Spur Elementary School

My sister is a Kindergarten school teacher in Spur, TX. Every year, I assist her in creating a haven for her children to flourish in and grow in. Thank goodness for the special talents of people like her.

This year, the theme was "Rain forest." We created a waterfall to display all of the children in their safari hats outside her classroom, as well as, a life-size Amazon tree in her classroom with all the bells-and-whistles.

Hopefully, through giving back to our community and helping the teachers who give the most to our children, our nation's future will be GREAT!

Novations - Certification

As of 2003, I am certified by Novations, Inc. to teach/coach "Talent Development." Below is a description of this "career-altering" workshop event.

TalentDevelopment
TalentDevelopment is designed for all professionals who want to increase their ability to contribute to the success of their organization. The program enables participants to take control of their own development in a way that is beneficial to themselves and the organization.
You will:
*Discover your dominant career values and match your talents and passions to the organization’s needs.
*Identify the projects and assignments that will have the greatest impact while providing personal growth.
*Utilize 360-degree feedback to identify and leverage strengths while addressing key development areas.


TalentCoaching
TalentCoaching is designed for professionals who either formally or informally manage, coordinate, or supervise the work of others. This program incorporates our proprietary Four Stages™ of Contribution Model, and gives participants the insights, tools, and techniques to grow business results by developing others.
You will learn to:
*Demonstrate the critical importance of moving from contributing independently to contributing through others.
*Conduct a productive development discussion with employees to maximize contribution.
*Make job assignments that provide sufficient challenge to engage people without overwhelming them.

Interaction Associates - Certification

Certified (2000) by Interaction Associates, to instruct this three day workshop, FACILITATIVE LEADERSHIP, with the purpose of preparing management and executive staff to develop practical skills and tools for tapping the creativity, experience, and commitment of the people with whom they work, as well as, to provide a forum for exploring management challenges and aspirations as a leader. The following is a "Works on Progress List" that each Leader is responsible for 90 days after completing the course.

1. Identified a situation requiring them to make a decision which will impact others and identify the “maximum appropriate level of involvement.”
2. Drafted and inspiring vision and identified barriers to achieving the vision.
3. Identified a work effort and developed a “Pathway to Action.”
4. Identified a meeting, developed desired outcomes, conducted a stakeholder assessment, and developed an agenda for the meeting.
5. Identified a coaching opportunity and received coached on the best approach to handling the situation. 6. 7. Also, identified a feedback opportunity and scripted out what to say while receiving feedback from their coach on Results, Process, and Relationships
8. Identified a team project for which to build measures of success and built measures across each dimension.
9. Developed personal action plans for implementation of Practices during 3 months following program.

Process Improvement

Since 1999, I have been the point person for XXX Process Improvement. I wrote, implemented, and instruct a home-grown three day course for all employees at XXX. This course offers a no-nonsense blue print for restructuring our antiquated “business-as-usual” approach. It provides all the information needed to make the transition toward improving quality and productivity while reducing cycle time and cost, all within a team setting. We establish which processes drive business, which ones are working, and which new ones to introduce. Participants leave the third day of class wanting only more. The following is what you can expect to learn in the workshop.

Section 1: IMPROVING ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Reliability
Quality
Edwards Deming
Systems
How does PI Work?
EXCEL
Section 2: SATISFYING OUR CUSTOMERS / STAKEHOLDERSCustomers
Active Listening
Listening Inventory
Section 3: BUILDING SUCCESFUL TEAMS
Results, Process, Relationship
Team Roles
Section 4: DISCOVERING THE CURRENT PROCESS
Right Answer Thinking and Systems Thinking
Visual Information
Flowcharting
Section 5: IDENTIFYING A PROBLEMSelecting and Defining a Problem
Key Stakeholders
Goals Dictate and Prioritize ALL Problems
Chartering a Team
Section 6: CREATING A VISION STATEMENT
Values, Mission, Vision
Attributes of a Positive Vision
Section 7: DICOVERING ROOT CAUSES
The "Why" Method
The Think Reliability Approach
Cause Mapping
Section 8: UTILIZING DATA
Types of Data
Collecting and Summarizing Data
Descriptive Statistics
Tools for Analyzing Data
Data Analysis Construction Packet
Section 9: GOOD, BETTER, AND BEST SOLUTIONS
Items to Consider
Possible Solutions - Be Creative!
Solution Steps
Stages of a Discussion
Section 10: CREATIVE IMPROVED PROCESSESAuthorization Process
Section 11: MAINTAINING EXCELLENCE
Monitoring the Process
Section 12: CELEBRATING ACCOMPLISHMENT
Celebrating Others

Wedding / Event Planning

As a side-hobby, I occasionally fulfill my decorative talents and dreams by coordinating large events, such as weddings, birthdays, reunions, and retreats. My roles vary according to event, however I have been known to "do-it-all," such as: decor, catering, coordination, entertainment, audio/visual, and publishing. Enclosed are pictures of two large weddings that I coordinated and decorated. I feel that I offer Brides originality that pushes every bound. I am able to offer extreme individuality to families during their special day. People usually leave events that I have planned, saying, "WOW!, how did they ever come up with that? It was amazing!" It is all about the special touch and drive towards makign people happy that makes it worth it.

Auto Finance Company

My mother is employed by a major finance company. She is in charge of a large Texas sales area in which her responsibilities include enhancement of dealership participation with their services, products, and financial opportunities. Occasionally, I partner with her to develop sales and marketing strategies for her dealer teams. Below are examples of projects that I have helped implement.

MILLIONAIRE MONEY:

SUMMARY: A sales-contest requiring each dealer-manager to be a participant on "Who Wants to Be a GMPP Millionaire" Game show. I wrote the software application for the game show and my mother simply traveled to each dealership, around Texas, and facilitated the contest. While the game show was educational about the product line, it was also fun and engaging. To further enhance the activity, we created customized money, with her picture, that was distributed throughout! What Fun!



RED RAIDER RUMBLE:

SUMMARY: A sales-contest requiring each dealer manager to earn customized "scratch-off" tickets for each product sold. With each "scratch-off" ticket, he/she increased their chances to win a fun-filled luxury night to a Red Raider Basketball Game (Limo, Dinner, etc.)



JELLY BEAN BLAST

SUMMARY: A sales-contest requiring each dealership to participate as a team against other area dealerships. Each team increased their jelly beans earned by selling GMAC product. the lead dealership, each week, got a "special" food delivered to the business, i.e. pizza. The "less fortunate" dealership's, only got jelly beans in the flavor of that particular food, i.e. pizza. To add more fun to the contest, each winning dealership got to choose which losing dealership would EAT WEEKLY DIRT and WORMS! Great motivational fun!

MONTHLY MAGAZINE

SUMMARY: In order to open up lines of communication, we developed a monthly magazine, called "Smarttalk" to cover all of the latest event pertinent to dealers and this line of service. The magazine served roles such as celebratory, informative, and motivational.

Tee-Time for Employee Engagement

It is nearing time again for the 2007 Annual Employee Engagement Survey for SJHS. CHS Leadership have voiced opinions about what would best help enhance workplace engagement, and they have been heard!

Training and Development is pleased to announce that we are offering a proactive approach to Gallup learning for all CHS leadership. This cumulative strategy will allow any leader to either pinpoint and focus on one particular Q12 Impact Planning question, or to cover all Q12 questions with an in-depth perspective.
This CHS customized training will take place in a Lunch-Time Leadership Series format, called "Tee-Time, for Employee Engagement." Each series date offers/reviews two Q12 questions. In order to maximize our dialogue together, each series asks that two pre-reading assignments be reviewed prior to joining the learning opportunity.

A new approach to registration, document perusal, and leadership communication has been innovated for this very special "Tee-Time" event. Covenant's first leadership BLOG has been developed at www.teetime.tk so that each leader can stay current on all of the latest Gallup-Employee Engagement tools and communication. This online BLOG helps Training and Development directly communicate with you as a Leader responsible for your scorecard, as well as allows each of you to comment/communicate amongst each other on what is working or not working in relation to these tools/tips. Hopefully we will be able to reduce barriers between workgroups and enhance best practices across all lines of service.

I encourage you to click on the link above and begin diving into what is going to be an endearing process supporting CHS to a hands-down goal victory of GM 4.27. I look forward to partnering with you on this adventure.

Peer Spirit Circles

As the "go-to" person for team facilitation and workgroup enhancement, I desired an innovated process for teams to follow when relationships went aray. I therefore created and implemented "Peer Spirit Circles." Below describes the spiritual (year-long) encounter.

PEER SPIRIT CIRCLE DEFINED:
A council of ordinary people
who convene to create a
sacred space and from that
space accomplish a specific task,
supporting each other
in the process.

If you are longing for a community based on honesty, equality, and spiritual integrity, call a circle. This simple, yet profound, practice is where people sit together, pass a talking piece from person to person, speak clearly, listen compassionately, and make well-grounded decisions.

Anyone can create the atmosphere of intention, respect, and openness in which a circle can flourish. In fact, successful testimonies include: a women's spirituality group; a father and son in crisis; parents and teachers averting a teachers' strike; and a corporate project team.

A circle responds to the need to be shifted out of our personal and cultural sleep, hence having a brisk shaking into what is real. It is where we claim a more aware way of workplace life. The foundational thinking that drives a circle is "Manifesto of the Heart." This particular theory states that only the people can help themselves and by their council of peers, they will keep coming back.
"We are losing our way of life,
we need to lose it,
in order not to lose life itself."

The Three Principles to Guide Peer Spirit Circling:
1. Rotating Leadership - each person assumes small increments of leadership, therefore ensuring the resources exist to accomplish the circle's purpose
2. Shared Responsibility - the trust that someone will come forward to provide whatever the circle needs
3. Relying on Spirit - via simple ritual and consisted refocusing, the center, becomes a sacred space - a place where everyone's willingness to listen dwells

Gallup Strengths Coach Certified

In 2006, I became certified as a Strengths Coach by Gallup University. This certification provides feedback and consultation to individuals about their Clifton Strength's Finder results and a comprehensive understanding of strengths management concepts and practices. I am able to therefore help leaders leverage their talents to meet performance goals and attain business outcomes.

Below are the 34 themes of talent in Gallup's taxonomy of strengths. By coaching Strength's retreats, workgroups learn, one-on-one, how their talents, knowledge, and skills directly reflect their personal and professional strengths. They will also realize how they positively and negatively impact their workgroup, using these strengths, by describing recent situations in which they applied these themes. An understanding of the “fit” between each leader’s critical outcomes and their strengths will also be gained...so that the connections and non-connections are clear and can be communicated. Next, leaders learn what natural associations their strengths have with each Gallup Q12 question, in order to better build plans to positively impact an engaged workforce. Finally, a further understanding of their 6-10 strengths and their 33rd and 34th least preferred strengths is gained in order to better manage the areas that seem to get in their way. Individuals are required to complete a critical activity linkage to their strengths and incorporate it into a developmental discussion with their direct supervisor.

Achiever Activator Adaptability Analytical Arranger Belief Command Communication Competition Connectedness Consistency Context Deliberative Developer Discipline Empathy Focus Futuristic Harmony Ideation Includer Individualization Input Intellection Learner Maximizer Positivity Relator Responsibility Restorative Self-Assurance Significance Strategic Woo

American Association for Training and Development

I served as a presenter for the State ASTD Symposium in San Antonio at Valero Energy, Inc. The topic was "Harvesting Human Performance" in determining good, better, and best approaches to performance improvement. This advance track presentation was attended by the best of best corporate trainers and industry executives in the state. It both instructed and motivated them to aim for the MOST reliable "systems" in their given business. While the "ThinkReliability" approach was used as methodology, were encouraged to get -back-to-the-basics and include the people closest to the work to map out more reliable cultures and processes for their organizations.

The 212 Degree Commitment

SUMMARY
–An organizational strategy for “what to do” when a leader and their workgroup falls in the bottom quartile of employee engagement scores. Training, Management, Personnel Action, and Motivation are all considered and balanced carefully in order to provide the most conclusive action plan and coaching.


2006 OUTCOMES (78 participants)
–Bottom 11-25%tile: 2005 GM 3.59 (29%tile) to 2006 GM 4.02 (61%tile)
–Bottom10%tile: 2005 GM 3.29 (12%tile) to 2006 GM 4.03 (62%tile)
–20% of 212 participants are now in the President’s Club (top 90%tile)

2006 SIGNIFICANT STEPS–Presented 212, as a best practice, to the XXX HR Leadership Team
–XXX Gained certification as a Gallup Strengths Coach
–Celebrated 62 leaders for their workgroup success in September
–Kicked off 2nd year of 212 with 39 leaders from the 2006 survey in September


2007 FUTURE STEPS
–Each 2006-2007 212 participant target increase score is .13, however his/her exceptional increase is .26 in order to advance him/her over the 50th%tile marker.
–The Gallup Employee Engagement survey dates are scheduled for May 8th-23rd, in which all 212 interventions will be executed.

Resume

Available upon resquest