May You Experience Peace and Joy

Cathie Leimbach • December 21, 2021

The festive season has arrived! Bright lights and appealing decorations are all around us! The air is full of happy celebration!


Peace and joy are abundant in the communities around us. Are you feeling this peace and joy in your heart, at work, and at home?


When people like their work they are more productive and have a more positive life experience. One of the main contributors to people liking their job is that they are making a difference at work because their job matters and they are doing their job well. When people are confident in these areas, they feel valued and stable, giving them a sense of peace about their livelihood.


Another contributor to people liking their job is having friendly relationships at work. When someone is appreciated and feels comfortable appreciating others, when workplace colleagues trust each other, and when coworkers smile and regularly greet each other in a friendly manner, they experience joy and contentment at work. And these positive emotions spill over into their personal lives.


If your workplace is a place of peace and joy, continue to be a leader who positively impacts the environment around you. If this isn’t your work experience, what can you do to inject positivity and appreciation so you and others can start experiencing peace and joy at work.


Thinking about being positive and appreciating the diversity of people around me brings back wonderful memories of enthusiastic sing-alongs at Junior Farmers’ Association of Ontario events. Hundreds of teens and young adults expressed peace and joy as we sang the following chorus written by Paul and Ralph Colwell.


Up! Up with people! You meet ‘em wherever you go,
Up! Up with people! They’re the best kind of folks we know.
If more people were for people, All people ev’rywhere,
There’d be a lot less people to worry about, And a lot more people who care.


Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!



May you experience peace and joy and be a source of peace and joy for others.  

4 Leadership Behaviors That Drive Trust, Performance, and Accountability

By Cathie Leimbach • March 31, 2026
Most leaders don’t struggle because they lack knowledge. They struggle because leadership opportunities show up in daily conversations —and those moments are easy to miss. The difference between average and high-performing teams often comes down to four leadership behaviors: 1. Build Trust Through Everyday Conversations Trust is built in small moments. Listen to concerns Ask thoughtful questions Follow through Address issues quickly and respectfully 🤝 Trust grows through consistent, everyday conversations. 2. Reinforce What Good Looks Like People repeat what gets recognized. Be specific: “I appreciated how you handled that client issue quickly—that made a difference.” 🔒 Clarity + recognition = stronger performance. 3. Address Problems Early—Kindly and Clearly Avoiding issues creates bigger ones. Keep it simple: What was expected? What happened? What needs to change? 👥 Clear, timely conversations reduce drama and improve results. 4. Support People So They Can Succeed Your role is to help your team succeed. Clarify priorities Remove obstacles Provide resources Coach progress 🔍 When people have clarity and support, performance follows. The Real Lever: Conversations None of this requires new systems. It happens in everyday interactions— 1:1s, quick check-ins, and follow-ups. Better conversations → better results. Quick Reflection Which one would make the biggest difference for you right now? Build trust Reinforce performance Address problems early Support success 👉 Join our next 60-minute Leadership Conversation – Inspiring Employee Performance on Monday, April 6, at 3:00 pm ET. Not a webinar. A working session with other leaders looking at what’s actually happening on their teams—and how small shifts in daily conversations change performance fast. If you're curious what even a 10% shift in consistency could look like for your team… this is a good place to start.

Three Small Shifts That Change Everything

By Cathie Leimbach • March 24, 2026
You don’t need to make big changes in your leadership practices to get better results. Often, it’s small shifts in everyday leadership conversations that quietly change how work gets done. Here are three that work:  1. Make priorities clear Start meetings by stating current priorities. That creates focus right away and helps conversations stay on topic. 2. Ask instead of solve Instead of answering an employee’s questions, ask, “What are your suggestions?” Such questions encourage employee thinking and stronger follow-through. 3. Hold short monthly one-on-one check-ins Meeting with each employee one-on-one allows the regular review of goals, progress, and obstacles. These short conversations surface issues early and keep everyone aligned. These small habits keep teams steady and focused. Your challenge this month: Pick one shift and try it. Notice what changes in clarity, buy-in, or accountability. Sometimes the difference between teams that struggle and teams that move smoothly comes down to a few simple leadership conversations happening consistently. 👉 Join our 60-minute Leadership Conversation on March 30th at 3:00 PM to see how small shifts in everyday leadership conversations can quickly improve clarity, ownership, and results.