Category: Project Management

BUILDING FUTURES: Hiring Summer Students

Paul Wagenaar

Every summer, organizations hire students to fill short-term roles. Few stop to consider that they are shaping long-term futures.

For many students, a summer job is their first real encounter with responsibility, accountability, and workplace culture. It is where reputations begin. It is where habits are formed. It is where confidence is either strengthened or quietly eroded.

For employers, hiring students is not simply a staffing decision. It is a leadership decision. It is a choice about whether to treat young people as temporary labour, or as emerging professionals.

When approached intentionally, summer employment becomes more than seasonal work. It becomes mentorship, community investment, and the foundation of someone’s career.

“A Reasonable Expectation of Humanity”

Paul Wagenaar

We move through and interact with dozens of organizations and people every day, healthcare, government, work, housing, commerce, and community spaces. Most interactions are brief, yet over time they quietly shape our sense of dignity, trust, and belonging.

This post explores a simple idea: a reasonable expectation of humanity in those interactions. Not perfection or special treatment, but clarity, respect for time, basic human regard, competence with humility, fairness, and accountability when things go wrong.

As you read, notice where these standards are present in your own interactions, and where they quietly fall away. And if you work inside an organization that holds power over others, consider how humanity is supported by design, not just individual effort.

As with most of my posts, this is a little longer than most, thank you for taking the time to read.

Do You Remember a Time When Your Life Changed?

Paul Wagenaar

More than a hundred years ago a book was written that continues to reverberate with many people, myself included even today. In a world full of negative commentary and conflict, it serves as a source of positive influence and hope.

Take a few minutes … its lessons might change your life.

Failing Should Be Taught More …

Paul Wagenaar

Learning to fail seems counterintuitive to everything our success culture seems to value. I believe people who say they never fail likely aren’t trying enough new ideas or ways of doing things. Failure isn’t the end, I believe it is simply an additional step on becoming successful. What is important, is learning how to fail so that failure doesn’t discourage you and lead to giving up.

Building Culture is Building Success

Paul Wagenaar

Culture isn’t built in meetings. It is built in moments – every minute of every day and in every action – culture can be nurtured, strengthened, and lived. The way we treat people when no one’s watching determines the strength of every business. Start small, stay kind, and keep building. It isn’t easy, it can be hard work, frustrating, fraught with setbacks; however, it is worth the time, and it is worth the investment … every time.

Consider this post to be an introduction, a starting point for building your team through one of the areas that is entirely within your ability to influence.

… things managers do that leaders don’t

Paul Wagenaar

You might think I have something against managers … I am less “anti-manager” than I am more “pro-leader.” Our interactions with people matter and anyone aspiring to be a good manager should set their sights higher and pursue being a good leader. As a retail store manager, a consultant, a project manager, a board member, and now as a career advisor and coordinator I have seen the difference a manager who aspires to be a leader can make and I invite you to see how many of these tools you can use.

The best choice is the right one; the next best is the wrong one.

Paul Wagenaar

Decision paralysis is something all of us have or will face … making decisions is hard. What if you don’t make the right choice? What if you only have one shot it? Will my decision change my life forever? All good questions and you are going to make good decisions and bad decisions … its part of life and know that whatever happens you will learn and get better.

Starting your Journey to becoming a Servant Leader

Paul Wagenaar

Becoming a manager of any type of organization is a big accomplishment for anyone. My challenge for anyone in this position is to strive to be more than a manager … become a leader … and most importantly become a servant leader. The road ahead for a new manager is full of danger and chances for failure; however, as an aspiring servant leader, your chances for success increase dramatically when you put serving your team ahead of your own aspirations.

Building Teams by Developing People

Paul Wagenaar

High performing teams are often desired by most organizations; however, it is remarkable how few of these organizations take the time to put all of the building blocks for success in place. Effective organizational dynamics and “how” teams function doesn’t happen by accident. Creating an inclusive and evolving “team charter” should be one of the first “building blocks” all organizations have on their “to do” list.

Being a Servant Leader without being a Manager or Supervisor

Paul Wagenaar

What is leadership? Does it come automatically when you are a supervisor or a manager? Or is it the cumulative effect of dozens of small actions that sometimes seem invisible unless you are looking for them? Someone who is a manager or supervisor doesn’t automatically become a leader, especially not a servant leader; although anyone who is a servant leader would always make a great supervisor or manager.