We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive…

My quirky 13-year-old collects quotes … her phone is filled with wise words from Dr. Seuss to Kurt Cobain. So when I settled in to contemplate a New Year’s blog I stole her phone and scrolled through her collection of inspirations. Emerson’s words leapt off the screen at me. A perfect jump start to my…

I sat down yesterday afternoon to help a client work through a particularly nasty reputation crisis. As we prepped for the media interviews that were sure to unfold over the coming days, we dissected the ‘messaging’ — rethinking each word. Then when we were almost out of time, I came to something and I watched…

Empathy. The simple act of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and imagining their journey… their thoughts, emotions, hopes and fears. I’m beginning to think empathy is disappearing in our modern world where we move too fast to take the time to care. Or is it that I work in a world where everything I…

I met Danielle Smith for the first time at Rod Love’s memorial last Saturday. During the many tributes, Danielle stood beside our group. Her eyes were wet. Her emotions on her sleeve. Her personal strength evident. During the reception, I made a point to tell her I was impressed with a leader so present and…

I’ve made a pledge to myself that Blackcoffee will not be typical. So when I sat down with life’s most difficult customer (the husband) to develop a new brand and website for his company, I faced an interesting challenge. How to be remarkable when selling an engineery business guy into corporate Calgary? It would have…