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Special Edition
October 2003

IEG-Don Penn Selects Training
Company & Location for Team Building!

The Learning E.D.G.E.
Chosen For its Experience to Build a More Effective IEG Team.

A real world, practical applications approach to the new world of business management, The E.D.G.E. specializes in customized sales, marketing and customer service programs that enhance or change current performance to meet newly defined skill requirements.

The Learning E.D.G.E. Incorporated is a Texas based developmental resource team available for those companies who have looked at the skill and knowledge base of their current sales, retail merchandising, project or marketing teams and don't find the needed level of competency to meet the challenges of today's changing business environment.

The E.D.G.E. and their consulting resources have worked in several industries that include: consumer package goods, telecommunications, computer hard and soft ware, building, funeral, financial, chemical, pharmaceutical and travel, to name a few, and have helped build more solid and productive business teams in each.

The EDGE has worked for companies like: Bayer Corporation, Nokia, Sabre, Bristol-Myers Squibb, American Airlines, U.S. Brick, Dell Computer, G.E. Medical, IEG-Don Penn, Aether Systems, KFC, Lennox, Verizon, IEG-Don Penn, Mead Johnson Nutritional, Gadzooks, Lennox, Genuity, QualComm, Citigroup, Dobson Electric, Service Corp International, Dial Corp, Gillette, Johnson Wax, Kraft General Foods, M & M Mars, PaperMate, Rayovac, Capital One, IEG-Don Penn, Zales and Reynolds Metals.

Texas Lils Dude Ranch was chosen for the location and is widely considered the premier dude ranch location in DFW. Texas Lils Ranch has over 38,000 air-conditioned square feet indoor and over 360 acres of grounds. The Ranch has horseback riding, a mini golf course and the largest metal slide in Tarrant County. The ranch can host parties of between 25 to 5,000 people.

IEG Team Training Is Delivered In Off Site Meeting

The IEG Team came together for a team training session at Texas Lils Dude Ranch in Justin to build a more effective team and was challenged to develop a more productive IEG team of ONE. They wanted their team to bond while increasing their knowledge and appreciation for each other as valuable resources. They wanted the team to experience a few activities that would challenge them to become more cohesive and productive and capture life applications for the team that could be applied back at IEG headquarters. The IEG team also wanted to have some fun while addressing some very specific learning objectives that included:

TEAM TRAINING OBJECTIVES

Communicate & listen more effectively as an IEG team.

Increase our knowledge and appreciation of each of our team members as resources.

Develop stronger leadership and team member skills that can apply with this IEG Team.

Understand the Power of the IEG Team & define who we are and learn to work more effectively together.

Get more connected to one another to build a more flexible, cohesive & productive team.

Encourage each other to “Kick But”

With these goals in mind Michelle Judkins, Don Penn, Teddye Brown and Keith Douglas talked with Joe Hudson, from The Learning E.D.G.E. Inc., to design a comprehensive learning and fun one-day experience for the team. The workshop was held at Texas Lils in Justin and focused on the learning objectives listed above. Information and activities worked to get the team members to know one another better, understand the power of each individual while bonding together for a stronger IEG-Don Penn Team. The key attributes that needed to be displayed by each team leader on every activity were: 1-Effective Communicator, 2-Positive Attitude, 3-Demonstrate Integrity, 4-Responsible and 5-Competence. The key attributes that needed to be displayed by each team member on every activity were: 1-Effective Communicator, 2-Positive Attitude, 3-Demonstrate Integrity, 4-Responsible and 5-Competence. Each team member worked to exhibit these attributes in each activity during the course of the days activities. The adventure learning challenges for day one included: Pistol, Person & Tiger, 2X4 and the Trust Walk.

The team decided on one team name- The Penndemoniums. The teams set out to conquer the defined challenges and had some great learnings. The team learned that you need both a short and long-term objective and that having a plan is critical to the execution phase. 2 X 4: The team learned that 80% of any project is planning and only 20% is execution. Sometimes you must make decisions on the fly and it’s better to get moving and not worry about the record as much as accomplishing the goal. Two by four was accomplished in 8 moves.

The team challenges for day included: Relay Roping, Dynamite Rescue and Building A Bridge To The Customer. The Honsetters began their conquest of additional Olympic records, having set one record on day one. Although great team times were established the Honsetters found that the life applications had greater meaning than the records. The times recorded by event were: Relay Roping with Scott Siek as the lead roper came in with a New Olympic Record time of minus 7 minutes. The Dynamite Rescue with Brandon Ballinger as the leader finished slightly short of the goal as the team took the maximum amount of time allowed. The Bridge to the Customer with Robert Frick at the helm also took the maximum amount of time allowed before completing the task. Great learning took place in the last two activities where goals were not met but the team never stopped trying.

Medals were awarded to each of the top four team encouragers: These top awards and medals went to: Teddye Brown, Kai Ashton, Keith Douglas, and Michelle Judkins. Special Olympic designed T-Shirts were also presented to top team players, and they were: Scott Siek, Robert Frick, Brandon Ballinger and Tony Parsons. Special Thanks to Michelle Judkins, Teddye Brown, Keith Douglas and Don Penn for their time and effort in handling all the meeting details!!

IEG-Don Penn Event Can Spell Further Team Success

Key points made at the workshop included:

The three components needed for effective teams are: The Leader, the Team Members and The Challenge.
Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success.
Discussing that a team is a group of ordinary individuals doing extra ordinary things together to reach a common goal.Success depends above all, upon people. Build relationships, teams, and partnerships -- and motivate people to contribute. Cultivate leadership, creativity, and excellence. Listen; seek new ideas and advice. “-Ruth Scott, Pres. & CEO, Assoc. for Portland (OR) Progress
Trust Depends on: Open and Honest Communication, Offering Constructive Advice & Feedback without Harming The Working Relationship, Acceptance of Each Team Member and Embracing Their Differences, Respecting the Opinions of All Team Members, The Leader and Team Must Feel-We Fail or We Succeed Together, There Are No Individual Hero’s, Everyone Is Recognized For Their Part, All Contributions Are Valued, Common Goals That All Are Committed To Achieving Excellence, Establishing & Practicing Ethical Standards.
Words of encouragement fan the spark of genius into the flame of achievement.
• It takes 30 encouraging words or sentences to negate one discouraging word said in haste or anger. Let you brain engage before your jaw jacks.
Each team member is a resource no matter what the package. We are all given different skills, abilities and talents and have had different experiences. We come in a package that must be unwrapped and the contents used to reach our goals.
Can a Leader’s Words Really Make a Difference? Effective Leaders Choose Their Words Wisely! Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.”-John F. Kennedy
Effective listening is an active skill and not a passive response. The active listening skill has four stages we must be willing to learn and practice to improve.

Life Applications for a
Better Team Effort at IEG-Don Penn

The Trust Walk You need to establish the right pace for each person on your team. As the leader you have the responsibility to set the right path for your team members Learn from each other at Don Penn and follow the leaders that are in place. As a team leader you can learn from everyone else and trust in those that have had the experience before you. Have others walk a mile in your moccasins. You need to be open and accept your leaders directions, you may not have all the vision. Two-way communication is the key ingredient to trust.
	2 X 4 Shuffle Flexibility is key in any planning process. When time is running out, go ahead and start and move off the Get input from everyone before you start planning the project. Sometimes you are forced into action and must be flexible enough to make decisions on the fly. We don’t have to do everything in record time but the key is to accomplish the goal and meet the objectives of the project. Make sure you understand the assignment by asking enough questions and getting the answers to move forward.
Relay Roping Talking and Listening to each other is difficult but is critical at crunch time. Creativity counts for a lot when you are executing on a new project. Encourage each other more often. There is never too much encouragement. There is more than one-way to solve a problem.
	The Dynamite Rescue Think outside the box and once you have the goal then be more aggressive after going after that goal. Get outside help when you don’t have all the expertise. When the job seems overwhelming delegate some of the task to others and assume multi-tasks for each leader. Take the time to plan before involving the team to check out the best possible course of action. Let the leader work at their pace. Let the leaders lead and the team then executes their assigned goals.
The Bridge to Customer Service No matter how difficult the task never give up Don’t assume anything and be able to adjust your plan in the middle of the stream. Delegate your leadership roles and build sub-teams. Get the big customers first. Don’t leave any Don Penn person behind. Let the team help you work through any hardship you may face. When people feel unsure reach out a helping hand. Use all the resources you are given including everything you bring to the table with you.