During my NLP trainings I had the opportunity to be exposed to the Walt Disney creativity method. Recently one of my friends  told me that she attributed the award of a contract she won to the Walt Disney Creativity Method she proposed.

Since the adoption of the Walt Disney Method in the 70’s as an NLP tool, Walt Disney has developed and promoted the tools used in house by their organisation to a new businesses. A Disney Institute has since been created to develop the Business Leaders of the world.

I would advise businesses leaders  to undergo training with them and learn from them. Even if you are not in the field of entertainment much has to be learned. I am particularly interested to learn more about the stategies of Disney. They have succesfully  created value in  merchandising the different brands and personalities they have created. I consider Disney as the top of the top in marketing after all Disney is a world class organisation.

How can you manage a queue of several hours of waiting customers whilst giving them a lasting excellent customer service?

Disney Institute began as a vision, and the visionary was Walt Disney himself.

Not only did Walt Disney re-define the world of entertainment, his legacy is found in a worldwide scope of motion pictures, Theme Parks, stage shows, books, magazines, television, merchandise, music, apparel, radio, resorts, a cruise line and more.

Of course, none of this would have been possible had he not also re-written the rules of business.

Walt Disney was, and will always remain, that rare breed: an artistic genius who, with the unflagging and essential support of his brother, Roy, created an effective organizational model and efficient work environment where employees were recognized for their achievements, encouraged to work as a team and, by striving for excellence, continually broke the confines of the status quo to surpass the expectations of the world.

Your Opportunity

Since Disney Institute opened in 1986, millions of attendees representing virtually every sector of business from every corner of the globe have had an opportunity to witness and experience these innovative business strategies.

Disney Institute remains the only professional development company where you will literally step into a “living laboratory” at Disney Theme Parks and Resorts for guided behind-the-scenes field experiences. Disneys brand of business excellence is also being taught at locations across the U.S. and, to date, in more than 40 countries around the world.

We have inspired leaders to change not only their business practices, but also to examine their business issues in an entirely new light. Like them, you will find your organization has more in common with Disney than you ever imagined.

Our Methods

Whether you tune into a Disney Institute WebCast, attend a workshop in your city, or immerse yourself in a multi-day program at a Disney Destination, the lessons we’ve developed are rooted in the time-tested visions and ideals of Walt Disney. As you “experience the business behind the magic,” you’ll discover our innovative training methods focused on three key program outcomes: Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application. These outcomes will clearly illustrate ways that you can adapt and apply these lessons into your organization.

As vital as the message are the messengers. Disney Institute facilitators include accomplished business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, and executives who use dynamic and entertaining stories and demonstrations to explain effective business models and concepts. Depending on the program length and location, these sessions may be enhanced by facilitated discussions, team-building exercises, case studies, experiential activities, and behind-the-scenes guided tours at Disney Destinations. Disney Institute programs provide you with a business map that will help you chart a course for your organization, your division, and yourself.

Your return on this investment is across the board improvement. You’ll realize this improvement in processes, your work environment, and the delivery of customer service. You’ll sense it in yourself and your employees who are inspired to strive for excellence. Above all, you’ll see it in increased productivity and a renewed sense of purpose and potential.

In the late 90’s I was enrolled on a seminar conducted by an anthropologist Angeles Arrien. Whereas I was accustomed to the trilogy, I listened to her attentively on her four fold way. The Four-Fold Wayâ„¢ Program is an educational experience that demonstrates how to “walk the mystical path with practical feet.” It is designed to increase our respect for nature and each other, and enhance our ability to work cooperatively and creatively in teams. The program inspires “spirit in action” using the cross-cultural components of leadership and communication skills, creative problem-solving, health care, and education. The Four-Fold Wayâ„¢ Program emphasizes four major principles that integrate ancient cultural wisdoms into contemporary life.

In essence, she advised us to develop our 4 ways of actions.

The Way of the Warrior or Leader is to show up, or choose to be present. Being present allows us to access the human resources of power, presence, and communication. We express the way of the Leader through appropriate action, good timing, and clear communication.

The Way of the Healer or Caretaker is to pay attention to what has heart and meaning. Paying attention opens us to the human resources of love, gratitude, acknowledgment, and validation. We express the way of the Healer through our attitudes and actions that maintain personal health and support the welfare of our environment.

The Way of the Visionary or Creative Problem Solver is to tell the truth without blame or judgment. Truthfulness, authenticity, and integrity are keys to developing our vision and intuition. We express the way of the Visionary through personal creativity, goals, plans, and our ability to bring our life dreams and visions into the world.

The Way of the Teacher or Counselor is to be open to outcome, not attached to outcome. Openness and non-attachment help us recover the human resources of wisdom and objectivity. We express the way of the Teacher through our constructive communication and informational skills.

Optimum health is expressed in most cultures as a balance in all four areas: Leading, Healing, Visioning, and Teaching. Cross-culturally these four areas reflect the four human resources of Power, Love, Vision, and Wisdom. Most of us tend to over-express one area, while leaving the others underdeveloped. It is important to understand that these four ways are universal and available to all humankind, regardless of context, culture, structure, and practice. The Four-Fold Wayâ„¢ Program is structured to develop all four areas with equal emphasis to support optimum health, both individually and collectively, in our family, workplace, and communities.

I thought of this today because I am attending a party tonight for the 40^th Birthday of a friend. Last night I read on Face Book that she took a psycho test and was classified as a healer.

As you have probably learned the authorities are launching a program called Second Chance to alleviate the poverty and give a chance to the poorest of the poor.

« Autre mesure phare : la mise sur pied d’un Second Chance Programme , qui devait avoir été établi en janvier. Il s’agit d’un plan d’alphabétisation et de maîtrise des langues pour ceux ayant quitté l’école. Le but de ce programme est d’aider ceux- ci à s’insérer dans la vie professionnelle. « Ce programme a débuté ce mois- ci avec 220 étudiants dans 8 centres. Les étudiants vont bénéficier d’une allocation mensuelle de Rs 1 500 » , déclare le ministère de l’Education. »

I was very pleased to have been convened to a meeting of the evaluation to the team of social workers who have participated to the launch of this program. Caritas have been selected to spearhead this initiative of the government. Why?

The proposal of Caritas comprised 4 different elements that matches the needs of the sociological needs of the targeted population. Caritas have been working thereon for a number of years. Caritas have through the years researched the concepts and worked on the implementations required. Through a lengthy process of trials and errors Caritas have come up with a model that seems to hold the road.

‘Alphabetisation fonctionnelle’ has required years of research and the support of specialist in Education to be set up. The earlier research was done by Jean Pierre Carosin for 4 years and funded by Secours Catholique, later through Funds donated by the European community a specialist in Education of Belgian origin, Elise Ways was stationed in Mauritius for 4 years to carry on the implementation and development work. The objective of this ‘Alphabetisation fonctionnelle’ program is to fasten literacy for the underprivileged through a peer to peer learning experience.

Caritas spirit of Empowering the people by the people has always been present through the project. Caritas respects the freedom of the individual and work to increase the dignity and self esteem of the individual. At Caritas, every single human has potential of their own and thru his strengths other hidden talents may be developed. Sure enough the poor because of their conditions may have been disadvantaged Caritas‘s role is to empower them to bridge the gap.

Life skills management is another program which Caritas has developed using Covey leadership material as inspiration. There again, care has been taken to use a peer to peer sharing methodology instead of a top down, teacher to student teaching process. Learning occurs through eliciting collective intelligence from the group’s experience and building the capacities.

The two other elements of the proposed package are the value of work and personal and family budgeting.

Let us hope that Second Chance will bring some comfort and improve the conditions of the poor.

We are the world

We are the children

We are the one that make a brighter day

So let’s start giving

In 1985, you may recall the recording and publishing of this song that toppled at the charts. The revenue earned from this exercise was to raise funds to help the destitute children of poor Africa.

“We Are the World” written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and recorded by a supergroup of 45 popular musicians.

In a few hours Micheal Jackson will find his eternal abode in the celebrity cemetery of Los Angeles Forest Lawn. Micheal Jackson made his mark in the world.

Last night, whilst having fun with my two grand children who are only 8 and 5, I asked them if they knew of Micheal Jackson. Surely enough they knew him and they eagerly attempted a few dance steps on his moon walking. I was not a great fan of his music but have to admit somehow my musician vibes were touched by his works and have vibrated in harmony on his top tunes.

Good bye Micheal Jackson and thank you for your contribution to world music.

Having worked for a number of years in several car dealerships, my interest in cars got even more extensive and eager. I had the chance to visit assembly plants in Japan and India. The visit to Isuzu museum was very enriching, as I relived  the history of car manufacturing in Japan in 1998.

As a child I was always fond of cars as many boys of my age. I was lucky that  I was born in a family that owned  cars.  As such, I knew  about cars, more  than the average  teenage boy in my class. The  first time I drove was when I was 11 years old. At first I read and collected all I could lay hand on English cars, Rover as my grand father always had one. Later on, my interest got wider: one of my uncle had a red sports car Sunbeam Alpine, another uncle who was also frantic on cars has several sporty cars..Triumph, Ford and Toyota Celica.

I had my first car accident when I was only 12 or 13. It was a terrible experience, I attemped to move the cargo van in front of my parents store and seriously damaged my uncle’s car parked just in front. The clutches pedals were to high for the small boy I was. Dad did not get mad at me. I was myself full of shame. I still recall that I wrote a note to my dad to promise him that I was not drive till until I got a driving licence. I held on to my promise and got my driving licence a few days after my 18th birthday.

Should be  interested as I am in cars and particularly in the history of cars, I would advise you to purchase a DVD from Histomobile. There is little need today to possess a  hard copy car encyclopedia as I used to have.

In this world of today, carless society seems impossible. Cars of tomorrow, I imagine will be more efficient and more friendly to the ecology. Can you guest the number of persons in the world making a living off the car industry? The very recent shake out of Chrysler, GM and the major car manfacturers will give you an idea of the impact of the car industry and the related  industries on the world economy. Car industry is transforming and yet is there to stay for a long while.

Saint Syméon, déjà (949-1022) dans ses enseignements pose la question de savoir : est il plus facile de croire dans le Christ au temps des apôtres ou aujourd’hui ?

Croire en Jésus aujourd’hui

Beaucoup ne cessent de dire : « Si nous avions vécu au temps des apôtres, et si nous avions été jugés dignes de voir le Christ comme eux, nous serions aussi devenus des saints comme eux ». Ils ignorent qu’il est le même, lui qui parle, maintenant comme alors, dans tout l’univers… La situation actuelle n’est sûrement pas la même que celle d’alors, mais c’est la situation d’aujourd’hui, de maintenant, qui est beaucoup plus heureuse. Elle nous conduit plus facilement à une foi et une conviction plus profondes que le fait de l’avoir vu et entendu alors physiquement.

Alors, en effet, c’était un homme qui apparaissait à ceux qui étaient sans intelligence, un homme d’humble condition ; mais maintenant c’est un Dieu qui nous est prêché, un Dieu véritable. Alors, il fréquentait physiquement les publicains et les pécheurs et mangeait avec eux ; mais maintenant il est assis à la droite de Dieu le Père, n’ayant jamais été séparé de lui en aucune manière… Alors, même les gens de rien le méprisaient en disant : « N’est-il pas le fils de Marie et de Joseph le charpentier ? » (Mc 6,3; Jn 6,42) Mais maintenant les rois et les princes l’adorent comme le Fils du vrai Dieu, et vrai Dieu lui-même… Alors, il était tenu pour un homme périssable et mortel parmi tous les autres. Lui qui est Dieu sans forme et invisible a reçu, sans altération ni changement, une forme dans un corps humain ; il s’est montré totalement homme, sans offrir au regard rien de plus que les autres hommes. Il a mangé, bu, dormi, transpiré et s’est fatigué ; il a fait tout ce que font les hommes, excepté le péché.

N’avons-nous pas l’expérience des frères qui ont vécu avant nous pour nous éclairer sur la venue du Christ pour nous aider à croire ? Avant tout, je pense que la foi en Christ est un don de lui et que ce don qu’il nous donne n’est accordé que dans la mesure que nous y travaillons pour. A priori, notre initiative et notre volonté est requises. Certes, Le récit du passage de Jésus Christ sur terre est assurément très répandu : la foi est plus que de connaître un fait historique- le passage du Christ sauveur sur terre. Croire en Jésus Christ aujourd’hui , 2009 est semblable comme autre fois : ce qu’il nous est demandé s’est entretenir une relation intime et continue avec notre Dieu. La prière n’est il pas une conversation avec notre Dieu ? Peut on parler un être, pas le moindre, notre créateur,  que nous nions l’existence ? Il nous demande de Le reconnaître et de L’aimer en premier lieu. Est-ce que je pense assez fréquemment à Lui ? Ai-je suffisamment de consultation avec Lui ? Peut être suis-je trop imbue de ma personne pour croire qu’IL est la pour m’écouter et venir à ma rescousse ?

Marie-Noelle Thabut termine sa chronique Paroles de Dieu pour un dimanche de ce jour par ses paroles : Car celui qui reconnait sa pauvreté fondamentale s’ouvre à l’action de Dieu et se découvre alors des sources insoupçonnées. Pour cela, il suffit d’un peu d’humilité ou tout simplement de lucidité. A ce sujet St. Paul nous fait la confidence d’une parole reçue de Dieu : ma grâce te suffit :ma puissance donne toute sa mesure dans la faiblesse (2Co 12.9). Il nous suffit de « lever les yeux vers le seigneur » comme dit le psaume.

The great day is here today the 4^th July: In America it is Independence Day. For me this is a very special day. My whole family has come together to celebrate an occasion worthwhile for them to fly in from Toronto and Montreal. It has been a while since Stephane, our daughter and children as well as Olivier, our son are together with us at the same time. Marie Anne is going to perform her task of taking  Olivier to the altar!

We are going to be all ears  to witness the formal pronunciation of the vows of Olivier and Kristel to bond together their lives in the sacrament of Marriage.I am so pleased that Olivier and Kristel have decided  to come back home to take their vows solemnly in front of their parents and close relations. Sure, it is an undertaking, which in these modern times, is not as easy that before because of the fast changing mentalities and the pressures of the time.They have the blessing of God and the gathering.

Whilst one may think that a wedding is only the private engagement between the two persons, I still believe that this very private exchange of vows has an impact on the families and society at large. It is the creation of a new family unit. The ‘yes’ exchanged has far reaching repercussions. They promise to each other: to bond their lives together to love each other, to look after one another with all their might and to ensure their partners’ happiness afore of their own.

To pronounce these vows in presence of their love ones and more importantly in front of God is a well thought decision, when the matter has been thought of seriously in the preparation sessions which preceded this celebration. They had the time and leisure through the weekends spent together with specialists to discuss the issues which may crop up in their married life.

The family and friends gathering for this celebration and rejoicing is the record this momentous event and more importantly to accompany the newlyweds with their prayers and good wishes. In a way, the gathering by their presence not only witness the voluntary free will decisions of the parties concerned to bond their lives, the gathering promises support to the new family unit thus created with their support.

To Kristel & Olivier, May God accompanies you in your chosen common path…

I was amazed listening to Marshall Goldsmith on Voice of America business net work for over one hour. There were loads of common sense and simple talks done in a very pleasant way in a radio show by Susan Reece and Andrea Chilcote. I love his coaching process.

Reading Marshall Goldsmith, one of the sixty world guru who has influenced the world for the last 80 years is a must for any leader. Besides Marshall is an incredible generous person as he give out free of charge on the web plenty of material. Personal development is the essence of Marshall’s work.

Marshall Goldsmith

My mission is to help successful leaders achieve positive, long-term, measurable change in behavior. The following process is being used by coaches around the world for this same purpose. When the steps in the process are followed, leaders almost always achieve positive behavioral change – not as judged by themselves, but as judged by pre-selected, key co-workers. This process has been used with great success by both external coaches and internal coaches[1].

The 29th  June was the solemn feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. I read the homily of Pope Jean Paul II made on this feast in 2000, which shred lights of the missions of these saints and serve as models to us.

The naming of the two saints at the same time, as far as I am concerned, from my little knowledge, is the contrasting elements of their characters and behaviours. Just like there might be many means to one end, the stories I have of the different paths of those 2 saints indicates to me that God sets different ways to each person to reach Him.

I have in mind the comparison given the biblical comparison given by the personality profiling D.I.S.C.

St. Peter is classified in the ‘i’ category – out going, people. He needed as fuel ‘recognition’ to thrive and hungers for relationships. Whilst being impetuous, St Peter was big hearted, compassionate and friendly, he was also carefree and outgoing. Enthusiastic and impetuous Peter was sometimes over eager and saw things bigger than the reality. Influencers and inseminators are main of the traits the ‘I’ categories.

St. Paul on the other hand is classified in the ‘D’ category- outgoing, task. D category people need challenge and control, they thrive on conflicts. Strong willed leaders like St. Paul could me unemotional yet optimistic. Determined they drive forcefully with great innovations. The mission is to break the status quo and venture in unchartered area.

Confidence consists of positive expectations for favourable outcomes. Failure and success are not events—they are self-fulfilling pathways.

To every action that we take, there is a corresponding outcome. Failures and successes are judgements given to outcomes in relations to our intents. There may be outcomes that appear which have no relation to our intents, however, we could learn from as they may things we have not thought of. It is in this sense that I read Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s self fulfilling pathways.

Confidence is the word. One of the elements I found that  probably is the cause of so much pain suffered by the poor of the poorest of the Mauritians society, after working for a couple of years with the ONGs is precisely the lack of self esteem and self confidence in the capacity to progress. The poor of the poorest nurture the self fulfilling prophecy of their inability to get out of their conditions.

At Caritas, with a team,  we worked out schemes to enhance the self esteem of the poor by starting a listening service. On a second phase we then slower worked towards  enhancing their self confidence.

We would be far from the winning streaks titled by R Moss Kanter but surely we would be heading in the right direction.

Winning Streaks

ROSABETH MOSS KANTER

How do winning and losing streaks begin and end? Using research and case studies, I came up with a surprising answer—confidence. Confidence is the pivotal driver behind high performance, successful relationships, and teams that consistently win. I use the expression “water walkers” to describe people with high potential who are destined to gain top positions.

Confidence consists of positive expectations for favorable outcomes. Failure and success are not events—they are self-fulfilling pathways. Each decision, each business quarter, each school year may seem like a new event, but the next performance is shaped by what happened last time—unless something breaks the streak.

Three Critical Behaviors

My investigation of success and failure in companies, nonprofit institutions, athletic teams, and political races discerns three critical behaviors in people who work in cultures of confidence at high-performing organizations:

· They are accountable. They want to share information, take responsibility, and seek feedback and self-improvement because they are committed.

· They collaborate. They want to work together, help others, and feel a sense of belonging that makes them committed to the success of the entire enterprise.

· They take initiative. Since they believe that what they do will make a difference, they offer ideas and suggestions and feel empowered to foster innovation.

Moreover, these confident leaders institutionalize confidence by giving people a chance to tackle projects, succeed at those projects, and feel that they have made a major contribution. That makes people feel valued. It makes them feel that their contribution is worth something. And that feeling gives them the energy and motivation to go forward. It provides leaders with an opportunity, grounded in reality, to recognize and applaud people. Positive accomplishments lift everybody’s spirit.

And yet many performance evaluations tend to be based on personality and chemistry rather than on achievements. That’s a problem in terms of building confidence, because it makes too many things dependent on favoritism—who happens to be liked by whom. On losing teams, coaches tend to play favorites. On the winning teams, you get what your performance merits.

Of course, some leaders try to project external confidence to cover up problems. They resort to bravado or swagger to hide problems—usually when confidence has slid into that danger zone of overconfidence or arrogance.

Real confidence is grounded in three cornerstones—accountability, collaboration, and initiative. If accountability starts to slide because leaders cover up the facts or manipulate the numbers, then they are not being accountable. And if they don’t admit it and solve the underlying problems right away, they are not being accountable. So, whatever appearance they project to others is not true confidence grounded in the substance that would make success likely. It’s a false presentation of self, and I don’t think it’s the self-confidence of a leader anyway. The projection of charisma on the part of the leader who makes the difference is whether the leader creates a system that is accountable, that allows people to get together quickly to solve problems and take initiative to act on potential shocks or surprises. That’s what Enron lacked—they started to hide certain information.

I talk about confidence as the “sweet spot” between despair and arrogance. It’s that sweet spot that says, “We’ve got to work for a positive result; and when we do the work, we are confident we’ll succeed because we’re confident in the data, confident in the responsibility people take, and confident in each other. We have a collective goal, and people are not making side deals behind the scenes.”

Many people tell me that they feel that they are on a losing streak—losing people, losing capability, and losing viability. They are sliding away from confidence toward insecurity and feeling that “there is nothing we can do about it.” Leaders must guard against arrogance and over-confidence on one hand, and the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness on the other.

In my study, I found many examples of successful turnarounds. Turn-around leaders tend to be one of two types: 1) people who slash to the bone and save the organization financially, but leave nobody standing; or 2) people who realize that cost-cutting is a temporary solution and start rebuilding. Turnaround leaders must make tough decisions, but also believe in the potential of the organization and give people a vision of that potential.

One of my favorite leaders is Jackie Jenkins-Scott, former president of a community health center (she is now a college president). She came in to turn the center around when it was in bankruptcy. A receiver appointed by the court was busily trying to cut costs; morale was low; and the quality of the service was getting worse. First, Jackie convinced the judge to get rid of the receiver. She saw potential where he had only seen things to cut. She saw a way to raise revenues. For example, the center had historic buildings, and so she got those designated as historical landmarks and reached out to new donors. She believed in the people, so she gave the people a better work environment. They returned her faith by boosting productivity and by finding new sources of revenue—people who could pay for services, for example.

You either find somebody who cuts costs and slashes to the bone and just accepts the fact that sales are declining and plans around a smaller organization, or you find somebody who says, “There is great potential here. There are new services we could offer. Yes, we must get costs under control, or we won’t survive; but we’ll do that against a vision and long-term goal, because I have confidence in our future.”

Leaders build confidence and advance to victory. They see the potential and get other people to see the potential while they are making tough moves. But when they make a tough decision, they have the support of the people, because it’s done with a vision of success in the future.

Consistently successful leaders treat losses as temporary events rather than descents into downward spirals. They have resilience, and resilience separates winners from losers, because even winners lose games, have bad quarters, see temporary slips in sales.

Resilience is the ability to deal with those issues. If confidence is not just a belief in the minds of the people but also the culture of the organization, you can bounce back quickly. If people are communicating, sharing performance data, and knowing the facts of the situation, they can solve problems faster because they are collaborating. Everybody can do their part if they trust and respect people in other departments, and they have an experience of taking initiative through small projects and new ventures that build an ovation. Such people spring into action and make a difference—often without being told to do it.

When power went out in the Northeast for two days in August 2003, and every other airline canceled hundreds of flights—thereby losing millions of dollars—Continental not only kept flying but ended up making money in the disaster. Their employees rallied together to do whatever needed to be done to keep the airplanes flying. That freed up top executives to ask, “Are there any other services we could provide during this period?” They offered extra flights for all the stranded passengers and ended up making money.

That is a dramatic example of where a company wins because they had created a culture of confidence.

To the extent that the organization succeeds, it’s easier to attract and retain exceptional talent, because they want to be associated with success. Make sure they understand that their success and reputation are enhanced when the team wins. Show these stars that they will gain more and have more impact if they also support other people, build stronger relationships, and help the team win consistently.

December 2008

The above text from Leadership Excellence,  is an article which would summarise  her 2004 book: “Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End”.