Phew and sigh, I’ve been busy – busy facilitating team building through song, co-presenting at the ASTD International Conference and busy planning for the next event. I’m grateful for the growth our corporate event programs have seen the past couple of years but lately I’ve been missing something. What’s been missing can be described in a word; actually a bunch of words like strategic, relaxed, creative, organizational and inspired. I preach team building but do I practice? When we help groups create their story through song we stress the importance of taking time to reflect on the past, to celebrate the present and discuss the future. Creative time can be a powerful catalyst to change and to growth initiatives. Sooo…..I’ve… Continue Reading
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Free Team Building
Enter to win a free musical team building program. This is our full program including the fun, value and ROI that accompanies all our team building events. Tell your story, write a song, create a lasting take-away, enhance team communication and inspire innovation. Answer one or more of the following questions to create a compelling reason for your team to win a free program. Dream a little, be creative, submit a video if you want to. Why do you want to do a team building program? What’s the worst team building experience you’ve ever had? What do you hope to take away from this free team building program? How to enter Enter your answer to one or more of the… Continue Reading
Team Building Songs, Story and ASTD ICE
When you think of the ASTD 2012 conference, team building songs are probably not the first thing that pops into your mind. Yes, there are the more typical sessions on simulation training, multimedia learning environments etc. But dig a little deeper and you’ll notice their are offerings that relate to team building motivation and how they’re related. No, you won’t find this specific class offered, but you’ll find opportunities to experience how storytelling, song creation and personal narrative can increase emotional buy-in from employees and stakeholders. If you’re headed to the conference in Denver next week, check out Disney’s Approach to Storytelling and the session I’m co-facilitating with David Hutchens, Making Meaning: Story, Music, and Co-Creation in Learning. I believe… Continue Reading
Team Building Songs and Corporate Values
Team building songs have a lot in common with the hit songs I’ve written. While they may not end up on the radio, the songs we create in our team building events communicate personal story and emotion, just like any great song. Story and emotion stick, so team building for values is a great way to get your value statement off the page and into your day-to-day operational experience. Simply put, you’ll share experience, you’ll trade stories, you’ll take lots of information and distill it down to the important stuff – a powerful value statement through song. Story, Song & Values – How It’s Done Okay – I’m on a flight from Boston to Portland, having just worked with a… Continue Reading
Jump Before You Look
My mother never gave me that advice, at least she didn’t intend to. But in a way she did. My mother forged a path as a creative person, became a renowned chef and broke quite a few rules along the way. She may have told us to ‘be careful’, but she led by following her heart and taking chances…that must be what I absorbed! Six years ago when I started messing around with team building through song, I had no idea where it would lead. I experienced the visceral thrill and the challenge of pulling a song together spontaneously, with a group of folks who had never written a song before, and I thought to myself, “Wow – that was… Continue Reading
Motivation, Trust, Building Your Team
A creative life is built upon self-motivation and trust. The motivation part is obvious, but the trust part a bit harder to understand and to accept. It took me years and a bit of success to gain the confidence I needed to trust the cycles of motivation and non-motivation. Or in creative terms, inspiration and lack thereof. After beating myself up this morning for several hours because I wasn’t making a dent in my to-do list, I realized I wasn’t motivated and had to . I did. I ate an early lunch, real early, and that was fun. I texted my daughter, that was fun, and I swept out the garage. Then I grabbed my laptop, came outside, and here… Continue Reading
Team Building and Lego
We build teams with music because music draws us in. When we’re engaged in creative activity we stop standing outside ourselves, we stop judging and second guessing who we are and what we should say. Our authentic selves surface. That’s what happens when we’re in the moment and in a creative state. I’m all about music based team building. It’s the vehicle I use to help companies tell their stories, revisit the past, recognize the present and envision the future. Isn’t that what great songs do? Team Building with Lego Great songs and Lego…what’s the connection? I couldn’t answer that question about a week ago when I went, somewhat reluctantly, to a day long training facilitated by my friend and… Continue Reading
Chicago Team Building – Not Just the Blues
Every city has a unique musical personality and Chicago is no exception. We’ve worked in Chicago a lot the past couple of years, and I always come prepared to offer up a blues melody to our team building clients. But singing the blues doesn’t have to be a downer. In fact, bringing some grit, some attitude and rhythm to a team building event, not only sets the stage for a great song, it helps groups to loosen up and jump into our program. Great songs tell stories and this process helps teams tell their story through song to re-connect with their mission, refine their message and celebrate the best of what their company does. Chicago Blues seems to be a… Continue Reading
Can Employees Find A Job Within Your Company
There was a great story in the New York Times on Sunday about a guy who created a niche and found a new job within his company. By proving that he could improve on an existing system, this employee made himself more valuable to his team and became a unique contributor. From a team building perspective, my first thought while reading the article was about the system within this organization. This leadership group welcomed input and innovation from employees and rewarded it, yielding benefits for all. One of the great things about the team building work we do is that we get to witness the reduction of communication static and hierarchy during our programs. Music is a leveler, and we… Continue Reading
Take A Creative Journey
I’m so excited. I know where I’ll be the weekend of April 20th – In a beautiful spot nestled in the mountains outside of Portland, Oregon at The Journey. This weekend retreat will be full of AHA moments, will help you tap into your creative power, and allow you to relax, relax, relax while making some great new friends. I’ll be presenting my program based around Team Building Through Song, but with some extra goodies; as we delve unhurriedly into our creative curiosity and tap into our own unique abilities to be our best selves. I’ll be in the company of other wonderful presenters who are authors, entertainers, plus experts in fields of creative thinking, the arts, movement, energy work,… Continue Reading