Today was another great day at the Academy!
We began early and on-time at 9am with an Opening Circle, a ritual that will continue all week. We also selected our "Listening Team," a smaller group of participants who agree to help the trainers ensure that we know all we need to in order to make the training as successful as possible. We'll meet together at the end of each day to discuss the all aspects of the training. We've already agreed to implement some of their great suggestions.
Next on the agenda was the chance to share what each of the participants is passionate about; and then we created a tool that will allow them to communicate what they appreciate about each other as the week progresses. Then we pushed them to really tell us their expectations for the week and to begin to set some collective goals for achieving them.
The morning ended with a major breakthrough as the entire group really jumped into a heated conversation about what it means to be a "Change Agent." As a trainer, it was one of those moments when you know things are going to really get exciting. I wish you could have heard some of the comments as many of the participants really claimed their own power for the first time.
The conversations continued over lunch and when we came back we talked about setting SMART goals and everyone answered the question: "I Want to Change __________!" The answers were amazing and our team transcribed them all, using them to create Issues Groups. A Values Voting Process helped us to narrow the list to four key areas where they'd like to work: Drugs, Discrimination, Employment, and Youth Activities. We'll work with these issue the rest of the week.
Also in the afternoon, we did our Team Types activity, which provides a framework for understanding one's leadership style in the context of a team. Participants determine whether they are primarily Take Charge Activists, Analysts, Nurturers, or Visionaries.
We also selected Secret Friends, a fun way to strengthen relationships among the participants.
The last major activity of the working day was an intense personal reflection that will lead to a fully-developed Personal Mission Statement. We finished up with a Closing Circle and our Daily Evaluation.
Following Dinner, things got crazy ... we did YOGA! It was hysterical.
Check out those pictures and many more by clicking here.
Finally, as I write this, some of the participants are hanging out and playing guitar. Others are watching last year's best picture, Slumdog Millionaire.
I'm looking forward to curfew and a good night's sleep!
