Insights and Resources
Read through our team's viewpoints, explore our expertise, and tap into value-driven insights designed to help you shape and navigate the future of your organization.
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The Reasons Why High-Trust Organizations Outperform
Did you know? Companies with high trust levels outperform their competitors by up to 400%. For organizational leaders, this stark performance gap exposes an often-overlooked catalyst of...
Michael Cook
November 14, 2024
Exclusive resource: Executive Guide: Managing Leadership Conflict & Conversations Ebook
November 7, 2024Discover how top executives transform difficult conversations into strategic advantages. Learn the 5 hidden costs of conflict avoidance and a...
Exclusive resource: Mastering Organizational Change: An Executive’s Guide to Effective Transformation Ebook
September 12, 2024What is effective change management? Explore the top 5 challenges that can make your organizational change fail, and practical change management...
Avoid the New CEO Crash: Thriving in Your First Year
August 8, 2024Why do so many executives and organizations stumble with leadership transition, and how can you buck this trend? Explore common new leadership...
Designing Your Board for Maximum Value and Impact
July 11, 2024Whether you’re a board chair, a board director, or a CEO, each role can uniquely address problems related to the top two common pain points that...
CEO Succession Planning: Pitfalls and Solutions
June 12, 2024At its core, CEO succession planning takes a large investment of time and focus. Common challenges stem from misunderstandings as to who should...
Navigating Uncertainty: People-Centred Organizational Resilience
May 8, 2024Building organizational resilience goes far beyond just developing contingency plans. It is crucial for organizations to cultivate resilient people...
Realize 2023 Impact Report
April 19, 2024Organizations have a responsibility to help build a better world, and we are no exception. We are proud to be certified by B Corp, Living Wage,...
4 Questions All Board Chairs and CEOs Should Ask Each Other
June 13, 2023The best board chair (chair) and chief executive relationships are founded on mutual trust and respect. But at Realize, we know that for some chief...
Our Social Impact: Realize 2021-22 Impact Report
February 23, 2023“We bring value to our members, clients, and partners by reinvesting in, engaging, and collaborating with the communities we serve.” 2021/22...
The Value of Taking a People-Centred Change Management Approach
November 14, 2022Last updated on March 28, 2024 Every organization goes through change – it is inevitable. In fact, change should be a regular part of every...
Realize Employee Experience Survey Insights: What We Learned in 2022
October 11, 2022Driving workplace change starts with listening to our people. In early 2022, we heard from 281 employees working at five purpose-driven...
Realize is a 2022 Best for the World™ B Corp!
July 13, 2022We are thrilled to announce that Realize has been named a 2022 Best for the World™ B Corp in recognition of our exceptional positive impact in...
3 Lessons for Leaders on How to Adapt for Hybrid Workplaces
June 22, 2022Regardless of one’s own personal feelings on the matter, remote work is here to stay and hybrid work is the future for many remote-capable...
Managing Workplace Burnout: A Strategic Guide for Leaders
May 5, 2022Last updated on Oct 1, 2024 In today's business environment, burnout has evolved from a mere buzzword to a critical challenge that demands...
Making a Difference: Realize 2020-21 Impact Report
December 17, 2021“We believe people are the heartbeat and that culture is foundation of all world-changing organizations.” This is the core principle of the...
Designing Hybrid Workplaces for Human Moments
June 15, 2021How might we design a new hybrid workspace that fosters collaborative, innovative, and spontaneous “human moments”? This was the topic we...
Designing A Workspace From a People Lens
May 18, 2021Teams worldwide are grappling with what to do with their office space now that we’ve experienced either fully remote work or a hybrid model. You...
Shared Services: A Solution for BC Non-Profit COVID-19 Recovery
May 17, 2021In March, we heard from 84 non-profit leaders across BC to learn about how COVID-19 has impacted them and what their priorities are for recovery in...
Systems Thinking: Big Picture, Win-Win Solutions
May 4, 2021Our world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Systems thinking is a holistic method that helps determine collective actions to solve complex...
Dear Non-profit Board Member: Are You Harnessing or Hindering Innovation?
April 27, 2021Dear Non-profit Board Member, Let me start this letter by thanking you sincerely for agreeing to serve on a non-profit. It’s incredibly...
Earth Month Challenge: Co-Create A Sustainable Future
April 20, 2021Climate change is one of the most pressing problems facing our world today. It affects everyone - from families worrying about their children’s...
The Business Case for Pressing Pause: Our August Break Week
April 13, 2021We’re closing down this August. Not permanently – but for the first time in our 22 years of practice, Realize is closing our practice down in...
Hopes and Fears: Establishing Creative Unity
April 6, 2021Many people often feel excited and a bit nervous at the start of a new project. Does everyone's work styles mesh easily together? What are the team...
5 Ways Coral Reefs Reflect the Employee Experience
March 30, 2021Realize Employee Experience Framework™ example I’m pretty sure that when I say “employee experience” your next thought will probably...
Revitalize Your Employee Survey in 6 Easy Steps
March 18, 2021Employee surveys. Most organizations do them once a year or even less frequently. Some might call them satisfaction surveys, some might call them...
Celebrating Leadership and Advice That Has Shaped Our Careers
March 8, 2021Happy International Women's Day! To celebrate and honour all the women who are changing the world, day by day, we asked our team to share a few...
Harvard Business Review Says Corporate Leaders Should “Stop Softening Tough Feedback.” But What About Non-Profits?
March 5, 2021The non-profit sector is critical to the health of our communities. Fierce work is carried out daily in the sector, ranging from poverty...
How To: Giving and Receiving Negative Feedback
February 23, 2021Have you ever struggled with how to approach giving negative feedback to a colleague? Or perhaps felt hurt and deflated when on the receiving end of...
We Made it to 2021, Now What? Adapting Management Styles for the Post-COVID Reality
February 16, 2021For a lot of us, getting to the end of 2020 felt like a relief. But in reality, we’re still far away from getting back to “normal”, including...
User Manuals: A Cheatsheet for Powerful Team Collaboration
February 9, 2021Have you ever wished that there was a playbook on how to bring out the best out in your team? What if you had a cheatsheet or "user manual" covering...
Designing Your Ultimate Competitor Today: What Would They Look Like?
January 26, 20212020 sucked. Let’s just call that out. But the future is still bright and who’s to say that 2021 can’t be our best year yet? To kick things...
DEI: From Acronym to Action
December 10, 2020What's stopping your workplace from taking practical action to become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive? This was the topic we dove into...
10 Months Later: State of the Victoria Workforce
December 2, 20202020 has been a year of massive change and disruption around the world. It’s hard to believe that just shy of 10 months ago, the WHO declared...
Here’s Our Talent Culture and Performance Strategy. What’s Yours?
November 20, 2020Culture eats strategy for breakfast.Peter Drucker At Realize, we spend a lot of time thinking about people and culture. We firmly believe that...
School Reopening Delayed: 5 Ways To Support Working Parents
August 26, 2020It’s a tough and confusing time for everyone right now, especially working parents. When the B.C. Ministry of Education announced a full return to...
Leadership Succession: 4 Key Board Considerations
July 21, 2020“A person who does not worry about the future will shortly have worries about the present.” Ancient Chinese proverb Here is a sobering...
Being Financially Prepared for the “New Normal”: Back to the Basics
June 29, 2020Effective financial management is a vital part of the business recovery process. Primarily, it’s about going back to basics to ensure you have a...
Re-Solidify Your Culture in the “New Normal”: 3 Ways Employee Empowerment Can Strengthen Culture
June 23, 2020As we’re slowly and cautiously starting to reopen and navigate our “new normal”, there are a lot of frank and potentially difficult...
Re-Solidify Your Culture in the “New Normal”: 3 Ways to Bolster Culture Through Purpose
June 16, 2020As we’re slowly and cautiously starting to reopen and navigate our “new normal”, there are a lot of frank and potentially difficult...
Compassionate Leadership: Taking Care of People as Humans First, and Employees Second
May 18, 2020What is compassionate leadership? According to Harvard Business Review, compassion is the intent to contribute to the happiness and well-being of...
Trends and Best Practices for Supporting Remote Workers During COVID-19 and Beyond
May 12, 2020Remote work. Up until very recently, remote work primarily was viewed as an occasional workplace benefit or a trend only really feasible within the...
Building Culture in Times of Uncertainty
April 21, 2020The future is extremely uncertain for many of us right now. As leaders, it’s easy to focus on and worry about the livelihood of the organization...
Realize and COVID-19: An Open Letter From Our CEO
March 16, 2020It is currently a challenging and nebulous time for both the world and Canada, and we want to update everyone to maintain transparency and clarity...
7 Options for Socially Conscious Procurement in Greater Vancouver
November 4, 2019Here at Realize, we’re incredibly passionate about using our procurement practices to support local, socially conscious organizations. Before we...
Realize Strategies Recognized As A “Best For The World: Overall” B Corp For The Fifth Year In A Row!
September 28, 2019Every year with the “Best For The World” honoree list, B Lab recognizes the top 10% of B Corps from around the world who are...
A Partial History Of The “Social Enterprise”
August 28, 2019WAY BACK WHEN… in 1945, Chicago Businessman Walter Paepcke, had a grand vision – he was going to create the new intellectual hub to serve as a...
We’re A Certified Living Wage Employer!
July 12, 2019We’re proud and excited to announce that Realize Strategies is now a certified Living Wage Employer! Here at Realize, we take pride in doing...
Global Alliance For Banking On Values Summit – Reflections
March 29, 2019If I had gone to school just fifty years ago, I would have been hard-pressed to pursue my degree in International Relations. Combining Economics...
WEFORSHE Conference: Advancing Equality in Canadian Workplaces
December 28, 2018Two-hundred and seventeen. That’s the number of years it would take Canada to reach workplace gender equality continuing at its the current pace...
Social Purchasing Lessons from The Buy Social Canada Summit
December 28, 2017Realize CEO John Kay shares his takeaway from the 2017 Buy Social Canada Summit. Every day Canadians make thousands of purchases. Coffee. Paper....
Is There a Cookie Cutter Template For Good Leadership?
November 28, 2017We’ve all read the articles: “Top 10 Traits of a Great Leader” or “5 Qualities All Successful Leaders Share”. These articles invariably...
BC Budget 2017: Investing in people to build a prosperous BC
September 28, 2017Realize Strategies was honoured to participate in BC Budget lock-up on September 11, 2017. We’re pleased that the Province took steps yesterday to...
Workplace Wellness – A Win for Both Employee and Organizational Health!
November 28, 2016Implementing a workplace wellness program is in the best interests of both employers and employees. A workplace wellness program reflects of an...
ANNOUNCEMENT: We’ve just gained certification as a B Corporation!
January 28, 2015For those who don’t know what a B Corporation is, they are organizations certified by the non-profit organization B Lab, to meet rigorous...
7 Signs of A Healthy Organization
November 28, 2014In our many years of working with purpose-driven organizations of all sizes and across multiple sectors, we’ve learned that some organizations...