Tag: Leadership

What is accessibility? Are we compliant or complicit – Accessibility in 2025?

Paul Wagenaar

We notice the ramps, the braille on some washroom signs, we all sometimes use the power door options when we have large items to get through doors, but do we notice the places that aren’t accessible?

More than 20 years legislation became law that guaranteed accessibility standards for people who live with barriers and disabilities. The law promised action. It has been hit or miss, there have been some improvements, but not enough. We need to ask ourselves are we compliant or are we complicit? We also need to advocate and take action.

How well do you read social cues?

Paul Wagenaar

As a career advisor who works with people who live with barriers it is interesting reversing perspectives about social cues. Most people who live with barriers have to learn to adapt to social cues that are not intrinsic to them, what are you doing to recognize and accommodate their social cues?

This post is a brief introduction to social cues that could add understanding and appreciation to our daily interaction with people who experience barriers. The more we support diversity, equity, and inclusiveness; the more opportunities for growth we all have.

Transferrable skills – A “for-profit” to “non-profit journey of lessons learned.

Paul Wagenaar

After a lifetime working in the “for-profit” sector, I unexpectedly took a left turn into the “non-profit” world on a 6-month contract five years ago.

I thought I knew what to expect, and I could not have been more wrong.

First, as a volunteer, then as a contract employee, my learning curve was steep, not only because we were at the height of the pandemic but because I was starting and learning a new job remotely. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to grow and the freedom to try new ideas, to collaborate, and many of my former life skills were directly transferrable to this new world.

Through my coworkers, and at more than 50 food organizations and 300+ volunteers, I learned more about the community that I worked and lived in just a few months than what I thought I had learned in more than thirty years in the “for-profit” world.

You are one person … what can you do?

Paul Wagenaar

This week I was asked, “What can you do, you are only one person?” Perhaps I am naive, perhaps I am too optimistic, I know I am tenacious, occasionally bordering on relentless; however, I do believe one person can make a difference … especially to someone who feels “stuck;” they feel they can’t go backward, they can’t backward, and they can’t stay where they are. More useful than mere words, this is how I believe, me, you, and anyone can make a difference to help unstick someone who is stuck.

Wins, losses, ties, and finding other ways to Victory – Part 2

Paul Wagenaar

Have you ever tried to get into a building but couldn’t open the door? Have you ever needed immediate assistance only to be told you will have to go on a waiting list for six months or more? Have you ever wanted a job but didn’t get it knowing that you were not considered, not because you couldn’t do the job, but because of someone’s bias you weren’t given a chance?

In Canada everyone has the right to employment, but it is far from a “level playing field;” people who live with barriers, including disabilities have to work harder to achieve their wins, they often lose, occasionally tie, and have to find ways to make progress and achieve a measure of victory.

In this, part 2 of 2, I hope to illuminate more of the barriers, the challenges, and to help dispel the myths and biases to help people who live with barriers and disabilities to achieve their employment goals.

We need your awareness and your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.

Looking for a job shouldn’t be this hard …

Paul Wagenaar

Finding a new job for anyone can be very difficult. We all face barriers to employment, living in a small or medium-sized community can add some surprising additional barriers. People in this situation, need our help, they need my help and they need your help. Lend me five minutes of your time for a brief introduction to learning about the barriers and what we can do to overcome them.

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.

Work pressure and sick time.

Paul Wagenaar

In the past and even today, work has stressed and made me feel overwhelmed … and I know that I am not alone. There are ways to mitigate these feelings and even to “get ahead of them;” consider this post to be a guide with “Tools Everyone Can Use” to help you stop being affected as much.

It is worth it for you and for them …

Paul Wagenaar

With the coming of spring (finally) many students are starting to look for summer jobs and many organizations are looking to hire. Hiring students benefits both the student and employer; the learning curve can be steep on both sides, but it is worth the effort today and tomorrow.

Suggestions for Small/Medium-Sized Organizations

Paul Wagenaar

The United States is no longer the shining beacon of trade, hope, and freedom it was only a few months ago. Countries like Canada seem to be its new enemy and are subject to uncertainty, economic blackmail, and threats to its sovereignty. At a micro-level, many small and medium-sized organizations are facing decisions that were unthinkable previously … how to survive in a hostile trading environment.

In 1500 words or less, I can only suggest the beginnings of a new path, a way written expressly for a friend who operates her own business. My advice though, could help both “for profit” and “not-for-profit” organizations chart a new path, not by denying our new reality, but by “turning into the US-lead economic skid,” and begin working towards a future not based on US reliance.