COMMUNICATION KINGDOM SERIES—March 2024 Sprint

Communication Kingdom Series

CORNERSTONE—Spring 2024 Sprint

Cornerstone

KEYSTONE—Spring 2024 Cohort

Keystone

FIRESIDE FIELD GUIDE—Spouse Retreat Autumn 2023

FIRESIDE FIELD GUIDE—A GATHERING

CHANGE, ADAPTATION & RESILIENCE—March 2021

Change, Adaptation & Resilience

CHANGE, ADAPTATION & RESILIENCE—September 2021

SCRATCH & CLAW—February 2021

SCRATCH & CLAW

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES—April 2021

Spiritual Disciplines 

Printed Workbook(s)

Reading Assignment(s)

Assessment(s)

Individual Project(s)

Group Project(s)

Peer Encouragement & Practice Calls

Certificate of Completion

Alumnus Pin

Commemorative Gift

Lecture

Lodestone prepares future leaders for three broadening rings of professional influence and responsibility: (1) First, Leading Oneself, (2) second, Leading Others, and (3) finally, Leading Organizations. Through six days of workshops spanning six months, Cohort participants explore personal ownership, integrity, leadership identity, vision, networking, mentoring, communicating, collaborating, innovating, influencing, coaching, managing up, receiving and providing feedback, understanding followership, maximizing resilience, and navigating resistance. Graduates of Lodestone (benefactors of peer-participants' site tours, on-the-job assignments, and exposure to leaders from across multiple organizations) demonstrate a net increase in their overall understanding of the combined enterprise business model and are anticipated to become candidates for new and challenging roles within five years.

Clay Morgan

William David Rigdon

Greg Holden

Ashley Acker

Mary Ober

Live Online

In Person

Blended Learning

Lodestone

Leadership

Culture

Stone Series

Concepts & Cases for Future Leaders

Mnemonic or Other Job Aid

One of our most popular programs, Cornerstone hands newly-minted team leads, supervisors, forepersons, managers, or anyone responsible for the performance of others the essential building blocks of good management.&nbsp;Cornerstone&nbsp;is an extensive 15-month learning system comprised of 30 bi-monthly volumes that introduce participants to the fundamentals they will require for a lifetime of leadership.
Each of Cornerstone's 30 volumes runs approximately two hours in length and is delivered two weeks prior to the next. In the interim weeks, participants link their learning to their daily responsibilities by applying principles, tools, and skills in real work, alone and in collaboration with direct reports. This immediate "infield reinforcement" (supported by participants' own managers) allows for safe experimentation, constant reinforcement, and ultimately positive habituation. Because it's much easier to learn new habits than unlearn old ones, we believe Cornerstone is table stakes for early leaders.

Foundations & Building Blocks for Emerging Leaders

Coach

Podcast(s)

Alumni Reunion & Refresh

Keystone provides mid-to-late career managers (the true architects of work culture and how things get done) with meaningful, next-level, best-in-class Cohort experiences and tools to maximize the department, function, or organization one leads.
Arising from the observation that today&rsquo;s managers must carry their own workloads, shoulder the responsibility of team performance, and guide cross-functional projects, Keystone provides leaders with the much-needed opportunity to pause, reflect, develop and practice the skills essential to achieve managerial success in today&rsquo;s fast-paced, ever-flattening, more-with-less, often disassociated work environments spread hither and yon. Keystone participants will re-evaluate personal strengths, clarify professional challenges, engage others in one&rsquo;s own development, and sustain essential behaviors for personal and professional success in the years ahead.
&nbsp;

Blake Leath

Brian Cesare

Carlos V. Duno

Charity Self

Dalton Jantzen

Dave Arnott

Gary Moreau

Greg Methvin

JR. Forasteros

Jean Grossman

Joe Brouillette

Kimberly Kyle House

Knute Sorenson

Michael Wood

Paul Bruno

Peter DeMarco

Phil Davis

Raquel Romero

Rick Shaum

Steve Buchholz

Susan Thoma

Sylvia LaVoie

Walter Nusbaum

The Essential Discipline of Professional Management

Mentor/Advisor

Deep inside each of us, there is a voice, a hunger, a calling. Through&nbsp;Gemstone,&nbsp;leaders afford themselves the opportunity to clear the overwhelm, the encroaching ambiguities, the burnout (and, for some, the increasing anxieties and impending doom) in order to rediscover that energizing, childlike wonder and joy found in purpose and contribution to a greater good beyond self.
It's time to get your sparkle and smile back, and we can help.

Pam Venné

Gemstone

Change

Purpose, Passion & Career Renewal

A labor of love for our entire team, Capstone&nbsp;is among our most powerful and personal programs to date. By its very nature, the conclusion (aka "grand finale") of one's career is often packed with unexpected emotions, events, outright surprises, and sometimes a bit of drama. Having worked intimately with hundreds of leaders on their final glide paths, we've come to learn a few things&mdash;and Capstone is chock-full of tomorrow's to dos and inspiring insights for those preparing to land their vocational planes.&nbsp;
The program packs a wallop, made even better when attending within a cohort of one's peers aiming for the same lines on the runway.

Capstone

Strategy

From Leadership to Legacy: The Delicate Art of Finishing Strong

Slides

Facilitated Dialogues

Character (those mental and moral qualities distinctive to each of us as individuals) and integrity (the quality of being honest, upright, and whole and undivided in regard to one&rsquo;s beliefs and principles) are foundational starting points for any principled, respectable leader. Perhaps more than we know or care to admit, character and integrity give shape and meaning to our reputation...the reputation that precedes us everywhere we go.
What are the hallmarks of your character? Your integrity? Join us and find out.
You're making an impression on others, so you might as well make it intentionally.

Dawn Leath

Character

Cultivation Series

From the Latin valere (meaning to be of strong worth), values are "the beliefs, principles, or standards which, when held in high regard, influence judgment and shape subsequent behavior."
What are your values? Your colleagues'? Your customers'? Your organization's? To what extent are everyone's values aligned, working together, and acted upon consistently?&nbsp;
&ldquo;If you want to know what someone&rsquo;s values are, look at his calendar and his checkbook. Since time and money are two of our most finite resources, they sometimes bottleneck the most noble ambitions.&rdquo;
Join us for Values&nbsp;to explore espoused vs. actual and to leave feeling more purposeful and aligned than ever before.

Values

Who are you, why, where are you going...and to what end?
The question "Who am I" is one we each ask in due time, but forming one's identity is contingent on so many factors, nature and nurture often blotting out any understanding of alternatives. To the extent one chooses to be knowingly and explicitly purposeful about creating the person s/he wants to become whilst leveraging her/his talents and plowing them into a purpose greater than oneself, fulfillment is inclined to follow.
Henry David Thoreau wrote, &ldquo;The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,&rdquo; but Ralph Waldo Emerson's antidote to this was is, in part, vocation: &ldquo;The crowning fortune of a man is to be born to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness, whether it be to make baskets, or broadswords, or canals, or statues, or songs.&rdquo;
If we are fortunate, we are afforded a nice, long time to explore numerous chapters in our own Book of Life, but whether brief or an extended stay, each step may be our last, so please join us as we guide you on a journey toward self-discovery, the primary intent being to name one's heart's song and to live a life saturated in service.

Talents, Identity, Purpose & Meaning

Trust is the lubricant of life, without which friction and fire are sure to follow.&nbsp;
Through four major categories comprised of the top 26 determinants of trust, our primer on the subject equips participants to become more witting leaders capable of creating connection and contribution within relationships defined by goodwill.
Remember, 0 Trust x Anything = 0, so learn trust and expand your potential envelope.

Trust

Communication

Pew Research Center recently conducted a study to discover what adults considered the most important skill for kids to have. Options included science, math, teamwork, art, writing, reading, and more. Across the board though, respondents picked one clear winner: communication skills.
The implication is clear. You can be brilliant in many different areas, but without the ability to communicate, your knowledge and expertise are lost on those around you. The same goes for teamwork. It&rsquo;s impossible to be a great teammate without effective communication skills.
What are these critical communication skills? Why do they matter so much? And what does developing them mean in your own personal and professional lives?
This session covers the Big 12 most important communication skills plus the four habits of highly successful communicators. Our team will guide participants through opportunities to improve every interaction, from understanding the right way to communicate in any situation to more masterful abilities like gauging situations correctly and learning, almost magically, how to know what people are thinking before they even tell you.
The reason adults responding in the Pew study want kids to develop communication skills is simple: Life's challenging, there are ample problems to solve, and communication is the only way to solve them. And this fact is doubly true in corporate life. Large global companies participating in a separate communications study estimated an average of more than $60 million [each] lost in the prior year due to communication missteps and misunderstandings.
How much are your poor communication skills costing you?
Leadership communication skills are important because when we communicate well we gain time and money. Focus on developing the right skills, and your chances at success will skyrocket.

Michelle Simms

Patty Harrison

For many, the days of gathering around the water cooler at the office suddenly disappeared in 2020 as organizations were forced to trade in bustling buildings for quarantine life. Vast numbers of employees worldwide withdrew to remote locations and experienced isolated routines punctuated by video calls.
When normalcy returns and we once again come face-to-face and shoulder-to-shoulder en masse, the challenge of creating significant human connection remains. Even if we like our private hidey-holes, we still desire meaningful interactions over the frenetic, often hollow encounters so common these days.
Participating in fulfilling work with and alongside others is a key toward building community. And all the more when we move beyond the transactional nature of harried and siloed teams toward true engagement in pursuit of a common vision.

Amanda Forasteros

Connection, Community & Engagement

Creating inclusive environments is critical for leaders driving success in the modern workplace. Our program walks through cases, approaches, exercises and definitions that empower managers with the knowledge needed to foster inclusive environments. Studies have shown that diverse organizations are more innovative and profitable and the business impact of a diversity-related crisis can be crippling. Work with us to build collaborative teams that perform at the highest levels.
The diversity conversation will continue to evolve and leaders will be faced with creating inclusive workplaces for people across the spectrum in the way they identify themselves. For organizations starting this journey, we recommend our introduction volume for your entire company. The first step toward building an inclusive environment requires a company-wide commitment and this volume demonstrates that commitment and introduces a shared intent and vocabulary.
For leaders and managers, we recommend all four volumes. The course includes core curriculum for each volume and is updated yearly to include relevant updates, new scenarios, and fresh practice exercises for leaders to continue their journey of inclusivity. One volume each quarter has driven strong results for our clients and we look forward to customizing a plan that makes sense for your organization.

Jen Cho

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Principles, Issues & Applications for Today's Evolving World

We're all familiar with Bruce Tuckman's revolutionary 1965 articulation of Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing [and now Adjourning!] phases of team development, but within the experience of teaming (and even collaborating), sometimes the primacy and very essence of authentic unity can get lost in the shuffle.
In the greatest of teams, we see genuine esprit de corps (which we think is an apt description, as it certainly evokes what we're talking about: spirit through unity and unity of spirit).
Perhaps by way of a rather unconventional example (but shared nonetheless because hundreds of millions of people have seen it), recall the movie scene in 1999's Braveheart when Mel Gibson's historical figure rallies an enormous yet ragtag group of volunteers by prancing to and fro on his trusty steed while shouting the words:
<blockquote>
&ldquo;I am William Wallace, and I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men. And free man you are! What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight? Aye! Fight and you may die; run and you will live...at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives&mdash;but they will never take our FREEDOM!&rdquo;
</blockquote>
The hairs that rise on the back of one's neck indicate that unity is in the house.
To aspire toward teamwork without understanding, pursuing, and ultimately engendering spirited unity is to miss the benevolent ghost in the machine, for it is indeed possible to be a team without possessing unity, much like it's possible to drive to work each morning without consciously thinking about it.
Don't miss out on true potential by failing to cultivate unity.
When fully harnessed, we predict you'll agree with one prior participant who shared his perspective on unity as "the actual differentiator between teams I was on that felt memorably magical versus teams I was on that simply succeeded."
That's it exactly. We couldn't agree more.

Unity

What sort of soil are you preparing and tilling for employees to grow from? Have you thought about culture: what it is, what it means, how it's formed or changed or improved, or its consequences?
Culture is where we thrive or die, so this exploration on the topic is rich and robust, covering such issues as the seven elements anthropologists agree inform culture the most, four types of workplace cultures, and an exposition on and evaluation of your own organization's cultural health.&nbsp;
You won't want to miss this ride; it's one of our most popular and always leads to spirited dialogue.

Growth, growth, growth. Every organization grows or dies, whether treading water to avoid drowning or reaching at arms' lengths with hands palmed to swim forward toward new, better, more competitive and healthier shores on the other side.
In our own sojourn through human, leader, and organization growth, we examine six seasons and 14 sub-seasons common to virtually every sizeable entity that's survived five or more years. To see with new eyes where your organization's been, where it likely is now, and how one might orchestrate change going forward in order to grow well into the future, please join us and contribute to this popular solution.

Jay Leigh

Growth

Savable PDF Workbook(s)

For something so essential, &ldquo;strategy&rdquo; is often misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misapplied, and given the complex challenges facing contemporary organizations&mdash;and entire societies&mdash;we must grow more and better strategists.
Tackling three simple yet sweeping questions,&nbsp;Strategy&nbsp;answers: (1)&nbsp;What is strategy, and why aren't more leaders better strategists?&nbsp;(2)&nbsp;While strategy is foundational in exemplary organizations, why are so many others missing it altogether?&nbsp;(3)&nbsp;How can I apply strategy in palpable, pragmatic ways to the benefit of those around me?
Fun content, intuitive models, research-based solutions, and sticky storytelling make&nbsp;Strategy&nbsp;an easy, stimulating, and immensely credible approach toward developing strong creators and strategists for our evolving world of work.

Growing from Leader to Visionary, Creator, and Architect of Strategy

This past year more than ever, leaders have had to define and drive solutions to problems and environmental circumstances with no playbook or guide. How do you produce when all the things you need to deliver are challenged by new obstacles?
The word creative can also be a noun&mdash;a person who chooses to think differently every day. For those who have selected professions outside their natural skill set, being asked to be creative can incite panic and lead to a lot of wasted time staring at the screen.
Mark Twain famously said, &ldquo;There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely, but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.&rdquo;
This module will walk you through a process to create your kaleidoscope of creativity. We will walk you through a process to help you look at the knowledge you have at your disposal differently. Our process will help leaders leverage their individual work experience, knowledge, network, and resources to deliver creative and innovative solutions to new and challenging problems.
We guide you through defining the problems or layers of challenges you are facing, provide ways to provide alternate perspectives, understand the controls, and explore variables that impact your situation. Our process will guide research to fill in gaps and identify the best ideas from the brainstorming that results from this process. Lastly, we provide tips on presenting your creativity.
Leadership requires creativity. We look forward to exploring the innovation within you.

Creativity

Kaleidoscopic, Panoramic, Interdisciplinary Thinking & Doing

Are you struggling to connect with your audience? Did your last presentation flop? Does speaking with others make you insecure? Maybe you&rsquo;ve tried strengthening your messaging, but you struggle to order your thoughts, and your presentations are unorganized and confusing as a result.&nbsp;
You&rsquo;re not alone. We&rsquo;ve all known the frustration of struggling to connect with folks who seem like a perfect match for our passion and expertise.
These courses will show you the exact steps to take so you can build confidence, engage listeners, and gain influence through communication.
<ul>
<li>Present in public like a pro.</li>
<li>Become more visible and memorable.</li>
<li>Share your message with anyone.</li>
<li>Reduce your anxiety over public communication.</li>
<li>Elevate your message above the noise.</li>
<li>Solve your public presentation problems.</li>
<li>Stand out in the crowd.</li>
</ul>
Nothing gets accomplished without effective communication, and every encounter you have with someone on the job is a presentation. The Communication Kingdom Series will show you what it takes to be interesting, clear, and memorable as you change the way others view and respond to you.

Cross-Realm Connection Strategies to Build Meaningful Relationships with Others

Case(s)

Designed to guide sales professionals toward a more holistic, integrative, strategic, long-term view of both their employer's and customers' bigger picture points-of-view, this creative, case-intensive sales solution (often used in conjunction with Salesforce.com) defines a contemporary sales culture centered around teamwork, incontrovertible value creation, and personal ownership.

Strategic Sales Series

Loss is always personal. Forced to give up our former goals and routines can be disheartening and disorienting. Losing a loved one, friend, close coworker, and neighbor can be devastating. When loss affects many all at once, be it a team, department, division, function, organization, community, or even an entire region, leaders at all levels must rise to meet the collective and individual need. AFTERMATH takes leaders and would-be leaders from all levels through the group-stages of individual loss&mdash;be that loss undesirable or altogether tragic. Contingency plans usually exist for handling external communication needs (legal, stockholders, and public relations), while internal communications are left to the formal hierarchies and informal networks that routinely disseminate daily information. These internal systems can be overwhelmed, even crippled, by the very loss to which they must respond. We can and will do better. Join us for a program that helps any leader face a current loss or prepare for impending ones. We will explore much needed mental models, communication strategies, and social tools, implementing careful interventions in real-time between sessions or practicing possible interventions for the near future.

AFTERMATH

Loss & Recovery Series

Leadership thru Loss at Scale

Nothing devastates like disaster. When it strikes, either the unforeseen (global pandemic, terror strike, market collapse, and the like) or the well-known risk (earthquake, hurricane, cyber-attack, and the like), the resulting devastation induces a protective numbness at odds with the overwhelming need to return to normal. Many organizations do not recover from the resulting paralysis. Contingency planning can mitigate some, but the loss of life and livelihood on a disastrous scale induces an emotional burden that can only be experienced in the moment.
In this 3-part course, leaders will meet with those who&rsquo;ve been there, survived, and thrived.
In Part One, leaders will explore the reasons and necessities of pausing to mourn what was with their people and realistically assess what is, before engaging them in what will be.
In Part Two, leaders will use our Loss-Recovery Matrix to swiftly-yet-thoughtfully apply lessons learned from pre-disaster structures, processes, and relationships to reinvent those that worked well, reimagine those that did not, and at each step, reignite the collective will to co-create more adaptive and resilient systems to build back better.
In Part Three, leaders will practice the necessary skills to keep the rebuild-momentum going while pausing periodically to care for individual recovery and resistance.

PHOENIX

Rising to Recover & Renew in the Wake of Disaster 

Unlike anything undertaken before, bringing the collective effort of friends, family, and coworkers to an end&mdash;no matter the cause or reason&mdash;borders on betrayal if handled poorly. Avoiding the messy, emotional burden of loss is human, but we expect more from our founders and leaders&mdash;and we should. The employer-employee relationship prior to sale, bankruptcy, or closure is one of mutual sacrifice to the mission in service of a shared vision. Offering a handshake and an &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just business&rdquo; platitude to avoid entanglements in favor of a &lsquo;clean break&rsquo; just won&rsquo;t cut it. But there is good news. This farewell process is not new to human endeavor and those who have gone before have many stories, experiences, and best practices to share. With their advice and assistance, you can avoid the stain of callous endings and ensure a brilliant legacy of honor, care, and respect.
Part One explores business cases, personal experiences, and best practices, then pivots to help you adapt them to your specific situation to create the beginnings of a 7-Step Farewell Plan, complete with a communications rollout and recovery resources.
Part Two facilitates initial meetings with staff prior to planned rollout, softening the blow and engaging their best, professional legacy-mindset.
Part Three engages implementation teams to adapt and adjust the process, rejuvenate resilience, and ensure transformative departures.

FAREWELL

Easing Employees thru Sale, Bankruptcy, or Closure

Workshop

Intimately and unavoidably connected, life and livelihood share the full range of human emotion from trauma and shock to loss and grieving. While losing a job (livelihood) or a coworker do not compare to the loss of life or loved one, the emotion involved can be devastatingly similar, especially when employee exits are handled poorly&mdash;without preparation, consideration, and commiseration&mdash;often creating problematic ripples throughout the organization. In our three-part, intensive workshop series, we help those responsible for planning and implementing employee exits, from departmental layoffs to executive departures, work through potential options of and possible impacts on the departing and the surviving. We then co-develop a communication and support process from industry best practices and decades of collective experience to minimize trauma for all involved&mdash;including the notifiers&mdash;and set the stage for a dignified departure that preserves the integrity and legacy of past contributions. The goal is to close this storied chapter&mdash;be it a beloved contributor, essential executive, departmental or company-wide layoffs&mdash;in such a way that all stakeholders feel closure and an eagerness to turn the page and begin the next exciting chapter.

HEADS HELD HIGH

Implementing Dignified Departures

They&rsquo;re lost. You see it on their faces. The way forward for some is unclear. For a few, survivor guilt has all but overwhelmed their drive. But most fall somewhere in between. While attrition in these circumstances can be high, apathy is often rampant. Leaders at all levels need the right tools to promptly help their people find their bearings, reorient themselves, and see the path forward. Patience alone won&rsquo;t help. Telling will make things worse. What leaders also need is the skills and confidence to facilitate self-discovery in others at the individual and group level. No matter how well or how poorly the downsizing was handled, individual perceptions of that process are all that matter to those individuals. Dealing with these perceptions, surfacing them, and reorienting them requires experience. In our 4-part series, we work with leaders at each level of the organization to develop these skills and practice them in our interactive workshop and, if desired, pilot programs to hone them.

RIF REVERB

Reorienting Remaining Employees After Rightsizing

The damage is done. Everything is now urgent. But nothing is important. Your back is against the wall, knuckles white, tempers high. Around you, tears flow in sporadic outbursts. You and your coworkers just need to get through the next 24 hours, and then the next, and then the next&mdash;no hope in sight. Forget long-term goals, strategic plans, sales quotas&hellip;And that project update meeting? You can shove it. The boat&rsquo;s sinking, and you&rsquo;re supposed to polish the brass?! This is survival mode, our natural response to trauma, and it's sending ripples of stress and strain throughout the organization, with every reactive encounter an emotional trigger that only intensifies the upheaval and impeding organizational recovery.
What to do? What can you do? How would you go about it? Why should you, or anyone, care? If you&rsquo;re here, reading this, you know the answer to that last one.
Join us for a 3-part journey back from the brink. Drawing on our 100+ years of collective experience, we&rsquo;ll show you what it takes to recover and reenergize. You&rsquo;re going to need: (1) A deep knowledge of the &lsquo;survival mode&rsquo; beast you&rsquo;re facing, its purpose and its price; (2) Time-tested tactics for yourself and others to restore individual reserves and rebuild communal relationships; and (3) The kind of interactive practice that shines a light of hope and nurtures the fortitude necessary to return the organization to personal fulfillment and performance excellence.

UPHEAVAL

Performing in Emotional Organizations Post-Trauma

If you&rsquo;re reading this, then current challenges with organizational change aren&rsquo;t going well. There&rsquo;s a drop in morale, an uptick in absences, and few seem motivated. Commitment and engagement have given way to avoidance and indecision. Productivity is down and stress is up. The chain of command has become over-focused on tasks to the point of micromanagement and an increasing incidence of bullying behavior. All those around you are in survival mode, with a significant number suffering from Survivor Syndrome. What can be done? First, we&rsquo;ll help you understand the beast with which you and your colleagues must wrestle&mdash;the stressful situation itself and the strain and guilt it provokes. Next, we&rsquo;ll guide you through best practices on how to cope and lead other survivors to do the same. And finally, we&rsquo;ll explore the challenges of overcoming organizational trauma and apply pragmatic communications consistently across formal and informal channels. Depending on the participant make-up of the class, Good Grief can be scaled for delivery to unassociated individuals, isolated teams, complete departments/functions, or entire organizations.

GOOD GRIEF

Processing Loss, Grief & Survivor's Guilt in Traumatized Organizations

Few will experience the level of hardship, heartache, and burnout as soldiers in times of war&mdash;save that of caregivers in a time of crisis. For those individuals whose job it is to shoulder the burden of others (be they medical professionals, essential workers, or family members), join us for Caregiver&nbsp;as an act of self-love through community, practical applications, and encouragement.

CAREGIVER

Enduring Seasons of Exhaustion & Overwhelm

All around you it&rsquo;s happening. Everyone from executives to employees is disengaging. Why? According to the latest polls, most like their jobs, respect their organizations, and appreciate their bosses and coworkers, but&hellip;they&rsquo;re also overworked and underappreciated. Yeah? Join the party. That&rsquo;s business these days. More with less. Everything&rsquo;s a priority. Get it done yesterday. Changing jobs won&rsquo;t help. Well, research also suggests there&rsquo;s a set of simple practices any leader at any level can adopt to reengage burned-out employees and bosses. Join us for an investigation of the research, a spirited discussion of deployment tactics, and the development of a deployment Field Guide specific to your situation and organization.

BELEAGUERED

Reengaging the Downtrodden & Discouraged

Drama and politics do NOT have to be inevitable and unwanted side-effects of getting things done. Proactive workplaces can and do establish clear guidelines of communication and collaboration, instilling and reinforcing these behaviors with shared values. Irritating-but-not-too-serious office politics eventually fester into toxic work environments. Leaders who allow hostile and divisive behavior help breed drama and upheaval. If left unchecked, these toxic behaviors undermine performance, demoralize team members, and trigger turnover. The good news is that tried-and-true best practices have helped leaders at any level within the organization to begin and sustain dramatic turnarounds.

STANDING TALL

Demonstrating Dignity & Decency in the Presence of Toxicity, Drama, Politics & Power Plays

Nothing is more disturbing to organizations large and small than the sudden departure of essential talent and key personal. Understanding the &lsquo;real reasons&rsquo; for the exodus is often beyond current company personnel as many are often in the same flight-mode and/or those in flight are unwilling to divulge their true grievances to remaining loyalists. Third-party consultants can get to the cause faster and more accurately through exit interviews and anonymous surveys. With the right information, senior executives can make the right decisions to correct hygiene factors and tweak motivation factors. In this 2-part crisis course and intervention, we will help leaders at every level of the organization identify the &lsquo;real reasons&rsquo; for flight and implement immediate tactical shifts to halt the exodus of top talent and, in the second session, help these same leaders examine the biases, blind spots, and blunders causing the talent flight in order to course-correct and reverse the trend.

Colleen Murphy

EXODUS

Turnarounds in the Face of Mass Departures, Talent Flight & Leakage

While a definitive difference between coaching (increasing success) and counseling (coping with distress) certainly exists, in practice the line blurs when clients and coworkers experience trauma during the coaching process, bring their issues into the process, and/or their coping behaviors impede aspects of the process. In this program, we offer consultants and leaders of every stripe at every level the benefit of 100+ years of collective experience in individual, team and organizational coaching and consulting from the Fortune 100 C-suite to small business family members across a diverse market spectrum. We have particular expertise in the fallout associated with mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy restructuring, and line-of-business layoffs. In our 2-part seminar, we&rsquo;ll dive into the differences, the gray areas between, and the dos and don&rsquo;ts of best practice from a positive-healing model perspective. Each meeting can be structured around current cases or prepared case studies depending on participant appetite and comfort level. In either case, we&rsquo;ll engage in safe-space practice, applying the counseling and coaching skills of participants and facilitators alike.

Brian Sanders

FROM COACH TO COUNSELOR

What To Do When Business Becomes Personal

What entrepreneur, founder, owner, manager, leader, decision-maker of each and every stripe has not faced the lonely do or die, it&rsquo;s all up to you, it&rsquo;s on your shoulders, it&rsquo;s all come down to this scenario? Sink or swim. You ready? Maybe. And to those certain in their skin, confident in their abilities, we wish you Godspeed. For the rest, like us, with a tinge of doubt, a need for a bit more study prior to the big test, come &lsquo;round for some stimulating conversation with those who have &lsquo;been there, done that&rsquo; numerous and humorous times. We&rsquo;ll laugh at disaster, take a poke at failure, and quip wise over whatever success is supposed to look like. Along the way, we will learn a thing or three from the fears and the tears and the gaffs and the laughs. Who said learning was dull?

SINK OR SWIM

From the WAS thru the IS to the WILL BE

To all entrepreneurs, founders, and leaders at every level facing failure or its aftermath, allow these words, never truly spoken by Churchill but written nonetheless by a wise hand, to guide you&hellip; &ldquo;Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.&rdquo; One might well believe it to be a Churchillian rewording of the ancient parable of a king and his advisors formulating the "This too shall pass" inscription or the Roman custom of whispering "Memento mori" (remember you must die) in the ear of celebrated commanders returning from their victorious campaigns. The sentiment is clear but better worded, we think, by Kipling&mdash;"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same"&mdash;from his poem If (far too long to reprint here, but which should be memorized the world over). If this speaks to you, join us for a series of conversations that will lift your chin, put a spring in your step, and reignite your passion for the fray.

BOUNCE OR BREAK

Overcoming Shame, Restoring Identity & Manifesting Confidence 

Call(s)

REIMAGINE

Financial Strategies Beyond Bankruptcy

Countless leaders, authors, and poets have extolled the virtue of Hope from the dawn of recorded history, but none captured its essence more viscerally than the oft quoted Latin phrase, "Dum Spiro Spero." (While I breathe, I hope.) Through the most relentless dry spell or in our darkest hour, the simple act of surviving another day sparks Hope for a potential change of fortune where possibility can be rekindled, replanted, renewed. Rebuilding individual character and organizational culture through Hope begins with gathering the positive of what was, what is, and what could be. Next, rediscover passion for the could be that nurtures Hope. And finally, align individual passions into a vision that reignites collective purpose. In our Renew program, leaders will discover their individual renewal resources, learn to encourage renewal in others, champion a new purpose nurtured by passion, and rebuild a culture of Hope resistant to future setbacks, tragedies, and upheavals.

RENEW

Finding Purpose & Passion thru Hope

Handouts

Itch. Twitch. Ache. These require a scratch.
But sometimes, we have to claw.
And it started&hellip;there was blood in my spit as I was running for gym class. The other girls made fun of me: I was weak, I was sick, I had cancer. Two kinds. I was embarrassed. I was frightened.
As I lied in my hospital bed, my surgeon sat beside me eating the M&amp;Ms I'd received as a gift because I couldn't eat them.
I passed out hours after a painful bone test. Over 60 stitches in my stomach. I threw up Big Red on the side of the Houston highway after treatment on my way home to Corpus Christi.
My family sacrificed over and over and over again.
But then I survived.
And had to claw my way back to living.
So can you.
&nbsp;
Scratch &amp; Claw affords participants the life-altering opportunity to:
<ul>
<li>Explore one's personal loss in a safe environment.</li>
<li>Be encouraged to look for growth opportunity and be reminded one has dreams.</li>
<li>Achieve unexpected levels of happiness through hard and painful roads.</li>
<li>Grow personally and professionally.</li>
<li>Take responsibility for one's life back from the situation.</li>
<li>Create lasting change that matters.</li>
</ul>

Achieving the Life for Which Your Pain Has Prepared You

The only real consistency we face in life is change. Every aspect of our lives includes regular changes, many of which we routinely manage without pause. Then we hit a Big One&hellip;LOSS! Loss comes in many forms, but it is always so significant that it requires special focus to recover and move on&hellip;we need to find a New Normal. There is a process and method for this level of recovery.
Join us to embrace this process, master the methodology, and move on with confidence, dignity, peace, and understanding. Our session(s) will guide you with understanding, practical benchmarks, and supported levels of achievement allowing you to discover a New Normal of joy and fulfillment.

NEW NORMAL

Learning to Live Again After Loss

Though there are many variations of the sentiment Forgive others&mdash;not to free them&mdash;but to free yourself, betrayal is among the most painful of all human experiences, and therefore forgiving betrayal is much easier said than done.
When most of us see the word &ldquo;betrayal,&rdquo; we tend to assume &ldquo;affair,&rdquo; but betrayal comes in countless forms, and business betrayal is certainly among them. The essence of betrayal is the sense of being harmed by the intentional actions or omissions of a person we trust deeply but, according to research by The Reina Trust Building Institute, approximately 85% of workplace betrayal occurs unintentionally. Whatever the cause, purposeful or not, breaches of workplace trust can lead the betrayed to feel afraid, angry, disgusted, distressed, disassociated, hurt, insecure, lonely, lost, sad, self-doubting, shattered, shocked, surprised, undermined, unmoored, and much, much more.
Common workplace betrayal might include the disclosure of another person&rsquo;s confidential information, disloyalty, dishonesty, gossip, spreading rumors, or hanging him/her out to dry/thrown under the bus, and typically occurs in one of three ways: (1) Incrementally over a long period of time (one small slight by one small slight, eventually accruing like a snowball that slowly tips the scale from trustworthy to untrustworthy, after which the betrayed either mentally checks out or physically walks out), (2) Instantly (once = over and done with, forever, &agrave; la, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m done&rdquo; or &ldquo;You&rsquo;re dead to me&rdquo; or "Cancel Culture"), or (3) Hysteretically (a real word, whereby hard-fought, long-earned trust erodes over time and then&mdash;in a nanosecond&mdash;is gone forever).
In extreme cases (especially those perpetrated by family members and/or spouses, both of whom we are wired to trust implicitly as they protect or provide for us), violations of trust can be so grievous that they lead to betrayal trauma (tantamount to PTSD), after which the betrayed becomes morbidly pre-occupied and experiences self-esteem deficit and perhaps even mental contamination (whereby both the offense and the offender become triggers leading the betrayed to feel guilty, immoral, internally dirty, or ashamed). OCD behaviors are not uncommon thereafter, as the betrayed seeks to expunge his/her perceived &ldquo;dirtiness&rdquo; through obsessive cleaning, separation, organization, physical distancing, and the like.
Betrayal&mdash;the ultimate violation of trust&mdash;requires thoughtful examination in order to be processed and cast out. Healing the Hurt facilitates this process, ultimately concluding with a series of steps participants can consider to quarantine betrayal, reframe it, tap one&rsquo;s inner resilience reservoir, and ultimately proceed past the act(s) toward a healthier state of being (and thriving).

HEALING THE HURT

Resilience Following Feelings of Business Betrayal

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."
&mdash;&ldquo;The Serenity Prayer&rdquo; by Reinhold Niebuhr&nbsp;(1934)&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Ah, courage and wisdom, indeed.
Contemporary life comes at us like a raging torrent, the adrenaline often carrying us mindlessly from appointment to activity to chaos to crisis to next news cycle and (if we're not careful) we might even come to feel like a passenger who's lost all sense of personal agency or control over one's own life&mdash;a victim who, somewhere along the line, became overcommitted, overworked, and now overwhelmed.
Making Peace equips those who choose to break that cycle to do so through the exploration of seven contextual realms we must each master in our own lives to stop the madness, rightsize or redirect the rat race, seize control of our "destiny," and lead our remaining days in the direction we truly wish to go.

MAKING PEACE

Serene Living in a Chaotic World

Was Jesus a great leader? We tend not to think of him in those terms. Most see him as a great teacher, gentle healer, and loving example, but by all measurements he was a tremendous leader. He gathered a diverse team of relative unknowns and forged them into a world-changing force in three short years. His mission continues to grow and expand centuries past his core team. So, yes&hellip;Jesus was and remains a great leader.&nbsp;
Fortunately, Jesus left us with his personal philosophy of life: The Beatitudes in Matthew 5. The Beatitudes describe eight defining qualities that summarize the way Jesus lived and led. Stepping back, they provide a compelling portrait of Jesus for all leaders of all times. They signal how to live a full and meaningful life and offer leaders a roadmap for bringing life to an organization and well beyond.
This series, Life-Giving Leadership is meant to reflect the unique distinction of Jesus&rsquo; leadership style. He modeled a peaceful and joyful life while delivering extraordinary good to others. Experienced leaders know how challenging work/life balance can be, but Jesus stands out as one who pulls it off perfectly. While he certainly endured exhaustion, hunger, and frustrations, his way of doing life and leadership was restful to the soul. He described it as an easy yoke and light burden (Matthew 11:28-30).
To unpack these eight Beatitudes, Life-Giving Leadership is organized around three categories of expanding disciplines and influence: First is Righteous Leadership, which explores Jesus&rsquo; nature and how he composed himself through humility, heart-centeredness, and teachability. Second is Giving Leadership, which explores how Jesus led his team through excellence, graciousness, and alignment. Third is Impactful Leadership, which explores Jesus&rsquo; impact on community through generosity and selflessness, and eventually universally and eternally.
The Beatitudes represent Jesus&rsquo; intentional way of doing life and the kind of life available to anyone willing to follow Him. They continue to serve as a framework for leaders to apply in the real world, a framework that invigorates participants personally whilst simultaneously impacting others in extraordinarily positive ways.

Alan Michael

Brandon Graham

Destin Garner

Ron Holton

Righteous Leadership

Spirited Series

Life-Giving Principles & Practices for the Faith-Based Leader

Was Jesus a great leader? We tend not to think of him in those terms.&nbsp;&nbsp;Most see him as a great teacher, gentle healer, and loving example, but by all measurements he was a tremendous leader. He gathered a diverse team of relative unknowns and forged them into a world-changing force in three short years. His mission continues to grow and expand centuries past his core team. So, yes&hellip;Jesus was and remains a great leader.&nbsp;
Fortunately, Jesus left us with his personal philosophy of life: The Beatitudes in Matthew 5. The Beatitudes describe eight defining qualities that summarize the way Jesus lived and led. Stepping back, they provide a compelling portrait of Jesus for all leaders of all times. They signal how to live a full and meaningful life and offer leaders a roadmap for bringing life to an organization and well beyond.
This series,&nbsp;Life-Giving Leadership is meant to reflect the unique distinction of Jesus&rsquo; leadership style. He modeled a peaceful and joyful life while delivering extraordinary good to others. Experienced leaders know how challenging work/life balance can be, but Jesus stands out as one who pulls it off perfectly. While he certainly endured exhaustion, hunger, and frustrations, his way of doing life and leadership was restful to the soul. He described it as an easy yoke and light burden (Matthew 11:28-30).
To unpack these eight Beatitudes,&nbsp;Life-Giving Leadership&nbsp;is organized around three categories of expanding disciplines and influence: First is&nbsp;Righteous Leadership,&nbsp;which explores Jesus&rsquo; nature and how he composed himself through humility, heart-centeredness, and teachability. Second is&nbsp;Giving Leadership,&nbsp;which explores how Jesus led his team through excellence, graciousness, and alignment. Third is Impactful Leadership, which explores Jesus&rsquo; impact on community through generosity and selflessness, and eventually universally and eternally.
The Beatitudes represent Jesus&rsquo; intentional way of doing life and the kind of life available to anyone willing to follow Him. They continue to serve as a framework for leaders to apply in the real world, a framework that invigorates participants personally whilst simultaneously impacting others in extraordinarily positive ways.

Giving Leadership

Was Jesus a great leader? We tend not to think of him in those terms.&nbsp;&nbsp;Most see him as a great teacher, gentle healer, and loving example, but by all measurements he was a tremendous leader. He gathered a diverse team of relative unknowns and forged them into a world-changing force in three short years. His mission continues to grow and expand centuries past his core team. So, yes&hellip;Jesus was and remains a great leader.&nbsp;
Fortunately, Jesus left us with his personal philosophy of life: The Beatitudes in Matthew 5. The Beatitudes describe eight defining qualities that summarize the way Jesus lived and led. Stepping back, they provide a compelling portrait of Jesus for all leaders of all times. They signal how to live a full and meaningful life and offer leaders a roadmap for bringing life to an organization and well beyond.
This series,&nbsp;Life-Giving Leadership&nbsp;is meant to reflect the unique distinction of Jesus&rsquo; leadership style. He modeled a peaceful and joyful life while delivering extraordinary good to others. Experienced leaders know how challenging work/life balance can be, but Jesus stands out as one who pulls it off perfectly. While he certainly endured exhaustion, hunger, and frustrations, his way of doing life and leadership was restful to the soul. He described it as an easy yoke and light burden (Matthew 11:28-30).
To unpack these eight Beatitudes,&nbsp;Life-Giving Leadership&nbsp;is organized around three categories of expanding disciplines and influence: First is&nbsp;Righteous Leadership,&nbsp;which explores Jesus&rsquo; nature and how he composed himself through humility, heart-centeredness, and teachability. Second is&nbsp;Giving Leadership,&nbsp;which explores how Jesus led his team through excellence, graciousness, and alignment. Third is Impactful Leadership, which explores Jesus&rsquo; impact on community through generosity and selflessness, and eventually universally and eternally.
The Beatitudes represent Jesus&rsquo; intentional way of doing life and the kind of life available to anyone willing to follow Him. They continue to serve as a framework for leaders to apply in the real world, a framework that invigorates participants personally whilst simultaneously impacting others in extraordinarily positive ways.

Impactful Leadership

As Christ-followers, we can often find our spiritual selves falling into one of two camps: 1) robotic practices whereby we are ticking a checklist in our time with God, or 2) the inconsistency of our dedicated time with God has left us leaning on our own strength resulting in weariness and defeat. I John 5:4 says, &ldquo;You see, every child of God overcomes&nbsp;the world, for our faith is the victorious power that triumphs over the world.&rdquo;&nbsp; Scripture tells us repeatedly that we, as believers, have victory through Christ&hellip;so how do we claim and live in that victory every day? &nbsp;
Much like an athlete must train and discipline herself to be in top physical form, Christ-followers must also implement certain disciplines to grow and develop spiritual maturity. Learning, understanding, and exercising spiritual disciplines is the key to a healthy, fruitful, and victorious life. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
This 11-volume series focuses on defining and applying disciplines that provide the opportunity to become more Christ-like and develop spiritual maturity. Jesus came that we may live in victory not only eternally, but here and now on earth as well.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">&ldquo;Why am I here?&rdquo;</h3>
God created us in a manner that this BIG question is at the core of every single person. How we answer this question is what drives us, filters our decisions, and gets us up every morning. Some spend their whole lives in pursuit of the answer and, sadly, never find it. Some pursue and think they discover truth when, in reality, they are deceived by the world&rsquo;s definition of purpose.&nbsp;
As believing Christians, the answer to this question is simple. What presents the big CHALLENGE is how we go about answering it on a daily or sometimes moment-by-moment, basis. How are we set apart from someone with a good heart, good intentions, and kind words? What does God&rsquo;s Word say about glorifying Him? How do we do it authentically and intentionally?&nbsp;
my Story, His Glory is a workshop that guides each participant through the identification and categorization of her collective formative experiences. The resulting 'timeline' reveals God&rsquo;s hand at work throughout her beautiful and emerging story, a story continuing to reveal His hand at work and to be used for His Glory.

my story. His Glory.

Identifying & Responding to God’s Hand at Work in Your Life

Digital Files

In our work with churches (and theistic para-church organizations), we either find that a staggering level of "push the string" complexity has encroached into otherwise pure belief systems, or a shocking paucity of sufficient sophistication exists to endure another one, two, much less 10 or 100 years. Similarly, many church leaders (having been born, bred, and steeped in Biblically-grounded households and formally educated in theology) graduate from seminary and run smack-dab into several surprising brick walls, from budgeting, staff leadership, conflict resolution, counseling, power plays and politics to tribal factions, division, outright infighting, harassment issues, and even subterfuge&mdash;all while trying to visioncast, prepare and deliver sermons, and be an engaged parent and attentive spouse at the end of ceaseless days that feel like one long blur of holiday productions surging forever and ever Amen.&nbsp;
Stress, burnout, and daily self-doubt of the "Could I have done more today?" variety are joy-robbers that can often erode church leaders' confidence, sometimes even leading to questioning one's calling to become a pastor in the first place. In the same way many teachers and medical professionals describe lives of process and paperwork that trump the pure pursuit of helping people, pastors similarly struggle with countless challenges and fires that arise outside Sunday morning. If they're not careful, pastors may experience such things (which are undeniably important) as distractions that kill, steal, or destroy one's perception of possibility, calling, and commitment to ministry.&nbsp;
In&nbsp;Leading the Growing Church,&nbsp;faculty who have or are currently leading healthy, successful, vibrant, growing, benchmark churches lead participants through the process of separating wheat from chaff, essential from non-essential work, deciding/directing/delegating, interpersonal relationship management, conflict resolution techniques, budgeting lessons, hearing and communicating vision, strategy creation and implementation, and so much more. Topics that are critical in the ever-challenging mission field of church leadership.
Central to the course is faithful execution of The Great Commission and how, through growth and church plantings, pastors can ensure their and parishioners' talents are put to good use as called by Christ.

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