Institute for Health and Human Potential

Greetings from IHHP! As you may already have noticed, we’re changing the look, feel and content of our newsletter. Though it is just a start, our intention is to try to offer you more value in this publication.

One of the ways we intend to do this is by offering you several new features that will keep you updated on things you care about, such as: what’s new and exciting in the leadership and performance literature, how you can use this research to make a difference in your organization and finally, how, personally, you can continue to discover, develop and make the most of your leadership capability (our stated purpose here at IHHP!).

In today’s issue you will find

Welcome to my Corner - no, this name is not derived from the fact it is the corner where I get sent by my staff when I exhibit bad behavior, it is the place, however, where I will reveal insightful answers to age old questions such as: What is the universe made of? Is ours the only universe? How much can the human life span be extended? And maybe, most importantly, Why do geese and northerners go south for the winter? Ok, it may be true that I can only possibly answer the last question - the others are part of the list of the 125 biggest quandaries that scientists have failed to fathom, which can be found in this week’s edition of the journal, Science - but I will attempt to bring you some commentary on what is going on in some current literature on human behavior and leadership. I will also share with you some anecdotes from what I have seen working with organizations like yours worldwide and of course, push you to make courageous decisions in developing your leadership capability.

You will probably also have to put up with my predictions on important events like who will win the Super Bowl (the Colts!), the NBA Championships (always, the Orlando Magic!) as well ‘what’s new’ at IHHP.

What’s new at IHHP?
Are you making the most of your meetings and, more importantly, the time in between your meetings?

Part of what is new at IHHP is that we are seeing many of our clients changing the way they deliver learning to their people. With time becoming a more scarce resource every year, companies are finding it is much more difficult to get people out of the office to go to formalized training.

Consequently, while we are delivering as much formalized training as we ever have, we are seeing more and more clients who are using their annual conferences and meeting events as a big part of their formal learning. So instead of having a new speaker every year with a different message, companies like Avaya, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Intercontinental Hotels, to name a few, have asked us to integrate our learning modules into their events over the course one to two years to more effectively sustain the learning.

Personally, I love this channel of delivery because it models what I see in my work with athletes and teams. In sport, there is no substitute for repetition. You simply need to spend the time to grow new skills. When we deliver a program that is a ‘one off’ where there is no follow-up because of budget reasons, it cannot have the same impact as a program delivered over time where there is built in follow-up. Incorporating learning at successive conferences and meetings builds in crucial repetition and accountability that really sustains learning.

The key to this model – and one that is forgotten by a surprisingly large number of organizations - is to make use of the time between events for learning to take place. We have designed some fabulous e-learning, webinars and coaching, which some clients are using between meetings to sustain the learning, and are finding it makes a real difference to learning and retention. So the next time you are in the middle of planning your leadership or sales meeting or event, ask yourself, what am I not doing in between events that I could be doing to help sustain the learning in order to drive our critical business needs? We can help you with this.

New Complimentary Webinar

While some of you have already participated in one of our webinars between events, many of you have not. On February 22nd you will get your chance! We are offering a webinar that is open to the public at no charge. This session will serve to remind you of key concepts that you may have learned working with us and, of course, to re-inspire you to take action.

My partner Bill Benjamin and I will be leading the webinar, so sign up below to guarantee yourself a seat. Feel free to invite people in your organization who you think can benefit from this event – and don’t be afraid to invite those who influence or make buying decisions for learning. How is that for a plug? Click here for more information and to register

Download IHHP’s Newest White Paper

Many of you may only know IHHP as a company that assesses, trains and coaches individuals, or maybe you’ve heard myself or Bill speak at your event. There is another very important part of our work that drives our programming: collecting and analyzing research on human behavior and leadership. Amazingly enough, we now have over 130,000 who have participated in our assessment center in one form or another. One of our 2007 commitments is to make more of this research available to you in the form of white papers.

Hot off the presses, we have just finished writing a new white paper entitled: What Will You Do When You Run Out of Leaders? This paper looks at some of our data on what differentiates high performing leaders, as well as discusses the single greatest challenge facing most organizations. I won’t tell what it is; you will have to read it to find out! Click here to go to our free download page

We’d Love to Hear from You

Please feel free to send us your feedback on our new format for this newsletter. There will be additional changes with new sections in issues to come. Tell us what you would like to see and we will do our best to serve you! You can e-mail us at inquiries@ihhp.com or go to the Contact Us.

For now, enjoy the winter season, be courageous in decisions at home and at work and… Go Colts Go!