Keeping Teams Motivated: 3 Tips
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 by Dave Blum There’s a great little article in this month’s edition of Inc. Magazine. It’s on page 113, in the “Ask Inc.” section — the expert is Kevin Plank, Founder of Under Armour, a sports aparel company. You can find the whole article online at: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/under-armours-kevin-plank-on-how-to-motivate-employees.html Kevin is asked how […]
Teambuilding Teleclass: Creating Treasure Hunts
Monday, June 22, 2009 by Dave Blum Hey everyone. I’m doing my first teleclass this Wednesday. Here’s the blurb: “Creating Team-Building Treasure Hunts: The Five Deadly Mistakes (and how to avoid them)” WHEN: 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Central 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Mountain 11:00 to 12:00 a.m. Pacific PRICE: […]
Facilitative Leadership — 7 Practices
Saturday, June 20, 2009 by Dave Blum One of my favorite books at the moment is “How to make Collaboration Work,” by David Straus (founder of Interaction Associates). It’s all about ways organizations can (and should) allow key stakeholders to take part in the decision making. Needless to say, the impetus for collaboration needs to come […]
Abraxas: The Watch Dog and the Limp
Thursday, June 18, 2009 by Dave Blum If you had to list the five “must do” actions or activities in your life, what would they be? For me, my five “can’t-live-without-’em” list would include, (in no particular order): –Eating right (healthfully and low-cal) –Exercising –Sleeping –Meditating –Writing If even one of these actions or activities is missing, I […]
The source of happiness: it ain’t Mt. Everest!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 by Dave Blum Back in 1987, I was in the process of wrapping up a two-year stint in Shimonoseki, Japan as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher when my path took me up to the big city– Tokyo. For the last few months, I’d been in a bit of […]
Cooking Up Chaos
Friday, June 12, 2009 by Dave Blum A few nights ago, I’m in my kitchen, standing over the hot stove, pots bubbling and boiling, and it’s clear to me that this meal is going very, very wrong. What was I thinking, taking on so much new stuff all at the same time — mashed potatoes (which I’ve […]
Teambuilding Program: Surprise Take-aways
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 by Dave Blum Whether you’re doing an indoor corporate team building event or an outdoor business team building exercise, the question remains the same: What do particpants get out of the experience? My typical answer is: 1) New skills (including communication and efficiency techniques) 2) Enhanced trust of their teammates (through […]
Teambuilding and Firefly
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 by Dave Blum Have you ever found yourself on the losing side of a battle? The fighting is done; everything you believed in is gone…and the universe now seems like a dark and lonely place, without purpose, without meaning? This is the situation in which Captain Malcolm Reynolds finds himself in […]
Should managers take part in team building?
Friday, June 5, 2009 by Dave Blum Whether I’m doing corporate team building in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, or Los Angeles, the same question from managers and supervisors comes up repeatedly: “Should I take part in the activity?” The answer is not as easy as it sounds! My temptation is to reply, unilaterally, “Of course!” After […]
Treasure Hunts and Leadership
Monday, June 8, 2009 by Dave Blum On Friday in this blog, I was discussing last Wednesday’s Dr. Clue treasure hunt in South Beach, Miami for Wiginton Corporation. The particular topic on my mind was: “Should Managers Take Part in Your Teambuilding Program?” I continue to find this a very relevant question. When managers (and team leaders) participate […]