This trip didn't start well for me. Leaving my family on Easter Sunday never sounds like a good idea. Plus, you'll recall from my last post that I have been on the road almost continuously in March. I get into town with my heart set on eating at a Chipotle, which is good enough if there is no Moe's around. God bless those folks at Chipotle - they were closed for Easter (or Equinox (the sign said both)). My Easter dinner was a new Angus Burger at McDonalds.
Plane, train or automobile: Yup, Ol' Faithful. The Exploder got rewarded for many years of service with a brand new set of tires. The lease company was reluctant to replace the tires at the 104K service, but a screw in the right rear tire in the middle of Ohio pushed them over the edge.
Mission: Leadership Skills training for two divisions in Central Ohio. My week got better... I had one of the most humorous groups I have ever had in a workshop and we had a great two days. I always let the group pick a Break Manager to call and manage breaks because I might be setting up for the next segment and lose track of time. I had put these yellow star shaped Post-It notes on the tables without any real idea how to use them. The newly appointed break manager scribbled something on one and stuck it to his shirt. I wandered over to his table to see that he had written "Break Deputy" on the star. We get cranking through the content (maintaing self-esteem, focusing on specific behavior, reinforcement techniques, etc) when I notice the manager next to him also had a star. She really liked the idea of focusing on specific behaviors and had named herself the "Specific Sheriff". Another manager across the room kept going back to the concept of one bad apple spoiling the bunch and she kept using the words "contaminate" and "quarantine". The Break Deputy made a badge for her and she was the newly appointed "EPA Marshall".
At the end of the week, I got an email from the Break Deputy:
You are the "AYATOLLAH of INFORMATION”, the" POTENTATE of PRODUCTIVITY” and the "DUKE of DEVELOPMENT'
FEEL FREE TO GIVE YOURSELF 3 GOLD STARS
What a great group!
Number of human interactions: 30 plus
State(s) visited: West Virginia and Ohio
City visited: Reynoldsburg, OH
Interesting fact about this city: Birthplace of the Tomato!! I had no idea that I was in the stomping grounds of that juicy, lycopene filled fruit... Yes, tomatos are a fruit.
Halpert says: What's a tomato??
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080322
Plane, train or automobile: The Exploder rides again! This time I got to haul stuff and had a co-pilot!
Mission: This one was a doozy! A few members of our staff that are certified to deliver the leadership training that I do every week were asked to assist at our National Leadership Conference in Nashville, TN. Here is my schedule:
Saturday 15th - Drive to Nashville. Unload and set up registration
Sunday 16th - Church (Palm Sunday!). Run registration booth for @ 300 participants
Monday 17th - Co-facilitate with HR Directors in four breakout sessions
Tuesday 18th - Co-facilitate with outside training firm for 30 DMs
Mission: This one was a doozy! A few members of our staff that are certified to deliver the leadership training that I do every week were asked to assist at our National Leadership Conference in Nashville, TN. Here is my schedule:
Saturday 15th - Drive to Nashville. Unload and set up registration
Sunday 16th - Church (Palm Sunday!). Run registration booth for @ 300 participants
Monday 17th - Co-facilitate with HR Directors in four breakout sessions
Tuesday 18th - Co-facilitate with outside training firm for 30 DMs
Wednesday 19th - Co-facilitate with outside training firm for 30 DMs (same group)
Thursday 20th - Drive home!
Number of human interactions: Well over 300
State(s) visited: TN
City visited: Nashville
Interesting fact about this city: The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is ginormous and a great place to host an event.
Number of human interactions: Well over 300
State(s) visited: TN
City visited: Nashville
Interesting fact about this city: The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is ginormous and a great place to host an event.
Halpert says: I LOVE the Opryland Hotel!! Check out my TV and the size of my bed (yes, that's me in the middle of the pillows down there)!!
Travel Log - Star date 20080315
Plane, train or automobile: Racking up the miles on the Exploder!
Mission: A lot on this trip... a two-day leadership workshop, then two days of visiting new management Team Members in two different divisions. Oh, and did I mention that I got home at 9 p.m. on Friday and left at 7 a.m. on Saturday for a leadership conference in Nashville, TN?
Number of human interactions: About 20
State(s) visited: GA, SC
City visited: Atlanta, GA; Anderson, SC; Greenville, SC
Interesting fact about this city:
Atlanta, GA - I actually stayed near Stone Mountain. I'd like to bring the girls down with me on a trip so they could see it. I don't do much sight seeing on my trips - I have work to do!
Anderson, SC has a great little downtown area. My mom is thinking of moving south (and leave balmy South Dakota??) and I think this area would be great for her.
Halpert says: Wow, 5 different beds in 5 nights!!! Maybe he really is Travel Man!
Mission: A lot on this trip... a two-day leadership workshop, then two days of visiting new management Team Members in two different divisions. Oh, and did I mention that I got home at 9 p.m. on Friday and left at 7 a.m. on Saturday for a leadership conference in Nashville, TN?
Number of human interactions: About 20
State(s) visited: GA, SC
City visited: Atlanta, GA; Anderson, SC; Greenville, SC
Interesting fact about this city:
Atlanta, GA - I actually stayed near Stone Mountain. I'd like to bring the girls down with me on a trip so they could see it. I don't do much sight seeing on my trips - I have work to do!
Anderson, SC has a great little downtown area. My mom is thinking of moving south (and leave balmy South Dakota??) and I think this area would be great for her.
Halpert says: Wow, 5 different beds in 5 nights!!! Maybe he really is Travel Man!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Travel Log - Star date 20080308
Plane, train or automobile: The mighty Exploder!!!
Mission: Two two-day leadership workshops. This is a region that I have not worked with before, so the pressure is on to deliver high quality workshops!
Number of human interactions: 30 Team Members total
State(s) visited: OH, WV
City visited: Morgantown, WV
Interesting fact about this city:
If you are not expecting to see this building, you suddenly think that Close Encounters of the Third Kind is happening!
Mission: Two two-day leadership workshops. This is a region that I have not worked with before, so the pressure is on to deliver high quality workshops!
Number of human interactions: 30 Team Members total
State(s) visited: OH, WV
City visited: Morgantown, WV
Interesting fact about this city:
If you are not expecting to see this building, you suddenly think that Close Encounters of the Third Kind is happening!Halpert says: Man, that was some good Mexican food at the Rio Grande!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Champions!
I have been assistant coaching my daughter's 9-12 year old basketball team the past few months and thoroughly enjoyed my foray into coaching. We ended up as the number one seed in the playoffs by playing the best defense in the league (11 points a game) and scoring the second highest number of points (17.9 points a game).
We had a bye week during the first round of the playoffs and learned that we would be playing the only Team that beat us in the championship game. What an opportunity!
We arrived at the gym during half time of the consolation game being played before ours so that we would be ready to warm up as soon as that game ended. The kids all looked so excited that they might throw up! The game before ours ended and we quickly took the court to practice our free throws and rebounding - our usual pre-game warm up.
Our league starts the "B" Team in the first quarter and also allows each player to shoot one free throw - that might be the only chance some of the kids get to score some points. Our head coach noticed that one of the boys on the team ("K") had a bloody ear and we had to send him to the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready to play. We were a player down and we hadn't even started the game yet. My Big Girl (the smallest kid on the team) calmly stepped to the line and sank her free throw! She averages less than a point a game and already she was on the board! Three of her teammates followed suit and we had a 4-1 lead before the jump ball.
Our "B" Team played good defense and took several shots, and ended the first quarter locked at the 4-1 score. The second quarter starts with free throws for the "A" Team and they added a point to our total. The coach's son typically brings the ball up the court for the "A" Team and as he came across mid-court, we could see him holding up his index finger as if he was signaling for an offensive set. I leaned over to Coach and said "I don't even know what #1 means, do you think any of the kids know what that means? "The "A" Team usually has the 11-12 year olds, so the level of play elevates and we played our best quarter of basketball all season, going in to halftime with a 12-1 lead. Soccer Mom was sitting in the middle of a group of parents from the other team and they were all commenting on how well our team passed the ball and hustled for every loose ball.
The second half was Coach's choice as to who to play and we kept our "A" Team in to start. "K", the boy with the bloody ear earlier, is known for his enthusiasm and tendency to lose focus. Coach did a brilliant job of subbing him in for a minute at a time and he grabbed several rebounds and had several shot attempts. He came off the court yelling "That was best few minutes of the whole season!". If only the rest of the team had played that well - we got a little sloppy and we let the other team close to within 1 point - it was 14-13 with about 4 minutes to go.
In my regular job I teach "soft skills" to store managers and one of the topics in our session is setting goals. We discuss that team members will put in extra effort if they see that they are close to the goal. I saw a text book example of that from our coach's daughter. She is our best shooter and for the entire season had set up on the wing to spot up for her favorite shot. The other team inbounded the ball and had to go the full length of the court. Coach's daughter hung back on defense against their best player and stole the ball! She drove down the court for a layup! I lived in Orlando for many years and one of my favorite Orlando Magic highlights is from the 1995 playoffs when Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael Jordan - "Nick Anderson stole the ball! Nick Anderson stole the ball!" (Click here to see it - it is #4 at about the 3:20 mark) Her steal was every bit as exciting and game changing!
The other team took the ball out of bounds again and she stole the ball again! They recovered much faster, but the damage was done. We held on to win the game 16-13. My Big Girl has a gold medal with her name engraved on it and I have wonderful memories of winning that championship with her as her coach.
We had a bye week during the first round of the playoffs and learned that we would be playing the only Team that beat us in the championship game. What an opportunity!
We arrived at the gym during half time of the consolation game being played before ours so that we would be ready to warm up as soon as that game ended. The kids all looked so excited that they might throw up! The game before ours ended and we quickly took the court to practice our free throws and rebounding - our usual pre-game warm up.
Our league starts the "B" Team in the first quarter and also allows each player to shoot one free throw - that might be the only chance some of the kids get to score some points. Our head coach noticed that one of the boys on the team ("K") had a bloody ear and we had to send him to the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready to play. We were a player down and we hadn't even started the game yet. My Big Girl (the smallest kid on the team) calmly stepped to the line and sank her free throw! She averages less than a point a game and already she was on the board! Three of her teammates followed suit and we had a 4-1 lead before the jump ball.
Our "B" Team played good defense and took several shots, and ended the first quarter locked at the 4-1 score. The second quarter starts with free throws for the "A" Team and they added a point to our total. The coach's son typically brings the ball up the court for the "A" Team and as he came across mid-court, we could see him holding up his index finger as if he was signaling for an offensive set. I leaned over to Coach and said "I don't even know what #1 means, do you think any of the kids know what that means? "The "A" Team usually has the 11-12 year olds, so the level of play elevates and we played our best quarter of basketball all season, going in to halftime with a 12-1 lead. Soccer Mom was sitting in the middle of a group of parents from the other team and they were all commenting on how well our team passed the ball and hustled for every loose ball.
The second half was Coach's choice as to who to play and we kept our "A" Team in to start. "K", the boy with the bloody ear earlier, is known for his enthusiasm and tendency to lose focus. Coach did a brilliant job of subbing him in for a minute at a time and he grabbed several rebounds and had several shot attempts. He came off the court yelling "That was best few minutes of the whole season!". If only the rest of the team had played that well - we got a little sloppy and we let the other team close to within 1 point - it was 14-13 with about 4 minutes to go.
In my regular job I teach "soft skills" to store managers and one of the topics in our session is setting goals. We discuss that team members will put in extra effort if they see that they are close to the goal. I saw a text book example of that from our coach's daughter. She is our best shooter and for the entire season had set up on the wing to spot up for her favorite shot. The other team inbounded the ball and had to go the full length of the court. Coach's daughter hung back on defense against their best player and stole the ball! She drove down the court for a layup! I lived in Orlando for many years and one of my favorite Orlando Magic highlights is from the 1995 playoffs when Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael Jordan - "Nick Anderson stole the ball! Nick Anderson stole the ball!" (Click here to see it - it is #4 at about the 3:20 mark) Her steal was every bit as exciting and game changing!
The other team took the ball out of bounds again and she stole the ball again! They recovered much faster, but the damage was done. We held on to win the game 16-13. My Big Girl has a gold medal with her name engraved on it and I have wonderful memories of winning that championship with her as her coach.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)