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All posts by: Debra Adey

Ask Us Anything: Hybrid Work

  A lot (maybe everything?) has changed due to the COVID pandemic, with one of the biggest impacts being where work is done, particularly for office workers. During multiple lock-downs, companies and organizations had to adapt to a workforce based... Read More

Brain-Based Leadership – Part 3

  Imagine not being anxious at the thought of opening up and saying what needs to be said in a situation at work? Now imagine your leader wants and needs this from you? In this third and final episode about... Read More

Brain-Based Leadership – Part 2

  We hear a lot about resilience and humility when it comes to leadership, but how do leaders start practising these behaviours? In this second of a three-part series on brain-based leadership, Michael Thompson and Debra Adey continue their discussion... Read More

Brain-Based Leadership – Part 1

  If we are complex beings, it is in large part because of our brains. In this first of three conversations with Michael Thompson, a passionate and highly knowledgeable leadership consultant and coach with over a decade of experience, we... Read More

Working Dads with Mark Mccartney

  Today’s work environment is rampant with resignations, burnout, and demands for greater inclusivity from historically marginalized workers. With everything going on, it might seem counterintuitive to talk about what’s happening with working dads – male executives with family obligations.... Read More

Ask Us Anything: Michelle

  Women get interrupted more than men and men interrupt women more than they interrupt other men. This is a well-researched and well-documented fact, but what do you do about it when it’s happening to you? Michelle is in a... Read More

Workplace Predictions 2022

With the new year comes new workplace predictions for every organization. What are the things every organization need to be ready to implement this 2022? Debra and lisa analyze the past year and take aim at the important things organizations... Read More

Bias with Jessica Nordell

  Unconscious bias exists all over the world, whether in the workplace or out in the streets. Everywhere, people stereotype one another by gender, sex, race, age, ethnicity, ability, religion and sexual orientation, and then use these biases to justify... Read More

Women In Trades: A Reality Check With Natasha Fritz

Being a woman in any male-dominated industry is tough. Particularly for women in trades, there are certain realities that are just outright hard to accept and should not be the norm. In this episode, Natasha Fritz, owner of Natural Carpentry, opens up... Read More

The Great Resignation

  In many Western economies, workers of all stripes and sorts are punching out, seeking meaning and purpose outside the confines of employment, or leaving to pursue jobs that are more flexible, bosses who are more supportive, and organizations that... Read More
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As founder of Work Revolution, I am an outspoken advocate for humanizing the workplace, focused on developing conscientious leadership, and supporting professional careers grounded in purpose. Does this sound airyfairy to you? I can assure it’s not. There is a growing body of peer-reviewed behavioral and neuroscience research that shows we can do better. Much, much better! My academic and professional credentials include a business degree and post-graduate certifications in Human Resources Management, and Adult Learning and Development. Amongst my peers and clients, I am known as a principled, straight shooter with a great sense of humour, dedicated to helping people and organizations do their best work. Speaking of humour, one of my passions is Improv; I completed the program at Second City, in addition to many other courses, and I perform occasionally, or at least I used to prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The principles of Improv are fantastic for improving listening and collaboration, building trust and practicing non-judgment of self and others. I am always looking for ways to incorporate this into my facilitation and coaching work. On a personal note, I live in Toronto with my husband, two sons and our dog. I love traveling, spending time with family and friends, lake swims, skiing, ice cream cones and inventing new cocktails. Although I sometimes swear like a trucker, I balance it out with Pilates, meditation and gratitude.
As founder of Work Revolution, I am an outspoken advocate for humanizing the workplace, focused on developing conscientious leadership, and supporting professional careers grounded in purpose. Does this sound airyfairy to you? I can assure it’s not. There is a growing body of peer-reviewed behavioral and neuroscience research that shows we can do better. Much, much better! My academic and professional credentials include a business degree and post-graduate certifications in Human Resources Management, and Adult Learning and Development. Amongst my peers and clients, I am known as a principled, straight shooter with a great sense of humour, dedicated to helping people and organizations do their best work. Speaking of humour, one of my passions is Improv; I completed the program at Second City, in addition to many other courses, and I perform occasionally, or at least I used to prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The principles of Improv are fantastic for improving listening and collaboration, building trust and practicing non-judgment of self and others. I am always looking for ways to incorporate this into my facilitation and coaching work. On a personal note, I live in Toronto with my husband, two sons and our dog. I love traveling, spending time with family and friends, lake swims, skiing, ice cream cones and inventing new cocktails. Although I sometimes swear like a trucker, I balance it out with Pilates, meditation and gratitude.
Far more than a consultant, I am a thoughtful and pragmatic facilitator who goes to the heart of things, and taps into decades of coaching and supporting leaders at all levels in iconic Canadian organizations such as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the CBC, the Hospital for Sick Children—and internationally with the Mastercard Foundation. I do my best work helping senior leaders get out of the business of managing people, and into catalyzing belonging, innovation, purpose and impact. My core philosophy about development is this: before you can do you, you must be you, which many of us struggle with, having contorted ourselves to fit into workplaces that ask us to bring our best work, but block any thinking or behaviour that threatens the status quo. My focus is on helping leaders get clear on who they are, and want to become—and from there, figuring out what they want to do. My formal education includes a BSC in Human Nutrition and Biochemistry, a Masters of Education in Organizational Change and a professional coach certification. Aside from that, I’m a former speechwriter credited with writing "the Million Dollar speech" for a hospital fundraising campaign, the recipient of Canadian Council literary funding, a contributor to Forbes on leadership and coaching, an occasional essayist on Medium, and a co-host for the first two seasons of the Different People Podcast. I am currently writing both a non-fiction book on how to address organizational dysfunction once and for all, and a novel set in 1980s Montreal. I love travel (and miss it terribly, given pandemic constraints), paddleboarding at sunrise, Scandinavian noir fiction and mucking about in the garden.
Far more than a consultant, I am a thoughtful and pragmatic facilitator who goes to the heart of things, and taps into decades of coaching and supporting leaders at all levels in iconic Canadian organizations such as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the CBC, the Hospital for Sick Children—and internationally with the Mastercard Foundation. I do my best work helping senior leaders get out of the business of managing people, and into catalyzing belonging, innovation, purpose and impact. My core philosophy about development is this: before you can do you, you must be you, which many of us struggle with, having contorted ourselves to fit into workplaces that ask us to bring our best work, but block any thinking or behaviour that threatens the status quo. My focus is on helping leaders get clear on who they are, and want to become—and from there, figuring out what they want to do. My formal education includes a BSC in Human Nutrition and Biochemistry, a Masters of Education in Organizational Change and a professional coach certification. Aside from that, I’m a former speechwriter credited with writing "the Million Dollar speech" for a hospital fundraising campaign, the recipient of Canadian Council literary funding, a contributor to Forbes on leadership and coaching, an occasional essayist on Medium, and a co-host for the first two seasons of the Different People Podcast. I am currently writing both a non-fiction book on how to address organizational dysfunction once and for all, and a novel set in 1980s Montreal. I love travel (and miss it terribly, given pandemic constraints), paddleboarding at sunrise, Scandinavian noir fiction and mucking about in the garden.