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In February, I wrote Leaps&Bounds’ year-in-review article on a flight to Toronto. We had such a strong year, and I was so proud of what the L&B team had accomplished. At the same time, the flight was taking me to deliver a eulogy for my dear friend Josy, while also processing a breast cancer diagnosis I had just received. It was a lot. Over the last decade, I’ve become disciplined about my health. No matter how busy things get, I go to the appointments, and I do the tests. So when something felt off in December, I followed up right [...]

Leaders have long been recognized as a key driver of organizational success. They translate strategy into action, shape the employee experience, and influence whether people stay, perform, or disengage. In the past, research has shown that managers tended to be more engaged than individual contributors. But recent data suggests that may be changing. According to Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report, the largest year-over-year drop in manager engagement occurred between 2024 and 2025—declining five points from 27% to 22%. In short, managers once benefited from an “engagement premium,” but are now increasingly only as engaged as the employees [...]

I was reading the World Economic Forum’s report on four possible futures for jobs, and what stood out to me wasn’t the scenarios themselves, it was the tension underneath them. More than half of business leaders expect AI to displace jobs, while far fewer believe it will create new ones. That gap reflects what many leaders are experiencing right now: curiosity, pressure, and a lack of clarity about what comes next. The report outlines four directions things could go by 2030. In reality, we’ll likely see elements of all of them, sometimes even within the same organization: AI accelerates and [...]

There’s a moment when strong performance, trusted relationships, and a role that has become part of your identity ends in a single conversation, a single decision, a single reality creating job loss. The world around you goes quiet. I’ve sat in that moment alongside others where everything just changes. What followed wasn’t just a list of practical questions – though those came quickly. What do I do first? How do I explain this? Where do I even begin again? But underneath all of that was something harder to name. A tension. Not just uncertainty, but a strange, disorienting pause. Because [...]

Two years ago, on March 8, 2024, Leaps&Bounds officially launched. I had no idea what the first two years would bring. Since then, I’ve started a small tradition for myself: writing a “report card” at milestone moments to reflect on how things are going. My hope is that ten years from now I’ll look back on these reflections and remember what the early years of building this business actually felt like. The short version of this year’s report card? It’s been an incredible year. Our Team Is Growing In March 2025, we had four full-time team members and one part-time. [...]

A couple of weeks ago, Sue wrote about why it’s so hard to be a good people leader and why character and commitment matter more than strategy. For my first Insight article with Leaps&Bounds, I wanted to write a piece to build on that idea from a different angle: what actually makes people feel that they matter at work, and why that’s harder than it sounds. The connection between engagement and workplace culture is well recognized, even if it is not always well understood. In my work with organizations, I regularly hear leaders wrestle with choosing language that will guide [...]

AI adoption is in full swing, and in many Canadian workplaces, so is Shadow AI. I have gained a friend in AI, and I am not alone. Employees are turning to AI because it helps them work smarter, improving productivity, reducing admin time, and unlocking new ways to problem‑solve. AI is already embedded in everyday workflows, reshaping how work gets done faster than many organizations can keep up with. At an equally fast pace, Shadow AI is also gaining traction. Shadow AI refers to employees using AI tools that haven’t been formally approved or governed by their organization. And in [...]

As we head into the holiday season, we wanted to take a moment to say thank you. To our clients, our partners, and the people who continue to trust us with their leadership, strategy, and people work, your commitment to doing things the right way is what makes this work meaningful. This season is a reminder that progress isn’t only about what we build or deliver. It’s also about the relationships we’ve strengthened, the conversations that shifted perspective, and the moments when people felt seen, supported, or encouraged to try something new. Those things matter just as much as the [...]