Twenty-three curious “Leadership Learners” from around the United States and the UK gathered together in Greensboro, NC at the offices of Discovery Learning, Inc. last week (May 26-29, 2009) for four days of high impact learning and networking. A lot of work by a number of people went into these four days. Our special thanks go to Chris Musselwhite, Mike Warrick, and Donna Kelly at Discovery Learning Inc. (DLI) for their active support, cooperation and participation in the planning and execution of the experience, and to all the nice folks at DLI who were so welcoming and tolerant while the group of us essentially moved in and took over their training space and lobby for four full days! They were all wonderful hosts and hostesses, and the week would not have been nearly as successful without that wonderful space in which to hold it.
We had trainers extraordinaire – I’m so proud of the fact that of the six instruments that were presented and discussed during the week, five were presented by their authors, and the sixth was presented by a “first generation” expert who learned from the author. That’s a rare opportunity. There is something uniquely engaging and satisfying in learning about a tool – how to use it, when to use it, what it will do, what it won’t do, etc. - from the person who actually conceived of and built it.
It was an honor to experience:
- …Chris Musselwhite’s knowledge and insights on his Change Style Indicator and Paper Planes Inc. Simulation and to hear his experiences with teams from around the world who have found power in his ideas and exercises;
- …Mary Lippitt’s deep experience and understanding that went into her Execution Priorities Index and the Leadership Spectrum Profile. Hearing her discuss the best applications of each of her results-oriented tools and experiencing her intellectual generosity of spirit was a special treat;
- …Rob Kaiser’s powerful historical perspective on the evolution of leadership assessment tools and the potent gap that he and Bob Kaplan sought successfully to fill with the Leadership Versatility Index (LVI). It is clear why the LVI is growing rapidly in popularity around the world;
- …Stephanie Callison’s expert knowledge and experience of the Hogan Leadership Forecast Reports, which she’s been working with for over 10 years both as a practitioner and trainer. She managed to convey two days worth of complex material in a single day and keep everyone active and having fun!
- …Mike Rosenthal, who has been working with Chris and Discovery Learning for many, many years. We all learned from his breadth of experience and expert facilitation of the simulation;
- …Darren Overfield’s practical tips and hands-on coaching tools for using the Leadership Versatility Index with clients in the most productive way possible. His work is making our lives easier!
An added bonus at the very end of the week was hearing Rob Kaiser and Stephanie Callison present a case and share their experiences and insights on using the Hogan Assessments together with the Leadership Versatility Index (LVI) to gain unique insights into coaching clients. Each a powerful tool in its own right, together the Hogan and LVI make a dynamic contribution to understanding where the powerful client interventions may lie. Many, many thanks and professional kudos go out to all of our presenters. Standing up to lead a room full of professional trainers is daunting to say the least, and all of them rose to the challenge and exceeded expectations. We’d also like to thank Alan Buck, a highly talented videographer completing his course work at UNC-G, for capturing so much of the experience on film for us. Be on the lookout for video clips at the websites of Discovery Learning, Enterprise Management, and of course AvoLead!
In summary, it was a rich week of intellectual rigor, personal insight and sharing, professional networking, with a good dose of fun thrown in as well. Obviously the best trainers in the world can’t do their thing without active participants – thank you to all who ventured out, took a chance, and attended the training. I saw some old friendships rekindled and strengthened and many new relationships forged. Best wishes to all – I have a strong suspicion that in future years, many will look back and say “that week in Greensboro in May 2009 is where this all began.”
Here’s a toast to you all and to the bright future we have begun.
Now let’s hear from you about what your key learnings were – and moving forward, I want to hear how you’re using the tools. I’m particularly eager to see how the Leadership Spectrum Profile meshes with the Hogan and LVI in my team interventions. Stay tuned for future blog postings!
Anyone interested in future training experiences like Take Five, please send us an email. We’re starting a mailing list now for the next event.
