All posts by Andrea Jacques

  • Transforming Work Part 3: From control to creativity

    The last two months have featured two key mindset shifts that forward thinking leaders and employees must make to have a positive impact on transforming their workplace. The first was to shift from a surviving work style...

    • Posted July 10, 2015
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  • Transforming Work part 2 FROM STATUS TO SERVICE

    An ever-growing volume of research is demonstrating that if businesses are to thrive and profit for the long term, work must become a source of aliveness, not just livelihood, for each and every employee. To achieve this,...

    • Posted June 8, 2015
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  • Transforming work and workplaces

    For more than 25 years now,  I have worked with individuals and organizations to transform their work and their workplaces. In many ways the situation has improved. Technology has made it possible for people to work from...

    • Posted May 11, 2015
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  • Get real for big change

    As a working mom, I am constantly bombarded with information about what I should be doing to be a good mother, wife and business person. I should always feed my family healthy, organic, creative meals, I should...

    • Posted April 9, 2015
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  • Beyond Rajio Taisou: New Directions for Creating Wellness at Work

    Workplace wellness programs that focus on improving physical fitness are becoming commonplace in leading companies around the world. This is something that has long been known and practiced in Japan. Honda pioneered an approach where they enrolled...

    • Posted March 11, 2015
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  • A new perspective on planning

    I have long believed that taking the time to clarify your vision, set goals, and map out strategies to get from where you are to where you want to be is an essential ingredient for success, but...

    • Posted February 16, 2015
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  • If you do X, then Y will be the result.

    Mastering Soulful Success To succeed in the adult world, we learn how to push, plan, set goals, strategize, and work hard. These concrete skills teach us that there is a direct link between cause and effect –...

    • Posted December 17, 2014
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  • Lessons from a florist : 4 Ikebana principles to guide a happy life

    I studied ikebana – Japanese flower arranging – for some time while I was in Japan. (At one point, I was even on a student visa and was meant to be studying 20 hours per week!) Unfortunately,...

    • Posted November 10, 2014
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  • Culture Matters

    The games we play   s mother to a 6-year old, I spend a lot of time playing games with my child and his friends. Recently, I realized that the issues that get in the way of...

    • Posted October 9, 2014
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  • Honne and Tatemae

    The concepts of tatemae and honne are deeply embedded in the Japanese psyche. Many foreigners living in Japan get frustrated by how difficult, if not impossible, it is to get behind the tatemae (the “face” that a...

    • Posted September 10, 2014
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  • The 5 Secrets of Enduring Companies

    apan has the privilege of claiming more than 20,000 companies that are over 100 years old (and a few that are more than 1000 years old!), so it is no surprise that Japan has a specific word...

    • Posted August 9, 2014
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  • The Top 5 Barriers to Finding Work You Love

    With 25 years of experience coaching people to create careers that align with their passions, I have encountered dozens of ways that people block themselves and the process. After a recent skype coaching session with one of...

    • Posted July 12, 2014
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  • Work Less Nap More

    orkaholism is a tough nut to crack. Why? Unlike other areas like alcohol and drugs where people overdoing it is frowned upon, overwork is worn as a badge of honor in many countries. In North America, successful...

    • Posted June 9, 2014
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  • Crafting your spirit at work: The way of the Shokunin

    iro Ono is a famous Tokyo sushi chef who, at 89, has no intentions of retiring unless he is incapable of showing up to work. His work brings so much meaning, purpose and joy to his life...

    • Posted May 7, 2014
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  • 2014 – Year of Alignment

    Living in modern society can be tough. It is stressful. A recent global survey of 1000 corporations across 15 countries commissioned by The Regus Group found that 6 in 10 workers have experienced increased stress in the...

    • Posted January 1, 2014
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  • Is FoMO Your Biggest Barrier to Success?

    Living in Japan offers plenty of opportunities to get out, learn, explore and try new things. From personal experience, I know that saying yes to these opportunities can be a huge catalyst for expanding your career or...

    • Posted December 15, 2013
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  • Why Japan scores poorly in employee engagement

    October is Healthy Workplace Month in Canada, so last month I was immersed in a sea of research, articles and best practices for creating healthy, thriving workplaces. When this annual promotion of healthy workplaces started thirteen years...

    • Posted November 9, 2013
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  • Less is More: End Decision Fatigue and Resolve Your Personal Energy Crisis

    In a world overloaded with choice, one might be tempted to think that the more options we have to choose from the better. A growing body of research on willpower, decision-making, energy, performance and happiness shows the...

    • Posted October 6, 2013
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  • Bracing for balance

    In today’s fast-paced world, most successful people you talk to would say that they would love more of one thing – balance. The challenge with achieving this balance is that balance, by definition, is about maintaining a...

    • Posted September 12, 2013
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  • Soul Success, Part 1: Define success on your terms

    The biggest challenge with achieving success is that it is defined in reference to the traditional status quo. The assumption is that when you have the good job, the house, the car, the husband or wife and...

    • Posted July 4, 2013
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  • Tsubos, Spirit and Success

    (This is an excerpt from the introduction to my forthcoming book, Crafting Your Spirit)   It is easier to write a resume than to craft your spirit, But crafting your spirit makes resumes irrelevant, and success, on...

    • Posted June 18, 2013
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  • Kyosei, a personal practice

    Living in Japan, one of the characteristics of the culture that I found most fascinating was the desire and ability to function harmoniously as a group. Far more so than in Western culture, Japanese culture promotes the...

    • Posted May 1, 2013
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  • The year of no excuses

    We are now well into March and a majority of people have already fallen off their New Year resolution wagon. Most have good excuses for doing so and are still telling themselves that they will get on...

    • Posted March 3, 2013
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  • The dark side of ganbatte

    “Ganbatte” is a seemingly innocuous word that every foreigner in Japan quickly becomes familiar with regardless of their level of Japanese. On the surface it appears to be a friendly motivational phrase that is used to encourage...

    • Posted February 3, 2013
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  • Out with the old

    Japanese year-end traditions are one of the many things about Japan that have continued to play a big part in my life and work since I returned to Canada more than a decade ago. I don’t eat...

    • Posted January 2, 2013
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  • Learning to let go

    Successful people often attribute their success to the tenacity with which they hold onto their vision, their principles, and their ideas about the right and wrong way to do things. Yet it is precisely this attachment to...

    • Posted December 3, 2012
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  • Don’t sweat the ‘chisai mono’

    In our world, August and September are usually slow from a work perspective. Many clients postpone sessions due to holidays or because they are busy ramping their families up for fall. This year was a different story. ...

    • Posted October 31, 2012
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  • Red socks and tattoos

    This past month I came across two very powerful metaphors – red socks and tattoos – that are trans- forming my choices in life and work. First, the socks – Red socks (or any other red item)...

    • Posted September 28, 2012
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  • Genki: part 2

    Last month I gave you three tips for physical energy to help you get and stay genki. This month focuses on some less tangible strategies for ramping up your energy and enthusiasm in life and work. Ever...

    • Posted July 31, 2012
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  • O Genki Desu Ka? My top tips to increase energy for life and work

    “Genki” is one of my favorite Japanese words. Despite being used as the functional equivalent of “How are you?” and “I am fine”, “(O) genki desu ka” and “Genki desu” have a much more inspiring undertone.  Because...

    • Posted July 1, 2012
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