In the spirit of giving, this week we feature a brief story by Zig Ziglar about famed American contralto Marian Anderson. She was the first African American to be named a permanent member of the Metropolitan Opera Company. Enjoy!
 
 
Marian Anderson got her start by scrubbing floors for 10 cents an hour so that she could buy a pawnshop violin. The church she attended recognized her rare talent and raised money for a professional voice teacher to work with her. When the teacher pronounced her ready, she went to New York where critics crucified her. She returned home to regroup. Her mother and her church encouraged her and paid for more lessons.
 
Because of the intense racial prejudice in America, she went to Europe and took the continent by storm. She came back to America and sang at the Lincoln Memorial with more than 60,000 people in attendance. She sang “O Mia Fernando,” “Ave Maria,” “Gospel Train,” and “My Soul Is Anchored in the Lord,” among other songs.
 
One day a reporter asked Marian what the most satisfying moment in her life was. Without hesitation, she responded that (it was) when she was able to tell her mother that she did not have to take in any more washing. The reporter asked, “What did your mother give you?”
 
Marian Anderson responded, “Everything she had.”
 
That’s greatness, and giving everything we have is our key to greatness.
 

 How will you celebrate JCI Day this year? Commemorate the founding of JCI this December 11 with the rest of the leading global network of young active citizens. 

December 11, 1944, 30 young, enthusiastic active citizens from eight countries — Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and the United States — met in Mexico City to sign a declaration that led to the establishment of Junior Chamber International (JCI). 

“A good citizen a better citizen …”
In St. Louis, Missouri, USA, a young man name Henry Giessenbier was inspired by Colonel H.N. Morgan, a prominent St. Louis citizen, who asked for help to improve the city. Giessenbier came up with the idea of “bringing the young men of our great city together into one grand body with that great purpose of fellowship, advancement and everything which would make a good boy a better boy, a good student a more proficient scholar and a good citizen a better citizen.” 

To achieve that objective, on October 13, 1915, Giessenbier and 32 other young men formed the Young Men's Progressive Civic Association (YMPCA), which became the St. Louis Junior Chamber of Commerce.

After World War I, Giessenbier contacted similar groups of young active citizens in other cities, and, subsequently, 29 clubs from around the nation formed the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce. Henry Giessenbier was elected the first President of the National Organization.

Going International
The organization extended to other countries in 1923 with the establishment of the Winnipeg Board of Trade in Canada as the first Junior Chamber outside the United States. By 1928, the idea of an international organization crossed the Atlantic Ocean to England.

In 1940, the United States Junior Chamber passed a resolution approving a program to further mutual interests with other young people in countries in Central and South America. 

In 1943, J. Allyn Taylor of Canada and Vance Graham of the United States took a tour to seven Latin American countries. Much of the material explaining the movement was translated into Spanish by a Mexican schoolteacher from El Paso, Texas.

Despite war-time travel complications and border-crossing problems, the trip was successful. The Junior Chamber representatives found young people in Central America quite receptive to the formation of Junior Chambers in their countries. 

The Inter-American Conference
Taylor and Graham established Junior Chambers in Mexico City, Guatemala City, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Managua (Nicaragua), San Jose (Costa Rica), and Panama. The next step was the all-important Inter-American Conference in Mexico City in 1944.

Excitement ran high in 1944 as young people in Mexico, the United States and Canada worked out the details for the first Inter-American Conference. Taylor and Graham's trip convinced enough young men of the value of Junior Chamber involvement. They all agreed the time had come to form the international organization of Junior Chambers of Commerce. 

The Inter-American Conference was held in Mexico City from December 7 until December 11, 1944. On December 11, 1944, the declaration that led to the establishment of Junior Chamber International (JCI) was signed and Raul Garcia Vidal of Mexico was elected as the first president of the new international organization. 

The First World Congress
In February of 1946, the first World Congress was held in Panama City, Panama and was attended by 44 delegates from 16 countries. The international organization was formally constituted on the premise that young people working for mutual understanding could prevent another holocaust like World War II. A temporary constitution was approved, and the word "Commerce" was omitted from the official name.

Erasmo Chambonnet of Panama was elected the second JCI President at that Congress, and Australia and Canada were officially affiliated.

December 11, 2009 
Every year, JCI Members worldwide celebrate the birth of JCI as an international organization that has developed millions of young active citizens throughout the years in various creative ways. 

How will you and your JCI Local and National Organizations commemorate JCI Day in 2009? 

Original article from www.jci.cc . 

Business and Schools - Who's Right? - Here's an article by Diane Ravitch titled "Why Business Leaders Should Not Be in the Driver's Seat".
 
You can discuss this with others on the Fireside Learning forum.

[The Tutor Mentor Connection]
 
 

 
 
Liz Murray rose from the streets of New York City to become an international speaker, author and life coach.
I´m not proud of it," says Liz Murray. Several years ago, she'd been invited to address an audience in Utah. Other heavyweight speakers were scheduled—Mikhail Gorbachev would follow her—and the event was hosted by 7 Habits mastermind Stephen Covey.
 
Before she went on, Covey approached and asked how she was doing. And all Murray could think was,I think I stole this guy's book.
 
This is a story about an amazing women that I find in a magazine called: Success Magazin, read the whole story here
 
www.successmagazine.com/your-personal-best-from-homeless-to-harvard/PARAMS/article/825 
 
If you are not following this magazine already, then start today...

 
 
In the time-poor environment that we have created, mentorees are very concerned about wasting their mentor's time. Mentorees are often hesitant to contact their mentor or schedule meetings when they have no burning issue to discuss. This is a mistake.
You might feel there's no point meeting at times when you have no problems. When you are working toward longer-term goals and are progressing but have no current actions or outcomes to discuss, a meeting may seem unnecessary. And it's easy to skip meeting if you are very busy with day-to-day activities and haven't focused on your personal development since the last mentoring conversation.
It is good to have an agenda for mentoring conversations, even if it's just a few bullet points, because it shows respect for the mentor's time, it helps maintain focus and provides both parties with a sense of accomplishment and completion. However, a lack of an agenda should not stop a mentoring conversation. Mentors may need to take the lead to reassure their partner of their commitment because mentoring conversations when it seems "there's nothing to talk about" may be vital.
 
No Problem
Mentoring conversations are not just about solving problems or making decisions. They are about the availability of a person, with whom to have a conversation that provokes creative and critical thinking. A key benefit of mentoring is the relationship. However, the relationship needs to be established and well maintained if problems or important decisions are to be confidently shared when they do arise.
Conversations about what is going well are extremely useful too. Celebrating success is not simply a feel-good exercise. The purpose of mentoring is to create and capture insight, then use it. Reviewing positive outcomes and satisfaction will reveal and reinforce the constructive behaviours that led to success and clarify personal values and priorities. By listening and questioning a mentor can facilitate much greater awareness and positive actions that will enhance the mentoree's life.
 
Long-term Goals
People often use mentoring to identify career direction and work towards it. These goals are not usually achieved over night but as a result of specific actions over time. So naturally, there will be pauses between. In a mentoring program over a finite period, the early momentum can come to a halt after initial action steps are implemented. Some mentoring relationships can survive long gaps between contacts but some won't. People wonder how best to get value in the interim.
It is useful to have a "default agenda" a standard format that produces constructive conversation. This could be as simple as reviewing the week/fortnight/month's highlights and low points and accomplishments. The mentor may ask a series of questions that prompt reflection and learning, such as: "what's working well for you, right now?" and "what could be improved?" My mentor asks: "what is your greatest challenge, right now?" A new, short-term goal and actions, or at least awareness and focus, often result.
 
Personal Development
No matter what qualifications, age or career stage one has achieved, on-going personal development is a must. Even if an individual development plan negotiated with a manager, linked to performance appraisal and formalised, taking personal responsibility for self-directed learning and development is essential. It is easy, to let the demands of day-to-day work and hectic life style get in the way of personal aspirations and our growth as a human being. If we lose sight of what is truly important, if we have no sense of purpose, life can become a meaningless round of chores interspersed with moments of instant gratification.
 
Mentoring conversations are all about discovering meaning and purpose - for mentors as well as mentorees. The mentor might share his or her own life-lessons and insights that led to personal development. This can be immensely valuable to both parties .
The social support offered by relationships, should not be underestimated in the too-busy life so many of us lead. When you don't have time, or have nothing to talk about may be exactly the time to have a mentoring conversation! Investing time really communicating another human being, taking time out to pause and reflect or simply stoping to smell the roses (or the coffee) is never a waste of time! That's how mentoring works.
 

Patrick survived the shooting on Thursday, November 26, in Jupiter, Florida (USA), a city about 200 miles from Miami, but Patrick's pregnant wife, Lisa, and three other family members did not. Patrick was hospitalized and was in critical but stable condition on Friday afternoon.
 
Patrick, an attorney in Miami, Florida, has been actively involved in JCI since he joined in 1999. As JCI Coconut Grove (USA) President, he revived that local organization, nearly tripling its membership.
 
His involvement as a JCI trainer has also been outstanding. He contributed to the success of the 2009 JCI World Congress in Hammamet as the host of the JCI Morning Shows.
On behalf of JCI members worldwide, JCI President Jun Sup Shin and JCI Secretary General Edson A. Kodama would like to extend our deepest condolences to Patrick as well as to family and friends on the death of Lisa and the three other family members. We pray for Patrick's prompt and complete recovery and will keep members abreast of his condition.
 
Articles covering the tragedy:
 
http://abcnews.go.com/US/thanksgiving-massacre-gunman-kills-relatives-dinner/story?id=9189258http://ww.examiner.com/a-2343528~Relative_sought_in_4_Fla__Thanksgiving_killings.htmlhttp://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/MI137435/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,577206,00.html?test=latestnewshttp://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/27/florida.shooting/index.htmlttp://www.wptv.com/content/news/northpbc/jupiter/story/Shooting-at-Thanksgiving-gathering-in-Jupiter/C9CCTgKqtUG6tFM6t3SmBA.cspxhttp://cbs4.com/local/Thanksgiving.Massacre.Shooter.2.1337526.htmlhttp://www.wpbf.com/news/21735694/detail.htmlhttp://www.wptv.com/content/news/northpbc/jupiter/story/jupiter-shooting-victim-makayla-sitton/o4dQzBCDU0eXmlvrsRWYhw.cspxhttp://www.wptv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=16342@wptv.dayport.com&navCatId=3

My good friend Patrick Knight, ITF, is hospitalised after shooting. His wife&daugher dead. My thoughts go to you! http://ow.ly/GonI

-- Post From My iPhone

 Being a leader can be a really lonely existence.  Expectations are high and it can often be a real struggle to stay on top of your game and continually deliver great results.  Continuing to develop as a leader has never been so vital not least because of the major challenges facing many organisations right now.
 
For those at a more senior level working with a coach or mentor is often a great way of continuing to develop.  So what are the benefits?
 
Benefit 1: Thinking time
The pace at which leaders operate in organisations is often relentless and means that there is little or no time to stand back and take stock.  Being able to stand back from issues and challenges allows you to clearly think through the choices, look at challenges in different ways and ultimately to take better decisions.  And if you are taking better decisions it means better results for you personally and the organisation.
 
Benefit 2: Ongoing support
Training is great and I have been to many great training courses over the years.  Trouble is most training courses are a one shot opportunity.  What I mean by that is that you go along to the course, leave enthusiastic and an few months later find you are back where you started.  If you are a leader looking to be more effective over the long term you know that it is going to take time.  Having that ongoing support can help you make that sustained change in performance.
 
Benefit 3: Personal attention
In my experience of working with clients there are often some very specific areas of focus that leaders and managers want to work on.  Sometimes it might be about strategies and tactics that they can apply and other times it might be tackling areas of self doubt or misconceptions.  I also notice that they rarely need to work on all aspects of a particular topic but more on one or two areas.   The nature of the relationship means that it is much easier to tailor the programme to meet specific needs.
 
Benefit 4: Highly time efficient
I know that when I was in leadership and management roles, creating the time to attend a 2 or 3 day course was often a real challenge.  By comparison finding a couple of hours a month to work with a coach was much more time efficient and effective.
 
Benefit 5: Return on Investment
Ultimately if you are investing time, money and energy into something the return on what you have invested will be important.  Research into the benefits of coaching indicates that the return on investment is in the region of 500-700%.  Now these numbers might well look huge but let’s take a look at an example.  Imagine you are a senior manager who aspires to be a Director.  Ask yourself what’s the difference in salary and benefits?  In a field like accountancy, the differential between a number one and number two can easily be in the £30-50,000 per annum range.  If you are in the number one job for say 10 years, that could mean an extra £300-£500,000 to your earnings.  So look at your investment in terms of the lifetime value.
 
Bottom Line – Continuing to develop as a leader is no longer an optional extra.  If you are serious about realising your professional and personal potential, working with a coach or mentor might just be the catalyst.

Mentoring program coordinators need to have ongoing communication with participants to stimulate engagement, motivation and answer questions or concerns. But how do you keep up the contact in a useful and interesting way? Many successful programs send regular Mentoring Works Tips.
 
Mentoring Tips could be one page, easy to read and practical. They should be designed for mentors and suitable for mentorees and managers. Consistently delivering Mentoring Tips:

• Provides mentors with information, tools and motivation
• Keeps mentorees engaged in the process
• Informs managers of mentoring techniques and benefits

 

To read more, click here:

bebetter.no/node/267

 Last week my latest book for the mentee was finished and came from print. I use "print on demand" and www.lulu.com
 
The book looked very god in the new design, and I have started on translate it to english. I have a good friend in the US who will do it for me. As a lawyer, writer and trainer he knows what to do. 
 
Bur for now the book is in norwegian, just send me an email if you want to order.
 
The price is Euro 16,25 + shipping.

 Sadly this training was stopped because of lack of interest(?). Sad that students and next generation leaders don´t take their time to participant in a good and practical leadertraining program.
 
BUT, I am trying to set them up with Junior Chamber International Oslo and their brand new leadership program for 2010.
 
Hope they can do it together. We will see, and maybe more to come on this blog about that.

We have some of the same problem in Norway with new teachers coming to job and know "nothing" about whats going on in the classroom. Of course they have the theoretical from their education, but no one is standing ready to help them in their new school.
 
Every new teacher should have a mentor when they get started in a new school. Because every school is different and the students also are different. 
 
Sandra Feldman, president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Federation of Teachers, says the same.
In a speech this March (2009) at the White House Conference on Preparing Quality Teachers, Feldman stated: "Most teachers, whether they came into the profession through an alternative path, or through a regular teacher education program --- as do more than 80 percent of our teachers in the US --- will tell you they felt unprepared when they entered the classroom."
     
In the past, those who couldn't cope with the challenges left teaching. Today the profession can't afford to have newly credentialed teachers leave the field in frustration. "When there were ample people entering the profession and not as many about to retire, we could afford a high rate of attrition," said Dougherty. "Now, we can't afford to lose anyone."
 
I would love to start mentorprogram for teachers worlwide, just find the money for it. This is a problem for a lot of countries and they have to realise it.

 I am going back to The Norwegian Mentor Program and a training for their mentors. They are doing a mentor program for the young leaders in Young Enterprice in Oslo and Akershus in Norway.
 
They are being mentors to help young students in their work as leader in their school businesses. More about this will come later.

 Next week I am going to be a trainer in AIESEC Leadership Development Seminar, with my seminar in Presentationskill. 
 
I am looking forward to help the memebers to do better presentations.So we will see next week if they are better than the norwegian army force or not.
 
Some more and with pictures will come.