Gregg Levoy audio interview -- Author of "Callings: Finding And Following An Authentic Life" shares how you can become a stronger leader by getting clear on your calling

Here's a simple truth for you team leaders out there...

Your strength as a leader is defined by the degree to which you're following your Calling. 

• Weak leaders are unclear when it comes to their Calling.
• Strong leaders have great clarity about their Calling AND are following it!

A Calling is any leap you want to make in  your personal or professional life that will align or re-align you with your passion and sense of purpose, with  your deepest values, with a fit between who you are and what you do. 

A Calling is an urging from the deep Self that tells you what's needed to make your life come true.

When it comes to finding, clarifying, and following your Calling,Gregg Levoy is the go-to man.  He is the author of "Callings: Finding And Following An Authentic Life" and it's a must read for anyone ready to take their life (personal and professional) to an entirely new level.

Gregg recently visited the summer 2008 session of the Manager As Coach Boot Camp, my new leadership program.

I recorded the 60-minute call where you'll hear Gregg answer these questions:

• What is the relationship of Callings to leadership?
• What is an authentic life?
• What are the symptoms of not following your Calling?
• What is life like when you ARE following your Calling?
• How do you find your Calling?
• How do you follow your Calling if your Calling is something other than what you're doing now?

Click on the link below to download the recording of Gregg Levoy speaking at the Manager As Coach Boot Camp

Download gregg_levoy_1.mp3

The 10-week intensive Manager As Coach Boot Camp is offered three times each year (Fall, Winter, Spring) and is open to 50 management level leaders who are committed to making the shift to a  new model of leadership based on the "coach approach".  The Manager As Coach Boot Camp is rigorous and transformative.  Take a self-test HERE to see if you're ready for this program.

How to get things done -- Productivity guru David Allen audio interview shares strategies to increase productivity and reduce stress

If you lead teams then you need to know about productivity guru David Allen, the best selling author of 

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

I contacted David after reading the weekly Progress Notes of participants in my 10-week leadership intensive Manager As Coach Boot Camp

Most of the managers reported having way too much to do and not enough time to do it.  Turns out this is the life of most managers.

When you implement David's GTD (Getting Things Done) system you gain control of your life (personal and professional).  The result?  Less stress and more creativity.

And if you think your life is too far out of control for David's system to help then you're mistaken.  The GTD system has helped people in extremely challenging situations including an executive with more than 27,000 emails in his in-box!

Learning the GTD system does take time and effort and no doubt there will be some who will proclaim "I don't have time to learn a new system for being more productive and living with less stress!"  These are the same people Stephen R. Covey wrote about in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". 

You remember habit number 7 "Sharpen The Saw" and the story of the man cutting a log with a saw who is briefly interrupted by a passing "consultant" who notices how poorly the saw is cutting because it's dull and when the consultant suggests the man stop and sharpen it the reply comes "Who has time to sharpen saws!?  I've got too much wood to cut!"

In the audio interview below you'll hear David Allen interviewed by Teamwork Coach Tom Heck during his recent visit to the summer 2008 session of the Manager As Coach Boot Camp.

Click on the link below to listen to the 52 minute audio interview with David Allen

Download David_Allen_visits_the_Manager_As_Coach_Boot_Camp_081108.mp3

Are you ready to become the ultimate teambuilder?  Enroll in the Manager As Coach Boot Camp now.  CLICK HERE for more information.

Gen-Y expert Bea Fields answers questions from leaders enrolled in the Manager As Coach Boot Camp

Are you a manager who leads Gen-Y employees?  If you answered yes then you already know Gen-Y is unlike any other generation you've had the opportunity to lead.

About Gen-Y

• Enjoy working together, are highly connected
• Seek work-life balance
• Expect to be highly successful, are upbeat
• Reward and recognition driven
• Short term focused
• Supremely tech savvy
• Want managers they can admire

If you try to manage Gen-Y using an old, outdated, command-and-control style of leadership, this generation will walk out your door before lunch.  And before the end of the day, they'll blog, IM, and text about their experience (warning their friends!).

Times have changed and managers must change with the times or be left behind.

The most effective way to lead Gen-Y is using a coach approach.

In my 10-week intensive Manager As Coach Boot Camp, managers learn how to make the shift from a traditional style of leadership to that of Coach Manager.

The Manager As Coach Boot Camp is a new and highly interactive distance learning program led by Teamwork Coach Tom Heck.

In addition to the weekly live Leadership TeleClasses and Group Coaching Sessions, special guest speakers come to our virtual class and share their unique knowledge with us. 

Gen-Y expert Bea Fields (coauthor of Millennial Leaders) recently visited with the participants in the summer 2008 Manager As Coach Boot Camp session and she shared important information about how to manage Gen-Y.  Participants were able to ask questions and get specific answers to their management questions from experts like Bea.

Click on the link below to listen to the 60-minute recording of Bea Fields when she visited the Manager As Coach Boot Camp summer 2008 session.

Download 01_mac_guest_speaker_bea_fields.mp3

If you want to become a leader (or an employer) of choice among Gen-Y then you need to know what Bea Fields is teaching.

Are you ready to become a Manager Coach?  CLICK HERE to learn more about the Manager As Coach Boot Camp.  The next session starts soon and space is limited.

Teamwork and Leadership Ideas Newsletter: July 2008

It's Teamwork Coach Tom Heck  with your July 2008 edition of the TeachMeTeamwork.com Teamwork & Leadership Ideas e-Newsletter. Subscribe HERE for free.

In this issue I'm especially excited to share a new audio interview with John David Mann who co-authored a wonderful book entitled "The Go-Giver -- A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea".  In this interview you'll hear John share his "Five Laws of Stratospheric Success" which are all based on the power of giving.  As you'll hear in this unique interview, the most successful people all share a common trait: they are excellent givers.  CLICK HERE to listen to the interview.

The number of subscribers to this teamwork ideas e-newsletter just passed 36,000 (from 103 countries!).  It is an honor to support the good work of so many people. 

One of the benefits of having so many subscribers is that I get to field questions from an amazingly diverse audience - - large (and famous) international organizations, small mom-and-pop businesses, non-profits, military, health care, education - - all of whom are looking for ways to build and motivate high performing teams. 

With so many great resources available at TeachMeTeamwork.com to help you build your high performing team, which one will provide the greatest Return On Investment (ROI)?

The answer is learning how to lead using a "coach approach". All the work I do with teams and the people who lead them is based on the new paradigm of Leader As Coach.

Jack Welch, the former Chairman and CEO of GE known for his innovative management strategies and leadership style, has said "People who are coaches will be the norm.  Other people won't get promoted."

Are you ready to learn how to lead using coaching skills?

Are you ready to take your career and your team to new levels and do it in a sustainable way? 

If yes, then check out my new 10-week distance learning program: Manager As Coach Boot Camp.  This intensive and highly interactive program is guaranteed to help you shift from an old command-and-control style of leadership to a new more dynamic model of leadership based on coaching skills.

Right now I'm leading a 10-week summer session of the Manager As Coach Boot Camp with 50 managers from the US, Canada, UK, South Africa and the Virgin Islands.  We're in week 5 and program participants are finding the experience to be invaluable and are reporting amazing results (more on this later).

Enrollment is now open for the fall session of Manager As Coach Boot Camp.  CLICK HERE to learn more.

Here's to your health and happiness!

Tom Heck
Teamwork Coach
email me tom@teachmeteamwork.com
call me (828) 665-0303

New Teambuilding Games

• Minefield -- partner success
• Reach As High As You Can -- no prop activity
• Helium Stick -- are we all headed in the same direction?

New Audio Interview

• John David Mann -- Five Laws of Stratospheric Success for Teams -- lessons from the must-read book "The Go-Giver"

Free Teamwork Skills TeleSeminar

• Seven Edge Strategies For Modern Day Teams -- Wednesday July 23, 2008 and it's FREE.  All who attend receive a $37 gift.

New Leadership Book

• Edge:  A Leadership Story -- from executive coach Bea Fields

Teamwork Theory

• How To Talk About Teambuilding Games -- don't do it
• Is Your Team Happy? -- lessons from Harvard

Teamwork Humor

• Penguin Teamwork -- animated Disney-Pixar short film

Teambuilding Games CD Bundle SPECIAL OFFER

• Best-selling CD set from TeachMeTeamwork.com -- Purchase NOW to get $193 in FREE bonuses plus instant access to the TeachMeTeamwork.com online archive of teambuilding game write-ups

Free TeleSeminar: Living in the Hot Zone: Seven Edge Strategies for Modern Day Teams with Tom Heck of TeachMeTeamwork.com

We are living in one of the most  radical times in the history of business, and radical times call for  radical leadership.

Teams are now living in the "hot zone", that place  in business where risk, fear, doubt, pressure, uncertainty and change  can get the best of the most savvy leaders.

Join Tom Heck, Head Coach at TeachMeTeamwork.com and Bea Fields, Executive Coach and coauthor of Millennial Leaders and Edge A Leadership Story, for a live and interactive TeleSeminar on Wednesday July 23, 2008 from 1 to 2 pm EST where we'll discuss the seven critical strategies teams of today need in order to not just survive but thrive in the business world.

This TeleSeminar is FREE and to register just CLICK HERE and you'll be taken to Bea Fields' website to register

Living in the Hot Zone:  7 Edge Strategies for Modern Day Teams with Tom Heck and Bea Fields

FREE BONUS -- For all who join us on this informative call you'll receive free access to a $37 course from TeachMeTeamwork.com entitled Unleash Your Ears - Listening To Discern What's Really Going On With A Team

How to achieve individual and team success using principles from "The Go-Giver" -- an audio interview with author John David Mann

Why do thousands of leaders from around the world access the teambuilding resources here at TeachMeTeamwork.com?

The answer is simple.

They're all looking for strategies, tactics and tools for building successful teams.

If there is one key principle to building and leading successful teams it is found in the pages of this new book by Bob Burg and John David Mann entitled:

The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea

This book is short, easy to read and understand and absolutely compelling which is why I contacted one of the authors John David Mann and asked him to share the wisdom of this book with the TeachMeTeamwork.com audience through an audio interview (link below).

In the interview, John shares "The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success" and how you can use them to experience more success in your own life while helping your team become more successful.

The Go-Giver offers a highly accessible exploration on what it means to give -- to be generous.

Take a look at the front page of nearly any newspaper (if you dare) and you'll see mention of "economic downturn".  In such an environment you might be paying closer attention to how you, your team and your organization are compensated.

What determines your level of compensation?

In this audio interview (link below) John David Mann explains one of the laws shared in The Go-Giver called "The Law of Compensation" which states "Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well  you serve them". Your understanding of just this one law could change your life and the team you lead forever.

Within the pages of this book are the five secrets that will help you tap into your true business potential.  Yes, it's that powerful of a book.  Listen to what these business luminaries have to say about this book:

“The Go-Giver does everything I would wish a good book to do. Read it to the very end.”
—Michael E. Gerber, author, The E-Myth

“This terrific book wonderfully illuminates [the] principles of contribution, abundance, service, and success.”
—Stephen M. R. Covey, author, The Speed of Trust

“Most people don’t have the guts to buy this book, never mind the will to follow through and actually use it. But you do. And I’m certain that you’ll be glad you did.”
—Seth Godin, author, The Dip

I found author John David Mann to be fun and energetic during the interview.  He provides excellent examples of how to apply the Five Laws in real life situations.

John has been writing about business, leadership and the laws of success for twenty years.  He really does know what it means to build and lead teams and has been doing it for a long time (he created his first business as a teenager!). 

In the past few years John has worked with Paul Zane Pilzer (my favorite economist) writing The Next Millionaires, with Jeff Olson writing The Slight Edge and with John Assaraf and Murray Smith writing The Answer.  John is also the coauthor of You Call The Shots:  The 19 Essential Secrets of Entrepreneurship.

Click on the link below to download the 44 minute audio interview with John David Mann:

Download John_David_Mann_1.mp3

Teambuilding Game: Minefield

The Minefield teambuilding game is easy to setup and lead and is perfect for a group as small as 4 people and as large as 50.

You (the facilitator) create a "minefield" (obstacle course) using whatever supplies you have on hand.  In the video clip below I setup the playing area using Toobeez pipes and balls.  You can also use chairs, paper, hoola hoops, etc. to create your minefield.

Participants partner up and everyone stands at one end of the minefield.  One partner closes her eyes and steps into the minefield.  The other partner uses her voice to guide the person inside the minefield, helping her NOT touch any of the items in the minefield.  The objective is to get your partner through to the other side of the minefield and then the fun begins...

There are variations to this teambuilding game including picking up puzzle pieces as you travel through the minefield, avoiding mousetrap, and more.

Would you like to lead this teambuilding game with your group?

I'll send you the complete teambuilding game write-up!  Just subscribe to my free TeachMeTeamwork.com teamwork ideas e-newsletter (see the form in the right hand column).  In addition to receiving a free teambuilding games e-book, I'll regularly send you complete and detailed lead-it-yourself instructions to teambuilding games like the one above.  The lead-it-yourself instructions include: 

• Setup & Preparation directions
• Rules
• Comments and insights about the teambuilding game
• Debriefing suggestions
• Variations
• Detailed "how to make it" if props are involved
• Video clips and photos

Over time you'll receive over 100 new and different lead-it-yourself teambuilding game write-ups for FREE. 

CLICK HERE for a sample teambuilding game write-up.

Do you need immediate access to my growing online archive of lead-it-yourself teambuilding games?  When you purchase my popular Multimedia 3-CD Training Bundle, I'll immediately send you the password to my online archive of teambuilding game write-ups.  Learn more HERE.

>> Everything you need to build a high-performing team. CLICK HERE

Leading your team and lessons from the professor who teaches Harvard University's most popular class

Is your team happy?

Are YOU happy?

If you answered "No" or "Maybe" to the above questions then you will be interested in the new book by Tal Ben-Shahar entitled:

Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment

Ben-Shahar is a Harvard Professor and his class on happiness is reported to be the most popular on campus.

Does that surprise you?

Harvard students pay upwards of $50,000/year to attend this iconic university and they sign up for a course on happiness?! 

Could it be that many of these students will go on to lead teams - - some will be managers, some CEOS, some will create wildly successful start-ups.  And if they can create a team or a company that is filled with happy employees, they will gain a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace (reduced turnover, HR dept focused on building capacity rather than putting out fires, increased productivity, reduced stress,  fewer sick days, etc.).

Old-school, command-and-control style managers didn't concern themselves with helping their employees / team members understand and become happier.  Times have changed.  Now managers must lead their teams in a way that inspires and draws out the best in people.  The result?  Happier employees!

Learn how to build happier teams naturally in the Manager As Coach Boot Camp.