Tag Archive for: Canada Leadership Coach

T Riman
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The Quebec Government is Funding Leadership Coaching & Training

Leadership Coaching & Training Covered by the Government of Quebec

  As the current pandemic situation remains uncertain, the Quebec government has launched a new program to refund businesses for leadership coaching and professional training, sending the message that businesses can not only thrive during this time, but can take the opportunity to strengthen and grow. It seems like this pandemic is putting just about everything to the test: our healthcare system, social systems, economy and more. And we’re all feeling it on personal and professional levels. There’s a saying going around that we’re not all in the same boat, but we are all in the same storm. For businesses, we are all facing the same pandemic crisis, but each of us with different tools, resources and circumstances, meaning each business (and its people) is having to approach this crisis in its own unique way. The new program announced by the Quebec government will hopefully give more freedom to businesses and leaders to take action when it comes to surviving and thriving during COVID-19 and beyond. One of the biggest changes facing many businesses is the sudden shift to remote work. If you’re a business leader, manager, CEO or owner, you’re probably asking questions like… Guy holding frame on a beach
“How do I keep people engaged and motivated?” “Can I expect productivity when everyone’s working from home?” “How do I talk to people about getting their work done, when everyone’s worried about this virus?” “How do I lead other people when I’m feeling disconnected and overwhelmed?”
For a business to thrive, we all know the people who drive the business need to be working like a well oiled machine. That is never more true than in a time of crisis when you need everyone motivated and committed, working together, collaborating effectively, and bringing their best to the team and their work. Right now, CEO of Your Life founder, Melissa Dawn, is hosting virtual leadership coaching workshops in partnership with Concordia University to help you create greatness out of crisis. These workshops can potentially be refunded under the new program, and help your business embrace the unique challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

4 Virtual Workshops to Help Your Business Thrive.

Here are 4 business and leadership workshops your business can capitalize on during Quarantine:

 

1. Talent Management & Retention: Engaging Millennials

Motivational posters are about as effective as a pat on the back. In today’s rapidly changing professional world, managers need a whole new set of skills that create optimal alignment between the organization’s needs and human resources. In this one-day workshop, you will learn how to strengthen your value within the organization, build agile and relationship-focused leadership skills, develop talent to engage employees and support business objectives, and create a work culture that cultivates and supports A-players, all while working remotely and navigating the challenges of an uncertain environment.  

2. Creating Human Connection While Working From Home

As more organizations move to work-from-home models, issues of connection, communication and collaboration are factors to consider. This presents a powerful opportunity to form new pathways of connection, strengthen leadership and transition office cultures into something better and stronger – something that thrives beyond physical walls! In this workshop, you will be guided to start showing up more consciously (but remotely), taking a holistic and authentic approach to leading others, creating more human connection, and embracing distance-working as a powerful tool for connection. You will develop strategies to be intentionally aware of your impact, tune into your higher self, work on your physical, mental and emotional well-being and ensure the people around you are doing so too.  

3. Creating Engagement in a Time of Crisis

Times of crisis can be strange and uncertain times. People are on guard, stressed and overwhelmed. Their attention is divided between work, home and media updates. As leaders, we can no longer overlook the humanity of our people, or expect them to show up in full work mode, leaving their personal life behind. This presents us with challenges, but also a powerful opportunity to evolve our leadership, building trust and engagement on a new level. In this workshop, you will be guided to first lead yourself with confidence and courage. From there, you will work through strategies and coaching tools that will empower you to engage your teams where they are, both physically and mentally. You will come to understand how to approach and lead the whole person – not just the work persona – so that you can be a leader in calming anxieties and bringing people together in virtual environments. You will also develop tools and strategies to create a sense of shared direction and stability at a time when so much is outside our control.  

4. Vulnerability and Courage in the Workplace

There are many misconceptions out there about vulnerability and its place in work environments. The truth is, it takes real strength to be vulnerable, but the payoff is huge. When we can drop all our fears, limiting beliefs and self-preservative behaviors, we show up with openness and authenticity, inspire others to do the same, and cultivate cultures of trust that continually take organizations to higher levels. Vulnerability has the potential to empower dealing with difficult conversations, owning mistakes and learning from them, embracing unique strengths and talents, never worrying about what others might think or say… The possibilities are endless. Sound like a no-brainer? What if we told you there is a simple way to make all of this happen? Join this workshop and grasp the power of vulnerability.
Melissa Dawn is a renowned speaker and coach specializing in building strong teams, strengthening organizations from the inside out, and conscious leadership that transforms people and systems, empowering them to reach higher and higher levels of success. “Connection has always been a big part of my coaching approach,” says Melissa. “First connecting with our truest selves – our inner leaders – then building on that to build stronger connections in our personal and professional lives. It’s that connection that leads to everything else – engagement, retention, productivity, collaboration, creativity, even attracting and retaining customers! So when this pandemic hit, one of my first thoughts as a coach was that people need to remember that connection is still possible from a difference. It may take a shift in mindset, yes, but making that shift will not only get businesses through this crisis (and any other that may come along), but also strengthen them to thrive in amazing new ways down the road. That’s what these workshops are about.” If you are interested in strengthening your business to thrive during COVID and beyond, check out the workshop links above. If you’re a Quebec based business, don’t forget to look into what funding you might be eligible for under the Quebec government’s new program. Because growth is awesome, but even better when it’s free ;-)  
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T Riman
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Montreal Conscious Leadership Coach

Melissa Dawn on the news
Conscious leadership just might be the next big evolution in business leadership as well as in the global marketplace, with Canada uniquely positioned to take the lead is forging this new path. In Montreal, conscious leadership is already being practiced or explored by many organizations.

What is Conscious Leadership?

To understand what it is, we need to understand what it is responding to. For a long time, leadership was about command-and-control. You were the boss and your job was to get people to do what you told them to do. It makes a certain sense. You are the boss. You decide what’s best for the team or the company, you tell your employees what to do, and they should do it. Right? Well, it turns out, that isn’t very motivating or engaging for employees. It also doesn’t allow much room for creativity, innovation, out-of-the-box thinking, designing new solutions and all those great qualities and skills that organizations need in order to grow and succeed. Conscious leadership is a leadership movement in response to that. The aim is to shift our leadership approach so that the focus is on creating cultures of growth – growth of individuals, teams and the overall organization – where employees are highly engaged, fulfilled and dedicated to bringing their best selves to the work that they do.  

Why Canadian Companies Should Embrace Conscious Leadership?

Melissa Dawn is a Conscious Leadership Coach here in Montreal and founder of CEO of Your Life coaching services. She works with individuals, teams and organizations to develop their leadership and help them evolve forward.

According to Melissa, a conscious leader is someone who:

  • Aligns strategy, decision-making, hiring and all other business practices with the purpose, vision, culture and values of the organization; 
  • Seeks out new team members whose gifts and values are aligned with the organization’s and bring strength to the team;
  • Actively looks for the unique strengths and talents of current team members, and helps them bring those gifts forward;
  • Doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations, but instead embraces them as opportunities to learn, overcome challenges and strengthen interpersonal relationships;
  • Seeks to cultivate cultures of trust, integrity, accountability and openness;
  • Continually works on their own personal and professional development;
  • Prioritizes the personal and professional development of those around them;
  • Is able to marry the nuts and bolts of getting things done with compassion and care for the people doing the work, so that both the work and the people can move forward successfully.
Melissa says that while these skills and habits can feel difficult at first, if people approach them with an open mindset and a willingness to learn, they usually start to see the benefits right away – benefits which will continue to grow and spread as the work moves forward.
“In his book, Conscious Capitalism, John Mackay states, ‘The quality of our leaders affects the quality of our lives.’
We all know this to be true,” says Melissa. “We’ve all experienced the stress, frustration and even anger that can result from ineffective or toxic leadership, or even just a culture where we don’t feel valued as whole people, or free to just bring the best parts of ourselves out at work. However, the opposite is also true. Really great leaders – leaders who value others, uplift them, encourage them forward – have a truly positive impact on our wellbeing and quality of life. It makes us better people and better at our jobs. And that matters to the organization because it’s great people who help businesses succeed. As a leader you’re in a position to bring out the greatness in others and conscious leadership is a powerful way to do that.
“When it comes down to it, conscious leadership is about co-creating with employees, teams, management, clients, suppliers, communities, stakeholders and so on. It’s about creating workplace cultures where people feel comfortable being themselves, which makes them happier, more engaged, more productive, more collaborative… all of which we know leads to higher ROIs. And finally, it’s about keeping a mindset of what is best for the general good of the people and the community. When you put conscious effort in your employees and the people around you, you build genuine trust and a reputation for integrity that people – customers included – want to support.”
A professional discussing leadership ideas

When Does a Company Need Conscious Leadership?

We asked Melissa what kind of issues conscious leadership might help address.

She gave several examples of what it can help with for both the individual leader and the organization:

  • A feeling of being stuck – like you need to move forward or change direction, but you just can’t see how;
  • Behavioural issues like defensiveness, procrastination, feelings of hostility, passive aggressiveness, placing blame, etc;
  • Consistently missing objectives or struggling to clarify objectives;
  • Moving through transitions;
  • Motivating employees or teammates;
  • Finding and keeping top talent;
  • Looking to get an edge in the millennial job market;
  • Interpersonal issues or struggling to communicate effectively.
And there’s one big one that Melissa says everyone struggles with and everyone can benefit from confronting:
“The difficult conversations. We all have them and we all know them! It’s those conversations that we know, if we could just have them, openly, honestly, without judgement or fear, everyone could move forward more easily and understand each other better.”
 

How to Get Started With Conscious Leadership?

In Montreal, conscious leadership coaching is just starting to take hold with some business and leadership coaches training in this specific branch of leadership coaching. Montreal has always had a very forward-thinking business community, so it’s no surprise that local organizations are open to the benefits of conscious leadership.  If you’d like to get started on your own or look into adopting conscious leadership within your organization, you could start by reading up on case studies and other resources, but one of the best ways to really dive in is to get a conversation started with a specialized coach like Melissa Dawn of CEO of Your Life.
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