To safeguard privacy in the context of the post below would then appear to be an impossible task!

For more than decade Harding Intelligence Programs have heightened awareness of diverse organizations to the importance of managing the people role in the gathering and protecting of information. The Snowden saga serves as a reminder that prompts me to revisit the our basic approach to safeguarding privacy. 

With regard to managing technology our approach is inspired by Marshall McLuhan, a forward thinking Canadian who wrestled with the influence of technology in the modern times… albeit before the advent of  the internet and the digital era: “any technology that ... creates extensions of the human body and senses” (McLuhan 1995, 239). In other words extends rather than replaces human capacity!

McLuhan highlighted the importance of managing new technology:More...

Since WW2 and the coming and passing of the Cold War, technology advances have allowed governments and corporations in most of the developed world to gather and store vast amounts of information just because they can. This is not a secret!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/01/menwith-hill-eavesdropping-base-expansion

In the nineties the NSA reportedly spent approximately $28 billion per annum on sophisticated information gathering procedures. Satellite surveillance and monitoring/eavesdropping facilities such as that at Menwith Hill in the UK gathered and stored tons of raw information. (reportedly every telephonic/electronic communication in the Western hemisphere.) In contrast, in the corresponding period, only $2 billion per annum was allocated to process this information. (Interestingly the latter figure represented the entire budget allocation of the CIA at that time.)

So gathering and storing as best intelligence practice has long been fait accomplis … We know from the post 9/11 tragedy and the recent Boston Marathon attack, that intelligence agencies have the ability to produce, with huge time/quality efficiency, information about people post events. The big question then became: What about the pre-emptive use of information to forestall undesired outcomes?

This brings us to the Edward Snowden saga! The nuance that pre-emptive processing is taking place seems to have escaped most press reports. Spying on friends and foe alike is not new… Rather it is that people are being looked at as potential suspects even before they act! Governments this far, have access to enormous detail about countries/organizations/corporations/people, but have been inhibited by law as to how they can use what they know.

Think of how in recent months how many governments have floated cases in the public showing the benefit of surveillance as a tool to nab people before they act. Are we being prepared for more security legislation?

We average citizens, fearful of our safety, and that of our children, shrug off concerns as necessary evil. Wikileaks, Anonymous, and other hactivist movements/individuals, including Mr. Snowden, in their frustration at our nonchalance, have tried to underscore how vulnerable the average citizen is to privacy invasion. How futile are any concerns we might have? At present:

• Any electronic communication is fair game for analysis; this includes banking, medical, automobile, telephone and of course our supposedly private internet activity/history; in some countries service providers are compelled by law to open records to diverse intelligence/security agencies;
•  Cell/smart phone activity is monitored across borders. For example, the UAE protested a few years ago that the Blackberry Platform was impenetrable to security surveillance. Would this mean that they were looking at all other instrument activity? What business secrets were open to surveillance? 
• Urban/private video surveillance/data storage is permanent and lasting
• Corporate data management and client/consumer profiling is a major industry. (Loyalty programs may even allow calculation of something as banal as household bowel movements by analyzing the quantity of toilet paper consumed)
• At a stretch, an intelligence agency owning Norton’s, McAfee, Facebook, Skype et al,(not altogether an impossible consideration) would be invited into the nerve center of individual/organizational activity; More...

On this important day I salute those remarkable women whose innate service-orientation drives their ability to observe, listen & intuit. Your preparedness to engage not only identifies what has to be done, but also inspires those who need to take the required action!  

International Women’s Day also provides the occasion to acknowledge all those who take the time to see, access, validate & and enable the potential of deserving women. 
My 3 decade career, served on 3 continents, has left me with little doubt that the human aspect of women leadership, bringing empathy, acceptance, flexibility and adaptability, is indispensable to the sustenance and advancement of the species! 

On a personal level, I am humbled by those women who see me for who I am…For understanding the coexistence of perfection & imperfection, strength & vulnerability, confidence & insecurity, wisdom & fallibility....!  

Thank you!

Dear Clients & Friends,

Once again, in preparation for our annual closure (20th December 2012- 2nd January 2013), I extend my heartfelt thanks to clients and friends for making 15 years of fulfilling operation possible!

The main thrust of my work this year, in addition to general corporate and individual training initiatives, was focused on assisting deserving women to achieve their fullest Leadership potential. In this context I was gratified to receive a World of Difference 100 Award from The International Alliance of Women (TIAW), in the Champion of Women's Economic Empowerment category. In addition to positive results, external recognition always provides much needed encouragement and motivation to sustain the passion and growth so vital to navigating the path forward!

Interaction at the award ceremony in Washington again drove home a long standing observation that many high achievers are incredibly unaware of their real professional/personal impact. How the world is a better place because they are in it! Success seems all too often measured by position, salary and public acclaim. Similarly, I find that positive feedback is often viewed with suspicion, while self-congratulation seems to be a cardinal sin!
  
That said … How many of us take the time to show others that we have an understanding of who they are beyond the job description, role or place in the corporate hierarchy … That who they are matters to us?
Conversely, how many of us really want to be seen by others… Do we not hide behind illusory masks in the work place and oftentimes in society?

I do not exaggerate when I say that almost 90% of my clients, including those holding senior positions, to varying degrees feel somewhat invisible and isolated … Fearful of revealing uncertainty, vulnerability or fear.  Does this denial of basic humanity not seem in stark contrast to environments that tout the ideals of leadership, team collaboration and empowerment on a daily basis?

Will not people who consider themselves unseen feel excluded, frustrated, empty and at times angry? This may at very least mean that some will never reach full potential, while others might become negative, resentful and even destructive. Recent world events provide extreme examples of just how catastrophically this phenomenon might play out.   

During the holiday season it would be good to reflect on our conscious ability to see, understand and acknowledge individuality... Our own and that of others! This will perhaps be the greatest manifestation of our personal and professional impact … To make the world a better place! 
   
My best wishes to you all for the Holidays … And a safe, healthy and prosperous 2013!

I look forward to renewed contact in the New Year.

Warm regards,

Rodger

Our Student Leadership training program explores and makes conscious existing, but untapped individual leadership expertise.

Practical techniques enable the understanding and full investment of core competencies, personality & experience. Strong attention is given to measuring individual impact and preparedness to consider what is involved in living out personal dreams.

The program is particularly directed at youth who have the irrepressible notion that there must be something more!  (see article: Our personal impact... Acknowledging youth wanting more) 

Should you require further information: (416) 962-6700 

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Rodger has a proud record of assisting students setting realistic goals and living out their destiny. His work received special recognition in 2009 for his:

 "Exceptional commitment and contribution to numerous students in the Learning Disabilities Progam and for Outstanding Involvement in York University's Career Mentorship Program"

It is surprising how many media articles pounce on the failure of the authorities to anticipate any given crisis. There is an expectation that governments, industries and organizations should have foreseen and made provision for turbulent events that impact globally and nationally. I quite agree!

Why then do we see so little investigative journalism? True sleuth work that predicts what might happen in the future? So many publications only go to print when they are certain of outcomes or the story has safely been exposed elsewhere. The downloading of information as opposed to the pursuit of the good old fashioned scoop!

• How many of us know who Michael Bury is! This was the guy who foresaw the sub-prime mortgage fiasco that rocked the financial world two years ago. What did he do to ensure his hedge fund brought investors in excess of a billion dollar return?
• Apart from one publication I have yet to read about the underlying cause of the Toyota recall affair? Can this happen again? If so… How/Why? 
• Did anyone predict that food shortage and dire poverty in Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt would have such dire consequence… With a ripple effect that threatens regional and world stability?

Individual, Organizations and governments prepared to explore the unknown paths, the unproven and 'might be' scenarios understand the value of competitive intelligence.. those that do not will be caught unprepared.

The media has a vital role in pushing this awareness… and setting an example! 

For Corporate Intelligence Awareness Training Inquiries: (416) 962-6700

“In the end he was no more than that, a mirror, showing me my own face and feelings, making me intensely self-conscious. He was doing what writers do, reminding me of who I was….” - Paul Theroux, A Dead Hand 

One of the guiding principles of our leadership training/coaching/mentoring approach is to enable individuals and teams to be who they are, rather than who they are expected to be. This involves a process of holding a mirror that reflects reality. Over a period of 22 years of professionally training many diverse people, a key observation has been that accepting their own individual excellence is oftentimes more difficult for business folk, than having areas requiring attention revealed to them. Negative feedback is easier to accept than positive!

So too, on a personal level, it took me many years to realize that positive reinforcement is more often than not viewed with suspicion and mistrust. At best many feel that extolling virtues is insincere or undue flattery, masking a hidden agenda! More...

Natalie Portman paid meaningful homage to brilliant director Darren Aronofsky, after receiving her Golden Globe award (Best Actress for her performance in The Black Swan): 

 "Every time we finished our takes, you would say, 'Now do this one for yourself,' and that gave me such beautiful inspiration as an actor to not just be amused, that I could create on my own as well.” 

This anecdote beautifully illustrates the role of a good mentor – Allowing or facilitating conditions for, the best in someone to shine through…! 

So too in business, a good leader, in striving to access maximum individual/team input, will create fertile ground for the seeds of creativity and innovation to flourish...

It is beyond doubt that Stieg Larsson's trilogy has been an international hit.

While millions of readers continue to devour the words that describe the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s  daring analytical/creative approach to human complexity, I wonder how many of us readers would tolerate a Lisbeth Slander in our business or social midst?  

As Nobel Laureate José Saramago put it in his disturbing novel Seeing:  

“The safest way of categorizing people is not by dividing them into the clever and the stupid, but into the clever and too clever ... with the stupid we can do what we like … with the clever the trick is to get them onto our side, whereas the too clever even when they are on our side are intrinsically dangerous, they cant help it, the oddest thing is that in everything they do, they are constantly warning us to be wary of them, but , generally speaking, we pay no attention to the warnings and then have to face the consequences…”    

True leaders think outside the box - How often do we dismiss those who present unwelcome or different viewpoints as 'negative'... 'out there'... 'crazy'... 'idealistic'?

Dear Clients & Friends, 

In this 14^th year of operation, our programs continue to evolve in direct response to client requirement. With increasing budget restraints and an uncertain economic outlook, ongoing client request to enhance the leadership function of managers in diverse organizations has resulted in the fine-tuning of our Managemnet Training Program: 

Encouraging Managers to Lead!

 This Leadership Awareness program places high value on the critical role of managers to contribute to the ongoing evolution of team competency investment and best business practice.The emphasis on the distinction between management and leadership serves to enhance core leadership competencies, resulting in proactive, yet accountable input and decision making, team motivation and cost-effective project-management. Flexible thinking is encouraged to ensure efficient problem solving and the optimal use of available talent and resources. The finding out of what the team doesn’t know it knows segment has been particularly successful. 

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As a direct offshoot of my extensive volunteer work over the past 15 years with Canadian students aged 16-22, I have been asked by many concerned parents to work with younger people who, despite high intelligence and a good academic background, seemingly lack focus and are uncertain as to a firm career direction. The clear, but unconscious, leadership potential of these students has prompted the formal design of a program focused on identifying, validating and empowering realistic leadership in young people. 

Leadership for Students

The program explores and makes conscious existing, but untapped individual leadership expertise. Practical techniques enable the understanding and full investment of core competencies, personality & experience. Strong attention is given to measuring individual impact and preparedness to consider what is involved in living out personal dreams. The program is particularly directed at youth who have the irrepressible notion that there must be something more!  

♦ 

Please contact me should you require further information on either of the two programs. 

Once again I would like to express my ongoing appreciation for your personal and professional contribution to my success and sense of fulfillment throughout 2010. My very best wishes for the Holidays and a happy, safe & prosperous 2011!  I look forward to renewed contact in the New Year. 

Warmest regards,

Rodger