Many Boomers in management and supervisory roles have expressed the challenges of leading "Gen-Y" and "Millennials" (click here).
Some are calling the newest generation to enter the work for "Globals" and National Public Radio has an interesting report on this generation. CLICK HERE to access the free recording.
Are you wondering how to lead this generation? Motivation wont' work. This generation is all about INSPIRATION. Do you know the difference between "motivation" and "inspiration"? Your success and the success of your team/organization will depend on your understanding of this distinction. Read about the "Inspiration Economy" in my open letter at the IATF Leader As Coach Fast Track Program website.
Jennifer Larr (center), 24, is seen here in Rwanda at the Gashora Girls Academy where she was a teacher in 2011. Larr is part of a new generation of young adults focusing on travel, studying abroad and global experiences.
"They understand this idea of a shared fate, or a linked fate. That somehow, what happens to somebody in Mumbai may have an effect on me in West Los Angeles."
- Franklin Gilliam, dean, UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs
Today is we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. here in the United States. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Dr. King.
An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broad conerns of all humanity.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
On the one hand, we are called to play the good smaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
I'm so excited to announce the 5th Annual Lessons In Leadership main event!
The date is Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at the magnificent, brand new Kimmel Arena at UNCA. Registration and Networking is from 5:00 to 6:00 with the program from 6:15 to 8:45.
The speaker for this special 5th anniversary event is America's Breakthrough Coach, Brian Biro delivering BREAKTHROUGH LEADERSHIP!
Brian is an amazing teacher of team and leadership skills and is on the faculty here at the IATF.
When we hear…we forget. When we SEE…we're more likely to remember. But when we DO, we UNDERSTAND!
This will be a one-of-a-kind event that will move you out of the stands and into the game!
It is unlike any seminar or presentation anywhere for the unequaled engagement, energy, focus, and value.
Brian has delivered more than 1,250 events around the world to companies like Lockheed Martin, Starbucks, Staples, Microsoft, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Boeing, Kaiser Permanente, Verizon, AT&T, Southwest Airlines, the University of Notre Dame, UCLA, TIAA-CREF, AFLAC, Allstate, and hundreds of others reaching more than half a million participants. He was also recently named one of the 100 Most Inspirational Graduates of the UCLA Graduate School of Business in honor of their 75th Anniversary. He has has written nine books including bestseller Beyond Success.
Brian's presentation on Breakthrough Leadership will leave you six-feet off the ground ready to create lasting breakthroughs in your life, health, business, and spirit! AND, because he speaks exclusively for organizations, businesses, and educational institutions, this is the only PUBLIC event Brian will do in 2012!
REGISTER NOW at www.wncleaders.com
Cost is only $20/person
Every cent goes to charities including MANNA Food Bank, the YMCA of WNC Healthier Communities Campaign, and the UNCA Scholarship fund.
This event will be held at the brand new Kimmel Arena on the campus of the University of North Carolina Asheville. It is truly state-of-the-art! During the networking time from 5:00 to 6:00 the concession stands will be open, so you can enjoy a delicious and easy dinner right there PLUS there is plenty of easy parking!
When companies bring Brian Biro in to speak they invest upwards of $20,000 for facility, speakers fees, and AV. This same quality of experience is yours for $20 on January 24th.
We encourage you to make the most of this opportunity and BRING YOUR ENTIRE TEAM!! This year's event will have enormous value for you personally and professionally. By the time you leave the arena that night you will understand that no matter your job title or position, you are a leader…the CEO of your own life…and will be inspired and crystal clear that you have the potential to elevate you and those around you every single day.
REGISTER NOW at www.wncleaders.com
Cost is only $20/person
IATF President Tom Heck will be there and would love to connect with you at the event.
Brene Brown, Ph.D. has a great post on her blog about what the recent events at Penn State have to teach us about shame and organizational culture.
When the culture of an organization mandates that it is more important to protect the reputation of a system and those in power than it is to protect the basic human dignity of individuals, you can be certain that shame is systemic, money drives ethics, and accountability is dead. This is true in corporations, nonprofits, universities, governments, churches, schools, families, and sports programs. If you think back on any major scandal fueled by cover-ups, you'll see this pattern.
Read the full post HERE.
Tom Hanks narrates the epic story of the 9/11 boatlift that evacuated half a million people from the stricken piers and seawalls of Lower Manhattan.
BOATLIFT premiered on September 8th at the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit: Remembrance/Renewal/Resilience in Washington. The Summit kicked off a national movement to foster community and national resilience in the face of future crises. See www.road2resilience.org to become a part of the campaign to build a more resilient world.
Thank you to IATF member Rabbi Shmuly Rothman for pointing us to this video.
My friend Donald MacNaughton has written a new book entitled "The 12 Hidden Laws of Performance".
If you want to get the inside story (literally) on how to perform like a champion in work and life, then check this book out.
Don works with top athletes and high-achievers and has been producing amazing results for the last twenty years.
He's finally put his discoveries as one of the worlds top "Sports Shrinks" down in a book that will show you how to perform like an Olympian at a time when it really counts.
The book includes a stack of premium bonuses for less than the price of a coffee and a magazine.
I met Don a few years back when we were both speakers at a business building event in Asheville, North Carolina. I discovered Don's expertise in Neuro Lingquistic Programming (NLP) and his passion for sports performance. I'm a big fan of NLP and have played competitive team sports for most of my life. We've been friends ever since.
Check out Don's work at Zoned In Performance.
We here at the IATF are big fans of the Go-Giver principles. While speaking with my good friend Tim Sinatra today he shared the story of a 9-year-old girl who is a living example of the Go-Giver principles in action.
Tim is the exec at the Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties (Oregon) and one of his club members is Alyssa "Lulu" Garvey. Allysa was given $50 by her grandmother as a gift and then challenged to raise more money with it and donate that money to charity.
Allysa got to work. She started selling cupcakes and the money started to roll in. Allysa converted the $50 gift into $5,600 which she donated to the Health and Dental Services Center of the Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties.
Read the full story HERE.
Make a donation HERE to the Boys & Girls Club and help Allysa help more kids.
Turns out Allysa is a great public speaker! Check it out!
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Here is an amazing example of teamwork in action.
This video was shot in Tarragona, Spain. Teams gather every two years to see who can build the highest most intricate human castles.
Notice how there are men, women and children all working together for a common goal.
How high is your team willing to reach?
What risks are involved in your team's journey?
What is the level of commitment among team members?
Casteller from Mike Randolph on Vimeo.
The Association for Experiential Education (AEE) offers regional conferences each spring. I've attended AEE regional conferences and have presented at them as well. There are always great workshops and great people to learn from.
From the AEE website:
AEE sponsors a variety of events for experiential educators, practitioners and students from around the world to come together in a supportive community with the goal of promoting, defining, developing, and applying the theories and practices of experiential education.AEE conferences are designed to help you to develop professionally, find employment or employees, learn valuable new strategies and skills to integrate into your work, and develop lasting personal and professional relationships.
The conferences take place in 8 regions of North America during March and April.
Imagine a team skills workshop that involves sitting and listening to an "expert" talk about how to be a good team. You might even hear this in the workshop "Please open your books and read the section on shared leadership between pages 129 and 157."
Now imagine a team skills workshop that involves engaging, hands-on learning exercises that create openings for dynamic and productive conversations that build on the collective wisdom of the participants - - all guided by a skilled facilitator who helps the group learn how to apply what they've experienced.
Which one of these workshops would you prefer to attend?
I'm going to guess your answer is workshop # 2 where you'll learn through EXPERIENCE.
All of the great teamwork facilitators understand the value of experiential education.
If you're new to experiential education then you need to know about the Association of Experiential Education (AEE). This organization supports the work of experiential learning practitioners worldwide. You'll find many AEE members who are teamwork facilitators. I have presented at many AEE conferences on topics involving team and leadership development - - usually sharing strategies, tactics and tools for teaching team skills experientially.
AEE is holding their international conference in the beautiful city of Montreal between October 29 and November 1, 2009. CLICK HERE to learn more about the conference.
IATF members Michael Cardus of Create-Learning.com and Brian Capron of UNC Charlotte Venture Program will be leading workshops at the event. Read the list of great workshops and workshop presenters HERE.
I just received this email from a subscriber in Nepal (permission to share was granted).
Hello Tom
Excuse my informality. But I feel I know you so well after a year or more of your invaluable advice and my use of your book "Teambuilding Puzzles" and other stuff.
I thought you'd like to know how I've been using your "stuff".
I am English. I have aquired a job in a school in a small town here in Nepal as Progams Director. This involves teaching just a few conversation classes to the higher grades, but more importantly I do teacher training and teacher assessments.
Using your skills I try to introduce both students and teachers to new ways of thinking by giving them problem solving exercises from your book and also to get them to do critical thinking "Out Of The Box".
They LOVE IT!!!!
Both students and teachers have never seen anything like the way I teach. The teacher training sessions are looked forward to instead of thought of as a dreary and mandatory part of the job. The teachers are improving their professionalism in leaps and bounds and the students actually enjoy it!
In the next couple of months I will be organizing a Teachers Team Building Day based on your programs. I have no doubt it will be an eye-opening experience for them and one that will make them work better as a team.
It's sad that at the moment I'm unable to come to any of your workshops, but it's my one ambition to some day be able to do so.
Of course, you could always come here to do some workshops?! You'd REALLY love it here. You can see the peaks of the Himalayas as you walk to work every day, and meet some of the warmest people you'll ever meet in your life!
Regards
Brian Stokes
Thanks for all your hard work on behalf of my students, my teachers, and above all...ME.
Here's a news item that speaks to how easy it can be to fool people.
A small group of high school students play a prank on visiting fans during a football game. Be sure to watch the video clip below.
This small group of students passed out small (8.5 x 11 inch) pieces of paper to fans sitting on the opposing side of the field. The fans thought the signs would spell out something positive ("Go Darby") but instead said "We Suck".
This small group of students was not operating in integrity and yet they were able to quickly and easily fool a few hundred people because only they lacked the "big picture". Had the fans known what they were doing they would have never participated in the prank.
It's easier for leaders who aren't operating in integrity to fool larger and larger numbers of people because so many people are in a fog. This fog can be caused by many things but one of the biggest culprits is our seemingly never ending desire for more TV that is the equivalent of junk food for the brain.
TV distracts us an makes us more susceptible to being fooled, much like the fans at the football game were fooled. When we're distracted it becomes harder to think about the big picture or what's really important.
Al Gore talks a lot about this in his must read book entitled "The Assault On Reason".
Read a book review of "The Assault On Reason" by the NY Times HERE
NPR interviews Al Gore about this book. Listen HERE
Would you or your team members like to develop the skills needed to lead with high integrity? Take a look at my new 12-month leadership development program: the Emerging Leaders Coaching Program
My wife Anne has published her first book of poetry and it's wonderful. You can order your copy HERE.
This book contains 18 poems, all inspired by Anne's connection to nature and Spirit.
Check out Anne's blog where you'll find more poetry and photographs by Anne: www.AnneHeck.com
High functioning teams take care of their team members.
That makes sense.
High functioning societies take care of their citizens (team members).
That makes sense to.
I recently watched Michael Moore's latest movie "Sicko" and one of the big messages I got was this:
We (us in the United States of America) are neglecting our fellow citizens in a terrible way by allowing the existence of our current dysfunctional health care system.
I was brought to tears many times while watching this powerful movie.
It's tempting to blame the health insurance companies for all the sadness and even terror depicted in the movie but they're too easy a target.
The truth is that WE the American voters are the problem. The only politicians we should elect are people who agree to make the following a reality:
Moore has an entire page dedicated to things you can do right now to bring about change.
Make it your personal mission to convince your congressperson to become a cosponsor of the United States National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676 text) by MORNING!
If your congressperson isn't on the list, click here and tell them to support the United States National Health Insurance Act. Tally: One sponsor, 76 cosponsors
My friend Michelle Cummings at Training-Wheels.com is interviewed in Thiagi's newsletter. Michelle is an expert facilitator and teacher of teamwork activities and is the author of several teambuilding games books.
CLICK HERE for the interview.
CLICK HERE for the great teambuilding game Michelle shares - - it's from her book "Playing With a Full Deck"
When you sign up for Michelle's newsletter she sends you 9 free teambuilding games from Playing With a Full Deck.
I also recommend Thiagi's free monthly newsletter. Thiagi is a masterful teacher of games and how to use them in a training situation. I always learn something new and valuable. You can sign up HERE. Look at the current issue and back issues of Thiagi's newsletter HERE.
I received an email today from Jacopa Nicelli who lives in Italy. Jacopa employs experiential learning exercises from TeachMeTeamwork.com in his training events.
My friend Dr. Jim Cain from the USA (he coauthored Teambuilding Puzzles with me) was in Italy not long ago and Jim taught a group of trainers the Hole Tarp Teambuilding Game from TeachMeTeamwork.com.
Jacopa and Jim got to talking and discovered the connection between Jim and myself.
Notice how Jim has different size holes in the tarp. My directions suggest making all five holes the same size. I do like the variation of placing different size holes because you can place different size balls on the tarp simultaneously (example: tennis ball and marble) - - the larger ball won't fall through all the holes but the small ball will. Have you ever encountered a problem (hole) that seems bigger than other problems?
Anne Fisher, a senior writer at Fortune Magazine, writes a column entitled "Ask FSB" for Fortune Small Business Magazine and she called me last month in reference to an article she was writing. Anne wanted to know the story behind my moving to the number one position on Google for the phrase "teamwork coach". If you pick up a copy of the March 2007 issue of Fortune Small Business you'll find mention of TeachMeTeamwork.com in Anne's column. Thank you Anne!
Would you like to participate in the TeachMeTeamwork "R&D Team" ?
I’m always working on several exciting projects at TeachMeTeamwork.com like creating new team building games, creating client programs or tweaking my web site.
I need feedback to make sure what I’m creating is well thought out and useful. That’s where you come in! I’ve put together a research and development (R&D) team and you might like to join (it's free). Click here to find out more.
Yesterday I delivered the first ever "Teams In Trouble" workshop at a regional conference of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) in Milwaukee, WI. The workshop is based on the popular teleclass series I've developed with my colleague Michael Goldman of FacilitationFirst.com.
The event was attended by approximately 100 full time trainers and was called a "Knowledge Summit". The morning presenter was best selling author Ron McMillan (pictured) of VitalSmarts.com who is the coauthor of "Crucial Conversations" and "Crucial Confrontations". Ron's presentation revealed some very useful skills in facing tough issues with people. Ron was a humorous and lively presenter and he was thoroughly engaging plus he had a beautiful Power Point presentation (yeah, I'm a little envious). We commiserated about missing our children's halloween parties.
The lunch keynote speaker was Debra Schmidt whose topic was "The Power of Possibility Thinking". I didn't get a chance to see Debra's presentation because I was meditating in my room (something I always do prior to delivering a presentation). I did get a chance to visit with Debra before lunch and she is a super nice person who happens to be an accomplished wind surfer.
I was the third and final speaker of the day. My Teams In Trouble workshop is designed to get people up and out of their seats, having fun learning through experiential activities. I wrapped up my presentation with a piece on the power of intention and the Law of Attraction (more on this later). A small group stayed after for an extra set of Power Point slides showing Dr. Emoto's amazing research with water crystals.
In the evening I visited with my good friend James T. Harris who is a remarkable speaker living in the Milwaukee area. James and I are students of generational history and big fans of William Strauss and Neil Howe who coauthored a fascinating book entitled "The Fourth Turning". We think we've figured out who the next president will be - - based on our understanding of the cycles of history (see The Fourth Turning) we predict it will be General Norman Schwarzkoph, Jr. I hope James T will go into great detail at his blog as to how we came up with this prediction. James and I met a month after 9/11 while helping our friend Laurie Beth Jones complete a home study video course for the Path Personal Mission Statement program. We've been good friends ever since.
A couple of months ago Rich Swannell called me from Pirth, Australia (Rich found me through a mutual friend). He said he was headed to Southern India to begin an amazing project.
Rich is teaching a hand picked group of children at the Hebron Children's Home to trade on the US stock market with the goal being to help make the orphanage and community self-sustaining financially. This project will take years to see through to the end.
Rich is teaching the children how to work as an investment team and is using the resources at TeachMeTeamwork.com to help him learn how to teach in a memorable way.
A group is documenting this project and Rich sent me some video of one of the initial team training sessions.
I had tears in my eyes as I watched these children participate in teambuilding activities taught to them by Rich who had learned them at TeachMeTeamwork.com. This was one of the greatest gifts I've ever received.
Listen to a 30 minute interview I did with Rich Swannell by clicking on the link below:
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Hebron Children's
Below you can view the video clip of the kids playing these games.
Do you have an inspirational story you'd like to share about how you're using teambuilding to change lives? Please send me your story and I might just write about it in this blog.
