" In almost everything you do, you teach, whether you are aware of it or not. Some people aren't aware of what they are teaching. They should be wiser. Everybody teaches all the time. " ...George Lucas

Teaching is the highest calling of humanity. For how do we learn anything about the universe, the Earth, our nation, our community, our family, and ourselves without the benefit of teaching? All of us are teachers… most of us don't realize or acknowledge it. Knowledge is the first step in the transformation model (click on Missing Pieces to learn more about the model), and as such, is the "gatekeeper" to the entire process of transforming. Without knowledge, there is no opportunity to transform.

I am a teacher.

I know now that teaching is a passion of mine and has been for years. I always enjoyed being in front of a group and explaining something. From my Boy Scout days to the end of my corporate career (as a corporate trainer), I have truly enjoyed teaching. I know now that my teaching goes far beyond the classroom. My writing is largely about teaching, my coaching is always about teaching (even when the person is teaching him or herself), and the way that I am with people and animals is all about teaching. It is pretty much 24 x 7 for me except when asleep!

Why did I include this section on "Teachings?"

To begin with, I wanted to make the point above that we are all teachers as something to think about. Secondly, I wanted to explain that I am available to lead seminars, give talks, or present programs to groups. Before I explain the contents of these "Teachings," there are a few points about my style and approach to group teaching that are relevant to my individual topics or subject areas that I will then describe.

First off, there is a lot of scientifically derived information that predicts that most of what is learned in a formal setting is greatly diminished unless it is put into practice over the two week period following the completion of the formal event. I repeatedly observed this phenomenon while doing corporate training. It had a profound effect on me as I got better and better at stand-up classroom training. I decided that only information of value to the participants was likely to be placed into action (the second step of the transformational model) within that critical two-week period. The material being taught had to contain a WIIFM embedded in it. WIIFM is an acronym for "What's In It For Me," from the perspective of each participant. When the number of participants grows beyond one person that becomes a tall order.

How can any trainer/materials developer or I ever put together a program that has nothing but WIFFM's for every participant? Can't do it to my knowledge so what to do? To address that conundrum, I began looking at what makes a WIIFM, a WIIFM. What are the universal needs of human beings? I turned to the seminal work of Abraham Maslow and his well-known hierarchy of need. Maslow postulated that there are five levels of human needs beginning with survival (air, water, food, etc,) at the bottom and self-actualization (enlightenment) at the top. The intervening levels are, in increasing order, safety, love, and esteem. Since most people who attend trainings are surviving and physically safe (at least in the training environment), I looked at love and esteem. (If the participant is self-actualized or enlightened, a WIIFM simply does not exist.)

For Maslow, love comes before esteem. I take a somewhat different view in that I think feeling unloved is a result of low self-esteem that when resolved results in high self-esteem, and is the key to enlightenment. At any rate, the close connection between esteem and love, as the gateway to enlightenment, is a great place to start with respect to looking for a WIIFM.

At this point, you may of think that I am daft, that I have slipped the leash of sanity. To think that someone would stand up in front of a group of bored employees in a company cafeteria and talk about love should be more concerned with the guys in white coats and butterfly nets. Maybe so, but give me a few more lines to sort this out.

The utility of using love as a universal WIIFM is in the definition of love. I define love as complete and unconditional acceptance. It is taking some one or some thing just as he, she, or it is with no need of changing he, she, or it. Most of us rarely experience this state except with our grandmothers when we were small children (if we were lucky - I was). When experienced, this state enables us to be and do whatever we want. Think about it - complete freedom. We don't have to put on an act to be what we believe someone wants us to be so that we can earn conditional acceptance. There is no higher gift that we can give or receive (except life) than the gift of complete and unconditional acceptance. It is then that our human and spiritual selves truly merge, and we are whole.

So, even without using the "love" word, teaching can embody the practice of complete and unconditional acceptance in three ways:

1. The teacher can practice complete and unconditional acceptance.
2. The participant can be taught to practice complete and unconditional acceptance of others.
3. The participant can be taught to apply complete and unconditional acceptance to him or herself.

These three practices can be applied in any type of teaching setting, even those involving technical or mechanical skills. By this time, you may think that I am daft, having slipped the leash of sanity. Maybe not, let's try an example; let's look at a teaching about how to change a tire on an automobile…

Which of three practices listed above do you think could be applied to the tire changing teaching?

Actually, the first and third - how so, you ask? The first practice is through the way in which the teacher interacts with the students. By being encouraging, not making wrong, continually reinforcing the desired learning, and using "mistakes" for additional opportunities to learn, the teacher makes it okay for the students to be whoever and whatever they want to be. Doing so also recognizes that people learn in different ways and rates. In short, the student feels safe to freely and openly learn.

The third practice, teaching the student to apply complete and unconditional acceptance to him or herself stems from the first. The first sets up the opportunity, and the third accepts the opportunity. When the student feels safe from fear, ridicule, and denigration, he or she experiences what it is to experience complete and unconditional acceptance, and thereby begin to apply complete and unconditional acceptance to him or herself. When positively reinforced for what is learned and guided back to what remains to be learned, the student looses the fear of being judged wrong.

The same material can be taught and learned using opposite techniques with far different results at the subtle level of learning. For instance, if the teacher uses fear, ridicule, denigration, and punishment, the subtle level of learning changes for the students to one of distaste, fear of failure, and rigidity of learning that is not very efficient or effective.

When it is time to learn how to change the oil in a car, which student is going to look forward to the teaching with enthusiasm and positive expectation?

If using complete and unconditional acceptance is the major part of my style, what are the others?

• I design the presentation of the teaching so that I prioritize what I want the students to learn. I take the most important point and get to it as quickly as possible and then blend it and emphasize it throughout the session. I do the same with the next most important point, and so on, throughout the entire design. That way, I know the students got a lot of exposure to the most critical points of the topic.
  
  
• I give the students something that they can take from the teaching and use immediately. Hopefully, that is tied to the number one priority point. Nonetheless, I want them to have something useable that will give them quick feedback on the usefulness of the teaching. This helps to reverse the downward spiraling, information erosion in the two weeks following a teaching that was described at the top of this page.
  
  
• I provide in class practice of techniques so that there is a safe place to gain some amount of skill in using the techniques before venturing into the real world. I know that many people believe so-called "skills practice or role playing" is contrived and unreal in the classroom because nothing is really at stake. Well, they are right, but some practice is better than none. In fact, teaching techniques without practice usually results in maximum information erosion unless the rare student has enough complete and unconditional acceptance of him or herself. Most students, when they leave the classroom, revert to feelings of low self-esteem and unworthiness and avoid taking any action that may bring criticism or failure unless they have some experience in using the knowledge or technique.
  
  
• In general, I use and encourage questions, comments, and critiques of the material. I have a relaxed, non-threatening style that makes it easier for the students to at least evaluate what I teach… and I give plenty of restroom breaks.

So having written all of the above, what is it that I teach?

• Source Inspired Seminars (SIS) are unique teaching and learning experiences. Let me explain what I mean by "Source." Source is the sum total of all knowledge, known (by humans) and unknown. It is our unified, collective unconscious. An SIS seminar begins with a key word that is the focus for that group for a unique seminar that is from two to four hours in length. From that key word, I "spin" a web of interconnected principles and practices that apply then and now to that group within its context. I connect with Source to do this, and in doing, participants in the seminar will also connect with Source, some consciously and others unconsciously. The seminar is highly participative and becomes the joint product of the group and myself. Each seminar is unique even if the same key word is used, for the participants will be different, and even if it is the same group on a different day, their total life experiences will have expanded.

• The group chooses the key word in advance or that day. If the SIS is sponsored then the sponsor may wish to choose the key word in advance. It does not matter to me for no preparation time is required. Sample key words are:
  Leadership
  Communication
  Trust
  Integrity
  Productivity
  Courage
  Compassion
  Healing
  Spirituality
  Love
  Judgment
  Fear
  and so on…
  Any one of these key words (or any other) can be used to create an entire SIS. For example, if the key word Integrity was chosen, the following principles and practices might constitute the "web" for the seminar:
  

  

• Management of Human Beings is designed for all levels of management from entry level to executive. I will only do this teaching in an organization where I can work with all levels of management. Working with only one group of managers and not the others is not productive in that all of the managers need to understand the same management techniques. This teaching works best in small organizations with a small number of managers in that larger organizations do not usually believe that there is a need for middle and senior management instruction in managing human beings. I say this from experience as I was once in that category. This teaching is only done in a private venue, i.e., there are no public sessions.
  
  
• Communication is the lubrication that oils the machinery of civilization and most of our communications are not accurately understood because the listener, viewer, or reader is not truly listening, viewing, or reading. They are using filters that impose judgment, prejudice, and other inhibitors to getting the message as sent. This teaching is about communicating in such a way that you are heard, and if not understood, making it safe to the listener to ask questions or even challenge what you say. This teaching is done in a public or private venue.
  
  
• Negotiation occurs whenever a wigyn-wygin (pronounced "wigin-wigin") event takes place. Wigyn-wygin is an acronym for What I Got You Need and What You Got I Need. Negotiation is about exchange. True negotiation embodies a win-win outcome; each participant in the negotiation believes that he benefited by the exchange. This teaching explores the nature of negotiation and how to conduct a negotiation in such a way that everyone does win. This teaching is done in a public or private venue.
  
  
• PAR is an acronym for Probe - Align - Raise, three specialized communication techniques designed to defuse confrontational situations and put them back on a level playing field so that the best possible outcome (at that time) results. PAR is the product of The PAR Group in Atlanta, Georgia. I am a PAR Master Trainer and qualified by the company to conduct classes. The beauty of PAR is that it works, and through its different levels of instruction can provide an entire organization with a common vocabulary and skill set that facilitates communication unlike most organizations ever experience. For more information, visit The PAR Group's website at: http://www.thepargroup.com/ or contact me.
  
  
• Team Building goes beyond assembling a group of people and calling them a team. This teaching provides for learning team dynamics including planning, assigning tasks, leading, and performance assessment. Teams are not created overnight. Each one has its own culture and methods of operation. Properly set up and trained, a team becomes an entity unto itself. This teaching lays the groundwork for doing that. This teaching is done in a public or private venue.
  
  
• Missing Pieces (to the puzzle that is life) are teachings around my series of mini-books by the same name (click Missing Pieces). Each book can be presented in a class environment or lecture style presentation. Please read the descriptions of the mini-books to gain an idea of what each is about.

The length of time and number of students for a teaching is negotiable (except for the PAR training but there are many options available for it) depending on the goals of the sponsor be it for a public or private venue. Using the technique described above for prioritizing the order of presentation makes the length of time flexible. I do not directly market my classroom or formal teachings. I prefer to work directly with interested companies or sponsors to develop a teaching tailored to their goals. Sponsors receive a share of revenues generated by the teaching. I do some pro bono speaking for organizations with which I have an affinity. If you have questions or are interested in discussing a teaching described above or have specific needs that fall into the broad topic areas described above, please email me.