All my life I have loved solving puzzles. Mathematics came alive when we moved from arithmetic to algebra and problem solving. Once in college, my days were filled with Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Engineering and I was a happy camper!

My love for research and development (R&D) projects involving software development began in graduate school in Computer Engineering. This continued when I began twenty-five wonderful years at Nortel Networks. My wife used to say I didn't go to work, I went to play - with computers.

Once in management there was no looking back. At first I resisted leaving the software development world, but people are much more interesting than lines of code. And I learned I could tackle far more interesting problems (for me they were puzzles) with the help of a really talented team.

My life changed forever when I discovered coaching 20 years ago. Our company hired a professional coach to train a group of us to become coaches. We had a coaching network in our workplace where achievers worked with a coach on a learning objective, and coaches worked with our trainer honing our coaching skills. During these six years of coaching training, I learned my favorite request was 'Brian, do you have a minute?'

Coaching put the heart in my leadership style. It taught me how to have conversations for effective action, how to grow trust, and how to respect the feelings of others while still calling a spade a spade. The following words from our coach Gordon Collins changed my life:

In 2001 I was able to retire. The dot com bomb had created a morbid and stressful climate of project cancellation and downsizing, and I was fortunate to be able to request a pension, retire, and let some other young engineer keep their job.

I had thought I'd enjoy lots of idle time and golf. After two years, I realized I still yearned for the R&D project environment I'd loved for so long.

Looking back, every new job at Nortel began with some kind of a project crisis. Perhaps an old system was cracking and a project was needed to replace it. Perhaps an existing project was derailed. Perhaps a business was in dire straits. The common thread was my attraction to a project challenge in a software R&D environment.

My proudest achievements were the looks of hope replacing looks of despair on the faces of my team after starting a new job. Have you ever been on a team that found a way to win after defeat appeared certain? The bond formed among such teams lasts a lifetime. I enjoy relationships to this day with people I met over my career.

I decided my calling was to start this practice. I went through a lengthy journey of self reflection, getting really clear about my values, purpose, talents, and experience and getting the services I offer to be in total alignment. Today that journey is summarized by the words

Today my job is done when obstacles are removed and that look of hope appears. I do this work because I love it, not because I need to. When projects are back on the tracks, I step aside. I stay away from lengthy 'cradle to grave' project assignments, and my clients are usually pleased that I can clear the decks and get to work on their challenges quickly.

I publish an ezine called "Breakthrough Leadership". It was originally called "Leadership with Heart". This is a place for me to be a missionary for my passion of the special combination of Leadership, Interventions, Interim Management, and Coaching. Stories have a common theme of balance between the logic of the plan and commitment of the team. Both are needed for project success.

I wrote an ebook called "Anatomy of a Turnaround - Breakthrough Leadership Bringing Order to Chaos". Subscribers to my ezine get a complimentary copy. It is less than 20 pages and tells the true story of the largest R&D turnaround project in Canadian industrial history. It is a signature document for Breakthrough Leaders.

Be sure to visit our 'Free Stuff' page and obtain your copy and also a subscription to Breakthrough Leadership.

Everyone seems to know I spend weekends at our cottage in the middle of the 30,000 islands on beautiful Georgian Bay. I also serve as President on the Board of Directors of our cottage association. It provides great experience running a not-for-profit corporation of approximately 250 cottagers.

My passion for the combination of coaching and management has found another outlet. I formed the Coaching Special Interest Group in the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. We host professional development events for management consultants and coaches, and have an affiliation with the Toronto chapter of the International Coaching Federation.

A more formal CV with education and job experience from Nortel is viewable by clicking here.

If you feel we'd work really well together, visit our Contact Us page so we can begin getting to know each other.