Welcome to Margie's Insights and Interviews

May 30, 2016
Focus on what brings out your best
Let’s face it, life will never be exactly as you’d like it to be. Or not for long anyway. There will always be things you'd like to be different. To have less on your plate or more certainty about your future. To have fewer bills
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May 17, 2016
Underestimating yourself? Dare to dive in!
"Most people live in a restricted circle of their potential." William James I’ll never forget where I was the day that a mental image change the direction of my life. It was March 2002 and I was laying on a beach south of Cancun, Mexico, doing a visualization exercise
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May 11, 2016
Don't spread your stress! Sage advice from Kathy Calvin, President, UNF
During my recent trip to Washington D.C. I sat down with Kathy Calvin, President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation whose job it is to steward over $1 billion dollars entrusted to the UNF. Kathy and I discussed an issue we are both passionate about
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Apr 29, 2016
Lift as we climb... up Mt Kilimanjaro
"So what would be your ideal way to celebrate your 50th birthday?" I asked my husband Andrew earlier this year. "Go on a safari with my family in Africa," he replied. My fourteen-year-old son Ben piped up from the couch where I'd assumed he was in
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Apr 25, 2016
Embrace Change, Risk Mistakes: My interview with Bill Marriott
"It's by embracing change and risking mistakes that you get ahead." ~ Bill Marriott One of the things I most love about my work is the people I get to meet. So it was a huge honor to be invited into Marriott headquarters to interview J.W. "Bill"
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Apr 04, 2016
#TalkToMe: Dad's wisdom on life, love & loss
At eighty year of age, my dad's had his share of hard knocks, from losing a son after a long battle with mental illness to supporting another adapt to life in a wheelchair. Yet while I'm clearly biased, I believe he's one of the most
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Mar 23, 2016
Don't hide behind technology
Communication technology. It's the best of tools when used well. It's the worst of tools when it's not. Last week I received a 'not-very-nice' email from a man who didn’t like my reference to Donald Trump in my recent blog. He wrote, and I quote, “You
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Feb 26, 2016
Is unconscious bias derailing your decisions?
A few months back a friend shared how she was on the fence about hiring a man for a role as a financial advisor because he was 60 and seemed ‘a bit old’ despite being imminently qualified. I encouraged her not to let his age deter
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Feb 19, 2016
Richard Branson: My Time With The Man Behind The Brand
“Every risk is worth taking as long as it’s for a good cause and contributes to a good life.” - Sir Richard Branson Maverick. Risk taker. Rebel. Trailblazing tycoon. Billionaire buccaneer. Adventurer. Disruptor. Sir Richard Branson has been called all these and many more. So
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Feb 18, 2016
Hope Is A Risk That Must Be Run
In recent months I’ve spent time with several people going through a tough time and struggling to hold on to hope and stay optimistic. Depression is tapping at the door of a few. I know there have been times over the years I’ve felt that way myself.
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Feb 08, 2016
Stop selling yourself short!
Last week I facilitated a two-day communication communication workshop with a global tech company. I’ve run lots of workshops over the years but when I was approached on this one last December, I was a little tentative. The seventeen people flying in from around the
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Feb 05, 2016
Less hate, more humanity
"When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves." Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust Survivor "What's the good of hate. It only ruins you," Saba Feniger said to me as she recounted her arrival at Auschwitz and surviving the Nazi death camps which claimed the lives of all but
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Jan 26, 2016
Grow Your Kids Muscles For Life
Let me begin by saying that I am not an educational specialist, child psychologist, school counsellor, ex-teacher, parenting expert or athletic coach. However as a mother of three teens and one 'teen-wannabee', I often see parents get a little (or lot!) too preoccupied with the external measures of
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Jan 18, 2016
Slipped Up? Now Get Up & Stay The Course!
It's mid January. Far enough in to the new year that some people have already fallen off the band wagon on their new year resolutions. If you're one of them, commiserations. Just know this: you aren't alone. I resolved late last year that I was going to write
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Jan 13, 2016
Be Intimidated By No-One
Not long ago a woman in her 40s approached me after a speaking at her company’s annual conference to ask my advice on how to have a ‘courageous conversation’ with a colleague. After our conversation she said, “Before we talked I’d been quite intimidated by
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Jan 07, 2016
Don't Major In Minoring
Ask many people how they are and they'll quickly give you an answer that's something like this: "Busy. Really busy." I mean, who isn't right? Being being has become synonymous with being of value. The busier you are, the more important you must be. But the reality
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