ABRAZOS DE CONFIANZA

A lo mejor algunos me van a tildar de muy ingénuo, pero cuando vi a Michelle y Sebastián darse este abrazo que me parecía tan auténtico al final del Teleton "Chile Ayuda a Chile", mi confianza en ambos incrementó en varios puntos, al igual que mi esperanza que este país va a convertir este catastrofe no solamente en una oportunidad de crecimiento económico y material, sino tambien en una palanca para mejorar el escenario politica, social, cultural y espiritual.

Me siento, además, muy comprometido por los abrazos que recibí este fin de semana en mi recorrido por los pueblos del Río Mataquito y alrededores para entender las necesidades de apoyo, más allá de alimento, abrigo y vivienda. Homero y Francisca, Hector, Wilson, Luis Armando, Leslie, Bernardita, Marcelo y Sandra, María Carmen y tantos otros que tomaron tiempo para hablar conmigo para compartir sus penas pero tambien su agradecmiento por la solidaridad de millones de chilenos y de empresas y organizaciones, gobiernos y ciudanos de todo el mundo que han dejado al lado sus diferencias para apaliar rápidamente el dolor más inmediata - la soledad, el hambre y la falta de abrigo.

"THE BIG ONE" - SELF TRUST

When I took Puki out on his lead this morning to perform his morning duties, I felt the urge to extend our walk down past the supermarket just for the reassuring feel of "back to normal" and sure enough, "back to normal" it was - queues of people to buy their Sunday empanadas from the "Tomás Moro" and outside everyone glancing at the horrific pictures of the destruction in the South and Central zones.


The "Big One" had come and gone. 1960 - 1985 - 2010... every 25 years... this time, almost to the day... but I had a "Bigger One" inside me. How can I be thinking of getting back to normal after the summer break - trim my beard, send my suits to the cleaners and start "peddling" organizational effectiveness and my "trustworthiness" as a consultant/facilitator/coach - with this huge doubt eating a hole inside me... ?

(foto EFE)

... should I be talking about effectiveness - achieving personal "greatness" or should I be doing something about it....

Friends, family, clients and colleagues, forgive me if I don't call you for a couple of months - I'll be around and available if you need me... but right now I am going to start knocking on other doors to see how I can help pull Chile... my home for the last 30 years...out of this huge hole. If this means getting my flaccid body and soul back into shape by shoving rubble or using my large frame to ward off looters, great... if I can use some of the leadership skills I have been teaching for the last 15 years... so much the better...

... by the way, friends of Chile from Franklin Covey from Panama, Mexico, Guatemala and Miami are sending messages of sympathy and asking how they can help (Pepe, José Luis, Gladys, Barbara and Marta).

Any ideas on the doors I should be knocking on to deliver this promise, gratefully received - please use the comments section of this mail to share your ideas and thoughts or mail me on philiprayr@gmail.com .

BUSY MONTH IN EDUCATION

I hope to have more time over the next few weeks to provide more details on our activities in November with the SOFOFA Industrial Liceos, Juventud Emprendedora in Iquique and the ABSCH in Santiago, along with our dear colleagues Marta Sánchez from Venezuela and Gladys González from Guatemala.

In the meantime here's an opportunity to share a moment of "paradigm shifting" with Pablo Vásquez's magnificent team in Iquique with whom Gladys and I enjoyed a whole week, sharing with local teens and their families, and in a very intense certification programme.

I also attach an extract from the Trim Tab video on Change Management in Education, which was a source of considerable discussion at the ABSCH Resource Centre - illustrating how even the most menial of personal contributions can lead to community-wide changes.

Between now and March I shall be available to visit all schools and institutions who would be interested in discussing how to begin implementing leadership programme not just for teachers and/or students but for the whole educational community, taking advantage of visits we have planned for Marta, Gladys and other educational experts who we hope to invite to Chile in 2010.

Mail me on pray@franklincoveyla.com for further information.

Leadership in Education

I am in the process of programming some opportunities in November for educators to meet two experts in leadership in the educational field. They work with one of the international consulting firms with which I have been closely associated for many years.

1) Week of 9th November

Martha Sanchez, the senior educational consultant for Franklin Covey in Latin America, will be coming to Chile to deliver the “Leading at the Speed of Trust” ‘programme with a major coporate clients. We are taking advantage of this opportunity to hold a series of meetings with other clients in the corporate and educational fields.

We have reserved 12th November for the educational sector to allow Marta to present the “Leader in Me” initiatives in Education throughout the world and in particular, the ambitious program with the Guatemalan Ministry of Education, where Stephen Covey’s “The Seven Habits” has been introduced into the curriculum of the final year of secondary schooling. The Educational Division of SOFOFA, has expressed an interest in hosting this activity in which they will showcase the results of the leadership initiatives in one of their “Liceos Técnicos”.

2) Week of 23rd November

Gladys Gonzalez, from Franklin Covey’s Guatemalan office, who has specialized in education, entrepreneurship and training of facilitators, will be conducting a workshop on “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens” to a group of youngsters from Juventud Emprendedora and subsequently carrying out a Train the Trainer programme for this ONG’s internal facilitators. We are currently approaching several of our clients about their interest in participating in a forum on “Leadership and Entrepreneurship in Education” we plan on organizing on 25th or 26th November.

Anyone interested in attending either of these activities or arranging a special meeting on these dates on their premises please advise as soon as possible.

Please note my new cell phone: 6 229 7840

philiprayr@gmail.

Awkward Performance Review

Vital Smarts have just published two amusing new video vignettes to illustrate two of the commonest Crucial Conversations we face - "The Performance Review" and "Confronting Aging Parents".

Two see these, click on the accompanying image and choose the corresponding clip.

Visit also the Vital Smarts Crucial Skills Newlsetter Archive for advice on Performance Reviews by author Joseph Grenny:
www.vitalsmarts.com/crucialskillsarchive.aspx
September 9th 2009, "Out of Synch Performance Review"

TELL ME WHY!

¡MAS PALABRAS SOBRAN!

¿is there any hope for deep trust?

AT THE SPEED OF TRUST

I attended the Franklin Covey certification in this programme in Argentina last year and found it a very powerful tool for those managers who are really prepared to pay the price to improve their personal levels of trustworthiness in order to impact trust in their organizations. As always it is accompanied by some powerful videos, exercises and tools to reinforce the FC "SEE - DO - GET" personal change process.

However, I have to agree with some of the Amazon reviewers that the book, at 322 pages, is a long read. It ocurred to me that a useful and cheap alternative to get a good feel for the concepts could be the audio download with a total investment of US$7.35 and just 75 minutes... and no long wait for the order to arrive. However, in all my ignorance - I didn't realize I needed a KINDLE for this.... or sign up for a year with Audbible.com... guaranteed to increase the number of books you will read per year!!!!

Anyway.....rather than exposing you to my view of products in which I may be accused of having a vested interest I invite you to read the Amazon Reviews and draw your own conclusions.

Here is the editorial blurb followed by a link to download the condensed audio version of the book:

"A groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting book, The Speed of Trust challenges our age-old assumption that trust is merely a soft, social virtue. Instead, it demonstrates that trust is a hard-edged, economic driver -- a learnable and measurable skill that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable, and relationships more energizing.

Written from his informed perspective as the former CEO of a $100 million enterprise, Covey draws on his pragmatic experience growing the Covey Leadership Center (founded by his father, Dr. Stephen R. Covey) from a shareholder value of less than $3 million to a value of more than $160 million.

Covey articulates why trust has become the key leadership competency of the new global economy. He eloquently informs readers of how to inspire lasting trust in their personal and professional relationships, and in so doing to create unparalleled success and sustainable prosperity in every dimension of life. He shows business, government, and education leaders how to quickly and permanently gain the trust of clients, coworkers, partners, and constituents. The author convincingly makes the case that trust is a measurable performance accelerator, and that when trust goes up, speed also goes up while cost comes down, producing what Covey calls a "trust dividend".

This powerful new audiobook reveals the 13 behaviors common to high-trust leaders throughout the world and demonstrates actionable insights that will enable you to increase and inspire trust in your important

relationships."©2006 CoveyLink. All rights reserved; (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

DOWNLOAD HERE: http://www.audible.com/adbl/entry/offers/productPromo2.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&productID=BK_SANS_000779