Let’s be honest: marketing isn’t getting any easier. If you’re a marketing leader right now, you’re juggling a lot—ROI targets, brand equity, performance campaigns, and maybe a strong urge to scream into a pillow. Meanwhile, your audience is splintered across dozens of platforms and seems allergic to anything that feels like a sales pitch.

So, what actually works? Amazon Advertising and I are on the same page. This post is about that.

Walk into any college campus and you’ll see a mosaic of difference. Age, race, background, politics, personal histories. On the surface, it can look like a world full of contrast and division. But underneath all that difference? A set of shared values. 

At the Higher Learning Commission conference this year, I had the chance to talk about that heartbeat—about what really brings people together. And it turns out the lessons aren’t just for universities. They’re for businesses, for governments, for nonprofits, for families, for cities. For anyone who works with people and wants them to move in the same direction.

Gallup's latest polls show that employee engagement has dropped in historic fashion. In 2024, global employee engagement dropped to 21%. That is a two-point fall from last year, and last year’s numbers were already a whisper, not a roar. The result? A staggering $438 billion loss in productivity. That is the GDP of a medium-sized country, gone. Vanished into thin air.

When the ship is leaking, more ping pong tournaments will not plug the holes. You need to find out what matters most to people, and give them more of that. In other words, you need to identify shared values.

That feeling when you step off a plane and everything feels slightly off? It’s more than jet lag. It’s your internal radar picking up on a different values environment. The way people speak, move, interact, and even make small talk—it all runs through their internal operating system, and that system is made up of the values they hold dear. The same phenomenon plays out in every workplace. When departments feel like foreign countries, it’s not just corporate culture. It’s values.

If you're a business owner in New Brunswick, this article outlines a method you can use to boost your brand and significantly benefit our planet. This isn't about a new technology or a secret marketing strategy. It's something much more profound and potent—our shared human values.

Indigenous business owners across Canada face unique challenges and opportunities in today’s world. As a Métis business owner myself, I understand the importance of an Indigenous approach to business. At the recent CCAB 40th Anniversary conference, I shared insights from our latest valuegraphics study, which...

How one industry sector can use shared human values – What Matters Most – to change how they are perceived by the people they need to inspire.

Leaders, and HR professionals, are facing a new frontier where machines aren’t just helping us; they’re reshaping how we work. And while that brings incredible opportunities, it also brings risks—human risks. In our rush to implement AI technologies, we sometimes forget about the people. Employees may feel...

Here’s a scenario you’ve probably encountered: you’re designing an event and trying to please everyone—from fresh graduates to executives nearing retirement. What do you do? For decades, the fallback has been to rely on generational stereotypes. But let’s be honest: these broad brushstrokes don’t work.

In the construction industry, leaders are grappling with a critical issue: attracting and retaining top talent. With skilled labor and management in high demand, understanding what motivates employees has never been more crucial. So my team surveyed blue-collar and white-collar folks in this industry to uncover...

It can be difficult to make everyone in a diverse and geographically dispersed company feel like they belong. But if you know what people value, across all roles and locations, you can create a powerful set of strategies to bring everyone together. Here’s an example of how this works for the Loblaw Group of Companies.

Employee benefits and pension plans are essential to providing security and stability for millions of people. But ensuring plan members feel truly connected and engaged with their benefits requires more than just financial expertise—it requires an understanding of what matters most to them.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to transform Alberta’s schools, offering new possibilities for teaching, learning, and managing education. But introducing AI successfully requires more than just deploying cutting-edge technology. To gain trust and foster collaboration, schools must align their...

Teaching is one of the most vital professions in the world, yet it’s often misunderstood and undervalued. People outside the classroom might see long holidays but miss the long hours, or assume teaching is an easy gig without understanding the massive responsibility of shaping the next generation.

Leaders of speaker bureaus are constantly looking for ways to attract and retain clients—who are primarily ‘event planners’ of one sort or another. In this blog, I want to share a strategy I recently presented in a keynote on the shared values of event planners. These values can help bureaus engage event…

It can be difficult to make everyone in a diverse and geographically dispersed company feel like they belong. But if you know what people value, across all roles and locations, you can create a powerful set of strategies to bring everyone together. Here’s an example of how this works for the Loblaw Group of Companies.

As credit union leaders, managers, and decision-makers, you’re facing a unique challenge: how do you attract new members and deepen connections with existing ones in today’s fast-paced, digital world? It’s no longer enough to offer great rates and friendly service—people are looking for something deeper.

Let’s face it: meeting/event planners have a tough job. And if you’re in the hotel industry trying to attract them, you’re in for some stiff competition. But what if you could peer into their minds, understand what makes them tick, and tailor your offerings to align with what truly matters to them? Clearly you’d have a major advantage. So that’s exactly what I’ve set out to share with you in this article.

The COVID-19 pandemic, while devastating, also offered a unique opportunity for introspection and transformation. As the world hit pause, many of us reconsidered how we live our lives and what truly matters. This period of reflection has catalyzed a significant realignment, allowing us to step off the...

AI is redefining how we live, work, and interact. And it’s only just getting started. I had a call with one of the founders of RWI Synthetics, a perfect case study of AI’s enormous potential for good.