Our organization had planned a day-long retreat for the Board members to hash out a lot of details for the future growth of the organization; additionally the membership had been drawn together to embark on team-building activities, mixing fun with responsibility and teamwork.  It was clear to a number of us that we were going to be gathering all of our Board together and filling the room with a bunch of Type A, strong personalities.  Upon reflection, we felt that by bringing in an impartial observer with professional experience in Coaching, we could hopefully give ourselves some "tools" with which we could "play nicely in the sandbox" together.  We could not have been more right, Rhonda nailed it!  She brought with her very clearly defined descriptions of typical personality types and how they play out in a group; she provided us clear understanding of how our "group" would experience textbook "stages" of development, which we were already experiencing, and she had us, as a Board, engage in a team-building exercise to further demonstrate how we needed one another, how some among us are communicators and some aren't and how some will more aggressively take the lead than others.

 

Having these basics so clearly presented gave us a much higher level of tolerance of our differences and a clearer vision of how to use those differences for the greater good of the organization.  Her objective view and presentation of human behaviors was refreshing, very insightful and a remarkable way to start our very long and busy day!

 

I, personally, don't think we would have been as gracious with one another without this "pep talk".   We will always be grateful for her gift that she shared with our organization and we will undoubtedly need her services again in the future!

 

Laura Engstrom

Secretary

West Volusia Regional Chamber of Commerce