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Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.-Benjamin Franklin
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This last week, I was blessed to spend time with a group of leaders in Washington in my first ever Employee Loyalty Leader boot camp. I was so excited to embark on this journey with them. I knew that they would learn a lot. I knew that they would experience mindset shifts. I didn’t quite grasp how much I would learn. Here are some of my own personal takeaways from that boot camp:
Leave room for discovery
I put a lot of thought and planning into the creation of this boot camp. As any instructor who also creates curriculum, I am quite proud of the final product. Having said that, I noticed that this amazing group of leaders sought to collaborate with their team members just as much as they wanted to learn from all of my wonderfully-designed content. The event was beautiful, because I veered off topic to maximize their time with me and one another. This flexibility allowed the leaders to receive the full benefit of the learning and team-building opportunity.
Showing more of ourselves helps us all learn more
As a facilitator, we can sometimes come off as a “know-it-all” on the topics we are facilitating. Participants may also fight their vulnerability in front of their team and own manager when participating in team-building events. What I discovered is that showing more of me and admitting my past mistakes inside of the group, allowed for much more learning. When we show more of ourselves, it allows others to do the same!
Dig deep to reveal the truth
Sometimes, we all want to stay away from tthe unknown. We steer clear of the unexpected, because we are not sure what we will find. I look at leadership exploration from a different lens. The more that I help participants dig deep into what makes them uncomfortable, or reveals a challenge they may not want to reveal, the more that we all can dive into solutions, together! That happened at this boot camp, and it was touching to see how revealing the truth inside a scenario revealed how much the team cared for one another. It was priceless and unexpected!
Create the space for all to teach
I admit that I have a healthy ego. I am a trainer and facilitator. If I did not have confidence in the content or my own style, I would be pretty awful! Nonetheless, I embrace the opportunity to open up spaces within my teaching for others to share their expertise, experiences and thoughts. This worked very well during my time with this bonded group of leaders, because by creating that space, trust was built among all of us. Not one of us was better than the other. While I was there to facilitate their learning, I took away more because of this space.
Concluding thoughts
This experience is what I envisioned and more. I received so much more from it than I thought possible. I could sense that the participants experienced a mindset shift and this is the main purpose behind the work that I do.
Employee experience is 90% about emotions and feelings. Leaders choose which emotions they unleash inside their teams. I am honored to have a hand in instilling this concept in their minds and giving them strategies to bring it to life.
Here is what the executive leader had to say about my time with his team. I am thrilled at the response.
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Thank you so much for the very productive and engaging session. The discussion really resonated with the team and they are energized to continue the momentum we started to make an impact in the organization. I am very pleased by the collective response by the group managers to rally around one another’s staff engagement challenges and we will collectively support one another in making positive change. Again, thanks for a wonderful and engaging session.
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I certainly hope that my learning experience resonates with you. I reveal it to you with the deepest humility and most exhilarating honor. Please do Share it and Like it if you do, in fact, like it. As always, I would love to hear from you in the comments.
If you think that your organization could benefit from this Employee Loyalty Leader boot camp, I would be thrilled to work with you and your team(s) as well!! Just reply to this email with any questions and or go HERE.
Many blessings to you!