A short holiday message reflecting on the year that shifted our lives in so many ways.

Special Edition PWE & Me Podcast with Stephanie Woodward, hosted by Carolyn Swora

As your host and the creator of PWE™, I’m on a mission to help our workplaces shift from being transactional to being transformational, a place where people feel energized, inspired and motivated. PWE&ME is a podcast where we talk to thought leaders AND to people who work in organizations, regardless of their titles.

I almost called this the Kitchen Talk Episode because we recorded it while drinking tea in Catherine’s kitchen. Not only have we had the pleasure of working together, we are now both fully dedicated to helping companies create thriving, human-centred places to work. Together we share stories and insights about how we can build compassion, empathy and connection in our workplaces.

Edwin fired himself as a manager. Seriously he did! And in doing so he learned more about what it takes to be a great leader than 10 years of leadership courses. Hear these fascinating insights about his shared journey with colleagues into self-management and how feedback is a gift, when it’s delivered in this format.

I was so honoured when Greg reached out and asked to be a guest. His story is truly inspiring and uplifting. It’s the perfect example of how everyone in an organization can influence the culture, regardless of their title. It also demonstrates the power of creating a space for people to step into difficult conversations and how it leads to healing and ultimately to a better workplace.

Over 15 years ago, Bruce supported me in developing a leadership program at my previous company. I learned so much from him so it only made sense to have him on this podcast! In this episode, Bruce shares how we can connect to a person’s heart, which is the emotion, get aligned on how to solve a problem using the head, and then have the hand actually doing it. Powerful stuff indeed.

Being a leader means getting comfortable with discomfort as it allows us to lean into really important discussions at work, especially about diversity and inclusion. Darren has vast experience helping people find success and satisfaction at work using his unique “Value Others” approach. What an interesting and fun discussion we had!

“I think for the most part, when we just even hear the word collaboration, we have this preconceived notion. And at the end, there's a few things that are really kind of keeping us all boxed in. And the first thing being, you know, collaboration, at least for us is it's not just an activity, it's a process.” — Alan Schaefer, CEO/Founder Banding People Together

“When we think about leadership development, it's often all about… we're going to send you off to this course. As opposed to, we collectively are going to go and develop ourselves as leaders, and then look to see how we support each other. And that's where we've got to make the shift.” — Glain Roberts-McCabe, Founder & President, The Roundtable