Travel Log - Star date 20080329

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??