Yellow Pages Antarctica

Anyone who is a leader or member of a group and wants to get things accomplished knows that there are many issues and challenges that groups commonly face as they seek to find creative solutions, launch new initiatives, and create high performing teams.

The Book Leading Groups to Solutions addresses how team leaders and team members can collaborate, problem solve, plan, organize, and make decisions by exploring models and tools that enable facilitators to help groups achieve their goals.

This book is not about meeting management, nor is it about how to present or speak in front of a group. It is not about how to train or teach people, though this can be part of the process.

This book is about the collaborative process of building consensus, creating synergy, and harnessing collective energy to create innovative solutions. The practical ideas guide group facilitation through combining the best individual thinking into one focused effort and creating shared commitment so that the implementation of solutions is supported and sustained long term.

With 55 combined years of experience, in research and client work, we’ve observed group facilitation and behaviors in many situations and have learned a few things about what makes an effective team. We also put our own facilitation skills and process to the test as we discussed, debated, and argued the merits of various approaches and theories. Even the writing and editing of the book required that we “walk our own talk” as we resolved differences, defined priorities, and created a coherent message.

We believe that the principles and suggestions in this book will help everyone who spends time in teams. Whether leading, participating as a team member, or both, you will find that this book provides a practical framework for facilitating effective teams.

“A solution is the result of many ideas coming together.”

To order the book “Leading Groups to Solutions” or learn more about group facilitation and other CMOE programs, visit their website or phone one of their Regional Managers at (801)569-3444.

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Of all the people who know me, no one would say I am afflicted with worryitis. They may say other things about me, which may or may not be true, but that’s another story.

If you ask me, and nobody has, worry is just a waste of time that could be used more profitably. Every hour of worry takes away from an hour of happiness. There is absolutely no “rhyme or reason” to spend one moment worrying.

Actually, there is a little “rhyme,” (it sounds more like rap than anything else), but I assure you there is absolutely no reason for it.

A friend has a cute motto he likes to call to mind; “Why worry when you can pray,” which makes perfectly good sense. If we would spend time we would use to worry and pray, we would discover little to unduly concern us.

Very little in life causes me to agonize or be anxious. I have better use of my time than wasting it in such a useless employment carrying no benefits or retirement.

This has not always been the case with me. Once, and not too long ago, I worried about everything. You name it, and I’ve worried about. My worry list was longer than the list of promises of a politician running for re-election.

Then I worried about missing something I should be worrying about, which was my Waterloo, and you know what happens when you miss the loo.

This is not to say I don’t have a worry in the world. There is the war in Iraq; the economy; and trying to remember what my wife asked me to bring home from the store tonight. If I’m not careful, I could easily slip back into those gala days filled with worry.

That was then, this is now. A few years back someone introduced me to a marvelous strategy dealing with worry. Since then, my worrying time has been cut to a bare minimum. Because I’m the kind of person I am, I want to pass this scheme along to my friends: both of you.

I call the plan, “The Wednesday Worry Club.” I simply referred to it as the WWC.

Very simply, anything that comes my way in the category of worrying, is jotted down on a 3×5 card, which is then placed in a special box called, “The Wednesday Worry Club Box.” The item on the card is forgotten as I drop it into the box. Every Wednesday I open up the box and go through the cards.

The cards are color-coded for convenience. Red cards are for serious items; green cards are for financial worries; blue cards are for items not needing immediate attention; and yellow cards are for issues with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage (the bulk of cards in the box are yellow but you didn’t hear it from me).

The effect is simplifying my life and freeing up significant time previously occupied with worrying. I cannot tell you how this has enriched my life and I am anxious for you to experience the benefits of the WWC.

On Wednesday afternoon when I open the box, the cards fall into three categories.

One: Issues that are too late to do anything about. This is my favorite category. The theory being if you postpone anything long enough it will be too late to do anything about it. Many of the red cards fall into this area.

The interesting thing is, when the item is first put on the red card and placed in the box it seems to be extremely urgent, as though something needed to be done right away. However, placing it in the box and forgetting about it until Wednesday takes away the thorn of urgency.

Two: Issues that are no longer urgent, important, or needing any attention at all. This, too, is a favorite category. Too often a certain person in our house, (I’ll mention no names), insists that a thing needs immediate attention. However, some things postponed long enough take care of themselves.

Most issues, if left alone, will work themselves out without any outside help. And I consider myself outside help. The further outside, the more comfortable I feel.

Three: The final category, issues that can be postponed until next week. Many of these are green cards. As I go through the cards, regardless of their color, I try to postpone as many as I can.

There is a finesse in this aspect of the WWC. It takes a long time to develop expertise in the area of postponement.

The key to all of this, of course, is to carry about on your person at all times enough colored cards. It is a sad day when I run out of cards, usually the yellow cards.

Then a thought emerged in the back recesses of my mind. How many trees have been used to produce all these 3×5 cards I’ve been using. Immediately, I brought out a fresh red card and made a notation. I cannot wait until Wednesday to find out how this works out.

Of course, there is a better way than the WWC. David, that marvelous Shepherd Psalmist of the Lord wrote, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV.)

Instead of committing my anxious thoughts to cards, I could “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” (Psalms 37:5 KJV).

Recently, the WWC has given way to the WNPM (Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting).

Rev. James L. Snyder is an award winning author and popular columnist living in Ocala, FL with his wife Martha.

http://www.jamessnyderministries.com
http://www.godspenman.com

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Are you looking for someone who will hold you accountable to achieving your goals? Career coaching and mentoring may be what you need to accomplish what you really want in your career. Your friends and family certainly love you and want the best for you, but they can’t always make the time to devote the necessary hours you may need to achieve your objectives and goals. Your friends and family have objectives and goals that they are looking to achieve as well.

Coaching is one of the best investments that I have made. Although there are many coaching packages that you can choose with becoming a coaching client, generally speaking, the coach and client usually have a weekly call, which lasts from about 45 to 55 minutes. Email communication is usually included between each coaching call.

I have worked with many terrific people who were extremely talented and were over qualified in the position in which they were working. I could only imagine how much happier and productive they would be if they had hired a career coach to work with them.

Why should you consider hiring a career coach?

1. You have someone who is focused on your objectives and goals.

Your coaching calls are all about you. Your coach will hold you accountable for your actions to achieve your goals. Many career coaches have graduated from CoachU (www.coachu.com) and have been educated and trained on holding clients accountable to achieving their goals.

That’s why many coaches offer a free initial consultation. This initial consultation will better determine if you and your potential coach are compatible. There’s nothing wrong if a particular coach and you are not compatible. The same principle applies with other professional services. You may not be compatible with every accountant, lawyer, contractor, plumber, hairdresser, mechanic or web-designer.

2. You have someone who is objective toward you.

As mentioned before, you have family and friends that love you and they may think that any work you do is awesome, but you are generally getting a subjective opinion. A coach would be able to objectively prepare you for such events as a job interview, calls from clients, querying an editor, writing a resume and getting better organized.

3. Someday leads to a town of Nowhere

How many of us have always said that we wanted to do things such as write a book, start our own business and switch careers? When did you want to start doing those wonderful things? I have done all three by working with a coach! From what I know of myself, I would not have done these things had I not been working with a coach. I might have looked back and thought shoulda, coulda, woulda. I didn’t want to look back years from now and have those regrets.

4. Coaching Can Be A Great Investment

Coaching can cost a lot less than many seminars. What is the total amount of money that you have you spent on self-help items, such as books, audiocassettes, CD’s, Videos, DVD’s and seminars? Did you spend hundreds - maybe thousands of dollars? What kind of rate of return did you get on your investment? Did you achieve your objectives after you read that book, listened to that CD, watched that DVD or went to that seminar? The aforementioned items most likely contained great information on how to achieve your goals. But did any of those items personally hold you accountable and ensured that you achieved your goals?

Like any other professional service, coaching costs money. Coaches are educated and trained professionals who provide valuable services. If your sink needed fixing and you had no idea how to fix it, would you hire a plumber to fix your sink? Hopefully! A plumber is paid to do something with specific measurable results: fix your sink. If your career needs fixing, what would you do? Coaching goes beyond specific measurable results. Can you put a price on having a career that you love?

I have always wanted to become a writer. My coach taught me how to write more effectively to express my point, get the attention of editors, and get my articles published. I cannot put a price on what I have learned by coaching!

Sean North primarily helps writers gain focus, motivation, remove mental blocks that help to unblock the writing process. EVERYONE who writes has been stuck at some point in his or her career. You do not have to accept these mind-boggling roadblocks!

seannorthstn@aol.com

(586) 216-7516

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Gail was a quiet, shy, young lady. She has been quiet and shy for as long as she could remember. As a child, every time her mother introduced her children to someone, she would always introduce Gail as the shy, quiet child.

Gail had one sister and a brother and both of them were outgoing and quite sociable. Gail, on the other hand, kept to herself and found it quite difficult to make friends. But that didn’t bother her much. She didn’t really care about having friends. It never was anything that she strived to do.

She did quite well in school, but she never participated in any extra curriculum activities. She was too shy for that. She had simply accepted her mother’s and other’s “description” of herthe shy and quiet one.

It was easier to be quiet in college and sort of blend into the
background without much effort. The classes were large; everyone went about his or her businessnot focusing on her and that was all right with Gail.

When she graduated, she was hired as a librarian in a large, public library. The job seemed quite fitting for Gail because one of the requirements were to be quiet for the most part of the day. Not only was she not allowed to talk much, but others in the library were encouraged NOT to talk either. That fitted right up her alley.

However, there was a part of Gail that no one else, but Gail, knew about.

The secret that Gail had been holding inside all these many years is the fact that Gail loves to dance.

She has never had an opportunity to dance in public, but behind closed doors, she danced and danced and danced.

Ever since she was a small child, she had a great desire to dance.

From the age of 5, she would often lock herself in the bathroom, turn on her little transistor radio to the classical music station, and dance for hours. Her mother always wondered what she did in the bathroom for so many hours, but she never felt comfortable enough to share her “secret” with her mother. She told her mother that she was reading and the bathroom was the quietest room in the house. With her two very loud siblings, her mother accepted this explanation. The truth of the matter is, she would turn on the music and simply dance.

Gail never had any formal training in dancing, but she felt she was quite good at it. She had watched anything and everything that she could possibly watch on television or in the movies that related to dancing. She had also read books on dancing.

There was something about dancing that simply liberated Gail. She felt free. She felt excited. She felt as if she was lifted out of that “shy, quiet” exterior and was at one with the universe whenever she danced.

Now that she was an adult, she couldn’t wait to get home from work each day to dance. She would dance all around the apartment. She would blast her classical music and put on comfortable clothing and would dance all night. She simply couldn’t believe how she would feel each night after a bout of dancing. It was amazing. It would make her forget about all of her worries, troubles and stress that she was feeling during the day. It was so exhilarating and invigorating she could hardly contain herself.

She often thought about taking lessons but the shy Gail would take over and tell her that she couldn’t do it while others were around.

Dancing is Gail’s BLISS.

What is your BLISS?

What is it that gets you excited?

What can you get so involved in that you lose track of time?

What is it that you do that exhilarates you?

If you really think about it, you will find you bliss.

As a coach, I often have clients who tell me that they have no idea what their purpose in life may be. After working with them for a brief period of time, they realize that there are several things that they are interested in, they simply never thought about it before.

Once you discover YOUR BLISS, you will discover a way to live an exciting and invigorating life.

What’s stopping you?

ACTION POINT: This week make it a point to discover your bliss. Spend some time thinking about the one thing that gets you excited. Think about what you presently do that you can easily lose track of time while you’re doing it. You have a passion. You have a bliss. Discover it. Live it. You’ll be happy you did.

Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and life coach who teaches how to discover your life’s purpose and incorporate it into a lucrative career. Visit her web site at http://www.dawnfields.com and be sure to sign up for Your Life’s Purpose newsletter by sending a blank email to dawn@dawnfields.com
with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Tune in Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST to her live radio broadcast at http://www.dawnfields.com/radioshow.htm

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Recently, when out to dinner with another couple, my husband is surprised at what
someone says about one of our neighbors. He even comments this to the person
about his amazement. Less than one week later, my husband comments to me he
wonders about this very situation. After asking him, “Well don’t you remember Sean
told you that?” “No. I must have been in a conversation with someone else then.” I
just torque my jaws and change the subject because I just don’t want to have this
conversation about listening again.

Whether it’s with you or friends, it’s annoying and rude when your husband
communicates he’s not listening. “I don’t really care,” is the message. Listening is
different as hearing. We’re born with the ears to hear. But listening takes energy,
time and practice. There are actions to demonstrate your ability to listen, show you
care and reduce stress in the process.

First, give your full attention to your spouse. When my husband was speaking with
Sean, he was also carrying on a conversation with someone else. There humanly is
no way that you can give your full attention when you are dividing it between two
people!

Ask clarifying questions before you do your talking. If you want to understand your
wife’s concerns, respond to a problem or add to the conversation, ask a question
(’So what you are saying is … .’) Then keep quiet while you listen to their reply. Then
you are sure to be on track. Listen first to understand, then to respond.

And anticipate keywords. With experience you learn how some comments are
familiar. How you have discussed this previously? When you hear keywords about
these everyday situations or previous discussions, use them to help you add to the
conversation when the time comes. This is sometimes called leveraging your
knowledge.

Listen for feelings first and specifics second. Check your understanding of your
wife’s emotions from her point of view (”It must be frustrating to not get what you
think you were getting.”) If that perception check is correct (”Yes I am just fit to be
tied,”) continue with specific facts of the conversation. This type of verbal feedback,
particularly on the telephone, can clarify a concern without you saying something
there is no need to say.

Identify what bad listening habits you have and begin to minimize and improve
them. The top five worst listening habits most of us have are: reacting emotionally,
listening only for the facts, getting distracted, faking attention and being critical of
the speaker’s delivery. Found yours? Know it and do something to improve it. Let’s
say you find yourself getting distracted by listening in a second conversation when
you are out with your wife and a group of friends. You can wear a rubber band
around your wrist for 30 days. And every time that undesirable habit pops into your
conversation with you wife, or anyone for that matter, snap that rubber band back.
Day after day you’ll be snapping less because you will be replacing your bad habit
with something that is effective.

A famous philosopher once said, “We only hear half of what is said to us,
understand only half of that, and remember only half of that.” You can reduce
misunderstandings and show your spouse you do care when you move beyond
hearing to listening.

Copyright© Patricia Weber, http://www.prostrategies.com.

Pat Weber is a coach, certified telelcass leader, and corporate trainer. With her incisive, effective communication skills, her services can help you to accelerate professional and personal results you want, by helping you increase your choices and build your self-confidence. With personal coaching, a teleclass, an online email course or on-site workshop, get what you want, more easily and more often. Visit her website at http://www.prostrategies.com.

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