Leaders in the field of team and leadership development know the difference between a marginal leader and a great leader is often boiled down to one thing:  Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Most have heard of IQ and too many people believe that a leader with a high IQ is what's going to save your team.  Not even close.

IQ won't save you.

EQ will.

What is the difference between IQ and EQ?

Dr. Haydn Hasty is President of MindSpring Consulting and is an expert in the area of Emotional Intelligence and teamwork. 

I've seen Dr Hasty in action.  He's a gifted trainer who can transform an individual or a team in a matter of moments.

In this audio interview you'll hear Dr. Hasty describe how he uses an EQ assessment when working with a team.

CLICK HERE to listen to this audio interview.  You will be taken to a password protected "Members Only Area".  Membership is free with your subscription to the free TeachMeTeamwork.com e-newsletter. 

Details about the Members Only Area HERE.

Dr. Hasty has just published a fantastic 8 CD training set entitled "Mind, Intention, and Outcomes."  CLICK HERE to learn more.

Barry Rellaford is a master trainer who works with CoveyLink, the organization behind Stephen M.R. Covey (listen to the audio interview I did with Covey HERE).

It's a delight to call Barry my friend.  He's been a supporter of TeachMeTeamwork.com since the very beginning and we've had many a phone conversation that I later said "That should have been recorded".  I say they should be recorded because our conversations are so rich and meaningful that I always think others would enjoy listening to them.

On Wed May 29 we had one of these "it should have been recorded" conversations. 

We were talking about an experience I had with a client and how I suggested they were dealing with trust issues.  My client pushed back and let me know "trust is definetly NOT the issue".  It clearly was but they didn't want to acknowledge it.  Barry provided me with some amazing feedback.

And it's no wonder he's an expert on trust.

Barry helped design the workshop based on the book The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey and he is delivering this training around the world on a near weekly basis. 

Can you imagine working on the topic of trust with business leaders on a weekly basis?  Awesome.

Barry's level of knowledge and understanding of all things trust is deep and profound.

Back to the "it should have been recorded" conversation...

I finally did it.

I said to Barry "We MUST have this conversation again!"  He agreed and so today (May 30) Barry and I had our conversation about trust  - - specifically talking about why trust is such an emotional topic and how questioning a person's (or organization's) level of trust does  NOT mean you are questioning their integrity.

During the conversation you'll hear Barry offer a fantastic suggestion on how to take some of the charge out of the conversation by simply replacing the word trust with a similar word that doesn't have all the emotional charge.  It was a big "ah-ha" moment for me.

This recorded training session is archived in the IATF Members Only Area.  Members CLICK HERE to access the recording.

This powerful teambuilding game uses a small toy called Mr. Potato Head.  I use this activity to explore the connection between "Process" and Product".  The key question to ask the group after the game is over is "Which is more important...product or process?"  This is a trick question of course.  Product and process are joined at the hip.  My goal however is to get the group into a discussion about the relationship between the two. 

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.

>> Lead consciously.  Learn how HERE

Here's a great teambuilding activity that you can use at the beginning of a team skills training to explore the impact our individual efforts have on the whole.

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.

>> Lead consciously.  Learn how HERE

Dan Pink's blog informs us that...

A group of folks at Wharton, Pearson, MIT, and Shared Insights have launched what aims to the world's first networked business book.

The venture, chirpily called We Are Smarter Than Me, will combine wiki techology and thousands of people around the world to create a management guide for a Web 2.0 world.

As the organizers explain, "Since the beginning of publishing, books have been written by individuals or by small groups of people (experts). This has even applied to recent books that describe the power of community intelligence. We Are Smarter Than Me will test this paradox, and determine whether a community of authors can write a compelling book better than individual experts."

You can sign up to help write the book HERE.

Dan Pink is the author of "A Whole New Mind -- Why Right Brainers Will Rule The Future".  Listen to the audio interview I did with Dan HERE.

My father died of a heart attack at age 60 in 1980.  I was 18 years old.  I'm reminded of him today as it is Memorial Day in the USA. 

Memorial Day is a federal holiday which commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country.  My dad served in the US Navy during World War II.  Memorial Day was special to him as he lost many friends in that war.

My father was an officer in the navy and fought in the Pacific.  I don't remember him talking much about the war though I know the events of the war profoundly effected him.

Last summer I took my family to Wilmington, NC where I was to deliver a keynote at a regional conference of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association.  We made the trip into a fun beach vacation.  We stayed at a wonderful hotel along the river and right across the river from the hotel was the Battleship North Carolina which was the first battleship to arrive in Pearl Harbor after the attack.

I decided to tour the ship and I took my then 7 year old son with me.  The tour was both amazing and sad.  Amazing in that I could hardly believe so many people could fit on that ship and sad because so many resources (people, money, time, energy, etc.) were focused on death and destruction. 

The tour got me thinking of my dad's service in the US Navy and so I began the search for his military records.  When I told my younger brother about my research project he mentioned he had an audio cassette tape which contained an interview my brother did with my father in 1977.  The subject was his military service and it was a project my brother completed in for a ninth grade world history class.

I could hardly believe it.

My father has been dead for 27 years and now I would be able to hear him.

Hearing my dad's voice was very strange.  I didn't remember him soundling like that.  So many memories and emotions flooded back.

And in the recording, you'll hear my dad mention the importance of teamwork.

Listen to the 22 minute audio interview completed in 1977 with my father at the link below (my brother Brian is the interviewer):

Download john_henry_heck_sr. interview.mp3

Here's a picture of my dad in his uniform (click to enlarge):

During the recording you'll hear my dad mention that he was involved in reconnaissance on various islands.  Here's a photo (click to enlarge) he treasured from that work.  My dad is standing in front of this group photo - - you can see him with his officer's hat on (his white t-shirt is showing).

I miss my dad.  I wish he could have met my wife and kids.  It would have been fun to talk about parenting.

The Trust Fall teamwork exercise is a "classic" teamwork game because it's so effective at helping an individual and a team explore both how it feels to trust and be trusted.  The experience creates an opening for the team and the teamwork facilitator to have a real and meaningful discussion about how to create a high trust environment.

This is an advanced activity and should only be led by extremely competent people.

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

Join the International Association of Teamwork Facilitators and receive immediate access to the growing online archive of teambuilding games.  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

CLICK HERE for a sample teambuilding game write-up.

The Big Safe Island teambuilding activity is designed to get the group to explore their attributes (what they bring to the team) and how they use them in an atmosphere that initially appears to be win-lose. This team exercise works well with groups as small as 5 (one team of 5) and as large as 40 (four teams of 10).  The level of difficulty can be changed to meet the needs of the group.

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.

>> Lead consciously.  Learn how HERE

It's Tom Heck with your May 15, 2007 edition of the TeachMeTeamwork.com Teamwork Ideas e-Newsletter.

I'm all packed up and leaving on a 5-day adventure with my eight year old son.  We're going sailing on the coast of North Carolina.  This is going to be a special treat because my younger brother will be joining us (he lives in Colorado).  We'll be camping out and sailing our Hobie-cat and watching beautiful sunsets. 

I mention this trip because this is what life is all about:  being of service AND being with the ones I love.  Through my website TeachMeTeamwork.com I'm able to help people around the world and still have a life that allows me to enjoy time with my family and friends. 

We truly live in an abundant world full of opportunities.  One of the ways I remind myself of this truth is through the weekly podcast of Dr. Michael Beckwith of Agape. Listening to Michael puts a smile on my face.

Tom Heck
Teamwork Coach

New Teambuilding Games

• Object Retrieval -- Rescue the stuffed animal
• A-Frame -- Make it walk with a rider
• Stepping Stones -- Across the river on little squares
• Baton Pass -- These guys make this look easy

New Audio Interview 

The Power of Connection -- An audio interview with best selling author Dr. Edward Hallowell.  Our culture and our teams are focused on achievement. But it's not our accomplishments that sustain us either individually or as a team. Listen to Dr. Hallowell share the secrets to what sustains us as individuals and as teams.  CLICK HERE to listen to the audio.

Recording of "Raise Your Team Standards" TeleSeminar

On May 3, 2007 I led a free TeleSeminar on how to raise your team standards.  150 people registered for the class and I recorded it.  If you missed the class you can now access the recording for free along with the class outline HERE.

New Teamwork T-Shirt

Are you looking for a way to communicate the benefits of teamwork in a fun and unique way? Take a look at our NEW t-shirt design.  These shirts are hot off the printing press and ready to ship.  CLICK HERE

Other Posts of Interest

• Teams In Trouble LIVE in Boston -- A train the trainer event
• Guest Bloggers of TeachMeTeamwork.com -- Are you ready?

Statistics for TeachMeTeamwork.com

• 25,909 subscribers as of this newsletter.
• Members in 101 countries (that I know of).  CLICK HERE for a list of the countries.
• 154 affiliates worldwide.  CLICK HERE to learn more about the TeachMeTeamwork.com affiliate program (I send affiliates money).

The Object Retrieval teambuilding activity is a good combination of problem solving and a physical challenge.  The team must find a way to send one of the team inside the roped off area to retrieve a stuffed animal AND the person going inside the roped off area must be blindfolded and may not touch the ground.  Watch the video clip to view the solution. 

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.

>> Lead consciously.  Learn how HERE

The A-Frame teamwork game is one of those activities that looks dangerous, especially if you put a rider on the A-Frame.  What I like most about this exercise is the give and take required to make the A-Frame "walk".  If everyone pulls their rope at the same time then the A-Frame can't move.

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

Join the International Association of Teamwork Facilitators and receive immediate access to the growing online archive of teambuilding games.  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

CLICK HERE for a sample teambuilding game write-up.

Here's a "classic" get your team from here to there game.  This time you're using "stepping stones" made from carpet squares or pieces of rubber (or buy them).

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

Join the International Association of Teamwork Facilitators and receive immediate access to the growing online archive of teambuilding games.  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

Here's a Toobeez Teambuilding Game that requires a great deal of concentration.  Many groups have a real challenge with this game but this group in the video clip are naturals.

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

Follow the link below to read detailed directions on how to lead this teamwork exercise which include:

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

CLICK HERE to read complete lead-it-yourself instructions.  You will be taken to a password protected "Member Only Area".  Membership is free with your subscription to the free TeachMeTeamwork.com e-newsletter. 

Details about the Member Only Area HERE.

We had a wonderful day celebrating Mother's Day today.  We hiked up to Max Patch (close to our home) for a picnic.  The wind was nice so that meant kite flying.  After lunch we drove down the mountain to Hot Springs, NC to enjoy a soak in the natural hot springs.  It was a beautiful day. 

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Business guru Guy Kawasaki interviews Dr. Philip Zimbardo who authored the recent book entitled "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil".  CLICK HERE to read the interview.

Dr. Zimbardo conducted the now (in)famous Standford Prison Experiment in the summer of 1971.  His book discusses in great detail the experiement, it's relevance to Abu Ghraib, and the “banality of heroism.”

In my work with organizations, I seek to build a culture of teamwork NOT just lead a teambuilding workshop.  Creating an organization whose culture can be described as "win-win" is what my work is all about.  For this reason I looked at Abu Ghraib and wondered how a culture of evil was consciously or unconscioulsy created at Abu Ghraib.  When I look at Enron I wonder the same thing - - how is it that a culture of deceit is created.  And conversley, how does one create and nurture a culture of win-win?  Dr. Zimbardo's book describes how this happens.

Kawasaki's last question to Zimbardo is the most exciting to me.  After researching the "benality of evil", Zimbardo is on a new mission to discover how people can become heroes:

Question: Using the same factors that make people do bad things, can you make people do better and better, even heroic, things?

Answer: My new mission in life, my new calling, emerged as I was writing the final chapter of Lucifer. In rethinking Hannah Arendt’s concept of the “banality of evil” as a kind of every normal person’s situationally specific but temporary excursion into the realm of evil, I realized is counterpart was missing.

The “banality of heroism” describes ordinary people who engage in extraordinary deeds of service to humanity—in particular, usually once- in- a lifetime situational setting. Like those doing monstrous deeds that look “terrifying normal,” these ordinary heroes look “delightfully normal.”

So I argue that the very same situation that can inflame the “hostile imagination” in those who become perpetrators of evil can inspire the “heroic imagination” for the first time in any of us. To become a hero involves only two steps on humanity’s path:

Read the entire interview HERE.

Imagine building a team with really smart people. 

You can make sure everyone on the team is smart by making high IQ scores a requirement.

Do you think this team would be successful?

If you said yes, think again.

Daniel Goleman, author of the NY Times best seller "Emotional Intelligence" reports HERE that...

IQ is a mirage when it comes to how someone actually will perform on any given job. It tells you nothing about that person’s drive or self-mastery, their ability to collaborate or empathize, let alone their ethics.

...a summary of data on the trivial value of IQ as a predictor of job performance, (is) a dirty little secret that has been well-known within psychology for decades.

So what predicts how well someone will actually do (on the job)?  IQ scores are not on the list. 

I found a system that does predict performance HERE

I read an article in the May 9, 2007 issue  of the Christian Science Monitor entitled "Educators, politicians, and MTV take aim at dropout 'epidemic'".

Seems that 3 in 10 American ninth-graders don't graduate with their class.  If you look at the African-American population then it's 1 in 2 that don't graduate.

There are two bipartisan bills in Congress that would authorize about $3 billion toward reducing dropout rates. 

This is MADNESS.

47% of dropouts reported leaving school because "classes were not interesting".

Spending $3 billion will not make public school classes any more interesting and here's why:  public schools are broken.  Public schools are increasingly more irrelevant to what's going on in the real world and the students know it. 

Did you listen to the audio interview with Dan Pink who authored "A Whole New Mind -- Moving From The Information Age To The Conceptual  Age"?  Dan will tell you public schools are broken and irrelevant because they focus on Left brain skills when they should be focusing on Right brain skills.

Public schools are, essentially, a monopoly.  Unless you're wealthy and can afford sending your child to the school of your choice you are stuck with the public school.  There is always the homeschooling option (we do this) but how many families can work that option?

Before we spend $3 billion on a broken system we need to break the monopoly.  Allow parents to send their child to the school that is best for their child. And yes, that includes private schools.  And don't make test scores a requirement for the school.  There is no direct correlation to high test scores and being successful in life. 

Listen to award winning teacher John Taylor Gatto talk about his book "The Underground History of American Education.  Gatto is the most eloquent person you'll find to talk about what's wrong with American public schools and how to fix them.

Our culture and our teams are focused on achievement. 

But it's not our accomplishments that sustain us either individually or as a team. 

What sustains us is the connections we make along the way.

Dr. Edward Hallowell has authored a book entitled "Connect - The Twelve Vital Ties That Open Your Heart, Lengthen Your Life, and Deepen Your Soul" which addresses the power of connections.  If you work with teams then this book is a must read.

Connections are the feelings of being part of something that matters - - something larger than ourselves.  When team members feel connected you tap into their inspiration which is TEN times more sustainable than constantly motivating your team (motivation is an external force and inspiration is an internal force).

In this interview you'll hear Hallowell, a noted Harvard psychiatrist, outline the steps we can take to make or reaffirm the connections that nourish the hungry heart (and the hungry team). 

Download the interview here:

CLICK HERE to download the audio interview

This interview is now archived in the IATF Members Only Area HERE.

Learn more about the benefits of IATF membership HERE.