This weekend, I was introduced to an amazingly low-tech, highly effective group tool known simply as Open Space Technology.  If you’re looking for a technique to tantalize your team, wake up your weary, or engage your effectiveness as an organization, this is it. CONNECT with COOKSEY and his associates to learn more about this remarkable facilitation technique and how we could bring it to YOUR ORGANZATION!

A Prisoners Prayer

Oh God, my creator and protector, I know though art near me, so I adore theee body and soul with complete submission to thy will.

Thou hast saved me from death, which has overtaken my companions and hast permitted me to be a prisoner.  I will bear patiently and hopefully for the love of thee, all the difficulties of my state.

Bless my companions here.  Grant us to live peace, comforting and consoling one another with fraternal love and charity.  Bless my family who are far away, my friends, and all I love; my country and comrades in arms.

Give me peace and protect me from offending thee.  My God, I thank thee for all thy blessings and I will try and serve thee as St. Paul has told us, “Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, instant in prayer.”

Amen.

- from the personal diary of POW Robert W. Cohan, dated between 28 Dec 1944 and 13 May 1945.

By being introduced as a nationally known consultant with a 14+ year career in banking and financial services, my audience decided before I had spoken a word that I was “one of them”.

Throughout the presentation, I was able to share real stories of overcoming tradition, change, and unexpected challenges to find success.  I connected with some of the very pain their organization is experiencing today, and left with them some very specific NEXT STEPS they could put into action by the end of that day to set them on a course to success!

Think back to a time when you were in an audience and felt as though YOU truly connected with a presenter. Or, more powerfully, think of a time when you presented to an audience/your team/organization with which you sensed a noticeable, positive, connected energy.  What was it that made it so magical?

When I teach on leadership, I often say the two most important ingredients for achieving success are DESIRE and KNOW-HOW.  Following the feedback of last week’s presentation, however, I believe there is one more: INSPIRATION.

EXERCISE: This week, write down the names of three people who inspire you.  Next, write down as many descriptive terms about those people, being specific to focus on their observable actions and behaviors you admire most. Finally, consider how you can begin to make changes to your own actions and behaviors others see when they observe you.

By taking on the above challenge, the leader within you will begin to emerge in an entirely new way.

Cooksey’s Challenge:  Reach out to the people you listed in the exercise above and share with them what you admire most.

Here are some of the parameters for you to consider:
* Using the element of a carabiner, or other clever connecting device
* Something using the words: Cooksey Connects
* Keep in mind the various directions my firm provides services, including: Keynote Speeches, Event Emcee, Corporate Training, Personal Coaching
* Logo should also be easily convertible to Black & White version so it can be placed on promotional items, etc…

In addition to a $100 cash prize, the winning firm will also receive an exclusive posting on the CookseyConnects blog, an agreement to help promote your design company/services (Hey, if you’re not a design firm, I can just say cool things about you as I travel around the country), and other swag I’m working hard to gather (some of which will sport your fancy, winning logo).

I’m starting with YOU, Connectors! Let me see what you’ve got!

CONTEST DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2010 at 11:59 PM. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED TO SCOTT@COOKSEYCONNECTS.COM

As I continue to lead training workshops around the country, a growing number of people have been inquiring as to how they can Connect with me.  To make it easy, here are a few links:

• Social Media
  • facebook.CookseyConnects.com Connect with the Official Facebook Fan Page
  • linkedin.CookseyConnects.com Get yourself connected with Cooksey’s LinkedIn profile
  • twitter.CookseyConnects.com Keep up with the latest Tweets from Cooksey Connects
  • delicious.CookseyConnects.com When I find interesting articles online, I’ll link to them here. Just for you!
• Training Workshops, Keynotes, and MORE!
  • A menu of services and ways to Cooksey can CONNECT with your organization!
  • Ask about special ON-SITE TRAINING tailored especially for YOUR organization.

Watch for even more updates coming over the next few weeks, including a NEW SECTION on Recommended Reads to keep your Success Library growing!

Remember, you cannot FORCE someone to follow you…but you can give them a REASON to call you a LEADER!

It’s amazing to me how many divergent roads so many of my friends have taken since our days at Oklahoma State University.  For the most part, we’ve done pretty well.  We are the camp counselors, teachers, fire protection professionals, community leaders, bankers, attorneys, builders, architects, dentists ….basically, the “grown ups” we were studying to become during our collegiate years.  Of course, some of my friends have taken other paths.

One is currently circumnavigating the globe with a backpack of his possessions to share his faith…a far cry from the banking job where we first met just after college.

Another group of friends all wound up working for a technology company that went public during the dot-com craze, most of whom have continued on with other software firms in search of the next big thing…while another simply said “I’m going to take some time off”.

Last month in Los Angeles, somewhere off  Wilshire Boulevard near Koreatown, I found myself sharing some laughs, swapping stories and enjoying some amazing mexican pork goodness by the light of Tacos Juanita’s…a trailer quietly parked on the side of the road.  I was sitting with one of the most colorful characters of my residence hall floor, Dave…or to the fans of last fall’s “Survivor: Samoa“, Danger Dave!

I can’t remember a day of college where something hilarious didn’t fly out of Dave’s mouth, usually as he blasted past you on his red mountain bike (often while defiantly riding straight through the dormitory lobby and onto the elevator).  Here’s a guy who truly has decided to live his life (quite happily) doing what HE wants to do. Dave…I applaud you!

The next time you’re out of town on a business trip, or otherwise find yourself somewhere you usually aren’t…pick up the phone (you know…that texting maching attached to your hand can also place phone calls), send an email, reach out to an old friend.  Most likely, they will be glad to hear from you.  Best of all, there is no telling what they have been up to.

1. Unconscious Incompetence (You don’t know what you don’t know)
2. Conscious Incompetence (You KNOW what you don’t know)
3. Conscious Competence (You know what you know)
4. Unconscious Competence (You don’t even have to think about what you know…it’s automatic)

It’s funny to me how as a youngster, I was able to teach myself to read by watching Sesame Street. This morning, a friend of mine (@gggena) said she had this song stuck in her head, which I recognized from my past. When she sent the link and I again watched this classic tale unfold, I was reminded at just how deep the lessons can be learned from something disguised as “children’s programming”. Hmmm…Maybe everything I needed to know I really DID learn (before) Kindergarten!

Watch “Dear Henry’s” learning style evolve. Who is the “Liza” and “Henry” in your OWN organization?

Which one sounds more like you?

Early in my professional career, a supervisor once described me as “always seeming to be getting ready to get ready”. Every time since when I have felt like my career was stalling, I hear her voice echoing those painfully honest words in my head and it fires me up to take action.

During the 4th quarter of this year, I’ve been working on a project for one of my largest clients delivering job search skills to out of work people of a very large county in Southern California where the unemployment rate is nearly 15%! From PhD’s to a few folks re-entering the workforce after incarceration and every kind of person in between, I have met some amazing people. No matter their background, nationality, education level, or tax bracket, this project has reminded me of some fundamentals of success that will always exist:

1. Attitude determines opportunity.
2. Opportunity is all around us each day.
3. Each day brings another day for us to adjust our actions (and attitude).

Please don’t think I mean to suggest change is easy…it isn’t. However, in each of the boot camps I have heard stories of attendees who took specific action as result of the conversations we had in class. Something convinced them to change their behaviors and perspective on how to find a job. In at least two cases, those who took immediate action by implementing some new techniques secured a firm job opportunity BEFORE THE END OF THE FOUR DAY BOOT CAMP!

When you know deep down it is time to try something new and break away from old habits that aren’t bringing the success you desire, don’t wait until you are “100% ready” to take action. A good friend once told me, “When you are 80% ready, try something new. You can’t make necessary adjustments or try a second time until you have done it once, first!”

During this holiday season, take some time to enjoy what you enjoy in your life today, and I challenge you to consider making some bold moves in the year to come and unlock the remarkable success you really deserve! You won’t regret it.

Want to be held accountable? Post 1-3 goals you WILL ACHIEVE in 2010 as a comment to this post. We’ll follow up with ya!

Following the general session, attendees then came back for more in the breakout session “The Way You’ve Always Done It Doesn’t Work Anymore”- where we discussed some practical tools, tips and techniques for breaking the cycle of being “stuck” in the highly regulated world of child care.  In short, it became clear that Child Care professionals do not need to ask permission to act with compassion and care.  What an impact these amazing people at the conference make every day in their jobs!

During the keynote, I mentioned a couple of videos and promised a link to those, so here they are:

• The Carolina Abacedarian Project – This groundbreaking study which began in 1972 gave the world proof that by providing consistent, age-appropriate, structured child care in the first five years of life can set a child on a path toward adult success and better chance for lesser mental health challenges later in life.  Here’s a clip from the study’s website to explain more.  CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO
• Also, we took some time to watch Dalton Sherman’s 2008 speech to educators in Dallas ISD in Texas.  If you are an educator or care about the future of education and our young people in America, this is 9 minutes of reminder you MUST SEE:

During the day, over 200 child care professionals were not only inspired to continue making a difference in the lives of each young person with whom they interact each day, but also were encouraged to look beyond the walls of their own Child Care centers to build a community within they could network, share best practices, and encourage one another to stay consistent, upbeat, and enthusiastic in the face of each day’s routine.

Child care professionals, I applaud EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU for the tireless service you provide every day.  It was an honor to speak at your mini-conference, and I look forward to seeing you again, soon!