June 2009 Newsletter

Culture (Noun, Verb or What?)

Recently while working with a client on "cultural" crews, it occurred to me that people were looking for a better word for the organizational climate and that the word "culture" was confusing. As I thought through this dilemma I concluded that I had a couple of options available to me and one was to look online to do a little searching:

I went to the internet and here is what I found:

• When the concept first emerged in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe, it connoted a process of cultivation or improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture.
• In the nineteenth century, it came to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through education, and then to the fulfillment of national aspirations or ideals. In the mid-nineteenth century, some scientists used the term "culture" to refer to a universal human capacity.

You might also notice that the word culture contains the first four letters "CULT" which scares the heck out of folks. As we discuss culture and the concepts of culture, people are no doubt thinking "just what we need, another cult".

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Retail Pilot Program

Recently, we invited key professionals to review a new set of programs to help managers lead their service or retail employees. In the past, we have had great success inviting our clients to check out the topics their managers will learn about. We do this to make sure we are offering the right skills and behaviors to help managers have successful outcomes for their organizations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who attended our Retail Pilot Program in May and June. Theyl gave us great ideas and feedback about this six-part program that we will be offering this fall.

May 14th, 2009: Kelly Barry, Safe Handling Brian Bernier, Norway Savings Bank Tim Gerencer, Jotul North America Jody Hamilton, Gorham Savings Bank Bonnie Hutchins, Gorham Savings Bank Hal Inman, TruChoice FCU Deanne Michaud, Safe Handling Andrea Osgood, Norway Savings Bank Lisa Thomas, Gorham Savings Bank

June 2, 2009: Darrell Clark, Nouria Energy Sherri Evans, TruChoice FCU Lori Frederick, Nouria Energy Jay Hallam, Kennebunk Savings Bank Mike Letourneau, Thos. Moser Cabinet Makers Tally Nickerson, York County FCU Joanna Pond, Emery Waterhouse Maureen Weeks, Biddeford Savings Bank

Each of you will receive the finished product and we will honor you in the workbook as being the folks who helped us get the programs going.

Priority Learning Polls!

I am happy to introduce a brand new feature on our website, Priority Learning Polls! We are always interested in hearing your opinions and gathering information on important topics. Voting is easy just click on the question below or go to our website and click on Resources then Polls. We will do a new poll each month so make sure to visit our website often to participate and see updated results.

Here is our first poll question: What makes a great company?


Personal Coaching Benefits

After every public or in-house workshop, we offer personal coaching (or team coaching) to help people to execute their plans (a plan of action to execute back on the job is the last element of each workshop we facilitate). There is no expiration date, even when people find other places to work. We have been offering personal coaching since 1996 and it has improved the quality of work life for many people who have taken us up on our offer.

Executive or personal coaching has been the most rewarding job I have ever had. Of course, I am not the only coach at Priority Learning. However, coaching is my top priority and I really like helping others to learn, grow, develop, execute, and deal with the more difficult issues on the job.

Here is how we do it:
• We set up appointments (requested by the people who want to be coached) - we either travel to their organizations or we invite them to our office in South Portland.
• We provide resources and diagnostics that may help, such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which helps us coach at a higher level. We offer many other diagnostics that help individuals with specific needs.
• At the meeting we ask about the issue or development and we ask questions that will help stir up some ideas that may be good solutions.
• People come up with their own solutions to their issues or the developmental processes and we only give advice when asked.
• A plan is created and we encourage communication to their bosses for support and encouragement.
• We follow up to make sure their plans are working and/or if more coaching is needed.

When people contact us for coaching, they almost always have successful outcomes. This is the part that makes us happy to be in this business.

Remember that we are here for you when you need us...we want you to succeed!!