When politicians mess up, the story becomes larger than a local story. It hurts so many and shatters the trust we have in our institutions.

Trust in institutions has been falling since the 1960s and it isn't improving. In Canada, we are obsessed with the fiasco that is taking...

I've been thinking about feedback lately. I'm assessing the senior leaders at an international company and, as part of my process, I talk to these leaders about their interactions with their team and others in the organization. We talk about high points and low points, their challenges and struggles and...

How often have you been burned by a business or personal relationship? I'll bet it happens more often than you want to admit. Do you get more cautious and wise? Research says that you do, as our levels of trust have been on the decline since the 1960s.

What...

My son couldn't wait to turn 16 because it meant he could finally get a job. On his birthday, last November, he started applying to companies. He has a strong work ethic; it must come from being raised by an entrepreneurial mother. He has seen me work hard, make my...

From an early age, we've all been taught that learning to save is a good life skill. Our parents taught us to set aside 10 per cent for saving and 10 per cent for charity. It seems, however, that once the kids grow up, they reject this practice and spend,...

When I was younger, I never paid much attention to International Women's Day. I wondered why we needed to celebrate being women; why did we need to single ourselves out? So the day used to come and go with me wondering what the fuss was all about. Perhaps it was...

It was New Year's Eve and I just got off the phone with the insurance company. That conversation took me from the edge of a cliff to the possibility of a future. But a crazy twist of fate could have just as easily pushed me over. My story went back...

Leaders have been coached and trained about how to look, think and lead. It isn't hard to understand the rules of engagement and to learn to do the right thing in the right way. What is more difficult, however, is to lead in an authentic and positive manner and have...

I was so impressed with Donna when I met her. An independent, boomer woman who raised two children on her own. Smart, organized and thoughtful. Yet, when Donna and I spoke about investing, she said the things that so many women have told me. "I would never have invested on...

Many of us hate organizing our financial lives but love dreaming about our futures. Our dreams are the fun part but planning to get there is the stuff of discipline and denial -- or so we believe. That might be part of the reason that only a third of women...

It's a Wednesday afternoon, two weeks before Christmas. Sarah decides to pop into the mall on her way to a client appointment. How busy could it be? It's jammed. She finds a frenzy of activity, with people walking quickly while they try to power shop in the little time they...

The outcome was inevitable and predictable. Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was found in contravention of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. Whether one is a supporter of Ford or not, Justice Charles Hackland's decision reinforces the importance of two issues -- governance and trust. Ford...

I love the term "princess math." I use the term with great affection because I think of all the women I know who are experts at princess math. What is princess math? It's something uniquely female. Here is an example: Your favourite department store is having a half price sale....

The Salvation Army has been in the news due to a massive theft of children's toys from its warehouse. It fired its executive director in response and is investigating the circumstances surrounding this crime.

While the scale is large, it is not unusual to encounter examples...

Why do only one-third of women have a financial plan in place? According to the Prudential Research Study on Women, the reasons include lack of time, the pull to meet shorter-term financial obligations, lack of knowledge, and an unmet desire for assistance and help.

There are also...

Have you ever calculated how much you spend in take-out coffee, lattes, frappucinos, smoothies -- the list goes on. I did it once and couldn't believe it. My daily coffee habit was costing me a minimum of $600/year.

That is a very low estimate because it didn't include the...

Women have stories. We share our stories with one another and make sense of our lives through our stories. Our lives consist of seemingly endless stories woven together with bits of thread and a little bit of patchwork along the way. Within the stories we find our meaning and our...

It was that time of year again: the board meeting. The CEO hated these meetings, didn't like the board, and resented their oversight. As he had done in so many other meetings, he sat at the table, arms folded across his chest, laptop in front of him. After a series...

Those who have seen the documentary Queen of Versailles usually laugh at the outrageous lifestyle of David and Jacky Siegal, a billionaire and his trophy wife. This film portrays their ostentatious lifestyle and their insatiable desire to spend. The film begins in 2008, before the market crash. The...

The number one issue in corporate governance is the diversification of boards. Despite their claims otherwise, corporations are not doing a good job with diversifying boards. Boards are a self-selected and homogenous group. Nomination committees prefer people who are known to them or are drawn from within existing contacts. Furthermore,...