Walking the Talk... Literally

I did it. I've been thinking about it for some time now. Who would take me up on this crazy idea? Would he/she think I was slacking off or not taking a 1-on-1 seriously? Today I took the plunge. This morning my colleague Gary Dandridge and I took off our stuffy suit jackets, jumped into the elevator and walked the hundred feet separating our Oakville office from a wooded trail. I had heard about the trail but despite it being so close I had never actually seen it. It was very hot today so we only walked for about 30 minutes before heading back to finish up in my air conditioned office but we did manage to get in some good dialogue while we stretched our legs, took in some fresh air, caught a glimpse of a cardinal and made way for a stroller and a couple bikes. According to my fitbit it was only about 2000 steps but it was enough to break up the day, give our brain and body's a bit of exercise AND the change in atmosphere and scenery improved my mood... Maybe I should take all my meetings for a walk :)

The funny thing about this experience is that outside of the office I walk most days and I'm an avid hiker who explores the Bruce Trail almost weekly. As I reflect on why I've not been doing this for years I realize that this idea of taking a work agenda for a stroll likely would not have been perceived as 'business like' in the past. Well fortunately for me times are changing and @Manulife we're leading the way in modernizing the work environment... WorkSmart (flexible work schedule including working from home), MeetingSmart (Top Secret but we're running meetings more effectively than a squirrel collects and hides nuts), Sit/Stand desks (I miss mine dearly when I work from home) the list goes on and YUP today I added outdoor fresh air 1-on-1's to my list of office perks! To learn more about the benefits of 'moving' and to see what's motivating me to change my workday check out youareready.ca