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Meet Paul

Paul is an expert at showing corporate teams how to be more unified and more collaborative. His proven team building program is guaranteed to bust through the silos as he shows your team how to be as unified as the players in a great orchestra. 

 A-list corporations have been using Paul’s team building program for almost two decades, his audiences include Microsoft, RBC, Goodyear, ING, Heineken, FedEx, PwC and P&G.

How To Be a Pro at Your Office Holiday Party
Employee Relations Paul Houle Employee Relations Paul Houle

How To Be a Pro at Your Office Holiday Party

The trouble with office parties is that they are a bit like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Looking at it from the outside, you see a group of people who, for the most part, are pretty familiar with each other, a group of people who may spend more time together than they do with their families. 

Yet this familiarity can lead to a false sense of security.

It may lead people to believe they can really let their hair down like they would with a bunch of close friends on a trip to Vegas. 

The Holiday office party is not the same as going to Vegas with friends.

It's an event where you have to be a pro and here's why...

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Should you be hiding from your new boss?
Collaboration, Silo Busting, Teamwork Paul Houle Collaboration, Silo Busting, Teamwork Paul Houle

Should you be hiding from your new boss?

Here’s an interesting statistic:  According to a study done by PwC, CEO turnover at the 2500 largest companies in the world rose from 14.3 in 2014 to 16.6% in 2015 – a record high.

And it’s happened to all of us at some point.  You’re just going about your business doing your job like you do every day and in comes a new boss.

You might not know this person or it might be someone who you knew was shortlisted but workplace conversation turns quickly to “hey, what do you know about the new boss?”  

Very rarely does a new boss come in and continue the status quo. New bosses have new ideas and often want to make their mark. 

For some this is a breath of fresh air; for others it causes fear and anxiety. 

So how will you react?  How will you deal with the change coming down the pipe?

A lot depends on what type of person you are, or more to the point, what type of person you choose to be.

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How to stop competition from ruining collaboration.
Collaboration, Competition, Teamwork Paul Houle Collaboration, Competition, Teamwork Paul Houle

How to stop competition from ruining collaboration.

Imagine going to a music concert and, during the performance, each instrument section (or individual player) tried to outshine the others.  

It would be awful to watch and probably even worse to listen to. That’s because you expect this group of people to be working together to reach their outcome - not trying to outshine each other. 

Yet this is what happens in many work places.  

There is competition between departments and between people inside departments. Often, the dark side of competition also creeps in - withholding information, internal politics, and sabotaging other people’s efforts. 

How can organizations make use of the spirit of competition but try to keep out the destructive parts? If only there was a way. 

Ah, but there is.

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How to be more resilient to change!
Teamwork, Collaboration, Communication Paul Houle Teamwork, Collaboration, Communication Paul Houle

How to be more resilient to change!

If you were like me, as a kid, you faced change head on and did so pretty often. 

Every year, you’d get a new teacher, were put in a new class or sent to various lessons, played on new sports teams. In summer, you’d go to camps with new kids and group leaders.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever remember being asked, “Hey Paul, would you like to do this or that?” I just remember ending up in a lot of new situations. It just happened and I had to deal. 

We may not have realized it but, as kids, change was around every corner and yes, sometimes it was scary. But you know what? We dealt and I don’t ever remember complaining about “change”.

We had resilience. 

So now that we’re all grown up, where did our resilience go, and more importantly – how can we get it back?

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