http://odysseyteams.com/ Philanthropic team building blog. Leadership development pioneers since 1991. Odyssey Teams is the leader in charity based philanthropic teambuilding events for building effective teams and effective leaders. Build-a-bike, build a bikes, prosthetic hands or children's playhouses in charitable events, ropes courses, team building leadership workshops en Copyright 2013 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:09:54 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I've had the good fortune to visit several times to bring Odyssey Teams' Helping Hands (building prosthetic hands) and Life Cycles (Build-a-Bike) teambuilding programs. This time, I wanted to see the city by foot. I started running down the Vltava river through the city and pushed the pace expecting to turn around at four miles to log a total of eight miles. True to my other running experiences while traveling, I 'stumbled' upon sights and scenes I never would have otherwise experienced. This was a tempo run - trying to keep a fast, consistent pace of seven minutes per mile. As I neared the four-mile mark I began looking for a bridge to cross to the other side of the Vltava for my return. At about 4.2 miles I found a bridge, crossed over and began running again. My pace was fast and consistent and I was enjoying the view but ready to be done with the 8 miles holding such a pace. At seven miles, I began to realize that I did not recognize any of the same sights I had seen running down the river. I should have. At 8 miles, it became obvious that I was definitely not back where I had started. I was confused. To make it more confusing, for the first time since I crossed over the river, I realized I was still running downstream. I was completely baffled and somewhat concerned with the possibility of being eight miles from where I had started with dinner plans in forty minutes. I pulled out my phone and looked at the GPS map and noticed that I was, in fact on the same side of the river as when I started - 8.2 miles DOWNSTREAM.]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/04/lost-and-found-in-prague.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/04/lost-and-found-in-prague.php Helping Hands Life Cycles Odyssey Teams Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:09:54 -0800 It's the first time the two business units have been together. Lots on the line and expectations are high says our main client contact...from one of USA's largest media (TV, Newspaper, Radio, Digital etc.) companies. Stakes were high for a Life Cycles program set for 480 people last week in Orlando. We delivered and then some. Client reported after the program that we had them (the group) in our hands from the get go and he breathed easy after the first 5 minutes and watched in amazement on what ensued. During our leadership CSR/philanthropic teambuilding program, the participants were knee deep in engagement, conversation, and were aiming for value at every opportunity. The night prior they were knee deep with the Zac Brown Band. I was there, almost... I'm a big fan of Zac Brown. He credits James Taylor (my all time favorite) for shaping who he is today. Our client invited our team to "blend" into the private Zac Brown Band concert for their 480 people. I passed on the opportunity and instead... ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/04/knee-deep.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/04/knee-deep.php Life Cycles Odyssey philanthropic team-building programs Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:15:30 -0800 It's springtime! Time to grow. I always flash back to being a kid visiting my grandparents in the central Valley of California. My grandfather owned a Mobil gas station and would always have beautiful bulbs in bloom. He, like so many of the older generation worked so hard - up at 4am and back to fall asleep in his chair as the grandkids buzzed around him at about 7pm. But he always made time to get his hands muddy - tilling the soil, planting bulbs and seeds, pulling weeds and tending to these little islands in the sea of his "work" - at his "service station". It's so important that we find and maintain these islands in our work to grow something beyond work. We need to carve time to get our hands dirty and make something a bit nicer. I'm sure it couldn't have been measured in terms of the beautiful flowerbeds adding to the bottom-line of his business. But he didn't do it for that reason anyway. So much of Odyssey's work, I think, is with this same spirit. Building bikes for kids in our Life Cycles program, prosthetic hands in the Helping Hands project and others. My gramps always made things special in places where you wouldn't expect them to be. He is still doing that at 97 years old, just now it's in the form of the surprising presence he gives people when in his company, like during my visit yesterday. Thank you Grandpa. Honoring you in everyway that Odyssey is, and I aim to be. ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/04/-its-springtime-time-to.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/04/-its-springtime-time-to.php Helping Hands Life Cycles Odyssey Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:57:20 -0800 Earlier this month I delivered Helping Hands (One of Odyssey Teams CSR Leadership programs, i.e. Life Cycles /Build-a-bike, Playhouse Challenge etc.), in Singapore for 65 people from APAC & Japan. In the mix, High Potential leaders from one of the worlds largest firms, representing over 14 countries. The work went extremely well. Our style of delivery and content brought the group together and they left our session feeling more open, connected, and proud of their team and the huge difference their relatively short time spent will make in other people's lives. It was quite fun for me to be back in Singapore. It had been over 15 years since my last trip. Further back in 1987, Singapore and Malaysia's Cameron Highlands is where I really began building my craft as a trainer and facilitator. I was immersed in these countries for 3 months, surrounded by masters in our arena and delivering content that was extraordinary. Our charge was to create miracles for AT&T's consumer products division via a rollout for hundreds of their leaders. In short, we did. ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/03/singapore-times.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/03/singapore-times.php Helping Hands Life Cycles Playhouse Challenge Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:38:44 -0800 We watch very little TV in our house. One of the shows we used to watch often was The Amazing Race. Good clean fun, language, themes, and get to see the world too. Teams of two people travel the globe with unknown challenges and opportunities along the way. Our daughters like it (11, 15 yrs.), as do my parents (Late 70's). Last week I was set to deliver two of Odyssey Teams CSR Leadership programs; Life Cycles (Build-a-bike) in Niagara Falls Canada and Helping Hands in Santa Monica California. The race began on Monday. Flew from Sacramento to Washington DC to Buffalo NY then drove a rental car to Niagara-on the- Lake Canada. Tuesday morning drove to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, Niagara Falls, (BTW I believe there are literally thousands, not just 7). ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/03/amazing-race.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/03/amazing-race.php Helping Hands Life Cycles Odyssey Teams Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:34:40 -0800 While in the past, the group participated in our CSR philanthropic team-building programs such as Playhouse Challenge, Helping Hands, Life Cycles (Build a Bike), this time the goal was to have each person contribute in a unique way to the overarching goal. ...and in the midst of it all practice new behaviors, step into the unknown/uncomfortable, and collaborate while putting their influence on their one of 117 pieces of the outcome. With only a hint of the final product and thumbnails of what to emulate as a leader they realized afterwards that...each piece matters. Leadership is an art. Tasks had varying degrees of difficulty. Natural strengths/talents had to be set aside for new actions. Positive moods and collaboration were vital to execution and success of going from current reality to their target. They were anxious to see the picture. ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/02/bridge-the-gap.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/02/bridge-the-gap.php Helping Hands leadership Life Cycles philanthropic team building programs Playhouse Challenge Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:11:00 -0800 I haven't spent two nights in the same bed for over 11 nights. No moss on this stone. A mix of leadership training and cultural development programs in Ft. Lauderdale, Atlantic City, and Las Vegas and a couple of family adventures too. That changes tonight with 4 nights at home, the travel was worth it for sure. Last week we delivered our highly requested Life Cycles (build-a-bike) leadership session to 280 leaders from SafeNet. They chose Life Cycles over our other philanthropic team-building programs; Playhouse Challenge, and Helping Hands, because they wanted to make a big difference in the local area - Atlantic City. This was my first trip to Atlantic City. I arrived after midnight. The cab ride from the airport was quick and took me through empty, lonely looking streets with neon lights above. The Trump Taj Mahal hotel had a similar look and feel as I checked in at the front desk and walked through the quiet casino floor and hallways. ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/02/light-in-atlantic-city.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/02/light-in-atlantic-city.php Helping Hands Life cycles philanthropic team-building programs Playhouse Challenge Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:03:53 -0800 Back from Christmastime and New Years with family. Then back from Barcelona for a global (36 countries represented), Life Cycles program and two more Life Cycles in Cincinnati Ohio and Half Moon Bay California...I'm back to blogging. Usually at all of our philanthropic team-building programs - Life Cycles (build-a-bike), Playhouse Challenge, and Helping Hands - the session begins with the 'owner of the meeting' (our client partners VIP) introducing us to the group. What happens next is always interesting. Does the crowd applaud robustly, or perhaps more like a polite 'golf clap' or sit in silence with mouths agape (not too unlike a trout in a stream)? It is always different and always a mystery. What has stemmed from it all is an observation about support. http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/01/cmon-ricky-you-can-do-it.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/01/cmon-ricky-you-can-do-it.php collaboration leadership Life Cycles Odyssey philanthropic team-building programs Playhouse Challenge Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:08:01 -0800 Tears flow as my 10-year-old daughter struggles to find the keys on my wife's computer. It is 11:00 PM and the report is due in the morning. She had three weeks of Christmas break to work on it, but many of the final touches are taking longer than she ever anticipated. My wife stands close-by with smoke coming out her ears and "I told you so!" written all over her face. We discuss the best parenting options: Do we step in and save the day, tell her to go to bed and turn it in late, let her take the reduction in her grade, or do we go to bed and let her struggle alone? We calculate the options: She is our emotional child, she stresses about stuff, she looks like she learned the lesson already, our own 2012 Christmas cards have yet to be mailed and... we love her. We think more: Are we bad parents because we didn't push her more or help her sooner? What is the big lesson we want her to learn? Should we let her fail on her own? AHHHH! ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/01/please-help-me.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/01/please-help-me.php odyssey team members Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:31:40 -0800 20 years of madness and inspiration, what is next? This is my 20th year as part of the Odyssey family. It is also my 20th year being married to my amazing wife, Jean. I had no idea then how critical and important those two beginnings would be in my life. Is 2013 another important year that 20 years from now I will look back on as a turning point or the beginning of something big? I hope it is. I am however conflicted with emotion as I begin my trudge to the summit for this year. We had our best year ever in 2012 and we have many amazing things on the horizon for 2013, but I am still struggling to get back in the swing. I wonder if many of you are feeling the same? Last year was great, but it was a lot of work, struggle, balance, sacrifice, long days and sleepless nights. Can I do it again? ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/01/20-years-of-madness-and-inspir.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/01/20-years-of-madness-and-inspir.php Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:07:34 -0800 Odyssey Teams partnered with Rotarians in Bangalore Peenya India for their annual Mega Jaipur Limb Camp, which is going on now. On day two of camp, there have been 586 beneficiaries and the distribution is as follows: 211 Limbs, 227 Calipers, 128 Crutches, and 20 LN-4 Prosthetic Hands. Rotary Bangalore Peenya was chartered in 1983 with a group of 24 dedicated Rotarians as chartered members with an objective of implementing service projects. LN-4 Prosthetic Hands, a joint project of RI Dist 5160 and 5110, have been introduced for the first time this year. This hand can enable beneficiaries to hold a glass, eat with a spoon, and even write with a pen or control a steering wheel. 100 LN-4 Prosthetic Hands were provided for this camp. The Mission continues... ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/01/16th-mega-jaipur-limb-camp-rot.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2013/01/16th-mega-jaipur-limb-camp-rot.php LN-4 Prosthetic Hands Odyssey Teams Rotarians Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:20:31 -0800 "Twenty plus years of Odyssey work, our entire teams efforts, millions of air miles, countless presentations to groups around the world and now a two minute shot to tell the story on national news." I had two minutes of fame a few weeks ago. As I prepared for my interview on Fox Business, I flew to New York, got a room near Time Square and brought along a good friend and co-facilitator Alex Van Dewark to share the adventure. Alex had never been to NYC, so it was fun to see the city through the eyes of a first time visitor. What an amazing place! We wondered the streets until late in the evening and by chance found ourselves outside the Fox Studio. We snapped photos and hit the street vender for a late night gyro. Some local repair guys said it was the best in the city and the meal satisfied our hunger. The next morning we got the call that our driver was downstairs and hit the street looking sharp and ready for anything. The driver drove the 5 blocks to the studio as instructed. We could have walked faster, but it seemed more VIP to take the car. Upon entry to the building we checked in and our escort took us to the green room on the 4th floor. The room was bustling with various network stars and special guests preparing to give their perspective of the world and the state of business. Watching the monitors, we enjoyed the show and began to understand the flow of things in TV land. Two employees sat at computers, monitoring giant spreadsheets and busily managing the flow of the green room. They had every second of the show mapped out and kept perfect time. Every second! ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2012/12/2-minutes-of-fame.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2012/12/2-minutes-of-fame.php Helping Hands Leadership Development Life Cycles Team Building building bikes helping hands teambuilding Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:22:20 -0800 The Playhouse Challenge is flat out fun! I just delivered our Playhouse Challenge to a hundred Shell employees in Edmonton Canada. This was the fourth, quarterly leadership development program that we've delivered with them and it sure was fun. The first quarter we coupled our Helping Hands program with modules from FISH. The second quarter it was Life Cycles, building bikes for children, the third was the Board Meeting, which yielded 33 skateboards for a local youth agency with a skate park in their back yard. Lastly, it was ten Playhouses that were delivered to ten families with kids who were long time patients of the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton. Leadership concepts brought to life through Shell's commitment to their community. I loved the year-long process and finishing with these super cute Playhouses. ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2012/12/philanthropic-team-building-wi.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2012/12/philanthropic-team-building-wi.php helping hands leadership development Playhouse Building for kids and teams Playhouse Project Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:04:32 -0800 Helping Hands program. One of the things that struck me after he described his 20-hour workdays, sleeping only four hours per night was the concept of the 24-hour work clock. With the enormous contribution that APAC (Asia-Pacific) has on engineering, leaders of large US corporations have learned that while they can't ask any one person to work 24 hours per day, they have learned that efficiency and productivity can be improved by focusing on the productive times (daylight) in different time zones. This allows an organization to have a fresh mind pounding out of ideas and solutions 24-hours per day. ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2012/12/the-24hour-work-clock.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2012/12/the-24hour-work-clock.php Helping Hands challenges helping hands organization organizational teambuilding Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:22:23 -0800 Helping Hands (build-a-hand) workshop for a terrific client partner. In fact we've done all of our philanthropic team-building programs for them - Life Cycles (build-a-bike), Playhouse Challenge, and Board Meeting. They report a shift in the culture as a result. The bad news...due to giving the session a few extra needed minutes, snow, and an accident on the highway. I missed my flight out of Edmonton. Thus, one more night and morning away from those I love and a short transition to prepare for another program. The good news...an extra night in a hotel to catch up on some work so when I am home, I can be the best husband and dad possible! The Blog Humbug news... is part of my catching up is to write my weekly blog. Lain, Bill and myself have been influenced by our stellar PR team to write blogs. The premise is that it will lead more people to our website. ]]> http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2012/12/blog-humbug.php http://odysseyteams.com/helping-hands/2012/12/blog-humbug.php Helping Hands Life Cycles Playhouse Project Team Building building bikes helping hands Playhouse Building for kids and teams teambuilding Thu, 13 Dec 2012 10:21:47 -0800