My latest leadership lesson I received this year from my elderly mother. Watching a loved one or even a peer traverse a path littered with stumbling blocks can be very painful. I find myself wanting to guide them and share the benefit of my own experience, my knowledge or wisdom. I have come to understand […]
Isabelle Francois
Christmas and leadership
By building new practices of storytelling we learn to lead in a new way. We give ourselves and the ones we love an opportunity to draw closer in our shared human experiences. Long live the stories around Christmas and all traditions! Read more
Leadership and humility
As a single mom, I have long led my life independently. I felt reassured to have full control over my decisions, and to decide for myself which way to go. It took me a long time to understand that I was under the illusion that I was in charge and could handle the responsibilities towards […]
Leadership versus “going it alone”
There is something very special about seeing an old friend coming back into one’s life. I received a message recently from an old friend from high school, who found me through social media. Thirty years may have passed since our last encounter. I was as startled as if a ghost had visited, and a rush […]
Sourcing your leadership
You have to remember that you cannot define yourself by your choices. You can avoid becoming your decisions by affirming that a bad decision was just an experience, and that next time you can choose to experience things differently. You are not your decisions. Your leadership is not the sum of your decisions – past, […]
Adverse circumstances
We all know that when the sun is not visible, it is shining somewhere else. Whether the clouds are blocking our views or the night has fallen, we know that the sun will return. We also experience periods of gloom and darkness that make us lose sight of the light, but hope is the promise […]
Rewriting your story
Our wounds and traumas are beyond what we inherit in life. They reflect what is passed on from generations to generations, the family story, but also our own difficult personal moments in life. They are not necessarily meant to be healed or forgotten. The pain inscribed in the body physically, emotionally, and spiritually becomes over […]
Leading the way towards a different Christmas
I am not looking forward to Christmas this year. This will be a Christmas without my son, who is stranded in another country, without a sense of gathering, without the madness of shopping in this busy time and preparing for some big celebration. Read more
Leadership from the neck up
I do not know about you, but the culture I grew up in put the head over the heart. It was more important to use your brain to address issues and people, rather than give in to emotions. The hierarchy between head and heart went even further in pointing to the fact that women tended to […]
Leaders and full spectrum thinking
Once again in lockdown, I am coming back to still a new terrain with the benefit of a couple of lessons learned. While somewhat more familiar, the environment is still foggy to me. Living inside myself, I have come to recognize various voices: the angry one which hardly ever speaks but clearly has an opinion; […]