Well men, it almost that time of year to start thinking about Christmas shopping.  There’s still plenty of time left so there’s no need to be concerned.  The calendar gods are working in our favour because Saturday is Christmas Eve Day.  That’s a few extra hours of shopping if you’re starting your Christmas shopping on the 24^th.  Trust me, the 24^th is a great day to shop.  The malls are not as busy and it’s only men in the stores, and they’re on a search and destroy mission.  The good news is that there’s fewer items left, thus your options are limited, which means your head won’t explode trying to decide what to buy.  (more…)

I challenged myself this month to be positive when writing my blog.  I must confess it took some effort to always look for the silver lining but with some creativity and effort it can be done.  We deal with the realities of the real world every day, and we all have our own black clouds to deal with.  So I decided to ignore the black clouds this month.  An attempt to suspend reality?  Yip!   But that’s what this time of year is all about, i.e. immaculate conception, Santa Clause etc.  What I also do this time of year is to reflect on the year which is quickly coming to an end.  I have to say that 2011 was a challenging year, but a lot of great things happened to good people. (more…)

If you thought there was over exposure of all things Leafs today, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

In short order a good number people in Canada are going to become angry.  There will be moments when people in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg Montreal and Ottawa will want to put their foot through their collective TV.   Mobile devices may be thrown from balconies or car windows.  Some will rage at the never ending hyperbole.  I bare no responsibility for creating this anger but I feel compelled to apologize simply because of where I am located geographically.  My god, you’re about to live in a world where it’s all Leafs…all the time!

By now you’re aware of the unholy alliance coming together to purchase MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment).  Two bitter rivals, Rogers and Bell, came together to purchase the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund stake in MLSE.  Rogers and Bell purchased 37.5% each, for a cool $530 million.  (more…)

Leadership can be defined in many ways.  Individuals who lead come in different shapes and sizes, and their personalities can be divergent.  Some leaders are vocal and have the appearance of strength.  Yet other leaders are more cerebral, they use intellect and instinct to lead rather than use force.  Irrespective of the personality type, they all share the same characteristic, the ability to view issues from a macro perspective.  Effective leaders have the ability to see three steps ahead, and believe with absolute conviction that  final decision is the right course of action.

I think we witnessed a demonstration in  leadership yesterday with the joint announcement from CAAMP and the MBABC. (more…)

It’s a shame that extending simple civility and courtesy is rather uncommon today.  Not sure why it’s happening but from my perspective it doesn’t occur with the frequency it used too.  Words such as thank you, please, excuse me, after you, good morning, good afternoon, good evening was common.  Today, these words are an exception and not the rule.  If you think this is a Toronto thing, a big cold impersonal city, not at all.  I travel extensively across this country and I can honestly say that other cities in this country far more impersonal when interacting with strangers.  This post isn’t about rating cities as it relates to extending simple civility and courtesy.  I was just thinking that at this time of the year the courtesy dial moves up just a bit, but it’s a shame that come January it’s back to normal. (more…)