The Great Canadian
LEADERSHIP
Podcast

The focus of business leaders has been shifting from task- or objective-driven to people-driven. That means soft skills such as effective communication, understanding, and collaboration have become increasingly important to leaders’ abilities.
In this episode, we have a great discussion with our guest Jennifer Lennox, a highly experienced HR leader on why soft skills are crucial in organizations and what leaders can do about it. Jennifer also shares how she found her voice to communicate and influence others and how her leadership career took off from there.
One of the major challenges for leaders is that they often find themselves multitasking and handling different priorities, but what's essential now more than ever is for them to put people first and adopt a whole new leadership style that is people-driven. Finally, as a leader, your presence lingers, and your behaviour is often a topic of discussion at the dinner table. Therefore, it's crucial to be fully present and aware of how your people feel when they are in your presence.
Our guest: Jennifer Lennox is an experienced HR professional and the Vice President of People, Culture and Learning at AutoCanada, a senior leadership position where she collaborates with the Senior Executive team, HR Team, and AutoCanada General Managers to create a world-class company culture.

As a leader, what can you do to find and grow the talent that’s right there in your organization? As an individual, how do you raise your hand to be seen? Discovered? To grow? This episode could have also been called, “We need to be able to take a chance on people”, as we explore the topic of finding and nurturing talent both as a leader and as an individual. Our guest, Nupur Khandelwal, draws on her extensive experience as a leader and as someone who has had advocates for her growth within an organization. We discuss topics such as complacency, mentorship, progress, and perfection. Additionally, we delve into the importance of candor and commitment and explore the mechanisms one can use to be an advocate for others. And find out Nupur’s ‘Ta-da’ moment on the significance of a CN Tower climb in reframing your thoughts. Our Guest: Nupur Khandelwal is helping people and organizations deliver human-centric programs and was nominated for Canada’s Top 40 under 40 Awards. At the LCBO, Nupur is the Director of Talent Management, where she leads enterprise-wide initiatives. Nupur is the co-founder of SheRocks! and contributes as a Board of Director member with the HR Professional Association’s Toronto Chapter.

In today’s business world, you need to differentiate yourself, to bring to life your experiences and your growth - but how do you do that without listing tasks? This episode, we’re talking with Dr. Adrienne Shnier on how to showcase your value. Whether it’s a performance review, or you’re seeking a promotion, job or school interview, how can you share your story and be the advocate - for you? You are so busy in your role that if someone asks you what makes you valuable, an asset, you might just ramble off tasks but not your value. Your experiences, how you deal with challenges, your growth - nobody knows this better than you. Listen in as we share how you can communicate this and why that matters. Our guest, Dr. Adrienne Shnier, is the CEO and founder at Apply Yourself: The Advancement Spot Inc., teaching students and professionals to level up their game by showcasing themselves and developing compelling, authentic, academic and professional applications based on her years of experience as a Member on Admissions Committees, Job Search Committees, and Tenure & Promotion Committees. She is a lawyer and founder of Shnier Mackenzie Law & Policy Consulting, PC. She is also a Toronto-based Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Faculty of Health at York University, and Health Law Faculty at Osgoode Hall Law School. To learn more about Adrienne's work and?approach, check out her podcast, The Advancement Spot Podcast.

Do you remember why you keep going back to that restaurant… or not? It probably was your first impression, how you were welcomed, warm bread or stale bread, the interactions, the aesthetics, that first bite…. Those first impressions that we unconsciously hold onto are called imprinting beliefs, meaning that first impressions stick. In this episode, we discuss with Amy Davies on why first impressions matter and the impact people, leaders and organizations can have on improving employee retention by 82%. We also discuss why 1 in 3 employees will leave their employer within 12 months, typically for reasons that are preventable. Our guest Amy Davies is the founder and CEO of First30, offering employee onboarding and outplacement services to businesses. She is the author of A Spark in the Dark: Illuminating Your Path to a Brilliant Career in a Reorg World. Her next book, What Employees Want: 5 Proven Strategies to Attract, Retain and Engage Talent, is set for release in September 2023.

Can you persuade another without feeling pushy or manipulative? Short answer… YES! In this episode, you’ll uncover easy ways to persuade, whether you’re writing or speaking. Your emails, communications and interactions motivate others to action. This episode is “How to Be Persuasive from Writing to Speaking”. Our host, Joel Silverstone, shares with you the strategies and insights to make persuasion simple and respectful. You will find the ideas and tips to balance emotions and logic that connect with the other to be persuasive. Because persuasion is making it easy for the other person. Join us on how you can do this with your writing and communication skills. This is part of our 4-part series on the soft skills you need for 2023: Empathy in Business, Leading Complex Projects with Clarity, Change - Turning Resistance into Resilience, and How to Be Persuasive in Your Writing and Communication.