What an incredible week as I attended the International Coaching Federation’s international conference! The theme was Playing to the Edge. With more than 1,000 coaches from around the world, we gathered together to continue our studies in the art and science of coaching and share perspectives on how we can help businesses and employees achieve their potential in our global economy.
Some of my personal highlights:
- Learned new techniques for promoting the cultivation of independent thinking, finding opportunity in uncertainty, and nurturing creativity and innovation (from Michael Gelb, a leading authority on the application of genius thinking to organizational development and author of More Balls Than Hands: Juggling Your Way to Success by Learning to Love Your Mistakes). The image above is the mind map he drew to illustrate his talk.
Jessica Pryce-Jones and Chris
- Examined the last six years of research conducted by the iOpener Institute for People and Performance, focusing on how happiness at work is tied to a business’s bottom line (presented by Jessica Pryce-Jones, CEO of iOpener and author of Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success).
- Studied how the diversity of intelligence, the power of imagination and creativity, and the importance of commitment to our own capabilities allow individuals and organizations to meet the challenges of succeeding in the 21st century (from Sir Ken Robinson, speaker on the most watched video in TED history and author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative).
Having returned from the conference, renewed and invigorated, I was today’s guest on KCMX 880AM’s “Southern Oregon Live,” where I talked about happiness at work. In the next few weeks, I’ll be speaking at the 2011 Mentoring Conference at the University of New Mexico’s Mentoring Institute; return as a guest to KCMX, where I’ll appear on the “Open for Business” program; and also address the members of the Southern Oregon Chapter of the Society for Human Resources Managers in Medford, Oregon.
