Angie McLeod

We often talk about trusting others; however, how often do we examine whether or not we trust ourselves? In my work with women entrepreneurs, one of the most consistent realizations clients have is that in some areas of their life and business, they simply do not trust themselves. Imagine a woman entrepreneur who has grown her business successfully over the past five years from a kitchen table endeavour to one that serves a multitude of retailers. An expanded product line, ne

Working with non-profit leaders is rewarding and invigorating. It feeds my soul. These are my people. They are driven by their hearts and are passionate about serving others. We share many of the same values. Over the two decades (oops, I think that is creeping up on three now) that I’ve been working with non-profits, I’ve noticed that they are focused on serving those who mostneed their help. As a result, they can fail to see the bigger picture: that their services are of va

Having worked alongside countless dedicated non-profit leaders, I know that many are becoming burnt out. Exhausted. Deflated. Tired of continually striving to do more with less—to meet increasing reporting and contractual demands with fewer resources. I’ve seen how exhausted and frustrated these non-profit leaders and staff can be. I’ve felt their frustration. And too often, I’ve seen them walk away from work that matters to them and feeds their soul to secure jobs that compe

At the heart of collaboration—a favourite topic of mine—is community. For me, community can best be described as the group of people who you feel connected to. These are the people that you “belong” to; people who welcome you and celebrate you, for who you are; people who respect your thoughts, ideas, and perspectives—even if they are different than your own. This sense of belonging, being respected, and being included, are essential to our personal health and wellness—of how

Do you remember in school when teachers made us come up with group rules before starting a group project? It was an important lesson. Collaboration is a great tool to help us grow our businesses. Like all great tools, it’s important to pre-establish operational guidelines to ensure a common understanding and safe implementation. It is easy to forge ahead without thinking through and discussing the details of how the collaboration will work. However, experience has shown me th

You’ve got to have friends. Being a leader in business—whether you run a non-profit or a small business, can be lonely. You have a lot of responsibility. Limited time. Competing demands. Something has to give. For many of us, what gives is our social life. We are so busy managing our daily to-do lists, ensuring everything around us has what they need, that we run out of steam by the end of the day. At least that is the way things work for me. I recently had a good friend (and

What is the difference between being a manager and a leader? And what do these differences mean to your business?[1] In more traditional jobs, we so often strive to earn the title of Manager. The title generally comes with more prestige, increased pay, and greater responsibility. There is no doubt that being called the Manager, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or Executive Director feels great. Earning the title means that someone has recognized one’s skills and abilities.

Networking is an essential part of building a strong business. Or so the story has gone for decades. Get out there. Meet people. Identify needs. Solve problems. Build business. But is it working? I attend a lot of networking events. I connect with people. I ask questions, learn about someone’s business and product, and find out what drives them. I shake a lot of hands. They, in turn, inquire about what it is I do. Sometimes we connect. Sometimes we don’t. And while a small pe

​​Researchers believe that handshakes started as early as the second century B.C. to prove your peaceful intent—since you weren’t holding weapons.[1] Nowadays, we don’t use handshakes in quite the same way, but they’re still extremely important in our society. Often, they’re used in a business context, so we’re using National Handshake Day on June 29 as an excuse to celebrate the value of networking! Experts agree[2] that networking can lead to more professional opportunities

What is an entrepreneurial woman to do when suddenly faced with an evening free of children’s sporting activities? Write a blog post of course! I say this tongue-in-cheek, but it is the reality that I face—and that many of my colleagues face as well. We need to make the most of “found time” to build our businesses, expand our connections, and strategize about our next steps. Somehow, the ball field—as much as I love watching my daughters play—isn’t the right place for these a

I’m learning a lot of new terms of late. And today I found a term that really resonated with me: collective intelligence. Why does this resonate with me so strongly? Because I’ve seen it in action. Only in my world, I’ve called it collective wisdom or peer power. It is the process of sharing ideas, perspectives, and knowledge through conversation. It’s where the brains of multiple people meet to a share, discover, and develop ideas. Not every conversation reaches this place.

In honour of National Honesty Day on April 30th, I want to explore the importance of honesty and caring in the conversations that we have a on a day-to-day basis. We all know that honest conversations are the cornerstone of great relationships. However, sometimes it is difficult to be truly honest: it requires that we open ourselves up to be vulnerable. And who wants to do that? But what if we could have an open, honest conversation—one where we presented our vulnerabilities—