The pandemic is not why your people disengaged

My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Yeah, it's a it's a long story. In fact, I did go to university. So here in Canada, it's university, we I did my BA, my master's, and did some of my PhD in sociology, applied sociology. And then I got to work in various organizations throughout my planning career. So it was pl health planning and and research and and so on. And after about 10 years in the in in that kind of world in the nine to five, I call it the nine to five world. I started I I needed to change avenues and started LMD solutions when I was only 35 and was able to acquire clients and work with various organizations and and over time develop what I know today as what the business is and who we serve and what we do, which we can get into. but it was a long process of of working in different fields and different organizations to then decide that I wanted to do this on my own and to to find a niche of my own so that I can support projects. I'm a little bit of a little bit of a black sheep. I like to make my own schedules and I like to go think outside of the box and sometimes the box wasn't meant for me to work in. So I was I found my own and I created my own company where I can dabble in a lot of things and raise a family. I have two sons and and I'm married and it enabled me to work on various projects at the same time. So being an entrepreneur was I think I was destined to do it. I just didn't know that it would happen at 35 years old. And now here I am almost fifteen years later and have a a solid business and and working and it's i it's it's a joy. Yeah.

Yeah. And so we support entrepreneur entrepreneurs, businesses, and nonprofits. A lot of I a lot of the work that I've done in the past decade has been working with nonprofits. So a lot of strategic planning, a lot of board governance, working with nonprofits in their in their framework and their structures and so on. So helping boards of directors. I've done a lot of that, board training. And then transitioned into operations and supporting not only the the nonprofit at the governance level but also in operations and strategic operations and communications and planning and so on. And through that lens I also have been working a lot with entrepreneurs because I've been building this business for about fifteen years. So I acquired some experience. And so supporting other entrepreneurs starting in their businesses, even their nonprofits, has been something where we are finding and navigating our way through these these different types of clients and contracts now. So we serve nonprofits, businesses, and entrepreneurs are leaders in the development of their of their projects, of their businesses or organizations. That's what we do.

Yes. Here it is. Well we I I I incorporated my business about three or four years ago and my new director of operations at the time asked me in in good in very naively, what do your clients come to you for? And at the time it was post-pandemic and we were dealing with a lot of teams that needed team building, a lot of teams that had worked from home and needed to to To examine the office in a different lens, and the engagement was had changed. People were not wanting to be on boards or volunteer, or a lot of people didn't feel as engaged in their careers or in their offices or organizations because of post-pandemic feelings. And so a lot of clients were coming to us asking us, like, how do we fix this? How do we, how do we deal with this change? in in this ecosystem because it it was it was a real problem. And so when she asked me that question, what do they come to see you for, it was primarily at the time a big lack of engagement, a big lack of investment in the organization. And and my clients were very nervous about how they were going to fulfill all of their their projects without proper board members or without having staff that was coming into work and so on. And so we discussed that, her and I. I we like to tell the story that we were at a Thai food restaurant and we were eating and discussing and she was just coming on board to my team. And we developed this four-pillar model of why people were disengaging or what was needed for them to feel more engaged. And at that table sitting in the restaurant, we we came up with these pillars, which is knowledge, knowledge, proper knowledge of what their roles and responsibilities are, what the organization is, and why they are doing the job that they are doing, whether they're a staff or a board member, what is the thing that they're trying to do? So knowledge is at the base of that pillar, the the model. And then we have direction. So direction is is going to give us direction and keep us focused on what we're trying to achieve. So if you are a volunteer or a staff member and you don't know where you're going, not physically, but in the organization, if you don't understand the strategic plan or the mandate of the organization or where the organization is going to be in in a year, two years, three years, then it's going to demotivate you. You're gonna be like, why am I doing this? Right. so direction was a big one. So knowledge, direction, and then structure is the third one. Structure is how do we build the framework that we're trying to build, and how do we operationalize all of these nice knowledge pieces and planning pieces to actually getting the work done? So, who do we how do we delegate? How do we identify the the indicators of success and how do we create a stri a plan to To put all of these pieces and how do people identify to that plan? So then we have so now we have knowledge of the organization, we have direction on where we're gonna go, and we have a good structure on how we're gonna get there. And the last pillar at the top is results. And results means sharing the results with everybody. So if you're a board member, for instance, and you're not feeling particularly engaged in the work that you're doing, or a staff member. you're never hearing about the good things coming. You're never hearing about the results of the projects that you're working on, or you don't feel particularly like you're making a difference. You're not gonna feel as satisfied with your work. And that's what we were seeing. A lot of a lot of boards and a lot of staff were kept in the dark during the pandemic. Like do your work, do your work, do your work, and we're not gonna necessarily like we don't really come back on things and people weren't seeing the progress. And so they were disengaging. And so we we say that results don't always necessarily have to be good results. They can also be a negative result too. And because then you build on that. You come back and you build a b another base of knowledge and another plan and another structure and another, you know, you you you rebuild. And so the model speaks to to to not only those four pillars. But also the emotions that are attached to it disengagement, lack of focus, lack of commitments, anxiety and stress. And we really think that we don't want to dabble on too much on the mental health angle of it, but it does represent feelings in the boardroom or feelings in the office. And these feelings are important. And when we do feel these feelings, where can we then tackle in those four pillars? the solutions that we need to s to to to put in place so that people feel engaged again and wanting to work and wanting to come into the office and less burnout. So that's the basis of the book and why we created it. And now it's been launched as of April twenty ninth and it's out in the world, available on Amazon and and we are using it with our clients. So it's been really beneficial.

Right. Stop fixing the the wrong yeah, stop fixing the wrong things, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So Yep. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Yeah. Yes, of course. And it yeah, the book is called Wake Up Calls Stop Fixing the Wrong Things and it's a diagnostic model for rethinking those solutions. And and that's exactly what we were seeing. People were thinking that the problems with that disengagement or the problems were external, like, people don't want to volunteer anymore or people don't wanna participate anymore and or people don't are not as invested because of the pandemic. And we were noticing though that some organizations were successful. Some organizations did have volunteers and did have engaged staff and they were doing projects that were passion projects and so on. And so the the organizations that weren't necessarily feeling that why? You know, because they're s they're living in the same ecosystem. So why are they not feeling it? So in going through that diagnostic of the four pillars, we were able to identify that Maybe they're maybe they don't necessarily train their board members properly or orient give them orientation. So they don't have the knowledge that they need to properly do their job and their roles and responsibilities. Or, you know, they don't have they didn't have a proper strategic plan or they weren't following it. Oftentimes is a strategic plan will sit on a shelf and nobody really refers to it. And then the structure, you know. when people people will put together and get very excited about a project at the beginning. and they will then you know everybody's very excited about starting this project and then they go about doing their other work and that project hasn't been properly delegated or identified or the indicators of success are not there. So people are struggling with what to do next. And how to do it and am I doing it right? And who is who am I reporting to? And that structure that they need is not there. And and we see that a lot in nonprofits because of the lack of resources and human resources that we have to put things in place. So it it requires some minor tweaks in that structure to be able to to ensure that everybody understands properly what's happening within the organization. And That is not always clear to people. So we will go in and we will ask questions and we will use the model in the back of our minds to start asking the right questions to see how they're functioning inside inside their organization and and to pinpoint whether they need more training, whether they need a better plan, whether they need more implementation. and and if they are sharing the results. what are the results that they're getting and how are they how are they how are they using those results to better their situation and and make their staff and volunteers feel satisfied about what they're doing. And so so far so good. We've as I said we've been using it for about four years and developing models and plans based on that.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. She would she would be I think she would be very very excited by everything that's happening, but n but unsure about how to do it. As I mentioned before, like I started this at 35 years old and I had no idea. I had no idea how to do it, but I knew that I wanted to. And I did lean on I did lean on others, other consultants and try to understand how they were doing it and it it is a mysterious world. Entrepreneurship and and what does it mean to be an entrepreneur. So today if I was to support an entrepreneur, which I do because I am a a mentor, is to get yourself a mentor from the beginning and get yourself familiar with how how these people ask a lot of questions. Don't stay stuck because staying stuck is the is is like going to get you nowhere. once we once we stay stuck, we we kind of disengage. Same thing as the model is that we don't necessarily push through. And so sometimes somebody has that answer right available for you. And this is what I tell my the mentees in my program is that when they do come to me, they don't have to have all the answers. Let's work on it together and let's figure it out. the other thing that I would tell little me at 35 years old is that I would tell her that she's not going to have it figured out for a while. And it does take a little bit of time. And we think we might know what our business model is, but till we start serving clients and start really identifying the needs and crafting what our offer is, it's going to take a little bit of trial and error. and and you you you don't have that knowledge and experience yet to really pinpoint To really pinpoint that yet. And so try it. Go out and get some clients and you can, you know, s offer them certain services and say, I don't want to ever do that again. And learn and move on to different clients and and change your offer as based on what you are good at and what is actually giving you joy and what is actually in your wheelhouse. Because as a new entrepreneur, you're gonna try to take on. you're gonna try to take on some projects because you need it, because you need money and you need to build that portfolio of yours, but you quickly start to understand which one is draining and which one is going to bring you satisfaction in the work that you do and build on those so that you can focus more attention on the things that are bringing you the joy and the the work the and the satisfaction of doing that.

No. Ha ha.

I see it impacting our industry quite a bit actually. people now are one click away from building a strategic plan or building an operational plan or giving you templates for whatever you need. And and and I and I I love that for entrepreneurs for nonprofits who don't have a lot of resources and have access to the technology to be able to give them the tools that they need or the outputs that they need for to to advance the work that they're doing. Fantastic. It doesn't solve though the relationship-wise and the emotions within an organization. So what I mean by that is that the you will always have the disgruntled employee who doesn't like the way things are going or the the the the relationship between a manager and the staff or the board and the executive director, how do you navigate that? And how do you ensure that everybody's on the same page moving that forward? Because AI can help you with the base information, policies, procedures, all of that. And it's fantastic. It's it works really great. I I I I am very impressed with what I see people doing, but it doesn't help the relationships or the the structure of a board or an office or how do you still work together and develop projects. So there's still that tension in in in using AI for the betterment of the organization. And the you still need to work with these people and you still need to have it's humans interacting to put these organizations and businesses in place. So our model comes and helps that situation, comes and helps you diagnose what is actually happening, regardless of the fact that you're ha you have amazing AI or amazing platforms and structures. our I think our model and the way that we do things is based on the human and how is that CEO feeling. in his position. despite the fact that that CEO can now go and do five things at once and manage different projects and have the support that they need to build their plans and so on, there's still there's still a human and there's still interaction with your staff and your board that you need to you still need to perfect that. So I think that I think that how we use it. Is that we don't shy away from it. I don't think that it's going to be beneficial to shy away from AI because it's everywhere. Even Google uses AI. We're using it on the bail on the daily anyway. But how are we going to bridge the gap between production and productivity and the human emotions that are still very predominant in an in an in an office? or in a boardroom. and those people are still going to feel anxiety and confusion and satisfaction or lack of focus or, you know, there's still we still have those human emotions that we still need to understand. And the model that we have in the wake up call helps to diagnose that, regardless of what platforms you're using. I think that that's the that's key for us, how we approach it.

Yeah, thanks for asking. the book is available on Amazon. So I understand that your reach is worldwide at this point. You have people everywhere. so Amazon will be probably your best bet for for those of you who are listening. And then you can go on our website, lmdsolutions.ca. we are in Canada. we are based in Ontario, but we do service all provinces in Canada. and if you want me to go worldwide, I will. we are part of an international international cohort throughout throughout the world as well. wake up call is available in French as well. It's called Sonilal Lame. so it is in English and in French. You can find both on Amazon. and if you want to give me a message or send me something, I'm on socials, like all socials, like Instagram and Facebook and and LinkedIn ev obviously, just go find us. either my name or under LMD solutions. And I'd be I I'd be it'd be an immense pleasure to talk to whoever wants to talk about the work that we do or the model or you know, governance or operations or entrepreneurship.

Well, it's my pleasure. Thanks, thanks for inviting me, Mick. And I look forward to to seeing more of your podcast because it's been very enjoyable.