storytelling is and how to use it effectivelyHow use data to be informed and now drivenHow to start being a “data-informed” organization For the complete show notes be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/233

In this episode I go solo and talk about three different types of leaders found in the world: The BossThe ImposterThe Leader I discuss these three but ask you "are you the leader in the arena?" This is an adjusted passage from Theodore Roosevelt's speech "Citizenship In A Republic" with this specific paragraph known as "The Man in the Arena." I've adjusted the paragraph to be inclusive to the female leaders here. For the complete show notes be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/232

Paul is the No B.S. Workplace Development Coach who, for the last 30 years, has been assisting Leaders and their organizations to achieve their full potential. His approach is practical, hands-on, grounded in the realities of the real world of work and results oriented – all undertaken with a sense of humor and panache. He is also a "recovering trial lawyer", a Chicago Bears fanatic, an unabashed Starbucks addict, the author of WorkQuake™, a book dedicated to thriving in the Information Economy and a Member of the Forbes Coaching Council. Topics During this interview Paul and I discuss the following topics: Why a team becomes dysfunctional in the first placeWhat is holding leaders back from transitioning to a new generation of leadersHow to enable your teams to become self-organizing teamsWhy psychological safety is important for teamsHow to build relationships with your team members For the complete show notes be sure to check out our website: https://leaddontboss.com/231