Freddie Mercury- the Epitome of Diversity, Inclusion and Rock ‘n Roll Everybody remembers their first 45 single; first concert; first song they ever slow danced to. My first 45 was the single, “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen. It’s not even my favourite Queen song now but growing up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan as a…
According to Dr. Richard Wiseman’s book, 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot” when it comes to persuasion, likeability is key. There’s a phenomena called the “spontaneous trait transference” (hmm, sounds like an episode of the Big Bang Theory) Essentially, when you pass along positive comments about a colleague, the listener subconsciously applies those…
Why do we engage in ‘small talk’ in global business? I have an app on my iphone that tells me the temperature anywhere I wish to go yet, when I meet someone for the first time, it’s often one of the first things we talk about, particularly in Calgary where the weather can change on…
As a woman in business, you may need to be prepared for culture-specific expectations and practices in business situations. Understanding cross-cultural differences and having an understanding of cross-cultural communication will definitely further your career goals. You may realize that building close business relationships with people from other cultures might often be more difficult for…
Cultural differences in the workplace extend across all aspects of communication and relationships but one area we don’t often recognize as a cultural concept is our cultural differences in the workplace is in our approach to time. Instinctively we feel that time is the same in all countries. But time is much more than the number…
As a cultural diversity trainer/speaker I always begin my December workshops/keynotes on saying “Merry Christmas”. It seems like a lot of people get their Christmas stockings tied up in knots over this. Here’s the deal (and my opinion only but that is what the internet is for)- it’s part of Canadian culture to say…
Should sales training courses in Canada evolve? Realtors, financial planners, mortgage brokers, car salesman, and equipment salesman, to name a few, are often rewarded with sizeable commissions for larger sales. Pay for performance is the norm for many of these professions and it works well. Or does it? With Canada’s population becoming more and more culturally…
If I had more time I’d definitely have more work life balance. I would do all the things I want to do- not have to do. I would exercise-maybe train for a marathon- or even the famous Marathon des Sables in the Sahara Desert. I would sleep deeply for at least 8 hours- well, heck,…
Work-life balance- is it achievable? Many men and women struggle to achieve work-life balance. Many believe the whole concept of work-life balance is actually a myth. Canadians are working more than ever and because of mobile technology never have the opportunity to ‘unplug’. Statistically, only 23% of working Canadians are satisfied with their lives. Many…
Do cultural differences exist in parenting? Parenting can be our greatest joy and our most difficult challenge. In North America, we tend to have quite rigid standards around parenting norms and what is considered to be appropriate and acceptable. However other cultures can have vastly different “rules”, sometimes even opposite to Western cultures, and…