TEAM:
Is it true that one's level of purpose is equal to their level of engagement? If given the opportunity and empowered to engage the people around them it stands to reason that equal is at the very least! I was reminded of this very thing last Friday. Thank you Jamal & SDK!
Ever wake up and feel like that day will be insanely good? Things happen and your sure there is something or someone that has a hand in all the AWESOME things that occur? Last Friday was one of those days! I woke up 5 minutes before my alarm went (3:55am), somehow got a free Iced Venti Coffee from my local Starbucks, managed to be the last car on the 5:35am ferry to Kingston! Heck I even finished all my email by 7:30 that morning! Trust me that was just the beginning...
I joined my SDK TEAM as they began to assemble for the weeks meeting. This was the first time I had been able to attend one of their meetings and I was looking forward to it. Small but mighty we were 8 strong! I have always had a good time in my previous visits to the store so I must admit my expectations were high of this bright group. I wasn't disappointed. We began with an icebreaker game (happy to report our TEAM won, thanks to Robert!), read over and covered the weekly agenda, and discussed the weeks sales performance. The structure of the meeting, similar to what I have seen before, the content and topics just as familiar. There were two major differences in SDK's meeting however, 1. the engagement level of the entire SDK TEAM... 2. the ownership of the Store Leader, Jamal's, message. I was moved.
This meeting was only two hours, yet so much was accomplished. The TEAM shared ideas and talked about how to improve their business, working collectively to devour each topic as it was thrown out. There were suggestions, ideas, and solutions. All employees were involved and actively engaged. Thirty minutes into the meeting it dawned on me that this wasn't some show because the boss was there, this was SDK's natural state. There was nothing fake about this. AWESOME stuff! Just when I thought it couldn't get better, Jamal took it to the next level.
The week prior Jamal had the opportunity to participate in a Multicultural Leadership event that included leaders from all over our five Region Area. He shared with all of us the learning and experiences he took from this trip. In hindsight I wished I would have recorded it. Jamal shared the topics of the key-note speakers spoke of and the members of the Leadership TEAM he met. The passion he spoke with, the emotion he shared, and the gratitude for it all he had was incredible. (I have known Jamal long enough to know this experience meant the world to him!) Jamal shared with the TEAM not only what he personally took from this recent experience but also the impact this will have on everyone else. That it was his honor to attend this conference but it was his obligation to share with his TEAM. His payback was sharing, involving, and teaching the other members of his TEAM. WOW!
Engaged leader, engaged TEAM. Leader with purpose, TEAM with purpose. Direct correlation for sure and then some! Talk about an insanely good day! I felt so proud to be a part of that meeting. I feel so proud to a part of this TEAM. Thank you to Sarah, Laura, Kattie, Tan, Robert, Naaman, and Jamal for including me. You taught me a lot about purpose and engagement!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
"Un-Vailing" the NEW Possible!
TEAM:
Recently I had the opportunity of a lifetime... help advance a new Leadership movement in Vail, Colorado.
I was part of a 5 person TEAM teaching a group of almost 90 Leaders. Now I have done work with these stellar colleagues before, but I find it hard to argue that this may have been OUR best work yet! I witnessed new heights of these magnificent teachers, new realms of possibility amongst this AWESOME group of game-changers. Individually WE have all done cool work, made change for the good and lead TEAMs into serious levels of achievement. Collectively WE cranked all of these up 100 fold! Small but mighty, WE worked on and practiced our skills fiercely with these 90 Leaders. In a mere 5 hours the results were dramatic.
Leaders recapped OUR session of intense practice using words like "engaged", "amazing", "grateful", & "life-changing". They talked about how things will change, what is possible for them and their TEAMs as a result of this day. Many simply came up to me, shook my hand, & said "thank you". People I didn't even directly work with during those 5 hours came up to share how they planned to deploy this new skill with their organizations. I even overheard a Leader on the phone discussing how they needed to change their agenda for an upcoming meeting. WOW!
To name all the learning that happened in that room would take me forever, even then I’m not sure I could completely do it justice. Suffice to say July 6th, 2010 will be a day WE will point back to as a day that changed the way these 90 Leaders do business and a day our cool group of 5 changed the game! WE have all been involved in this "training" before. Yes the content was familiar, the drills were similar, even some of the audience was the same. Never have I seen such immediate results, a buzz in the room like I have never felt or seen! Ironic that this AWESOME experience took place at 8,100 feet above sea-level? I think not! It was clear to me that all the attendees are operating at the highest levels! It was a dramatic "Un-Vailing" of the NEW possible!
In reflection of my time in Vail, I am still in awe. It is always invigorating to spend time with new ideas, fresh thoughts, and different perspectives. Yet, seeing my peers and 90 bright Leaders breakthrough and discover what was once unknown is incredible! To see this group of people begin to tap into what is possible almost brought me to tears. I was so excited I could hardly go to sleep that night, knowing this journey has just begun. In fact leaving the next morning I felt a little jealous of the journey that is store for these brilliant ones. Clearly an "Un-Vailing"!
Think about the "Un-Vailing" in your organization. How can you engage your peers or the leaders of your TEAM in a way that catapults them into the extraordinary? What skills do they need and how can you help to unlock the potential that is front and center? What possibilities will your TEAM "Un-Vail"?
My eternal gratitude to cool ones that shared this killer experience in Colorado! Thank you for "Un-Vailing" the NEW possible!
Recently I had the opportunity of a lifetime... help advance a new Leadership movement in Vail, Colorado.
I was part of a 5 person TEAM teaching a group of almost 90 Leaders. Now I have done work with these stellar colleagues before, but I find it hard to argue that this may have been OUR best work yet! I witnessed new heights of these magnificent teachers, new realms of possibility amongst this AWESOME group of game-changers. Individually WE have all done cool work, made change for the good and lead TEAMs into serious levels of achievement. Collectively WE cranked all of these up 100 fold! Small but mighty, WE worked on and practiced our skills fiercely with these 90 Leaders. In a mere 5 hours the results were dramatic.
Leaders recapped OUR session of intense practice using words like "engaged", "amazing", "grateful", & "life-changing". They talked about how things will change, what is possible for them and their TEAMs as a result of this day. Many simply came up to me, shook my hand, & said "thank you". People I didn't even directly work with during those 5 hours came up to share how they planned to deploy this new skill with their organizations. I even overheard a Leader on the phone discussing how they needed to change their agenda for an upcoming meeting. WOW!
To name all the learning that happened in that room would take me forever, even then I’m not sure I could completely do it justice. Suffice to say July 6th, 2010 will be a day WE will point back to as a day that changed the way these 90 Leaders do business and a day our cool group of 5 changed the game! WE have all been involved in this "training" before. Yes the content was familiar, the drills were similar, even some of the audience was the same. Never have I seen such immediate results, a buzz in the room like I have never felt or seen! Ironic that this AWESOME experience took place at 8,100 feet above sea-level? I think not! It was clear to me that all the attendees are operating at the highest levels! It was a dramatic "Un-Vailing" of the NEW possible!
In reflection of my time in Vail, I am still in awe. It is always invigorating to spend time with new ideas, fresh thoughts, and different perspectives. Yet, seeing my peers and 90 bright Leaders breakthrough and discover what was once unknown is incredible! To see this group of people begin to tap into what is possible almost brought me to tears. I was so excited I could hardly go to sleep that night, knowing this journey has just begun. In fact leaving the next morning I felt a little jealous of the journey that is store for these brilliant ones. Clearly an "Un-Vailing"!
Think about the "Un-Vailing" in your organization. How can you engage your peers or the leaders of your TEAM in a way that catapults them into the extraordinary? What skills do they need and how can you help to unlock the potential that is front and center? What possibilities will your TEAM "Un-Vail"?
My eternal gratitude to cool ones that shared this killer experience in Colorado! Thank you for "Un-Vailing" the NEW possible!
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