Happy Friday,
A few years back, I was coaching a VP at a mid-sized Canadian financial firm. Brilliant person. Technically sharp, politically savvy, and completely exhausted from pretending.
Every Monday, she walked into that glass-walled boardroom and put on what she called her “executive face.” Calm, certain, in control. Never wrong. Never uncertain. Never, ever rattled.
“Alan,” she told me, “I feel like an actor in a play I didn’t audition for.”
Her team? They felt it too. Not the performance. They felt the distance. And distance, in leadership, is where trust goes to die.
We’ve been sold a lie for decades. The idea that leadership is a performance. That you project confidence until it becomes real. If you wear the mask long enough, eventually it becomes your face.
I understand where that advice came from. There’s something to the psychological principle that behaviour shapes belief, that acting a certain way can help you grow into it. But there’s a critical difference between stretching into a new version of yourself and fundamentally pretending to be someone you’re not.
Stretching is growth. Pretending is deception. And people, especially the smart, capable people you’re trying to lead, can tell the difference.
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 report is a wake-up call for every Canadian leader. Global employee engagement has dropped to 21%, the lowest since the early days of the pandemic. In Canada and the United States combined, only 52% of workers describe themselves as “thriving,” and that figure fell by 4 percentage points in a single year.
Let that land. Fewer than one in four people globally feel genuinely engaged at work.
And here is the part that should matter most to you if you’re in a leadership role: Gallup’s research shows that managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement.
Seventy percent.
Your team’s experience at work is not primarily determined by your company’s strategy, your HR policies, or your benefits package. It’s determined by you, by how you show up.
Manager engagement itself fell from 30% to 27% between 2023 and 2024. The people responsible for driving team connection are themselves feeling disconnected. That’s not a strategy problem. That’s a humanity problem.
At CareerJoy, our own 2025 Work. Made Better Report echoes this. When we survey Canadian professionals on what they need most from their leaders, the answer isn’t more structure, cleaner KPIs, or better performance reviews. The answer, consistently, is connection. Being seen. Being trusted with honesty. Having a leader who is real.
Here’s where I want to be precise, because authenticity has become one of those words that gets hollowed out by overuse.
Authenticity in leadership doesn’t mean radical transparency. It doesn’t mean sharing every fear, doubt, or frustration with your team. It doesn’t mean abandoning professional judgment or emotional regulation.
What it means is this: you act in accordance with what you actually believe.
That’s it. When your behaviour matches your values, when your words align with your convictions, when the version of you that walks into a difficult conversation is recognizably the same person your family sees at home, that is authenticity.
In my [LQ] Leadership Intelligence framework, we talk about this as the alignment between your inner narrative and your outward leadership. Most leaders have a significant gap between the two. They believe in empathy, but they never show vulnerability. They believe in accountability, but they hedge and deflect when they make a mistake. They say they believe in their team, but their micromanagement tells a different story.
That gap is where trust leaks out. And in the current Canadian workplace environment, trust is the scarcest and most valuable resource you have.
I want to name the thing that actually gets in the way, because it’s not what most people think.
Most leaders I work with don’t hide behind a mask because they’re dishonest people. They do it because they’re afraid. Afraid that showing uncertainty will make them look weak. Afraid that admitting they don’t have all the answers will undermine confidence in their direction. Afraid that if people see who they really are, they won’t measure up.
I’ve seen this fear operate among directors at national Crown corporations, regional law partners, and founders running 200-person tech companies in Waterloo, Calgary, and Halifax. It’s remarkably consistent and remarkably human.
But here is what two decades of coaching Canadian leaders has taught me: the leaders who show up with the most genuine authority are not the ones who have all the answers. They’re the ones who are honest about what they don’t know, clear about what they stand for, and consistent in how they behave, whether they’re in front of the board or in a one-on-one with a junior employee on a Wednesday afternoon.
Authentic leadership takes courage. But it’s a very specific kind of courage: the courage to let your real beliefs drive your real behaviour, and to trust that people can handle the truth of who you are.
Back to that VP. We didn’t fix her leadership by helping her become a better performer. We fixed it by helping her stop performing.
The first thing she did was walk into a team meeting and say, “I’ve been thinking about how I show up here, and I don’t think it’s been working. I’ve been too focused on appearing to have everything together and not focused enough on actually being present with you.”
The room went quiet for about four seconds. And then something unlocked.
Her team started showing up differently, too. When the leader stops pretending, there’s suddenly permission for everyone else to stop pretending. And that’s when real work, creative work, brave work, the kind of work that actually moves organizations forward, becomes possible.
Gallup’s research on high-performing workplaces supports this. In organizations where engagement reaches the top quartile, turnover drops by 51% and productivity increases by 23%. Those aren’t numbers you get from a new policy. You get them from an environment of trust, and trust begins with a real leader.
I’ll leave you with this. If you’re honest with yourself, ask:
Where is the gap between what you believe and how you’re actually behaving? Maybe you believe your team is capable but you’re still making decisions without them. Maybe you believe in psychological safety but you shut down dissenting voices without realizing it.
What are you performing that you could just be? Not every professional standard requires a mask. Most of them just require integrity.
When did someone on your team last trust you with something uncomfortable? If it’s been a while, that’s information.
Canada’s workforce is fatigued and disconnected. The data is clear on that. But the data is equally clear that the cure isn’t a new engagement initiative or a better all-hands presentation. It’s the leadership that people can actually feel.
Be yourself. Not because it’s easier, it isn’t, at first. But because it’s the only thing that actually works.
Along the road with you,
Alan
Authentic leadership isn’t about personality. It’s about alignment between what you believe and how you show up.
CareerJoy’s leadership programs help leaders build the self-awareness, courage, and leadership intelligence required to lead with clarity and trust, even in difficult moments.
👉 Explore our leadership programs and start leading in a way that actually works.
For many women, authenticity in leadership comes with an added challenge: navigating expectations about how leaders “should” show up.
EmpowerHER is CareerJoy’s leadership program designed to help women step into leadership with confidence, clarity, and their full voice intact.
👉 Learn more about EmpowerHER and join a community of women leading on their own terms.
Happy Friday,
I watched Mark Carney’s Davos speech and felt that rare thing you get maybe a handful of times a year. A public leader naming something out loud that most people are privately thinking, but have been tiptoeing around because it feels impolite, risky, or just too heavy to say in a room full of power.
He called it a rupture, not a transition. He said the rules-based order is fading. And he used a metaphor from Václav Havel that hit like a clean punch.
A greengrocer puts a sign in his window every day. “Workers of the world, unite!” He does not believe it. No one believes it. But he puts it up anyway to avoid trouble and signal compliance.
Havel’s point was simple: systems do not survive on truth alone. They also survive on rituals. On people performing belief because it is safer than naming reality.
Carney’s message was that we are in a moment where pretending is no longer a strategy, and compliance does not buy safety.
That is the part I want to talk about today, because leadership is not just about vision, values, and culture decks. Leadership is about the courage to take the sign out of the window.
Not once. Every day.
In organizations, we rarely call it “living within a lie.” We soften it. We call it alignment. We call it strategic patience. We call it not rocking the boat. We call it “how things work around here.”
But you know the feeling.
You sit in a meeting where everyone repeats a story that no longer fits the data. Sales are “fine” even though pipeline quality is collapsing. Engagement is “steady” even though your best people are quietly interviewing. Your restructure is “rightsizing,” even though everyone knows it is a scramble to fix decisions that should have been made two years ago. Your AI plan is “accelerating productivity,” even though half the team is scared to admit they don’t understand what is changing.
You can feel the sign in the window.
Carney’s point, through Havel, is that these rituals become a kind of glue. They keep the system stable. Until they do not. And the danger is that stability becomes a substitute for truth.
In Davos, he makes a point that the power of the less powerful begins with honesty. That line matters in geopolitics, but it matters just as much inside a company where people feel decisions are happening to them rather than with them.
If you are leading anything right now, a team, a division, a whole organization, you are either rewarding truth-telling or you are rewarding sign-keeping. There is no neutral setting.
Most leaders have been trained for transition.
Transition assumes continuity. The system holds. The rules broadly work. You can tweak, modernize, and optimize while still trusting the underlying structure.
Rupture is different. Rupture means some of the assumptions that made your playbook work are no longer reliable.
Carney names a world where economic tools are used as weapons, where institutions are diminished, where strategic autonomy matters again, and where middle powers have to cooperate or be bullied.
Translate that into workplace leadership, and you get something like this:
Rupture is when your talent market changes faster than your compensation model.
Rupture is when the psychological contract at work breaks, and you cannot fix it with a new slogan.
Rupture is when your clients stop buying “bundles” and start buying outcomes.
Rupture occurs when your technology changes the work faster than your managers can lead people through the emotional impact.
In rupture, nostalgia becomes seductive. Leaders want the old normal back because it is familiar. Carney says it plainly: the old order is not coming back. Nostalgia is not a strategy.
That line belongs in more boardrooms.
One of the smartest moves Carney makes is refusing the false choice between values and power.
He frames Canada’s approach as principled and pragmatic, what he calls values-based realism. He talks about calibrating relationships so their depth reflects values, while also building strength at home and diversifying partnerships abroad.
That is a grown-up leadership stance. It is not idealism. It is not cynicism. It is a refusal to outsource your safety to wishful thinking.
In business terms, values-based realism looks like this:
You keep your standards, but you stop pretending every partner shares them.
You keep your culture, but you stop confusing culture with comfort.
You keep your mission, but you build the operational muscle to deliver it under pressure.
This is where many leaders struggle. They want to be principled, but they avoid the hard conversations that would make the organization more resilient. Or they get pragmatic, but they start shaving the values down until the team no longer trusts what leadership says.
Carney’s phrase that stuck with me was this: we are no longer relying only on the strength of our values, but also on the value of our strength.
That is not about becoming aggressive. It is about becoming capable.
Carney spends time on strategic autonomy: energy, food, critical minerals, finance, supply chains. The idea is straightforward. If the rules do not protect you, you must protect yourself.
Organizations have their own version of this.
Strategic autonomy is the capacity to keep operating when conditions tighten.
It is the ability to deliver without a single point of failure.
It is building bench strength instead of worshipping a few heroes.
It is making sure your knowledge does not live only in one person’s head.
It is reducing dependency on a single customer, market, vendor, channel, or leader.
I have seen this up close in restructures. The organizations that land best are not the ones with the prettiest messaging. They are the ones who have done the unglamorous work of building operational resilience before a crisis hits. They have options. They have redundancy. They have trusted relationships. They have leaders who are used to telling the truth early.
The ones that struggle are often the ones who believed the story that “it will probably be fine.” That is sign language.
Carney talks about different coalitions for different issues, and a dense web of connections across trade, investment, and culture.
Leadership takeaway: stop relying on one relationship to carry everything.
Modern work is coalition work.
The best leaders I know are not just managing their direct reports. They are building a network of trust across functions, levels, and external partners. They have a habit of connecting people who should know each other. They invest in credibility before they need it.
Carney drops a blunt, memorable line: if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.
In organizations, that is what happens to teams that do not build relationships across the enterprise. They get decided for. They get restructured without context.
Their work gets outsourced. Their budget gets cut because nobody understands the value they create. Not because they are bad people, but because they are not connected to power and narrative.
Coalition leadership is not politics. It is survival.
Here are three practical plays, written in human terms.
Name what is true before you name what is inspiring.
1. Name what is true before you name what is inspiring
If your people do not feel reality in your words, they will not trust your vision. Start with the rupture. What has changed? What is harder? What is no longer working?
What you do not know yet. Carney’s framing works because he starts with honesty, not spin.
2. Replace rituals with decisions
Every organization has rituals that signal comfort: status meetings that solve nothing, dashboards nobody uses, slogans that cover anxiety, performance language that avoids clarity. Pick one sign this quarter and remove it. Replace it with a decision that reduces ambiguity. People can handle hard news. They cannot handle endless pretending.
3. Build strength that matches your values
If you say you care about people, invest in leaders who can hold hard conversations. If you say you care about innovation, invest in capability, not just tools. If you say you care about trust, stop rewarding the people who keep bad news quiet. The value of your strength shows up in moments of pressure.
There is something specifically Canadian in Carney’s approach.
Not passive. Not loud. Clear-eyed. Coalition-minded. Practical. Values anchored.
It is a reminder that you do not have to be the biggest player in the room to lead. But you do have to stop pretending the room is governed by rules that are no longer enforced.
That applies to countries. It applies to companies. It applies to leadership teams navigating AI, inflation, talent volatility, and the quiet exhaustion sitting under the surface of so many workplaces.
He ends with a refusal to mourn. The old order is not coming back, and from the fracture, something better can be built if people stop performing.
That is the work.
Not optimism as a personality trait. Optimism as a discipline. Built on honesty, strength, and relationships that hold.
So here is the question I am carrying forward from Davos:
What signs are still in your window that you do not believe, and what would change if you took just one down this week?
Along the road with you!
Alan
P.S. Are you an executive in the Public Service looking to enhance your influence, build your network and better understand the interview process? Join us, in partnership with APEX at our upcoming Executive Career Series Panel Conversation on February 3 + 4.
Join our panelists;
Reserve Your Spot: https://share-na3.hsforms.com/2d9zX1kwITzOyXNERO05nFQ2mv71
Happy Friday,
One minute we’re absorbed in plans; the next, a quieter week prompts reflection, not on what we finished, but on what mattered.
If there’s a theme in our FLRs this year, it’s this: change isn’t just strategy, it’s a human experience.
It appears in teams, families, and both growth and survival seasons. Through all of it, leadership is about basics: clarity, care, follow-through, and the courage to make the next right decision, even without seeing every step ahead.
This is a simple and heartfelt holiday note.
Thank you for the trust you placed in me this year.
Thank you for the conversations, the candour, the partnership, and the shared belief that work can be made better when we lead like people, not like machines.
I hope the next days bring real rest, rest that resets you, not just your calendar. More laughter, less logistics. More presence, less pressure.
And when January arrives, I hope you step into it with calm confidence, good people around you, and momentum that feels earned, not forced.
Happy holidays to you and your family.
Alan
P.S. CareerJoy helps leaders and organizations evolve with confidence and clarity. To explore how our leadership development and transition programs can support your next chapter, connect with Alan Kearns, Founder at alan.kearns@careerjoy.com or 1.877.256.2569.
Explore our outplacement solutions
P.P.S. If you’re strengthening leadership in your organization, explore our [LQ] Leadership Intelligence Programs and connect with Alan at alan.kearns@careerjoy.com or 1-877-256-2569 to get started.
Happy Friday,
This holiday season, Jen Curtis on our team and I have been volunteering with the Salvation Army kettle campaign.
It’s been rewarding in ways I didn’t expect and grounding in a season that can move very quickly.
We chose this volunteer experience intentionally. The Salvation Army is one of our long-standing charity partners and a recipient of the 2025 Work. Made Better Award as a partner of CareerJoy. That recognition wasn’t about visibility. It was about impact. About meeting people where they are and leading with dignity.
There’s a shared sense of community that shows up at this time of year. People slow down, even briefly. You see generosity in many forms. Some people give. Some stop to talk. Some acknowledge you and keep moving.
All of it matters.
Some of the most meaningful moments have come through conversation. I’ve found the best way to begin is simple: a smile and a genuine wish for happy holidays. From there, the conversations unfold.
One of the more interesting ones was with the “bus driver philosopher.” We talked about work, purpose, and what it’s like to show up every day in a role that often goes unnoticed.
He spoke about what he values most and what frustrates him most in his work.
Respect. Or the lack of it.
How a simple thank you or a moment of patience can change the tone of an entire day. And how the absence of those small gestures, over time, can quietly wear people down.
That conversation stayed with me.
It sharpened my thinking about the work my team and I do.
At its core, our work is an invitation.
An invitation for people to see the potential in themselves through their work, their contribution, and how they show up.
One pattern I’ve noticed at the kettle is that when I wish someone happy holidays, some don’t respond with a thank you. Not out of unkindness, but because they’re anticipating an ask.
They’re bracing for a transaction rather than receiving a genuine wish for peace, hope, or a better world.
That’s a helpful reminder at this time of year.
Many people are carrying more than they realize. When there is no pressure, something shifts.
Some people soften.
Some pause.
Some move on.
That’s okay.
That, to me, is leadership. Creating space rather than pressure. Opening doors rather than pushing people through them and helping people reach their potential by how we show up.
And when we get that right, we bring more humanity and, if we’re lucky, a little more joy into the world.
Happy Holidays to you and your team.
May this season bring moments of hope and quiet peace, and remind us how far simple respect, kindness, and being truly present can go.
Along the road with you,
Alan
P.S. CareerJoy helps leaders and organizations evolve with confidence and clarity. To explore how our leadership development and transition programs can support your next chapter, connect with Alan Kearns, Founder at alan.kearns@careerjoy.com or 1.877.256.2569.
Explore our outplacement solutions
P.P.S. If you’re strengthening leadership in your organization, explore our [LQ] Leadership Intelligence Programs and connect with Alan at alan.kearns@careerjoy.com or 1-877-256-2569 to get started.
Work. Made Better. Series
By Alan Kearns, Founder, CareerJoy
Moncton has earned its reputation as one of Canada’s most adaptable and entrepreneurial cities, with a population of over 170,000 in the Greater Moncton area, spanning Moncton, Dieppe, and Riverview. It’s a hub for bilingual business, logistics, contact centres, and growing technology and health sectors.
This is a city where connections matter. Layoffs here don’t just affect individual employees; they ripple through entire communities, where employers and employees often know each other personally. For HR leaders, CFOs, and executives, outplacement is not only about supporting people, it’s about protecting reputation, maintaining trust, and ensuring continuity in a labour market where everyone talks.
The stakes of workforce transition are uniquely high in New Brunswick:
Moncton employers that invest in structured, human-first career transition programs see measurable advantages:
Employers in Moncton operate under the Employment Standards Act of New Brunswick, but case law shows that procedural fairness often extends beyond minimum requirements.
In Smith v. Vitalité Health Network (2022), the New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board acknowledged that providing career transition services demonstrated good faith in a contested termination. While not legally required, it strengthened the employer’s defence and mitigated reputational risk.
For Moncton employers, particularly in unionized and bilingual environments, outplacement can serve as both a legal safeguard and a public relations tool.
Local organizations need an outplacement provider who can deliver:
✔️ Do your exits reflect both compliance and compassion?
✔️ Can your provider deliver fully bilingual, culturally aware services?
✔️ Are your managers trained to communicate layoffs with empathy?
✔️ Are you protecting your legal standing and community reputation?
✔️ Are retained employees engaged and confident post-restructure?
1. CareerJoy
Human-First. AI-Smart. 100 Percent Canadian.
CareerJoy is a national people and culture firm, not a recruiter, delivering personalized career transition programs with a balance of ethical AI technology and deep human connection.
What we bring to Moncton:
Local Leadership Insight:
“CareerJoy helped us manage a sensitive bilingual layoff with professionalism and empathy. It protected our brand and gave our employees a path forward.”
HR Director, Moncton-based transportation company
Case Study: Bilingual Contact Centre Downsizing, Dieppe
In 2024, a major bilingual customer service operation reduced 80 positions due to contract restructuring.
Challenges included:
CareerJoy provided:
Results:
2. Gallagher (formerly Optimum Talent)
National delivery capacity
Consideration: May use more standardized program templates; less flexibility for bilingual nuances
3. RiseSmart (Randstad)
Global tech-enabled platform
Consideration: Primarily U.S.-based coaching; limited New Brunswick ESA expertise
4. CareerMinds
Digital-first, budget-friendly option
Consideration: Minimal in-person bilingual delivery in Moncton
Our clients here value our ability to combine national reach with deep regional understanding:
From Government of Canada departments to World Vision and BMW, we help respected employers navigate change with dignity and precision.
CareerJoy supports Moncton’s most respected employers in delivering career transitions that protect brand, relationships, and compliance.
We are an official learning partner of APEX and proudly hold a 4.7-star Google rating.
📧 Contact Alan Kearns, Founder: alan.kearns@careerjoy.com
📞 1-877-256-2569
Human-first. AI-smart. 100 Percent Canadian. Global reach. Proven results.
Work. Made Better. Series
By Alan Kearns, Founder, CareerJoy
Victoria is more than just British Columbia’s capital, it’s a government powerhouse, a hub for clean technology, education, and tourism, and one of Canada’s most desirable places to live and work. With a population nearing 100,000 in the city proper and over 400,000 across the Capital Regional District, Victoria blends the influence of a provincial capital with the community connections of a mid-sized city.
Here, a layoff is never just an HR transaction. In a city where public sector roles, unionized workplaces, and knowledge-based industries dominate, workforce changes carry both political and personal weight. For HR leaders, CFOs, and executives in Victoria, outplacement is about protecting more than just the company, it’s about safeguarding relationships, reputation, and trust in a community where connections run deep.
Victoria’s unique employment landscape amplifies the stakes of managing terminations well:
Employers in Victoria, whether in the public, private, or nonprofit sectors, see tangible advantages from structured, human-first career transition services:
BC employers follow the Employment Standards Act of British Columbia, but courts and arbitrators now assess procedural fairness beyond statutory minimums.
In Saunders v. Victoria School Board (2022), the BC Labour Relations Board noted that the presence of career transition services reinforced the employer’s good faith in a contested termination. While not legally required, outplacement helped demonstrate fairness and reduced the potential for prolonged disputes.
For Victoria organizations, especially those in unionized or politically sensitive environments, outplacement is a valuable risk management strategy.
Victoria’s employment mix calls for outplacement providers who can navigate complexity and community expectations:
✔️ Do your exits reflect your organization’s culture and public reputation?
✔️ Can your provider deliver in unionized, bilingual, and politically visible environments?
✔️ Are your managers prepared to communicate terminations with empathy?
✔️ Are you protecting both legal compliance and employee well-being?
✔️ Do retained employees feel confident in the organization’s direction?
1. CareerJoy
Human-First. AI-Smart. 100 Percent Canadian.
CareerJoy is a national people and culture firm, not a recruiter, offering personalized career transition programs that blend ethical technology with deep human connection.
What we bring to Victoria:
Local Leadership Insight:
“CareerJoy’s approach helped us navigate a politically sensitive transition without damaging trust. Employees felt respected, and our relationships with stakeholders stayed strong.”
Director of HR, Victoria-based public sector agency
Case Study: Public Sector Restructure, Downtown Victoria
In 2025, a mid-sized provincial ministry office restructured, impacting 28 roles across policy, administrative, and unionized support positions.
Challenges included:
CareerJoy provided:
Results:
2. Gallagher (formerly Optimum Talent)
National network with large-scale delivery capability
Consideration: Standardized programs may lack flexibility for smaller, locally focused organizations
3. RiseSmart (Randstad)
Global tech-enabled platform with strong analytics
Consideration: Primarily U.S.-based coaching; limited familiarity with BC’s ESA and union context
4. CareerMinds
Digital-first, budget-friendly model
Consideration: Minimal in-person presence on Vancouver Island
Our clients in Victoria choose us because we combine national reach with local sensitivity:
From Government of Canada departments to nonprofits and private sector innovators, CareerJoy supports leaders when it matters most.
CareerJoy partners with Victoria’s most respected employers to deliver transitions that protect brand, relationships, and compliance.
We are an official learning partner of APEX and proudly hold a 4.7-star Google rating.
📧 Contact Alan Kearns, Founder: alan.kearns@careerjoy.com
📞 1-877-256-2569
Human-first. AI-smart. 100 Percent Canadian. Global reach. Proven results.
Happy Friday,
There is a moment every December when the world softens just enough for our rituals to speak a little louder. For our family, it is always Handel’s Messiah. The lights dim, the strings rise, and something inside us settles. It is a ritual that reminds us where we belong and what we return to year after year. For others, it is The Nutcracker, an annual concert, or a gathering that anchors the season. These rituals become mirrors. They show us what matters.
This week, I read a piece in The New York Times about the two boys who will share the role of Fritz in New York City Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Fritz is the little brother with the enormous personality. He is the child who charges through the scene with the confidence of someone who has waited all year for this moment. He is adorable. He is also a touch feral.
And yet the casting director said something that felt more like a leadership book than a theatre article.
“It is not enough just to have a mischievous personality. A Fritz must be cute, yes, but he must also be reliable.”
That line stopped me.
It is never just the talent.
It is the consistency.
It is being someone others can rely on.
This truth sits at the centre of leadership. What surprised me is how clearly the 2025 data echoes the same point.
Gallup’s 2025 Global Workplace Report found that a leader’s everyday dependability shapes 72% of team engagement. HRPA’s 2025 Workplace Trends Report showed that when leaders demonstrate consistent follow-through, organizations experience up to forty percent higher retention during periods of change. The 2025 Public Service Employee Survey summary revealed that employees who describe their manager as reliable are nearly twice as likely to feel psychologically safe at work.
Reliability is often dismissed as a soft skill, but it is actually a core driver of performance that leaders must prioritize.
Across every sector I work in, the same leadership pattern shows up. Someone arrives with enormous potential. They are bright and charismatic. They impress people quickly. For a while, they look like the next great hope.
Then the cracks appear. Deadlines slip. Communication drifts. Energy fluctuates. People around them begin guessing who will show up each day.
The shine fades.
Being Fritz in The Nutcracker is the childhood version of the same reality. A big personality is charming, but charm does not steady a cast of children moving through precise choreography. A Fritz who cannot be counted on affects everyone around him.
Reliability rarely gets applause, but it is what makes applause possible.
Reliability is a key driver of emotional stability, which in turn fuels performance and inspires confidence in your leadership.
We often romanticize big leadership moments. The breakthrough idea. The major win. The heroic push that saves the day. These moments matter, but they do not define strong leadership.
Teams do not thrive on occasional brilliance.
A constant is the colleague who shows up prepared, even when they are tired. A constant is the leader who manages their emotions so others do not have to manage around them. A constant keeps their word, even when circumstances shift.
One of the most compelling insights in the 2025 Gallup report was this. Employees who described their manager as consistent were 58% more likely to report having the energy and focus needed to do high-quality work. Consistency outperformed every other leadership behaviour measured that year.
Constancy is not perfection. It is maturity. Emotional steadiness reassures others and creates a sense of safety.
Reliability becomes a kind of leadership oxygen. When it is present, people breathe easier. When it is absent, everything tightens.
Organizations often select high-potential individuals based on charisma or technical brilliance. Those qualities matter, but they do not predict long-term leadership success.
The individuals who quietly rise are the ones who behave consistently even under pressure.
When others panic, they stay grounded.
When expectations shift, they adapt without drama.
When mistakes happen, they take responsibility quickly.
When their team wobbles, they steady the environment.
The 2025 HRPA report identified reliability as the strongest predictor of upward mobility. Leaders who demonstrated consistent behaviour were twice as likely to be selected for advancement.
The right fit is rarely the most dazzling person.
The right fit is the person who can be counted on.
The two boys chosen to play Fritz did not win the role because they caused the most chaos in the audition room. They won because they paired enthusiasm with discipline. They matched personality with presence. They were children who could be counted on when the curtain rose.
Being Fritz-ready in your own life means:
• Showing up even when the mood is gone
• Doing the fundamentals with quiet consistency
• Keeping your commitments even when they are no longer convenient
• Being emotionally steady in moments where others wobble
• Matching talent with maturity
• Becoming someone people do not have to second-guess
Every exceptional dancer is shaped by thousands of quiet hours at the barre. Every exceptional leader is shaped by thousands of small choices to be reliable. Every strong relationship grows through repeated acts of consistency.
Reliability is the soil where excellence grows.
As the year closes, I often ask leaders a single reflective question.
When people look for you, your guidance, your steadiness, your presence, do they know what they will find?
If the answer is yes, you are already a constant. You are already strengthening the environments you touch.
If the answer is no, the path forward is not about more talent. It is about more reliability. Reliability is a skill. Skills can be built. You begin with one clear action, then another, then another. Over time, the pattern becomes part of who you are.
This is the kind of leader people trust.
This is the kind of colleague people want by their side.
This is the kind of parent or partner who anchors a family.
In our family, it is always Handel’s Messiah. That familiar swell of the Hallelujah Chorus has marked our Decembers for years. It is a ritual that arrives with complete reliability. It shows up every time and asks us to pause, reflect and consider who we are becoming.
Your rituals reveal your values.
Your values reveal your priorities.
And your consistency reveals your leadership.
Talent gets attention.
Reliability builds the life you want.
And whether you are leading a team, shaping a family or navigating your own season of change, the essential question remains the same one the children’s repertory director asked when choosing her Fritz.
Can I count on you?
Because greatness is not about being dazzling.
Greatness is about being dependable.
And that is something every one of us can choose.
Along the road with you,
Alan
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Work. Made Better. Series
By Alan Kearns, Founder, CareerJoy
In today’s workplace, layoffs are more than just a financial exercise — they’re a test of leadership, culture, and values. That’s why choosing the right outplacement partner is one of the most critical decisions an employer can make during a transition.
Companies like RiseSmart — now part of global HR giant Randstad — offer a wide-reaching platform, built for multinational scalability. On paper, they offer a sleek combination of tech tools, global reach, and virtual coaching.
However, for Canadian employers who care about nuance — including language, labour law, regional industry norms, and leadership continuity — global can sometimes miss the mark.
At CareerJoy, we do it differently: human-first, AI-smart, and 100% Canadian. With bilingual support, deep sector expertise, and real coaches who understand the emotional and strategic reality of transition, we help organizations turn layoffs into moments of leadership, not liability.
RiseSmart is a global outplacement platform based in the U.S., operating as a division of Randstad. Their model is heavily tech-forward: automated dashboards, curated job leads, and scalable matching tools. Their coaching is typically virtual, often assigned randomly, and may vary in quality across regions.
CareerJoy, in contrast, offers a Canadian-made approach: high-touch, bilingual, personalized, and deeply rooted in national workplace trends, regional cultures, and long-term career integration.
Where RiseSmart focuses on scale, CareerJoy focuses on trust, cultural alignment, and continuity.
Canadian employees facing a layoff encounter a distinct legal, cultural, and emotional landscape compared to their global counterparts. Expectations around fairness, bilingual services, unionized environments, and employer care are higher and more scrutinized.
According to the 2024 HRPA State of Work in Canada:
RiseSmart’s model may work well for volume-based transitions in global operations. But it often struggles with:
CareerJoy’s model is built around these gaps, where it is purposefully local, built to meet Canadian standards and expectations.
RiseSmart typically ends support at the point of job landing. But that’s when many Canadian professionals are just beginning to feel the impact of transition. Confidence is still rebuilding. Integration is just starting. Pressure is high.
CareerJoy’s model extends past placement:
These aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re essential in today’s Canadian workplace — and they mitigate real risks: early attrition, reputational damage, and poor onboarding outcomes.
A national non-profit preparing for a significant transition evaluated several outplacement firms. While RiseSmart offered a cost-efficient, global solution, the organization quickly realized that what they truly needed was a partner who could deliver culturally relevant, bilingual, high-touch support across all their Canadian regions.
They selected CareerJoy because of our:
“It was clear from the beginning that CareerJoy got us, not just our goals, but our values. We needed a partner who could connect with our people, in English and French, and who understood the kind of work we do. That’s what made the decision easy.” — Marie Desrosiers, VP, People & Culture, National Non-Profit
Within two months:
CareerJoy also offered something RiseSmart couldn’t: the ability to support both Canadian and global transitions with a human-first, AI-smart hybrid model.
Employers often ask, “Is it worth the extra investment?” The answer lies in what happens after:
CareerJoy’s post-placement support has helped hundreds of Canadian organizations avoid early exits, re-hiring cycles, and legal blowback. And it’s why our model is increasingly chosen by:
“What set CareerJoy apart was the blend of warmth and strategy. Our people didn’t just get jobs — they got clarity.” — Sarah McMillan, Senior Director, Crown Corporation
“They understood our sector, our regions, and our values. That’s what made all the difference.” — David Levesque, Manager, Talent & Culture, Public Health Sector
“After being laid off, CareerJoy helped me not just land — but lead. They saw me as more than my resume.” — Catherine Boyd, Career Transition Client
“I’ve worked with a lot of firms. CareerJoy felt different. Human, honest, and incredibly effective.” — Thomas Chan, Leadership Coaching Client
“The support I received helped me regain confidence at a critical time. I wouldn’t be where I am without them.” — Jasmine Patel, Outplacement Recipient
If your outplacement support ends at Day One, it might be time to rethink the model.
Let’s do it differently — with support that’s human-first, AI-smart, and built for Canadian workplaces.
CareerJoy is Canada’s national people & culture firm — trusted by the Government of Canada, Shopify, World Vision, BMW, YMCA, BGC Canada, and more. As an APEX partner with a 4.7 Google rating, we support career transitions, leadership development, and hybrid coaching across all sectors.
Work. Made Better. Series
By Alan Kearns, Founder, CareerJoy
You’ve just received news that your organization will be restructuring. Maybe you’re in HR, tasked with designing a respectful transition. Or perhaps you’re one of the employees impacted by a layoff. Either way, one term keeps coming up: outplacement. But what is it?
Outplacement isn’t just about resume help. It’s a structured, professional service designed to help employees affected by layoffs navigate the complex emotional and practical path to re-employment. Done right, it’s support for both the individual and the organization.
And in Canada, where bilingual needs, psychological safety, legal compliance, and regional realities all come into play, how outplacement works—and who delivers it—matters more than ever.
Outplacement is a career transition program offered by employers to support employees who are leaving the organization due to layoffs, restructuring, mergers, or downsizing. These services typically include:
In Canada, the best outplacement services go beyond placement to help people find clarity, confidence, and a meaningful next chapter.
The employer partners with an outplacement provider (like CareerJoy) and offers support to impacted employees, often as part of the termination package.
The employee is invited to begin their personalized career transition journey, which may include live coaching, digital tools, AI-enabled resources, and mental health check-ins.
Depending on the package and provider, this may last from a few weeks to several months. CareerJoy’s model includes:
Canadian-specific offerings often include:
Outplacement is often perceived as a cost centre, but it’s a reputational, legal, and cultural safeguard.
According to the HRPA 2024 Workplace Transition Study:
A real-world example: One major nonprofit that partnered with CareerJoy during a restructuring saw a 35% increase in Glassdoor ratings post-layoff, driven by how departing employees felt about their transition support.
Layoffs hit hard. In Canada, where EI timelines, provincial laws, and job markets vary, it’s easy to feel lost. Outplacement brings clarity:
“It gave me hope when I didn’t know where to start.” — Michelle Levesque, former program manager,
“I didn’t just land a job—I found my next calling.” — David Chan, finance executive
From helping someone understand their severance rights in Ontario to coaching an Alberta engineer into a green tech role, the goal is always the same: help Canadians thrive again.
It’s not about finding a job for you. And it’s not therapy. Outplacement is future-focused and career-centred.
A recruiter works for the hiring company. Outplacement coaches work for you, helping you understand your options, your story, and how to make the most of your next move.
Not all providers are equal. Here’s what to look for:
CareerJoy is proud to be Canada’s national people & culture firm, supporting organizations coast to coast with real coaches, real insight, and real results.
If you’re evaluating whether to offer outplacement or deciding what kind of partner to choose, remember: it’s not just about helping someone land. It’s about helping them lead.
CareerJoy is Canada’s national people & culture firm — trusted by the Government of Canada, Shopify, World Vision, BMW, YMCA, and BGC Canada. As an APEX partner with a 4.7 Google rating, we support career transitions, leadership development, and hybrid coaching across every sector.
Human-first. AI-smart. 100% Canadian. Global reach. Proven results.
Contact: alan.kearns@careerjoy.com | 1-877-256-2569
Work. Made Better. Series
By Alan Kearns, Founder, CareerJoy
In Calgary, resilience is a way of life, but when layoffs hit, leadership is tested.
This is a city that’s constantly evolving. From energy giants to fintech disruptors, from engineering firms to non-profits, Calgary is home to bold ideas and ambitious people. But it’s also a city that has weathered booms and busts, and understands the human toll of market swings.
Whether you’re restructuring due to market volatility, consolidating business units, or navigating an M&A, how you manage transitions speaks volumes about your values as a leader.
In Calgary, where relationships matter as much as revenue, outplacement isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a vital investment in dignity, brand, and organizational trust.
Calgary has a population of over 1.4 million and one of the youngest, most educated workforces in the country. It’s a hub for energy, finance, engineering, real estate, technology, and logistics. But it’s also a city profoundly shaped by economic cycles, and where people remember how companies behave in hard times.
What’s at Stake:
In Alberta, while outplacement isn’t legally mandated, it’s increasingly used to demonstrate good faith in terminations. Especially in large restructures, unionized environments, or when long-tenured employees are affected.
In Nguyen v. EnergyCore Ltd. (2022), the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench considered whether an employee was supported in their job search post-termination. While outplacement wasn’t legally required, its absence was noted in the awarding of additional damages.
The message is clear: even in cost-cutting scenarios, investing in ethical transition reduces downstream risks — financial, legal, and reputational.
HR and leadership teams here consistently value:
✔️ Have your leaders been trained to handle exits with empathy and clarity?
✔️ Are your services aligned with Alberta’s employment standards and case law?
✔️ Do you have outplacement partners who understand both the corporate and industrial sides of the Calgary market?
✔️ Are you supporting not just re-employment, but mental resilience?
✔️ Have you considered the message your approach sends to retained staff?
CareerJoy is Canada’s leading people and culture firm, trusted by organizations across the energy sector, financial services, government, and tech.
What sets us apart in Calgary:
✅ 1:1 coaching for professionals, tradespeople, and executives
✅ Expertise in Alberta labour law and economic context
✅ Coaches with local insight and national reach
✅ Emotional and mental wellness integration
✅ Post-landing support to ensure sustainable outcomes
Voices from Calgary
“We needed more than templates — we needed people who could meet our team where they were, emotionally and professionally. CareerJoy delivered that with heart and strategy.”
— Senior HR Leader, Calgary-based energy company. After being laid off from an engineering firm I’d been with for 12 years, CareerJoy helped me regain confidence. They knew the Calgary market, and they helped me land well.”
— A. Patel, mid-career engineering leader
In early 2025, a Calgary-based mid-cap oil and gas company downsized following a merger, impacting 75 employees across technical, HR, and administrative roles.
CareerJoy was engaged to:
Outcomes:
Longstanding presence in Alberta with structured delivery.
Consideration: Strong with large-scale programs, but feedback often notes a lack of emotional depth and customization.
Global, tech-forward platform.
Consideration: Offers automation and analytics, but coaching may be delivered outside Canada, with limited local relevance.
Enterprise-focused provider with a history in Alberta.
Consideration: Often geared toward high-volume or government contracts; small to mid-size firms may find service less flexible.
Organizations in Calgary choose CareerJoy because we:
Whether you’re sunsetting a business unit or managing industry-wide shifts, we help you preserve culture, reduce risk, and lead well.
The best leaders in Calgary know it’s not just about how you grow — it’s about how you let go.
Outplacement isn’t a soft skill. It’s a core leadership behaviour that builds loyalty, safeguards reputation, and reflects your values in action.
CareerJoy proudly supports organizations across Alberta and Canada, including the Government of Canada, World Vision, BMW, Shopify, YMCA, and BGC Canada.
As an APEX partner with a 4.7-star Google rating, we specialize in human-first, ethical transitions.
📧 alan.kearns@careerjoy.com
📞 1-877-256-2569
Human-first. AI-smart. 100% Canadian. Global reach. Proven results.
