We are very excited as we welcome Dale Kelley to our team. Dale joined us as Senior Consultant and Vice President of Business Development effective April 1, 2008. For the past 3 years, Dale has owned and operated CBG Training and Development and has over 30 years experience in executive leadership in the private and public sector. Dale presents a fresh approach to leadership development and self-management based on his personal life experiences. He is a sought after speaker, presenter and coach, who uses real world experiences and uplifting stories to high-light his points and move people to create positive personal change. We look forward to growing our business in the Capital Region of New York State under Dale's guidance.
Peg Cromer Launches New Healthcare Blog
Interacting with the broader community of practitioners is a way of fulfilling the mission of The TEAM Approach. To that end, Peg Cromer, our healthcare lead, launched a blog designed to explore many of the issues facing facilitators and trainers dedicated to enhancing teamwork in the healthcare field. Please take a moment to review the initial posting and consider adding your email address to get notice of updates. Peg will also welcome your comments to her postings and appreciate a forward to a friend or colleague.
Team Leader Cafe' Showcase - Classroom April 15 or Webinar April 16
If you haven't had a chance to experience the Team Leader Cafe' be sure to check our Coming Events schedule for both the Classroom and Webinar showcase formats. We continue to hold these showcase events monthly to give you a chance to explore this powerful approach to building leadership skills. If this approach fits your organization we can conduct the process for you or train you to do it yourself. As momentum grows, we expect to open Cafe' locations around the country and offer showcase events in other cities. Stay tuned.
Team Leader Cafe' Proprietor Certification - April 29-30
Learn how you can become a "Cafe' Proprietor" and open a Cafe' in your organization. Discover the ways you take advantage of all the support systems built into this process. Based on the Train-to-Ingrain model the Team Leader Cafe' puts all the pieces together to insure real behavior change. In this two-day event you will learn how to manage the process in your organization on your own or with the help of our certified proprietors. This program is also a good way to just evaluate the concept further. Register online.
Meet the Author - Julie Straw: The 4-Dimensional Manager - April 23
Successful managers work like coaches, assessing each person's strengths and weaknesses and developing the best strategy to get the job done. The 4-Dimensional Manager shows how managers can become more effective by using the DiSC® system. Julie Straw has been in the training and development profession for more than 25 years. She has worked in a variety of positions including program development, sales and technical support training, and product development. In her current role at Inscape Publishing, Julie oversees a network of 2,200 trainers, coaches, and consultants who deliver training to a wide variety of industries. For this special event we offer free shipping on Julie's book so you and your managers can read it before listening to the interview. Click here and use the coupon code - "julie". Register for this event online - click here.
Next month we feature Nick McCormick, author of Lead Well and Prosper. for an hour of great tips in leadership on the front line of the organization. In one short hour your team leaders will gather numerous ideas for increasing their effectiveness and harnessing the power of their teams.
Stay in the loop with reminders for future interviews - sign up for the Bookends email notices and be sure to invite your supervisors and managers to attend all of our Bookends sessions or listen to them online once they are posted.
Personal Listening Profile - Dee Clarke Responds to a Practitioner Question
The Personal Listening Profile can be a powerful tool to help people enhance their communication skills. Dee Clarke recently answered a question from a facilitator of the Personal Listening Profile and posted it in Idea Swap. If you are not currently using this tool her article can be a good introduction to the idea of listening approaches. Perhaps you never knew there was more than one way to listen!. If you are not familiar with the Personal Listening Profile, please contact us. We would be happy to send you a complimentary access code so you can complete an online assessment yourself and review it as a possible resource for your organization.
DiSC Certification - May 6-7
The DiSC Profile is one of the most highly used training instruments on the market today. And for good reason - it works! While the publisher does not require certification to use this tool, many practitioners have found certification to be a solid foundation to get the most out of this product. Our next DiSC Certification is scheduled in Lancaster on May 6-7. With pre-work, classroom, post-evaluation and small class size, this program is the best value in DiSC Certification available today. Hear what others have said about it, review the details and pick a date to bring the power of DiSC into your organization.
Contribute Your Expertise to Transfer of Training Wiki
On April 8 Susan and Rick Stamm will facilitate a class for the Penn State Training and Development Graduate Degree Program. The topic is Transfer of Training. To keep the learning going after the class we have set up a Wiki for the students and invite you to join in the collaboration as we share ideas and expertise in this subject. It should be fun. Register and contribute.
Red Rose Learning Community Meets April 28
If you are in the Lancaster PA area and want to network with other training professionals, plan to join us April 28 at 8:00 AM in our training room as we explore the "Boomer Exodus". Register online. To get future announcements of Red Rose meetings sign up for the email list.
360 Feedback - Free 30-Day Trial of 20/20Insight
The March issue of the ASTD Journal, T&D, suggests that 360 feedback can be a powerful tool to help you assess and develop future leadership. We have been using 20/20Insight software for many years as just such a tool. If you are ready to put 360 feedback to work, contact us for a tour of this product and a free 30-day trial to find out for yourself how easy it is to administer a professional feedback process. To ponder the value of 360 feedback in your training initiatives, take 3-minutes to watch a short presentation. For more ideas on the subject, request a brief article written by Dr. Denny Coates entitled "The Ultimate Use for 360-degree Feedback: Measuring Individual Performance Improvement".
April Online Special - Conflict Management idXready Program 10% Off
High quality Plug N Play is here in the form of idXready programs from Inscape Publishing. This month we feature one of those programs as our Online Special - Conflict Management: A DiSC® Based Approach. For over 30 years, DiSC® has been one of the most powerful tools a trainer can use to help team members create positive relationships. With the idXready platform you can bring the power of DiSC® to your teams with very little prep time and get a high quality result - the epitome of Plug N Play. This additonal 10% off our already low price makes April an opportune time to experience idXready and the power of DiSC®.
Web Tour Highlight of the Month - Team Leader Checkup
While 360 feedback is the most powerful way to assess team leader skills, there are times when a simple checkup might be called for. With our free online Team Leader Checkup a team leader can perform a quick self-assessment leading to targeted suggestions for professional development. This tool can even be used as a rough 360 feedback tool. Simply send the link to those from which you wish to receive feedback and ask them to use the Forward Feature after submitting their ratings of your behaviors. When the results are forwarded to you, or a coach or mentor, for review they are anonymous since the message comes from our server and not from the individuals email address. Try it!
May you and Judy Garland find the violets in those April Showers.
We are very excited as we welcome 
If you haven't had a chance to experience the 
Successful managers work like coaches, assessing each person's strengths and weaknesses and developing the best
The March issue of the 