Written by Vanessa Santilli in QSB Insight on May 14

Maybe you can’t take a corner kick or head a ball but you can dribble through sticky work situations with these soccer insights

Matthias Spitzmuller, an assistant professor of Organizational Behaviour at Queen’s School of Business, knows there are many lessons that can be learned from soccer’s approach to team dynamics, conflict resolution, and strategy. (Photo by Claire Bouvier)

The Essentials

Matthias Spitzmuller has been playing soccer (football to the non-North American cognoscenti) since he was six years old. In his native Germany, passion for the beautiful game is usually passed down from father to son, he says. Spitzmuller’s recent soccer accolades include his playing in the Cosmoleague for the German All Stars Singapore, considered the best amateur league in that country. While in Singapore, he also worked part-time as a television commentator and studio analyst, covering the German league and German international team. As an assistant professor of Organizational Behaviour at Queen’s School of Business, Spitzmuller’s research focuses on team leadership and on helping and cooperative work behaviours. In this conversation with QSB Insight, he discusses the lessons that can be learned from soccer’s approach to team dynamics, conflict resolution, and strategy.

Search For Team Synergy

Part of my research looks at how you motivate teams and the factors that drive a team’s success. For me as a soccer player, I’ve always found it fascinating to see how a collection of individuals rarely defeats a team that really plays as a unit. There’s a synergy, that little something extra that teams can capitalize on if everybody is on the same page and running for each other on the field.

For me, what is especially interesting is how powerful that little something extra can be. A key question is: what is it that drives teams to go that extra mile, both on the soccer field and within organizations, with the primary intention of benefiting the team and not the self?

Assign Specialized Roles

In soccer, the players’ roles are clear, from being a central defender to a left or right winger. Without these very specialized roles, the team would cease to function. In fact, we know that the most successful teams are those that assign roles to individuals and that develop the specific skills that players need to play certain positions. Continue reading →

Dr. Dan Ezekiel on a trip to shore to visit local wildlife during a voyage with Quark Expeditions.

Written by Vanessa Santilli in The Medical Post on March 17

For over 20 years, Dr. Dan Ezekiel has worked as a cruise ship physician, travelling to Antarctica, the Caribbean, South America and the Mediterranean in his practice on the water. “I’ve been to parts of the world I probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise,” said the Vancouver-based physician. Employed by Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line and Quark Expeditions (which offers adventure cruises to the North Pole, Arctic and Antarctic aboard ice-breakers and strengthened vessels), Dr. Ezekiel has pulled six-month stretches on ships that hold up to 3,000 people, through he now prefers one-month time stints on smaller vessels.

While some physicians, like Dr. Ezekiel, complete cruise line work sporadically alongside operating a regular practice, others, like Dr. Edward Dees, are at sea practically full time. A senior ship physician with Carnival Cruise Lines, Dr. Dees supervises a medical team in the delivery of health care to everyone on board the vessel under his purview. “The allure of life and work at sea comes naturally to some, but it’s an acquired taste to others,” he said. “But there’s the opportunity to grow beyond your present bounds and to take on the adventure of life on the high seas, visiting distant ports and having unforgettable, rewarding experiences.”

If you’re considering using your medical expertise to become an MD aboard a cruise ship, here are five tips to help you decide whether you’re cut out for life on a boat.

Dr. Dan Ezekiel, wearing the Antarctic equivalent of an officer’s uniform, on the deck of a strengthened vessel.

1. Being social is essential

If you have hopes of doing your work and then fading into the background, think again. It’s typical on large cruise ships for the chief medical officer to host a table at dinner, inviting both patients and people they’ve met on deck to join them. “Passengers want to know what it’s like being a cruise ship doctor and they want to hear some stories,” he Dr. Ezekiel. On one particularly memorable night in the dining hall, he saved a passenger from choking at a neighbouring table. “I jumped to action and actually got a standing ovation,” he said. “Everybody liked the fact that there was a doctor on board, and at dinner.”

Outside of meal times, people like to talk to the officers, so being friendly and approachable is just part of the job. “They find it’s an exciting life,” Dr. Ezekiel added. “Even after dinner, you may want to go watch a show or listen to some music, but if you’re wearing your uniform, people will come up to you and start asking you about yourself and your experiences.” Continue reading →

An aerial shot of the community of Fort Good Hope in the Northwest Territories. (Photo courtesy of the Northwest Territories Department of Municipal and Community Affairs)

Written by Vanessa Santilli in The Catholic Register on April 26

Approximately 800 km northwest of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories is Fort Good Hope, a remote, mostly First Nations community through which the mighty Mackenzie River flows on its way to the Arctic Ocean.

It’s where Sisters Joan Liss and Pauline Girodat have called home and ministered for the past 12 years. Part of their ministry in the vast, isolated region of forest and tundra is to bring the widespread Catholic community together.

Sisters Pauline Girodat, left, and Joan Liss who work at the Fort Good Hope mission in the Northwest Territories, host Church Hour at local radio station CBQE. (Photo courtesy of Sisters Girodat and Liss)

The two School Sisters of Notre Dame have been taking to the airwaves to accomplish this. Each week, the sisters host Church Hour, a weekly radio program that got its start when Liss and Girodat were approached by local station CBQE soon after their arrival at the Fort Good Hope mission.

“That’s been a blessing for us to communicate with the people here,” says Liss, who has spent the past two decades working in the Northwest Territories. “We pray for various intentions, we read the Sunday Gospel and they get the Sunday reflection in case they weren’t at Church,” she says with a laugh.

Continue reading →

From left, Sascha Priewe, Clemens Reichel and Patrick Graham take part in a panel discussion on the cultural genocide taking place at the hands of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The discussion took place April 14 at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. (Photo by Vanessa Santilli)

Written by Vanessa Santilli in The Catholic Register on April 20

Donalda Weaver has helped change lives by bringing performing arts to Vancouver’s youth

Written by Vanessa Santilli in CPA Magazine on March 1

I went from singing alone in my bedroom to performing in front of hundreds of people and even appearing on TV. I’ve worked with directors and mentors who taught me about performing and who have had a huge impact on me.”

So goes just part of the testimony from a participant who said that Project Limelight, a free performing arts program for kids in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, changed her life.”It’s been miraculous to see some of the changes in the kids,” says Donalda Weaver.

Weaver, an accountant, and her sister, Maureen Webb, started the program to help foster self-esteem, confidence and community. At Project Limelight, young people are mentored and inspired by professional artists. The program culminates with a performance (there are two each year) in a professional venue with great costumes, sets and makeup.”It’s always a full house,” Weaver says. Continue reading →

Written by Vanessa Santilli on Bankrate Canada on Jan. 26

With the ongoing craze for all things superhero-related, being a “collector” is now mainstream. Fuelled by the onslaught of new superhero movies and the rise of related events, such as FanExpo (which brought more than 100,000 people to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre), it seems that disposable income or not, fans are spending more and more on this niche passion.

Fans dress as their favourite characters at Toronto’s annual Fan Expo, which attracted more than 100,000 people this year. (Photo by Daniele Raimondo)

But is it possible to be a collector on a budget? Here are some tips from two collectors on how to navigate the often-costly world of collecting:

1. Narrow your collection 

For Ivan Tabac, his passion for collecting comes in the form of Batman collectibles from the original TV series. His collection of approximately 4,000 items ranges from vintage T-Shirts and original photographs, to costumes, games, advertisements, watches and more.

While he admits it’s not always easy to collect on a budget, he suggests fans start by concentrating on something specific.

“If you want to try and keep control over what you’re spending, you need to focus,” says Tabac, an accountant and co-founder of AJAG Professional Development in Richmond Hill, Ont. “Otherwise, you can still make a nice collection out of bits and pieces of everything, but you’ll have less control of the amount of money you’ll need to spend.” Continue reading →

An artisan from Manos Amigas in Lima, Peru, creates an ornament that will be sold through fair trade retailer Ten Thousand Villages. (Photo by Jonathan Bowman)

Written by Vanessa Santilli in The Catholic Register on Dec. 21

In Pope Benedict’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate, he wrote, “It is good for people to realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simply economic — act. Hence the consumer has a specific social responsibility, which goes hand-in-hand with the social responsibility of the enterprise.”

As we spend more than usual at Christmastime, it’s important for Catholics to consider where their money is going and what they are supporting through their hard-earned dollars. Shopping fair trade is one way of having a global impact this Christmas.

“Fair trade is a direct trading relationship where not only is fair pay the standard, but also safe working environments, equality for women, sustainable orders and a commitment to long-term relationships,” said Holly deGraaf, director of retail operations and public relations for Ten Thousand Villages, a retailer that sells fair trade products ranging from jewellery and furniture to coffee and toys.

By working with marginalized communities around the world and paying them a fair wage for their work, workers are able to have a good quality of life, food for their kids and education, adds deGraaf. Continue reading →

Written by Vanessa Santilli for Bankrate Canada on Nov. 24

Buying a new car can be tricky and overwhelming. However, a free guide — The Seven Deadly Sins of Car Buying That Could Cost You Dearly, and How to Avoid Them — aims to demystify the process and help consumers get the best deals.

Author Viraf Baliwalla, an auto-buying consultant and president of Automall Network, teaches a course on how to buy a car at Humber College in Toronto and Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ont. His guide provides an insider perspective aimed at helping consumers make informed choices.

“I think it’s a bit of an eye-opener and an education,” says Baliwalla, whose business started as an online classifieds website back in 1999. “There’s a lot that happens in the car business that most people are not aware of.” Continue reading →

Written by Vanessa Santilli for the Ontario Lung Association on Nov. 9

Gabriel Roosevelt-Jackman was a tiny three-week-old baby when he made his first am- bulance trip to the hospital emergency department. Parents Daniel and Ann thought it was a bad cold but Gabriel actually had a serious respiratory infection — and severe allergic asthma.

The Roosevelt-Jackman family (from left) Lahreena, Daniel, Gabriel, Ann, Solomon and Callista. (Photo by Vanessa Santilli)

Now 13 years old, Gabriel’s asthma is so difficult to control that it often prevents him from participating in his favourite sports – basketball, soccer and football – something that doesn’t usually happen to children with less severe asthma. His seven-year-old brother Solomon’s asthma is less problematic but even he knows that he’ll have to miss out on gym if he doesn’t have his emergency inhaler. “Sometimes, I really want to have the chance to grow out of it,” says Solomon.

For the Roosevelt-Jackman family, having two children with asthma means visits to the respiratory clinic at SickKids every two weeks, lots of medication and lots of uncertainty about when the next asthma flare-up might occur. Continue reading →