About Christine Maassen
MY STORY
Let’s get the more traditional professional stuff out of the way first
I am grateful for having been extended leadership opportunities in a variety of sectors over the years. Here’s a link to my LinkedIn profile. This will tell you about the roles I’ve held, what I consider my key accomplishments in those roles as well as my academic background. It does matter and I am proud of my path, but I want to tell you more about me personally.
Read more about my story below…
Where I’ve come from
I arrived in Canada from Belgium in October of 1988, with nothing but my set of chef’s knives and $500 in my pocket (yikes!). Back then, I worked in the hospitality industry, in a discipline we refer to as Food and Beverage, or F&B. Armed with my chef training and “front of house” experience, I started running the food services at the newly opened National Art Gallery in Ottawa. It wasn’t long before I began seizing one exciting professional opportunity after another.
Developing as a leader
On multiple occasions, I was asked to take over the leadership of teams that were deemed “dysfunctional” and requiring a “complete overhaul”, by which my bosses meant that I should fire everyone and rebuild from scratch. Really? I thought. No one on these teams was good at anything? Rather than blindly following advice from the powers-that-be, I did my own thing—something I’ve been known to do over the years.
Practicing and discovering
It took me a while to notice a pattern emerging whereby—sometimes very quickly following my taking over—the team I was leading became high-performing and, on top of that, we were having a blast. My eagerness to understand how I was leading differently is what motivated me to study industrial psychology, human resources management, executive coaching, leadership and, eventually, to redirect my career into human resources management.
Redefining leadership
Fast forward to 2022, and I am fundamentally convinced that we have an urgent need to redefine the leadership model in our organizations. Many existing systems and the behaviors they reward result, best-case scenario, in short-term success. But that’s not the worst part. To put it simply and candidly, I am incredibly sad to see organizations make people sick, be it physically or psychologically. That’s what my work is focused on: Bringing Humanity to Work.
CREDENTIALS
Certificate in Industrial Psychology, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO)
BA in Human Resources & Industrial Relations (UQO)
Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching, Royal Roads University (RRU)
MA in Leadership (RRU)
Academics
Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR BC & Yukon)
Certified Executive Coach (CEC)
Accredited Certified Coach (ACC, International Coaching Federation)
Certified Dare To Lead™ Facilitator (Dr. Brené Brown)
Certified Leadership Circle Profile™ practitioner
Birkman® Certified Consultant, The Birkman® Method
Professional
HR Professional of the Year, BC HRMA 2014
Royal Roads University Founders’ Award 2012
Recognition
SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts named by Achievers as One of Canada’s 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in 2013 and 2014
SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts named 2013 Company of the Year by Kostuch Media, publishers of Foodservice and Hospitality magazine and Hotelier magazine
Organizational Impact
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator
Chartered Professionals in Human Resources
Certified Leadership Circle Profile™ Facilitator
Certified Consultant, The Birkman Method™
Certified Collective Leadership Assessment™ Facilitator
EQ 360™ Certified Practitioner
EQi 2.0™ Certified Practitioner