This year we were all connected as human beings – regardless of social status, income, race, title, geography or religion.

We all had our own unique set of challenges personal and professional which forced us to be vulnerable and to be seen and heard.

As people we were forced to work at home with our children, partners or roommates. We would get Amazon deliveries, fight over wifi bandwidth with our spouses, have our pets or children make appearances during important meetings. It didn’t matter if you were the CIO or Data Protection admin, this was your reality.

As employees we were dealing with supply chain challenges, battling a surge of Cyber attacks, trying to enable our fellow co-workers to work effectively from home, trying to move projects ahead with no budget or money to do so in scary and uncertain times. Vendor or client, this was your reality.

Regardless of the challenges (and there were many), We had an opportunity to come together, show our vulnerability and ask for help. In my 15 year career, I’ve never been approached to help a customer in need, more than in the last 6 months.

Let’s continue to start from a place of compassion and help each other succeed in our day to day challenges and continue to live by our values. Happy New Year to All!

chutzpah/ˈxʊtspə,ˈhʊtspə/

extreme self-confidence or audacity (usually used approvingly).”love him or hate him, you have to admire Cohen’s chutzpah”

As a parent of a three year old daughter I’m keenly aware that she will do as I do and not as I say. That pushes me to constantly strive to be the best version of myself and find the right balance in all my roles and passions in life. Wife, mother, family member, employee, human being and friend. I’m constantly interchanging audio-books to help me on this quest as I absolutely love all of these areas of my life and want to live each to the fullest

My dear friend Rapinder suggested a book called “Flex” by Annie Auerbach and this book had me at hello. This blog will be a work in progress but I felt the need to share the sentiments just after the first chapter as I know I’m not alone in this quest.

Channel your Chutzpah!

Many of the jobs we trained for in school won’t exist in 10 years. The more robotic our behaviour – the more vulnerable we are to robots taking our place.

The Economic forum predicts that creativity will be one of the top three skills we will need in the future. The more we flex our creativity muscle- the more we future proof our skills. To me this means that being a rebel is no longer a faux pas but rather a necessity to survive in the new digital world we live in. So how do we remove the distractions to ensure we have the space to breath and do this? Our employers need this from us and we need to lead and be brave with our new ideas.

How to channel your chutzpah

1. Notice the moments when you have been brave in the past. When you owned up to a mistake, or you called our an injustice. Why did you do it? How did it make you feel? Do more of this.

2. Don’t feel self conscious and let it inhibit your ideas. No one is thinking about you. This sounds sad, but it’s actually so liberating! No one thinks about you because they are too busy thinking about themselves.

Coco Chanel “I don’t care what you think about me, I don’t think about you at all”

3. Work out who diminishes your bravery. These people are drains. Surround yourself with people who boost your mojo.

4. Done is better than perfect. Get it out there. (I struggle with this one)

5. If all else fails, channel Dolly Parton – Find out who you are and do it on purpose.

If we are going to compete with the automation of the 4th industrial revolution and prepare our children to do the same – we MUST add value to the process. We must be brave with our new ideas and nurture our creativity. In doing so we become irreplaceable and valued. It’s not about being ahead of your time. It’s about the value and different perspectives you can bring to the time you are living in – now.

Thank you Annie Auerbach for the inspiration. I am looking forward to my commutes this week to finish this book!

I was listening to an interview with Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn CEO on the characteristics of a powerful leader. His view is that managers tell people what to do and leaders inspire them to do it. I love this statement. They are not always synonymous and there is a time and place for both.

10 years ago I was given an opportunity to manage a team of sales reps. Like most managers, I was not given a manual on how to do this and guess what? I made a lot of mistakes. At the time I only had one way of operating – my way. If people didn’t fall into that bucket, I really struggled to relate and empower. I wasn’t a leader – I managed, and didn’t do that really well either.

My belief is this – leading is not always a title or hierarchy. You can choose to lead every day. Every encounter you have is an opportunity to lead (teach/inspire) or to be led (learn/be inspired). You don’t need a title or permission to do that. “When you know, teach. When you get, give” – Maya Angelo

Strong leaders surround themselves with people from different backgrounds with different opinions. This breeds creativity. It allows them to focus on what they love to do and what gives them energy. Healthy debates = Balanced outcomes. How boring would life be without being challenged? In Morten T. Hansen’s book “Great at Work” he found in a study of 5000 managers the best performers are good at generating rigorous discussions in team meetings.

I have also learned that loyalty and working for a leader who inspires you will always trump working for the cool start up. True leaders empower their teams to continuously challenge and change the rules. A big company can feel like the innovative startup with the right leaders driving the right culture.

Sonya D Mathieu

Being a working mom (who loves both roles) means I’m always on a quest to find balance. With no “extra” time available I use the 12 minutes I have in the car from my house to the station to indulge in audiobooks that challenge me. Nothing feels better than finding one good insight that resonates and profoundly changes the way I run my life – one step closer to balance right? 😉

My latest read is by Mel Brooks called “Take control of your life”. The title is deceiving. Her view is that we “think” we take control of our lives when we have fear by creating a lot of activity to mask that feeling when really we should be listening to that fear.

What are we afraid of? Is it opportunity for growth? Are we holding ourselves back? And on the other end of the spectrum, what excites us? What gives us energy?

One of the major themes stuck with me. Passion is NOT a destination. Passion is energy you feel when you are doing something you love. You don’t find your “passion”. You find things that you are passionate about. That doesn’t mean if you quit your current job to do that for a living that you would be happy. Just because you love to travel doesn’t mean you would be happy traveling for a living.

If something gives you energy then find a simple way to incorporate that into your life in small chunks. Alternatively, if something depletes your energy find a small way to do less of that. Each of these small changes will bring you closer to doing what aligns strongest to you. When that is aligned – that’s how you will add the most value and feel the most fulfilled.

I regularly hear people say they want to find their passion…I really like how achievable this notion makes it for everyone.

Sonya D Mathieu