We are thrilled to share news of three key members of the AvoLead LLC team. After the addition of five new members in February, AvoLead continues to attract top talent to its Board of Managers and consultant rosters.

Joanne McCree has joined the Board of Managers. In more than 20 years with IBM, she led in a corporation undergoing transformational change — cultural, strategic, product and business model. After creating her own executive coaching business in 2004, she joined AvoLead as a Senior Consultant last year. Learn more about Joanne here.

Chris Musselwhite also has joined the AvoLead Board of Managers. Involved in organizational and leadership development since 1972, Chris shares his wealth of experience in program development and delivery, in the creation of numerous learning simulations and assessment tools and as founder, president and CEO of Discovery Learning. Read more on Chris here.

Timothy Stephens has joined AvoLead as a Senior Consultant. Committed to developing high performance teams in the public health, science innovation and other arenas, Tim coaches leaders and teams to better understand their roles and shared goals. As part of the AvoLead LHCS Program, Tim works with first responders and other key medical and governmental personnel on leading in high consequence situations. Meet Tim here.

We proudly welcome these distinguished professionals. Their leadership talents and skills will be called upon regularly as AvoLead continues to help leaders and their organizations navigate the waters of transition and change.

Last month, Discovery Learning® hosted a certification workshop in the Paper Planes, Inc.® simulation. Not surprisingly, there was a full house in attendance and, as is usual with anything that bears the Discovery Learning name, the experience was unparalleled.

AvoLead® consultants and Friends of AvoLead were some of the fortunate participants. Read some of their comments here:

I volunteered for the supervisor role thinking that would be a great perch to watch the action unfold end to end. And it was! The simulation was masterful at so many things: seeing a system in action, watching people transform from responsibility to self and station to responsibility to the process and end product, the power of course correcting, the power of debriefing, and seeing in action how different types process change. I can’t wait to use the simulation with a client. — Tomi Bryan

I truly enjoyed an outstanding training but the people involved were the real value add. I am very excited about working with the AvoLead team! — Joe Carella

I had some very valuable personal and professional insights as a result of the Paper Planes simulation. My most important insight was that I should try to look at management with the more broad nuanced sense I expect of myself in analytical tasks. — Tim Stephens

The Paper Planes simulation was so much more than I expected. I knew we were going to fold planes and make them fly, but I didn’t realize the extent to which we would unfold our team processes and help our team soar. It was also a great opportunity to meet other professionals in the field and, especially, to work with the AvoLead team. — Suzanne Tofalo

The PPI experience was great! While I was not actively involved in making planes, my role as inventory clerk allowed me to view the roles involved in the process. It was interesting to watch the group dynamics in action. Most were out of their comfort zone in their respective roles. Of course, while we are not aware of our behavior, there were glimpses of behavior patterns that we all fall into when dealing with the unknown. PPI has endless applications and can be used with any group from young people to senior citizens, in all walks of life. While I didn’t get the opportunity to chat with Chris Musselwhite, his incredible vision to build such a dynamic simulation tool speaks to his leadership capabilities. And, the AvoLead participants were absolutely outstanding. I am ready to soar. — Judy Johnson

We are pleased to introduce five new members of the AvoLead LLC team. Each brings deep experience, incomparable credentials and a highly sought-after skill set to the growing AvoLead consultant roster.

Joseph D. Carella is a senior consultant with AvoLead. His focus is to improve the performance of organizations, teams and individual leaders. Meet Joe here.

Senior consultant, Anne E. Doster serves AvoLead clients as an organizational effectiveness consultant, facilitator and executive coach. Learn more about Anne here.

A senior consultant with AvoLead, Anna Pool shares her passion for individual and organizational effectiveness through a powerful range of coaching skills and expertise. Read more about Anna here.

Experienced in working with leaders of all levels, Frank H. (Josh) Stroup serves AvoLead clients as a consultant and leadership coach. Learn more about Josh here.

Suzanne Tofalo serves AvoLead clients as an instructional designer and consultant. She has spent more than 20 years in the design, development and delivery of leadership training and development courses in a wide variety of curricula. Meet Suzanne here.

AvoLead is proud to welcome each of these outstanding professionals. We look forward to utilizing their talents to the fullest as AvoLead continues to help leaders and their organizations navigate the waters of transition and change.

Paper Planes, Inc. provides awareness of the problems in compartmentalized work and just how effective a team can become. The simulation helps participants experience the powerful effects of systems reengineering and process improvement.

Get certified now to use this powerful business simulation. Certification for product use will be required in 2012. Benefits of certification include: listing on DLI website, access to experienced simulation user group, receiving DLI referrals.

February 16, 2012
431 Spring Garden St, Greensboro, NC 27401

Register Now

Register online, by calling 336-272-9530, or by emailing smetzger@discoverylearning.com.

Cost

$350 pr $300 if registered before January 6

Agenda

• 8:30 AM to 9:00 AM – Breakfast
• 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM – Abbreviated Simulation Run
• 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM – Working Lunch
• 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM – Classroom Facilitation

The Simple Truths website has lots of great inspirational content, but when I saw the title of the short (3-1/2 minute) video below, I laughed out loud, because it reminded me of the game my brothers used to try to play, “Let’s see who can hit the softest…you go first!” Of course you know how that went. I touched them just as softly as I possibly could, and they hit me hard and shouted, “You win!” It was a game I only played one time.

On the serious side, however, the message of this movie cuts to the heart of one of our basic fears…Change. Intellectually, we know that lots of change is good, but emotionally, there is always some angst, some discomfort, some worry. Yes, even some fear! This movie was made for organization teams, so it addresses many of the situations AvoLead clients face. Its powerful and inspiring messages, however,  can be applied not only to organizational change, but also to life change of any kind.

Is there change going on in your life or work that you find unsettling? How are you dealing with it?

Do any of this movie’s messages help you see change from a different perspective?

Do you have any words of wisdom for others who are going through change in their organizations that is causing them fear or anxiety…or even functional paralysis?

The movie content is also available in book form, and these books make great gifts or tools for a team-building event at your company, church, or nonprofit. Each book includes a free DVD of the movie.

Enjoy!

Guest post by Elizabeth H. Cottrell, RiverwoodWriter and Heartspoken.com. It was adapted from a post which originally appeared on her blog.