Irene Cheh of CCEF introduced the idea of trying training programs with different, more participatory methodology. Irene then introduced Greg Evans from the Creative Seeds organization in the USA. Greg spoke a little about his experience with western businesses and stressed the need for companies, cultures, countries and people to share ideas.

"The purpose of today is to introduce to some of the best practices of the west and to see if they have applications for you in this culture. At the same time, we need surface and document some of the effective business practices that are distinct to Chinese business."

Greg asked the group some enrolling questions and asked them to participate without regard for their positional title or rank in the office. Greg then took the group through a series of icebreakers that allowed the participants to interact, change seats and relax a bit.

Greg introduced eight leadership concepts from a variety of sources:

1. Start everything
2. On purpose - 24/7/365
3. Adversity is opportunity
4. High frequency, low magnitude
5. Nothing fails like success
6. Everything someone tells you is true. They are reporting their experience of reality.
7. Great leaders are great simplifiers.
8. If you can't have fun with a problem, you may never solve it.

Each axiom was explained with a short example.

9:47am - Small Group Discussion

The participants formed groups of 3-4 and discussed the relevance of the axioms. The discussions were interesting and somewhat controversial.

"The point of these is not that you have to agree with them. Instead, the point of these is to inspire a dialogue amongst our peers about what it is that we believe is necessary in leadership."
 

"Everyone in this room has experience in a leadership capacity. What are the axioms that you have developed in your experience?"

The participants worked individually to document some of their own thoughts about leadership.
 

10:20am - Large group discussion

The group reconvened and had a large group discussion about the hot issues. Individuals stood up and spoke about relevant leadership skills that they believe are necessary in their role.

10:45am - Emotion and Intelligence

Pioneers take all the arrows.
One of the most challenging things a leader must deal with are the objections that they will face from their staff, customers and bosses. Often times when a leader's authority is challenged or questioned, the leader can become emotionally charged. The resulting decision or action may not be one that is consistent with the leader's values or system. This happens because their is an inverse relationship between emotion and intelligence.

When our emotion gets high, our intelligence drops and our effectiveness as a leader also drops. Truly masterful leaders can keep their emotions in check and perform at an optimal level even in the face of dissension, anger and conflict.
 

11:00am - Handling Objections

This activity demonstrates a simple method for effectively handling objections.

A leader, when aggressively challenged must know how to answer a persons need, rather than responding to their emotion.

The best way to do that is by following two east steps. The first thing you want to do is acknowledge that you have heard the other person. The second step is to deflect the energy and gain more information by asking a question.

Follow this sequence until you have enough information to address the other persons need.
 

The group broke into trios to practice this new method. Each person in the trio had a distinct role to play:

1. The complainer
2. The coach
3. The manager

The coach was instructed to stop the role play abruptly each time the manager was unable to respond to the objection smoothly.

"Drills make skills. Practicing how to handle objections now, in a safe environment, will give you far more confidence when the real situation arises in the office or workplace."

11:40am - The Maze

Greg then introduced the final challenge of the day: The Maze. the group was instructed to create a grid on the floor of 30x30cm squares with a dimension of six squares by nine squares.

They constructed the grid in just four minutes with nearly perfect measurements and teamwork.

Following the construction, Greg then introduced a series of rules for solving the path of the Maze. After 3 minutes of strategizing, the group then tackled the Maze and completed it in just 16 minutes with 7 penalties.

Following the Maze, the large group assembled and spoke about the elements in the Maze that promoted participation and maintained their motivation.

Six key elements came out of the debrief and have obvious applications in the workplace:

• Short-term goals
• Celebrating all wins
• Enrolling others
• Calling time-outs
• Acknowledging others
• Turning mistakes into learning experiences

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A CCEF and Creative Seeds Event
Email: greg@creativeseeds.com

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