By Dan Johnson

Extreme Self-Care

As professionals in performance improvement and training, our focus quite often is on others – helping others improve their performance, helping our organizations succeed, and helping our clients achieve their goals. With all this focus on others, we often forget to take care of ourselves in the process. Practicing extreme self-care helps us move toward more balance in our lives.

So what are some simple, yet effective ways to practice extreme self-care and move toward balance?

Step 1: Be still. Balance is much easier to achieve when you have some stillness in your life. Think about standing up right now and balancing on one foot. For most of us, this is achievable with little effort. Now imagine you standing up, spinning around in a circle five or six times, and then trying to balance on one foot. When we are in constant motion or when our lives are in chaos, balancing is much more difficult. It is easier to move toward balance when you have some down time or alone time to be still. Simple ideas for being still include meditating, taking a walk, avoiding TV, or simply leaving the car stereo off on your way to work.

Step 2: Be clear on your values and honor them. What do you value? Is it time with your family? Fun? Personal growth? Exercise? Take a look over the past week’s activities and where you spent your time. Does your activity log reflect the things (and people) you value? If not, what changes do you want to make for the coming week? The more we act out-of-sync with our values, the more we experience an energy drain in our lives.

Step 3: Realize balance is something you consciously and continuously work toward rather than achieve. I’ll let you in on a secret: We never really “arrive” at balance. Balance is a moving target because our life is always in motion. We are moving toward balance, away from balance, or through balance. Balance requires consistent, conscious, and controlled motion. So give up the notion that you will be happy or okay once your life is in balance. Your life will never be in balance because your life is in constant change! Rather, you can take action and make choices in your life so you are continually moving toward balance rather than away from it.

Step 4: Take care of yourself first. This simple statement reflects the spiritual principle that when you take good care of yourself, it’s always in the best interest of the other person (your client or client organization) as well. When you are fully charged and at ease, you can then fully contribute to the success of others. An easy way to remember this step is to think of the emergency procedure on an airplane – place the oxygen mask over your face first before assisting others!

Step 5: Shift your perspective. Take notice whenever you have fear around making a choice. Fear restricts your options and makes you feel paralyzed. Fear makes you feel you are driven by circumstances – as if you don’t have the power of choice. Some examples of fear are when you hear yourself saying, “I can’t,” “I have to,” “I need to,” “It doesn’t work that way,” or “I can’t cancel again because he/she will kill me.”

Here’s what to do to shift your perspective:

• Imagine eight different alternatives to solve the problem without becoming attached to any one of them. Make sure at least one or two of the alternatives are fanciful and playful. The alternatives don’t have to be reasonable. You don’t have to even choose any of the choices.
• Look at the world through each alternative. Try each alternative on for just a moment.
  • What would the world be like if I made this choice?
  • What would it be like to operate from this perspective?
• Choose an alternative to try out for now. Give yourself permission to try out another alternative if this one doesn’t work out.
• Create an action plan around your new alternative.
• Commit to the plan.
• Take action.

What about being stuck? Being stuck happens when you won’t permit a choice of any kind. This can happen for a variety of reasons:

• You are unwilling to act until you are sure you have chosen the right course of action.
• You want to have it figured out first.
• You want assurance that you’ll succeed with the action that is planned.
• You want it to be perfect.

Step 6: Say yes to life-giving choices and say no to energy-draining choices as much as possible. The key to moving toward more balance is CHOICE. Realize you DO have a choice in everything you do, even though some choices are very difficult. But don’t confuse tough choices with no choices.

One of the most empowering skills to learn is the ability to say no. Saying no brings up fear of disappointing or hurting others, missing opportunities, and making mistakes. But saying no means saying YES to you! It is also one of the most valuable skills, because learning to say no honors your values. Try this:

• Make a list of five things you’d like to say no to.
• Make a commitment with a friend or colleague to say no to at least one of these things in the next week.
• Let your friends and acquaintances know that from now on, you will be making decisions a bit differently than you have in the past. This gives your friends a heads-up in case you decide to say “no” to something you have always said “yes” to in the past.

We often wonder what opportunities we could say YES to. An easy technique to use to answer that question is this: Think of the decision you have to make. Imagine or visualize yourself doing the activity under consideration. How does your body respond as you visualize yourself doing the activity under consideration? Is the activity or event life giving or is it taking away your energy?

Step 7: Make more time. There are four simple ways to make more time:

• Say no
• Schedule less
• Delegate responsibilities/chores
• Cancel appointments.

Look at your current life circumstances. What can you say no to? What can you schedule less of? What responsibilities and/or chores can you delegate? What appointments can you cancel?

As you may have gathered by now, the key to extreme self-care is practicing the power of CHOICE and TRUSTING yourself to make the choices that are right for you.

As part of your Extreme Self Care program, I would consider attending CIASTD’s Fall Education Conference on November 13. The conference offers numerous opportunities to learn, grow, and rejuvenate your passion for training and performance improvement. If you are not sure about attending the conference, revisit the technique outlined in Step 6 above. My guess is that attending the Fall Education Conference will be a life-giving option for you.

Dan is the founder and president of Performance Mastery. He has been in the field of performance improvement for more than 16 years and has gained extensive experience in management and leadership development, executive and personal coaching, training, and career development.

[Top]

• Explain the importance of linking performance gaps to training efforts when budget dollars are constricted.
• Describe the process that links performance consulting outcomes to course design.
• Extract key performance indicators for linkage to level three evaluation and higher.

• Describe how the Lilly University concept is integrated with the business.
• Discuss how business drivers establish learning priorities.
• Show how learning is tied to business processes.

• Summarize key findings from research on the role of the Chief Learning Officer in global corporations.
• Review business cases for learning to gain senior management support.
• Summarize eight metrics to support your business case.

[Top]

How Profitable Teams Leverage Employee Training

Peg Ruppert and Tim Mooney of Advantage, presented “How Profitable Teams Leverage Employee Training … Managers have more impact on training ROI than they know,” at the September CIASTD meeting.

Peg began with a simple “sit down” quiz. She had everyone stand. Then she asked four simple questions … sit down if your company has reduced training or HOD staff in the last year. Sit down if your company has asked you to provide more training with less resources in the last year. Sit down if your company has asked you to provide return on investment for training in the last year. At the end of the exercise, only a few people were left standing!

Peg’s organization has been working with Dr. Robert Brinkerhoff from Western Michigan University. He is the author of High Impact Learning and Success Case Method. He has spent time at Advantage teaching them his models to increase training impact. Much of Advantage’s approach comes from Brinkerhoff’s research.

In the crunch to do more for less, we are often not finding time to thoroughly evaluate training. We often only take time to evaluate “how pretty” the training was. Peg gave another quiz that emphasized the importance of training. From the quiz we learned:

1. In the year 2000, $54 billion was spent on training.
2. In the first 60 days after a training event, 87% of new knowledge and skill is lost without management reinforcement.
3. Only 8 – 12% of training participants actually use new skills to improve on-the-job performance that drives business.

These figures are staggering. If you consider all three questions together, it paints a challenging picture. Peg asked the obvious question, “What other industry would accept a 90% scrap rate?”

Tim and Peg performed an interesting role-play. Tim explained that they were going to act out a scene where three trainees were on their way to attend a training event. Each attendee was stopped and asked, “Where are you going?” and “Why are you going?” and “What do you hope to get out of it?”

1. The first student didn’t have any idea why he was attending … he just knew that he was supposed to attend.
2. The second student was going because he really liked the classes taught by the training department and because of some skills he wanted to pick up for his personal life.
3. The third student was attending because he had some specific things he wanted to learn for his job.

While all three of these students looked a lot alike (really, it was Tim playing all three parts) they were obviously quite different in their expectations for their training. Of course the third student was going to get more from the training since he had clear expectations and needs going into the training event.

Several questions were posed after the role-play:

1. From which trainee will you get the great business impact? Why?
2. In your organization, which trainee is most common?
3. Who creates trainee #3?
4. What are the implications for Learning/HR/OD groups?

Discussion brought up some interesting points. In response to the first question, the point was made that all three types of students make an impact … but the first two make a negative impact on the training organization.

Tim reported that his mission and obsession has been to work toward having more #3 trainees. To leverage training, the training programs need to begin focusing more on business results.

Brinkerhoff’s research indicated that the greatest areas to leverage improvement in training impact are in pre- and post-training events. Thus the emphasis needs to be on doing things like sending out pre-work, to create focus and build intentionality. The manager becomes important for the post-training – to support the learner after he/she returns to the work environment. “Kirkpatricks level three and four don’t really evaluate the training. They really evaluate the effectiveness of the organization to integrate the training.”

Tim also explained that the model for business impact was “multiplicative.” This means that if either the pre- or post-training work is at a low percentage, it doesn’t matter how good the training event is, it will be negatively impacted to a large extent.

Intentional learners:

• Each learner brings his/her own personal objectives to training – creating individualized learning.
• Focus on program elements that have greatest relevance – minimizing ‘recreational learning.’

Tim asked the groups to discuss the responsibility of creating intentional leaders. Who is responsible and what can be done by:

• Management
• HRD
• The Learner

Peg talked about a training project she is working on that uses an “impact map.” This is a tool they use to force managers/supervisors to sit down and talk to their employees before they attend a training event. The impact map discusses the training topic and asks questions:

• How the training will be applied?
• Key skills and knowledge to be gained from the training?
• Trainee job results to be improved?
• Business process objectives contributed to?
• Business goals contributed to?

Peg reported that students were not allowed to come to class if they didn’t bring their impact maps with them.

Advantage Performance Group (APG) is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing human performance consulting networks. APG partners with world-class developers of training solutions and then applies a unique methodology to help organizations maximize their training ROI. By “doing training right” rather than focusing on “writing the training,” APG has helped dozens of industry leaders maximize their training investments, including: Toyota, Daimler Chrysler, Edward Jones, Genentech, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Bristol-Meyers Squibb.

[Top]

Presentation to Feature Nationally-Known Speaker

Professor Curtis Bonk from Indiana University will speak on “Simulations, Interactivity, and Collaboration for Highly Motivating E-Learning Environments.” The Technology-based Training Special Interest Group will meet Tuesday, October 21, 4-6 p.m. (Notice this is a time change. After conducting a survey of the participants, it was decided to move the meetings to an earlier time to avoid evening conflicts.)

Learner motivation and retention are major online learning issues. Complaints abound about the higher attrition rates and lack of interaction in online environments. E-learners are too often bored online and not engaged in the learning event. However, these complaints are increasing just as many innovative simulation, gaming, scenario, and other e-learning technologies are emerging. In response, this session
will showcase a range of simulation tools and games for the Web, from low-level learner-content interactions to massive multiplayer online games. The pros and cons of different types of simulation tools will be detailed, while key advantages and disadvantages of scenario and simulation tools will be compared. Other tools discussed during this presentation will include those for online translation, online learning communities, case-based learning, chat, virtual classrooms, brainstorming, testing, and survey and polling, as well as wearable and wireless technologies. In addition, all technologies and activities will be sorted into synchronous and asynchronous categories. In the end, this session links motivational principles, interactivity, and collaboration to actual online techniques and tool development efforts.

Extensive examples and advice will be provided. This presentation was originally delivered at the Training Director’s Forum earlier this year in Phoenix, Arizona. Participants were captivated by Dr. Bonk’s unique ideas and creative presentation techniques. If you are involved with e-learning or with collaborative tools in your company or organization, you will find this session very interesting and extremely worthwhile.

Curtis J. Bonk, Ph.D., CPA is Professor of Educational Psychology as well as Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University (IU). He is a core member of the Center for Research on Learning and Technology at IU and a Senior Research Fellow with the Advanced Distributed Learning Lab within the Department of Defense. He received the Burton Gorman Teaching Award in 1999, the Wilbert Hites Mentoring Award in 2000, the CyberStar Award from the Indiana Information Technology Association in 2002, and the Most Outstanding Achievement by an Individual in Higher Education award from the U.S. Distance Learning Association in 2003. In 2003, he also received a State of Indiana award for Innovative Teaching in a Distance Education Program. As a result, Dr. Bonk is in demand as a conference keynote speaker and workshop presenter. He is President and Founder of CourseShare and SurveyShare and can be contacted at cjbonk@indiana.edu or via his homepage at http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/.

This session is free and open to the public. Pizza will also be provided at the end of the meeting for those who can to stay and discuss. If you would like to attend, or would simply like more information, send an e-mail message to Jay McNaught at JMcNaught@Cinergy.com.

[Top]

The Technology Based Training Special Interest Group held its September meeting at the United Way of Central Indiana headquarters in Indianapolis. The agenda was very valuable for everyone wanting to promote his or her company’s e-Learning program!

The meeting featured a hands-on session, led by Stacey Toole and Steve Haigh from NETg. Stacy and Steve shared information about marketing and showed examples of marketing plans created by various companies. They also showed lots of examples of different posters and other media used to promote e-learning. Attendees had a great opportunity take a deeper dive into e-learning marketing. Those attending also participated in a group brainstorming session and learned from each other. Participants were able to create their own Marketing and Communication plans that they could use right away on the job.

A.J. Mason, from United Way of Central Indiana, served as the host for the evening. A.J. shared with the group an overview of how United Way of Central Indiana supports capacity building among nonprofits in central Indiana and the training challenge of nonprofits. The evening was sponsored by 1st Class Solutions.

[Top]

David Wechtel
By David Llewellyn, Facilitator Staff Member

[As a regular feature of The Facilitator, "Member Profile" features a profile of a randomly selected member of CIASTD. At every meeting, we will randomly pick a member from those attending, and profile them. The idea is to help everyone get to know each other better. In this issue, we are profiling Rick Brandon.]

When David Wachtel, graduated in 1976 from Butler University intent on a teaching career job offers were in short supply. What to do? Why not go into business? For more than 20 years he worked in the insurance industry (Meridian Insurance and Indiana Insurance) as both an underwriter and as a manager. Whether or not an unlikely career choice for a self-described inspirational learner, it became clear as I listened to David reflect on his career that the workplace was indeed his classroom. “Every employee (who worked for me) had a development plan . . . five years down the road.” His experience coaching sports was also part of the fabric of his leadership style. “My job was to create opportunities for people to succeed, to promote them beyond myself.” One way of providing those developmental opportunities was to link classroom experience with performance expectations in order to create a total learning field. (A topic of continual interest and discussion at CIASTD). But what about bottom line success. David proudly asserted that turnover during his tenure as a manager was low and that at one juncture of leadership at Indiana Insurance he lead his area from $9-$30 million in revenue.

The story of why he left the illusory security of the corporate world to the “where did they move the safety net” of independent consultant and practitioner is familiar enough to those of us who have walked in those shoes. In a few words, “corporate buyout.” David admits he didn’t have to leave (at least not right away) but that when he did he had business “fifteen minutes out the door.” Not that there aren’t struggles. He teaches segments of a course on conflict management at the Eau Claire campus of the University of Wisconsin and would prefer to teach a bit closer to home and has all the challenges of one trying to both provide service while maintain and develop new client relationships.

David had two articles published this past year, the first for Sales and Marketing Excellence (May 2003) and the second in August of this year for Executive Excellence. Look for David at the next monthly meeting to say hello and if you attend the Fall Conference on November 13th (still time to sign up) consider joining in on his roundtable discussion.

Finally, for those of you who are puzzled, as was I, about the name of his company, Hautacam Consulting, think “Tour de France.” As David explained, “Lance Armstrong (the pro cyclist and cancer survivor) won his first Tour de France in 1999. Many thought it was a fluke. In 2000, Lance was set to defend his title. The first major mountain finish for that year was the Hautacam (it is in the Pyrenees and is located above Lourdes). Lance's main rival that year was an Italian named Marco Pantani. On the climb up the Hautacam, Lance drilled Pantani, gave him a cycling lesson so to speak, and put his stamp on the race. Lance went on to defend his title, and of course won his fifth straight Tour de France this past July. Only one other cyclist in history has won five straight. He is a cancer survivor ... and a champion. This is what Hautacam Consulting represents ... helping companies overcome odds that they may think are insurmountable.”

Sounds like a mission that most of us could get behind. Good luck, David.

[Top]

In each issue of The Facilitator, we will list members that have joined or rejoined CIASTD since the previous issue. Since the last issue of The Facilitator, we have signed nine members:

If you are a member of CIASTD, and would like access to the complete membership list, it is available (password protected) on our Web site at www.ciastd.org.

[Top]

By Jim McFarland, Facilitator Staff

Smart leaders extend their influence by gaining and holding the attention of those around them. “Attention is the currency of leadership,” says Harvard University Professor Ronald A. Heifetz. Smart leaders understand that influence begins with attention. No one is influenced by what they ignore.

UNDERSTANDING ATTENTION
To influence someone, you must get and hold their attention while moving them in a positive direction. If you get someone’s attention but you do not hold it, you become a fascination. If you have someone’s attention and you hold it but you do not move him or her in a positive direction, you become a distraction, not an influence! A smart leader will get and hold the attention of followers while moving them in a positive direction.

ENGAGING ATTENTION
Leaders often ask followers to pay attention. Yet, smart leaders know that attention is not something that is paid; it is something that is earned.

The first step in earning someone’s attention is to understand this Principle of Attention: Attention is given in direct proportion to the extent to which a person is being engaged. This principle means that a speaker’s ability to maintain the attention of an audience depends on his or her effectiveness in engaging that audience. Likewise, a leader will be able to gain the attention of followers only in relationship with how much he or she engages them. A leader who is aloof, unconnected or not trusted by his/her followers will have difficulty holding the attention of the followers.

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
The ability to engage others is the key to getting and holding someone’s attention while moving them in a positive direction. Smart leaders are able to engage people because they possess four powerful qualities:

1. A consistent ethic. In a world of compromise and cover-up, honesty and integrity will turn heads. Billy Graham is regularly awarded the honor of being one of the most admired men in the world. Why? Because everyone believes his message? No. Because everyone in the world has spent a lot of personal time with Dr. Graham? No. Billy Graham is able to capture and hold the attention of people worldwide because he is known as a person who has a consistent ethic. Acting in an inconsistent or unethical manner will cause you to lose the trust and attention of those around you. A consistent ethic leads to a positive reputation, which gains attention and allows engagement to happen.

2. A contagious enthusiasm. Contagious enthusiasm may be a redundancy – have you ever met an enthusiastic person who wasn’t contagious? Enthusiasm engages people; it draws them in to see what the excitement is all about. Enthusiasm grows out a commitment to a consistent ethic – what you believe. If you believe in where you are going and you present in an enthusiastic manner, people will be compelled to follow you.

3. A course of excellence. Excellence stands up and demands attention. Excellence reaches out and engages people. Slackers are a dime a dozen but the smart leaders is committed to excellence in all things. It doesn’t mean that everything they do is perfect but it does mean they are committed to producing the best possible results in everything they do. Excellence means you pay attention to the details.

4. Continual empowerment. When you begin to empower others to achieve their maximum potential, they will give attention to you. The most engaging people are those who empower us. To continually empower others, and thus hold their attention, you must do two things: 1) hold others in high esteem, and 2) connect on an emotional level. If you think you can empower people without esteeming them, remember the words of Les Giblin: “You can’t make the other fellow feel important in your presence if you secretly feel that he is a nobody.” Emotionally connecting can be compared to one person you says, “A gossip as one who talks to you about others; a bore is one who talks to you about himself and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself.”

Pay attention!
Smart leaders continually ask, “May I have your attention please?” Yet behind that question is a commitment to the four rules of engagement: a consistent ethic, a contagious enthusiasm, a course of excellence and continual empowerment. By living these four rules of engagement, you will attract and hold the attention of those you train and move them in a positive direction. Pay attention to these rules and others will pay attention to you.

Reprinted from Nelson Searcy, Chief Innovation Officer for Smartleadership.com

[Top]

Bold text indicates donor.

Innovative Training Technologies
Book: “The Learning Revolution: To change the way the world learns”

Oakland City University
Sweatshirt

Ivy Tech State College
Stainless steel travel mug
Pullover fleece
Blanket with pocket for remote control

Leadership Horizons
Book: RealTime Coaching by Ron Ernst
Computerized self assessment of your strengths and blindspots, motivational hot buttons, your communications style (and its limitations!) and much more.

Equity Corporate Housing
Wine and cheese gift basket

Russell Martin & Associates
Leadership Training by Lou Russell (published by ASTD). It is part of the ASTD Trainer’s WorkShop Series – each book has all the exercises, handouts, assessments, structured experiences and ready-to-use presentations needed to develop effective training sessions (CD-ROM included).

Comprehensive Performance Systems
Free seminar registration

Flashpoint
Gift Basket

Indiana Institute of Technology
Sweatshirt
Bag

Performance Mastery
$50 Outback Gift certificate and 2 movie tickets

Discovery International
2 books
1 Discovery Organizer with workshop

Bottom-Line Performance
Gourmet coffees, teas, and chocolates

Language Training Center
Free 2-hour private Spanish lessons

Access Technology
1 year free web hosting

Candlewood Suites Indianapolis
FREE night stay

CIM Audio Visual
DVD/VCR Combo

[Top]