Words of Wisdom from the Girl Scouts

Frances Hesselbein has become an iconic nonprofit leader. From her nearly 20 years of leadership with the "Girl Scouts (13 years as national CEO) to her current position as founding president of the Leader to Leader Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation), Hesselbein has shown herself to be a born leader.

Make learning central to your organization. Hesselbein, when she became national CEO of the Girl Scouts, set out to transform a dated program into a contemporary one to meet the needs of the girls...the customers. But she knew that the Girl Scouts needed to be able to keep changing when necessary. 

To that end, she invested time and money in the training and development of staff and volunteers. As Hesselbein says, "The first item in your budget should be learning, education, and the development of your people."

As a trainer and speaker, I think this is a great philosophy, but in the last four years, I have seen these budgets cut drastically!  

Conversation Starters and Stoppers!

For those of you who are traveling this season, here are some tips to stop a conversation from our friends at Southwest!

"I can't really talk with anyone until I've had two drinks and I always stop after my first."

"I am sorry, I cannot talk with you - I have given up face-to-face conversation as a personal experiment."  (Sound like some of our younger friends?)

Now here are some starters (think about using some of these to unleash information from someone with whom you are trying to build a relationship).

"If you had to give up one type of communication you use regularly, which would you choose? Why?"

"If you had to move to a different state, where would you go?  Why?"

"What are the longest trips you've ever taken by distance and duration? What was the best part of each?"

Happy traveling to everyone - I hope you enjoy a joyous and wonderful Christmas and a very special New Year!