We recently shared all of our values at Box of Crayons. These are things we strive for as an organization. How do we embed them? By drawing on them to help us make decisions and navigate complex situations. By collectively
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We’ve just completed a series of blogs on leadership hypocrisy and bullying or bad bosses. You may have completed our bully boss quiz. It’s very easy to see bad or bullying leadership in others. It’s much tougher to recognize our leadership shortfalls. As American social psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership, Jonathan Haidt, says “we […]
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This week, we’re diving into our first value: STAY CURIOUS LONGER Inquire and interrogate. Humility fosters learning. Failure promotes innovation.Great questions even over good answers. This value is a “practice what you preach” opportunity for u…
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Is your boss a good person who’s doing a bad job? Many ineffective leaders are. If you scored your boss less than 29 points on last week’s bully boss quiz, you can: Live with the status quo — but don’t jump on the Bitter Bus and “Cs the day” with criticizing, condemning, and complaining. Work […]
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Every February, people in Canada are invited to participate in Black History Month festivities and events that honour the history of Black Canadians; to learn about the legacy of Black Canadians and their contributions to their communities, and the strong and diverse nation Canada has become. Here at Daily Bread Food Bank, we have been […]
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On Monday, February 15 Daily Bread Food Bank joined Chef Julian Pancer from The Chef Upstairs to set the world record for the largest virtual cooking class! Hosted by their friends John Catucci of Big Food Bucket List and EJSE Studio, Chef Julian guided participants on how to make homemade gnocchi and tomato sauce while […]
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Meet O’mar Grant, Assistant Manager, Kitchen Production here at Daily Bread Food Bank! He is in charge of producing our soups and casseroles for member agencies along with designing their menus and developing new recipes! O’mar has a passion for food and brought with him a degree in sociology, a background in social work, and […]
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Staff of Life Food Bank in the Scarborough Rouge Park area serves a large minority population, and sees a high number of families with children, and seniors visiting their programs each week. Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Staff of Life Food Bank was operating every Sunday for 2 hours, serving approximately 65 families each week. […]
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This past holiday season the Greater Toronto Hockey League teamed up with Daily Bread Food Bank, and food banks across the GTA to help fight hunger. In this era when ‘the length of a hockey stick’ is used as a measure of appropriate social distancing, they invited GTHL families, alumni, and hockey fans across the […]
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Not knowing where your next meal may come from can be an extremely stressful experience. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a recent Statistics Canada report found that individuals in households that experience moderate food insecurity were nearly three times as likely to report moderate or severe anxiety symptoms within the previous 30 days. For those living […]
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At Box of Crayons, we help organizations transform from advice-driven to curiosity-led. We do our best to stay true to our values and incorporate them into our work each and every day. Our five values are: STAY CURIOUS LONGER Inquire
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It’s been very frustrating to hear of the toxic workplace created by Canada’s ex-governor general, Julie Payette. Last month’s independent report details examples of “yelling, screaming, aggressive conduct, demeaning comments and public humiliations.” Forty-three of the staff members interviewed described the culture Payette created as “hostile or negative.” Twenty-six people called their workplace “toxic” or […]
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If we’re being honest, we spent a lot of this year binge-watching television shows (Tiger King, anyone?). And while we resorted to Netflix a lot, that’s not all we watched. It seemed like every time we opened our inbox a
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As legend has it, Alexander the Great was leading his forces across a scorching terrain. For eleven days, they marched on. The soldiers were exhausted, and their throats parched. On the twelfth day, the advance guard brought Alexander a helmet containing a cup or two of all the water they could find. The troops watched […]
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In a year of isolation, podcasts offered us all a chance to connect with inspiring stories, people and conversations that matter. And there were so many good interviews offering deep dives into fascinating topics. Given what Box of Crayons does,
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A baker suspected that the farmer who was supplying his butter was giving him short weight. He carefully checked the weight, and his suspicions were confirmed. Highly indignant, he had the farmer arrested. At the trial the judge was satisfied and the baker chagrined at the farmer’s explanation. He (the farmer) had no scales so […]
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Most leaders don’t live by the motto: “do what I say, not what I do.” Their apparent hypocritical behavior is innocent and sincere. They simply don’t know that their actions are seen as out of step with their words. Not checking blind spots can lead to deadly highway accidents. Leaders who don’t seek feedback often […]
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We know you’ve heard it time and time again, but 2020 was a year that challenged everyone — and the challenges continue. We did our best to be resilient and encourage innovation. One thing we champion at Box of Crayons
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This year, CBC Toronto’s Sounds of the Season fundraiser looked a bit different. While we couldn’t all come together at the Glenn Gould Studio for the annual CBC Open House, a Toronto tradition, the month-long campaign in support of food banks across the GTA was an incredible success raising a record breaking $1.1 million! We kicked off Sounds […]
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Our year in review shows how when we come together with a single vision, there is nothing we cannot overcome. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, Daily Bread led by a simple promise to Toronto, which was to ensure safe and uninterrupted food delivery to those experiencing food insecurity and together we did it! We […]
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Food banks play an important role in meeting the immediate needs of people experiencing hunger in Toronto. But food banks don’t address the root causes of food insecurity. This is why our Research & Advocacy department works to effect systemic change by advancing solutions based on the experiences of food bank clients. We know from […]
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It’s incredibly frustrating for our family to follow the COVID isolation rules while many families we know don’t. What’s been especially infuriating is seeing so many political leaders returning from out of country vacations. Most are directly violating the non-essential travel rules/guidelines drafted by their own governments — for the rest of us little people. […]
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A few years ago, I facilitated a workshop with managers struggling to stay positive during a very difficult time. We discussed the choice we all have: either we can focus on a problem and let it overwhelm us, or we can keep things in perspective and re-frame what’s wrong within the much larger frame of […]
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The first week of May 2017, my son refused to get into the community pool shallow end and stand on a platform, where he was to start his first swimming lesson (to note, this was in fact the very same
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Just how much does satisfying today’s customer reduce the cost of acquiring tomorrow’s? That’s the question headlining a recent article in Harvard Business Review. We know that satisfied customers lead to higher revenues. But how to quantify that to show senior executives the value of building a customer-centered culture? We assume that happy customers reduce […]
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Thanks to the generous support of our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, hundreds of families experiencing hunger will access healthy, nutritious food this holiday season. During the month of December, Great Lakes Beer will be holding their 12th annual Hops for Hunger campaign and donating $1 from each can of their exclusive Eggnog White Stout to Daily […]
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You and your family can help ensure everyone’s right to food is realized this holiday season. Join us from December 12-24 for Daily Bread Food Bank’s 12 Days of Giving! How it works: Decorate a box or gift bag Each day for 12 days in December, collect one item from our most needed items list. Once […]
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At a time of year when Daily Bread Food Bank relies heavily on support from the community to meet food and fundraising goals that impact food distribution for the entire year, the difficult decision has been made to cancel our in person holiday events due to COVID-19 lockdown. With the rapidly increasing need for food […]
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It’s hard to believe that the holiday season is just around the corner. This year will be unlike any other, as we create new traditions and adapt to a new reality. And, although the festivities may look different this year, we hope that the feelings of warmth and joy that come with gathering around a […]
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Meet Val. A food bank client, and father to three young children. When Val and his family came to Canada last year to care for an ill family member, he had hope that he could support his family, while creating a new life for them. Unfortunately, not long after they arrived, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Toronto, and Val and his family began to struggle. Val’s youngest son […]
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Learning culture. Everybody’s talking about it. Does your company have one? How do you “create” one? Who’s “in charge” of it? And, like with any corporate culture goal, the “learning culture” speak comes with a lot of jargon. Unfortunately, industry-sp…
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“Tell me about the people at the organization you just left,” said the senior manager who was screening candidates to fill a key leadership role. “They were uneducated and lazy,” the candidate responded. “You always had to keep an eye on them because they were constantly trying to goof off or rip off the company. […]
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When my son was almost six years old and in grade one, he’d only been reading for about two and a half months. Part of his learning included nightly reading. One night, about halfway through the book, he said, “Mama,
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In his book, The Excellence Dividend, Tom Peters writes, “In an Oscar acceptance speech, the late director Robert Altman said: ‘The role of the director is to create a space where the actors and actresses can become more than they have ever been before, more than they’ve dreamed of being.’” You’ve likely had a limiting […]
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Michael Bungay Stanier’s book, The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever, was recently named one of the Top Must-Read Leadership Books of 2020. The list recognizes books on leadership that are “must-reads….
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Things are weird. We’re in a global communal amygdala high-jacking. The amygdala — the part of the brain involved in experiencing emotions, which triggers our fight, flight or freeze response — is in full swing! Conversely, our poor prefrontal cortex
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A few favorite excerpts (so many to choose from) of my review of Rutger Bregman’s Humankind: A Hopeful History. …to stand up for human goodness is to take a stand against the powers that be. For the powerful, a hopeful view of human nature is downright threatening. Subversive. Seditious. It implies that we’re not selfish […]
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Daily Bread Food Bank and North York Harvest Food Bank have released the annual Who’s Hungry report, which focuses this year on building a future without poverty beyond COVID-19. The report reveals that prior to COVID-19, food bank use had already increased by 5% compared to the previous year, with close to one million visits in the city of […]
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I remember thinking, “I know something that she doesn’t know. I want to ask a question to make sure we aren’t about to make a costly mistake.” But I didn’t. I could have shared important data, but I didn’t want
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How many of these assumptions describe the reality of humankind: Corruption and cruelty lie just beneath the surface and can easily be pulled out of people. Civility is a thin veneer covering people’s selfish, sometimes evil tendencies. Laws and punishments are needed to curb dishonesty and violence. We’re all born into a world of sin […]
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We are excited and honoured to be included in the Charity Intelligence Top 100 Rated Charities of 2020. This 2020 Giving Season is going to be tough. With COVID-19, and the economic shutdown to flatten the curve, Canadians report they are giving 37% less to charities. This decline in giving puts frontline charities under enormous […]
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During a leadership development workshop, we were discussing the keys to building accountability and ownership. One participant told us that he and his wife had their four-year-old grandson, Jordan, for a sleepover at their house. In the morning, he came running down the stairs and reported, “Grandma, Grandpa, somebody peed in my bed!” Now, who […]
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Curiosity’s bad reputation They don’t think about it as a powerful way to build individual or organizational capacities. And even as their leaders might pay lip service to the idea of having a “learning culture” or encouraging “innovation,” most busine…
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Do you eagerly look forward to giving or receiving performance appraisals? Does the experience feel like being poked in the eye with a sharp stick? Are you doing the poking? Most people hate performance appraisals. Not only are they ineffective, they often scorch and burn. Research by Marie-Hélène Budworth, assistant professor of Human Resource Management […]
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Advice and assumptions are killing your company. This might not be immediately obvious to you (and apologies for stating it in such stark terms), but let that sink in for a moment. Because even if it’s exaggerated, we at Box
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An organization’s culture ripples out from the team leading it. The behaviors of the leadership team are THE single biggest influence on what’s expected/rewarded and discouraged or unacceptable for everyone else. Despite what’s proclaimed in vision, mission, or core values, these set the organization’s true cultural norms. Team meetings reflect the team’s effectiveness. Too many […]
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On Saturday, October 10, Daily Bread Food Bank hosted our inaugural Thanksgiving Drive-Thru Food Drive! Together, our community collected close to 25,000 lbs of non-perishable food for our neighbours who are experiencing food insecurity. We want to give a big thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday. Your generosity and commitment to social […]
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You likely thought too many meetings were time-wasters before this pandemic. Now your “meeting fun” has likely moved online to a higher time-sucking level! Steven Rogelberg, professor and author of the book, The Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance, reports that 8 out of the average 23 hours a […]
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Fast and flexible is vital — even lifesaving — today. Recently, we had discussions with a senior leader about his goal to build a more agile organization. This leader had been talking urgently about agility for the past six months. When we started our coaching and consulting work with his leadership team, it soon became […]
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On Thursday, September 17, Daily Bread Food Bank launched our 2020 Thanksgiving Food Drive. Neil Hetherington, CEO, Daily Bread Food Bank, was in attendance to announce this year’s goal and discuss the importance of the campaign, as the city has seen a 200% increase in new clients accessing food banks due to COVID-19. Watch Neil’s interview on CP24 below. Neil was also joined by Ana Bailão, Deputy […]
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Thanksgiving is on its way. Here at Daily Bread Food Bank we are looking forward to this moment of peace and reflection after a long, difficult year. In spite of the challenges we’ve faced, we have much to be thankful for. We are especially grateful for the steadfast support of our generous donors. In spite […]
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On Tuesday, September 15th, Daily Bread Food Bank competed in in the ultimate test of strength, pulling a 20,000 lb. truck for 100 ft. in the fastest time! The second annual Truck Pull Challenge hosted by Second Harvest at Downsview Park, was a friendly competition between local food organizations fighting to end hunger in our […]
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Many leadership teams seem to think that talking about agility will magically transform their organizations. If only change were that simple. Talking isn’t doing. A department, division, or organization’s culture ripples out from its leadership team. Organizational behavior reflects leadership team behavior. A team that wants to change “them” needs to start with a deep […]
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Seneca, one of Canada’s largest postsecondary institutions, has launched the next phase of its Challenge Accepted recruitment campaign, focusing on the success of its graduates across many sectors.
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There’s lots of talk about building agile organizations. For good reason. The world’s moving way too fast for traditional approaches. They’re too rigid. Organizations that will survive — even thrive — in these disruptive times are fast and flexible. Agile approaches began a few decades ago with software development. According to the Agile Alliance, “One […]
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I’ve been interviewing senior leaders and reviewing documents to tailor a keynote presentation for the company’s executive strategy session this month. They’re a textbook example of effectively using the COVID crisis to renew and refocus their leadership and culture development. Their “strategic framework” succinctly cascades from vision, mission, and values to strategic goals, key initiatives, […]
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In 1891, the Anglo-Irish playwright and author, Oscar Wilde, wrote, “We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.” Over 100 years later, the tradition of industrious stupidity continues. During these times of crisis and frantic change, we can get […]
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Canadian South Asian Growth and Support Services (CSAGSS) is multi-service organization which aims to lift their community out of hunger and poverty. They believe in serving their community with Respect, Equity, Care, and dignity, and work in three main areas to improve food security, health and wellness, and Community Engagement. Located within one of Daily Bread Food Bank’s 20 priority areas, CSAGSS serves the communities of Morning Side and Mornelle Court. Morning Side […]
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Hunger Action Month is a nation-wide campaign that takes place during the month of September. Its purpose is to raise awareness of hunger in our communities, and to take action in four key ways: Educate. Advocate. Volunteer. Donate. Here’s how you can get involved: Educate Learn more about hunger and poverty in Toronto, and Ontario, […]
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One of my favorite historical fiction authors is Colleen McCullough. She masterfully weaves extensive research with real and imagined characters to bring an historical period alive. Her five book, Masters of Rome, series is outstanding. In Book 3, Fortune’s Favorites, she describes a scene in the Roman senate when the dictator Sulla asked for any […]
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A really helpful feature of Google Maps is the ability to zoom in and out. Often pulling back to see the bigger picture gives a better sense of where we are now and where we’re going. In these crazy times, it’s so easy to get stuck at street view. We rush from one task to […]
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Neil Hetherington, CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank joined the Social Impact Advisors Impact Conversations podcast to discuss our latest research report Hunger Lives Here: Risks and Challenges Faced by Food Bank Clients During COVID-19. During his conversation with Lynn Fergusson, co-founder and Partner at Social Impact Advisors, he also shares how we have continued to meet […]
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In his book, Going Deep, psychologist, Ian Percy outlines a useful change framework. The PIES model helps to chart the depth of commitment to personal, team, or organizational change. The deeper the commitment, the more lasting the change. The first and most superficial level is Political. Appearances are everything. We make a “politically correct” change […]
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If I were in charge of the world, for a day, here are the first seven things I would do to mitigate our current global self-inflicted crises, and build back better.
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Is this happening in your team? People are texting each other what they really think during a video or conference call The real conversation happens after the meeting or call Your team doesn’t debate all sides of important issues and avoids touchy topics People agree to a plan of action but then do something else […]
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This month is the fortieth anniversary of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope run through our community — Waterloo Region. Having lost a leg to cancer, Terry Fox embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research. Terry’s shuffle-and-hop running style took him about 42 kilometers or 26 miles per day! I think jogging […]
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