blog Archives | Magnovo Training Group

DiSC and Race in the Workplace

Race in the workplace can mean one of two things: vibrant diversity and inclusion or volatile discrimination and division. Which one describes your company?

According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, “A majority of Americans (57%) say the fact that the U.S. population is made up of people of many different races and ethnicities is a very good thing for the country….”

That’s encouraging, but how does that play out in their daily lives? For instance, diversity is defined per Google, as “understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.”

For some people these distinctions provide lots of reasons for inclusion. For others, each dimension or category is a legitimate excuse for exclusion and division.

The race to erase race

Race. People are tired of the subject and want it to just go away….but it won’t and can’t until facing and dealing with this issue is normalized, that is, a part of business as usual. Just like eating an elephant—one bite at a time…until it’s gone.

An article in the online magazine Forbes the Culture recommends that companies create “a mandatory safe space (a meeting or forum) for the purpose of acknowledging any and all toxic workplace culture or experiences of discrimination.”

In such a setting employees need to feel safe, because being honest—earnestly or brutally—is a risky proposition. A facilitator should provide that sense of safety and an HR rep should be present to monitor and take notes. And the article also recommends that sensitivity training sessions should be made available as well to those who recognize the need for them and are willing to participate.

What’s equally important is that neither the mandatory forums nor the sensitivity sessions should be conducted in response to specific events. They should be an ongoing part of the corporate culture—the norm, rather than the exception.

Race in the workplace and intentionality

Healthy corporate culture doesn’t just happen, any more than weight loss or other self-improvement initiatives. It requires intentionality and commitment.

And it’s true that you can’t legislate morality, but you can teach it. And it’s worth the effort if it makes your employees better professionally and personally. But teaching works best when you understand your pupils and unfortunately the daily work grind affords little time to know people beyond the context of deadlines and quotas.

DiSC personality profile training is the most powerful tool you should have in your team building arsenal. It’s a bit ironic to refer to an arsenal here because DiSC can diffuse hostilities, conflicts, and other forms of workplace warfare.

DiSC stands for Dominant, Influential, Supportive or Steadfast, and Conscientious. Like the 4 basic food groups on the old-school nutritional chart, these are the 4 basic personality types. Training about each of these personalities—their quirks, weaknesses, and strengths—can help to increase understanding and acceptance among colleagues.

DiSC is safe and non-threatening because it takes a “neutral” position about even the most difficult personalities. Because it’s non-judgmental, participants don’t feel vulnerable or defensive, even when they see their weaknesses and flaws more clearly. DiSC training not only reveals these traits, it teaches people how to improve their interpersonal skills.

Skillful use of the information and insights gleaned from DiSC profiles can make race in the workplace a non-issue. DiSC can help coworkers see that behaviors and communication styles that are different aren’t necessarily bad. They’re just different and certainly none is based on skin color.

It can teach coworkers an important lesson that most traditional schools skipped: the art of being humane human beings. Imagine being flawed, yet accepted and valued just as you are—wisdom, warts, and all. That’s the power of DiSC.

Holiday Charity and Team Building in a Pandemic

It’s beginning to look a lot like—uh, never mind.

Office parties, festive decorations, holiday charity and team bonding in a pandemic? No doubt, this holiday season will be unlike any we’ve ever imagined. But don’t let that stop you from embracing the holiday spirit. Make your corporate gift-giving really count this year through charitable team building.

A traditional office party may not be practical right now, but you can create some new traditions that will keep your staff safe and boost their morale at the same time.

Magnovo’s virtual team building events for charity include icebreakers, and clever games between small groups or teams. And the grand prize is a gift you give someone else. Someone in your own community who really needs support, kindness, and a bit of financial help.

Support small businesses

There are 30 million small businesses in America and they represent 99 percent of all businesses in America! That’s right! And millions of these “mom-and-pop” operations are fighting to stay afloat right now. Magnovo can help you support some of your local entrepreneurs. During our holiday charity workshops, you’ll need tools, toys, decorations, food, and other materials to create your donations. We’ll make sure all of these items come from local vendors.

Food for thoughtfulness

For instance, you and your team could Donate a Dinner, in fact several dinners to some of the first responders in your city. Paramedics, police officers, and health care providers—their heroism during this pandemic has become legendary across the nation.

You can say ‘thank you’ with a feast of some of their favorite foods along with greeting cards of appreciation and kindness. And by coordinating the menus with several local restaurateurs, you’ll spread holiday cheer in a tangible way.

Start the holidays on a roll

Lost jobs. Foreclosures. Overdue rents. Excessive medical bills. For many families in your area, this holiday will be pretty lean.Your company can make sure their kids don’t suffer by giving them a brand new set of wheels. During our virtual Bike-A-Thon Charitable Workshop you’ll assemble bikes for local youngsters to discover under the tree. And once again, we’ll coordinate the purchase of the bike parts and tools from a small business in your community.

Magnovo’s virtual Wagon Builders Charitable Workshop is another opportunity to get things rolling for a needy family in your town. Purchased from local vendors, you’ll assemble and donate wagons full of gifts, and good wishes to some enthusiastic children. But, actually, these classic little red wagons aren’t just for little kids anymore. They’re great for gathering leaves, kindling, pine cones, ferrying garden supplies, and other big kid fun.

Each workshop teaches teammates how to collaborate remotely and to communicate more clearly. Collaboration and communication are at the heart of team bonding. And with the help of a social service organization like the Boys and Girls Club of America, we’ll make sure that your bikes or wagons are delivered to grateful families.

Gifts that keep on giving

During a recent survey reported by Human Resource Executive, 70 percent of workers reported experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression. Approximately 60 percent of respondents reported productivity loss of one hour a day; 32 percent reported a 2-hour loss each day. As productivity decreases, the strain on businesses increases. It’s not just about the bottom line any more. The emotional well-being of millions of employees is at stake.

Virtual charitable workshops are tremendously therapeutic! And despite their virtual context, they bring colleagues together in unexpected ways. A few hours of freedom from worrying about quotas, deadlines, homeschooling, health insurance, bill paying—a break from worrying about anything—is something everyone needs right now.

Focusing on someone else’s needs is also a great way to put your own concerns into perspective. And so many people have needs to which we can each respond even if only in small ways. Kindness affirms our humanity.

Holiday charity and team bonding—the gift that keeps on giving.

CSR and Social Distancing

Can you fulfill your corporate social responsibility and maintain social distancing? Yes, by working together apart. CSR and social distancing—it’s a thing. And that’s good news for your company and millions of essential workers around the country.

When most of us think of essential workers, health care providers, grocery and drugstore personnel, and child care providers spring to mind. But the truth is that’s not even a fraction of the number of champions keeping us afloat.

There are nearly 60 million Americans who wake up every day and provide essential services without which our country would sink.

They include farm workers, and warehouse workers. Communications and IT personnel [without whom you wouldn’t be able to read this article]. Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC technicians. Long-haul truck drivers. Delivery drivers. Taxicab drivers. Maritime pilots. Gas and electric utility workers. Petroleum and fuel production workers.

CSR and social distancing: virtual kindness

These people show up for you every day. Now it’s your turn to pay it forward. And you can fulfill your responsibility to be a good corporate neighbor without risking your health. How? Through virtual charitable team building workshops. You can maintain a safe distance and still close the financial gap for some essential service providers.

Be a buddy and give a buddy

First responders have never been more challenged or more heroic than they are right now. They are bombarded with heartaches and hardships every day that most of us cannot even imagine. One way your team can help is to donate gifts that will heal their hearts along with the hearts of some emotionally distraught children.

Rescue Buddies are stuffed animals given to children who are reeling from shock after a house fire, domestic violence, auto accident, or family death. Firefighters, health care providers, social workers, and police officers are often the first people these kids encounter after a life-altering event. These first responders carry Rescue Buddies with them to give these frightened babes something to cling to when their little world is falling apart.

During a Rescue Buddies Charitable Team Building Workshop you and your staff will literally stuff and assemble these huggable toys. You’ll tag each one with a birth certificate; and you can add loving notes of encouragement as well. Then your cuddly bird, bear, fish, or moose is tenderly stored in a brightly colored backpack and stashed away in a squad car or fire truck until they’re needed.

With Magnovo as a liaison, you can also partner with a social service organization to add age-appropriate books to your stash of donations. Imagine a child clutching your adorable little bear while reading an amazing book you provided.

These are gifts that you, the first responder, the child, and their parents will never forget. Tragedies can be life-defining events, but your kindness can help rewrite this milestone in a child’s memory forever.

Make caring your mission

Because essential workers are just that, they can’t make the adjustments to their schedules that many of us can. So they need additional support right now for their children .

This new school year is especially challenging because so many children are studying remotely. Here’s where you come in. During a Mission: Kids Care Charitable Team Building Workshop your staff can pool your resources remotely to donate much-needed school supplies to the children of essential workers in your town.

Naturally the list of basic school supplies—including paper, pens, pencils, notebooks, calculators, and rulers—is still the order of the day. But now, so are computers, software, and other digital technology some families cannot afford.

And the home-school model has made the learning curve a steep one for a lot of parents. For example, in a home-based classroom, the decor should inspire children to learn even though they’re still at home. But posters, bulletin boards, pencil sharpeners, maps, world-globes, and art supplies, aren’t typically on parents’ shopping lists.

Your company can make this strange, exciting new territory easier to navigate by donating many of the supplies these essential working parents cannot purchase.

With Magnovo’s help, CSR and social distancing can work to boost the morale of your staff and increase your goodwill in the community.

Getting to Know You With DiSC

Social distancing versus team building. How can CEOs make this work? Personality profile training! Yup, getting to know you with DiSC makes it a breeze.

Getting to know who?

Getting to know you

Getting to know all about you

Getting to like you

Getting to hope you like me

These famous lyrics are from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “The King and I.” Nearly 70 years later, they speak volumes about life in corporate America today. That’s because so many of us are working remotely that getting to know each other is more of a challenge than ever.

Does this sound familiar?

The online meeting ended 5 minutes ago, but you’re still staring at your computer screen, your mouth agape. “What is WRONG with this guy?” That’s the question you and a number of your colleagues are stuck on. “This guy” is brilliant at brainstorming and is full of phenomenal ideas! But he’s also full of himself!

Getting total buy-in to his ideas is rarely a problem. They’re usually thoroughly researched and applicable. What’s more, they get results! But even upper management finds his personality hard to swallow.

For instance, during brainstorming sessions, he’s the star of the show because nobody else can get a word in edgewise! Nobody else’s brain matters to him. So the quiet after his brainstorm is actually a silence full of vexation and irritation from his teammates. Thank goodness he can’t hear what they’re thinking!

Getting to know you with DiSC

But maybe he should hear their thoughts. In fact, maybe everybody should, but how? Human emotions are fragile. Like any delicate procedure, exploring the human personality requires deft handling, skill, precision, and a strong sense of security.

Magnovo’s DiSC personality profile training is the safest and most productive setting in which your team can search for answers to each other’s idiosyncrasies without violating or damaging each other’s hearts.

DiSC stands for Dominant, Influential, Supportive or Steadfast, and Conscientious. These 4 fundamental personality types are what we’re all made of emotionally and psychologically.

Getting to know all about you

So “this guy” whom everyone applauds for his ingenuity and scorns for his arrogance, might be your textbook Dominant. He eats and and sleeps for the thrill of competition and winning is his only motivation. He savors challenges and his enthusiasm can be infectious, which is why buying into his ideas is usually not that difficult.

Getting to like you

What is difficult, though, is tolerating his impatience with those who don’t think or act as quickly as he does. Interestingly, what others may see as arrogance may actually be an emotional mask. More often than not, every hero has a chink in their armor. DiSC can help you understand what’s lurking behind that armor.

For instance: Dominant personalities hate being wrong! It makes them feel weak, out of control. For “this guy,” the D stands for ‘defensive’ as well as Dominant. Could it be that Mister-Know-It-All is feeling vulnerable? Once you understand that these personality types don’t mean to do harm, it may become easier not to feel so deeply wounded.

Getting to hope you like me

Now if you are “this guy,” DiSC can make you more aware of your behavior and how it impacts others—for good or ill. Don’t be defensive! No one is suggesting that you need a complete makeover! You can still be you! The goal is to make you a more valued member of the team instead of flying solo. How about opening your mind to some interpersonal skills training? The DiSC learning curve is not steep and the sessions are painless and easy.

Getting to know you

Getting to feel free and easy

When I am with you

Getting to know what to say

Getting to know DiSC

Feeling free and easy and knowing what to say, how to say it, and to whom. That’s what DiSC can do for you. Mastering the insights and communications skills Magnovo’s training provides will make all the difference to your corporate culture. And it will restore the joy and delight of both the song lyrics and their sentiments to your team.

How To Use Your Emotional Quotient With DiSC

As an executive during this pandemic, knowing how to use your emotional quotient or EQ can be one of your most important leadership tools.

Leadership and loss

The great exodus from company cubicles to home offices was also a stampede from things we now miss more than ever:

Hugs. High-fives. Malls. Play dates. Adult dates. Restaurants. Happy hour. Proms. Graduations. Sleep. Personal space. Distant loved ones. Friendly faces! [Who can tell what’s behind a mask?] Freedom.

Online meetings, social media, and smartphones can’t fill the gap left by lack of personal interaction. Millions of workers—on every rung of the corporate ladder—are suffering a deep sense of loss and are struggling to work in spite of it. There’s no time to grieve and little time to reflect because there are too many irons in the fire; too many fires to put out.

Leadership one-on-one

As a leader, your challenge—one of many—is to keep things together when everyone and everything seems to be falling apart. And the first major change to your management style is individualizing it. You’ll have to gauge how to use your emotional quotient with each employee. One-size-fits-all management won’t work right now—perhaps it’s gone forever.

A few of your employees may be longing for the old normal. Some are waiting for the new normal to settle down, so they can take a deep breath and start fresh. Some recognize that the new normal is already here, but they don’t quite know what to do with it.

Leadership, EQ, and self-awareness

Your emotional intelligence of EQ regarding others actually starts with you. For instance, your EQ will shape how you communicate, and what you communicate. And that all depends on how you’re coping yourself. Your ability to empathize with an anxious employee will hinge on how you’re managing your own emotions.

Openness, transparency, and compassion—they certainly didn’t cover these virtues in your MBA program, right? Yet these non-traditional, un-businesslike concepts may have to become part of your new management normal. For some executives this is a very scary prospect. Sliding down the corporate ladder and away from professional autonomy? What a dreadful picture!

How about you? How aware are you of your own thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns and how they impact others? And how comfortable are you about being sensitive to a worker’s emotional needs without feeling that your authority is being undermined?

Do you know how to pick up on emotional cues from others without being judgmental? As work demands ebb and flow, your demands on your team must reflect these unpredictable shifts. Are you ready to adapt to the changes in relationships with members of your core team?

Leadership, EQ, and mental health

Some 60 million essential American workers are putting in longer hours on-site. They live in constant fear of contracting the virus or transmitting it to their loved ones. This is straining their childcare arrangements, their budgets, their marriages, and their emotional stability.

Millions of remote workers feel isolated, depressed, and stressed, because they, too, worry about contracting this dreaded disease. On-site and at home, employees from coast to coast are exhibiting an increase in mental illness which is resulting in a decrease in productivity.

Leadership, EQ, and DiSC

Employees are emotionally and psychologically fragile. Many remote workers don’t know how to establish a work-life balance when home and work are in the same place. Full of anxiety, both remote and essential on-site workers have questions about the future of their health and their jobs. They need leaders with answers.

Now is the time to learn how to use your emotional quotient in order to become a more dynamic leader. And there’s no more essential or dynamic tool than DiSC personality profile training to teach you how to use your EQ.

Each of us exhibits Dominant, Influential, Supportive, or Conscientious [DiSC] personality types that shape the way we interact with people. DiSC can help you understand where each staffer’s head is and help them adapt to the changing demands at work and regain stability at home.

For example, some staffers may need more time to shift gears and mindsets about new policies, procedures, and programs. Subconsciously they may drag their feet longing to return to life before COVID. Unintentionally, they may hang on to the old normal waiting for it to return. With insights learned from DiSC training, you can better understand their reluctance and help them make this transition without making them feel guilty or anxious.

DiSC personality profile training will dramatically increase your EQ and your credibility with your staff. When they need understanding the most, you’ll be able to provide it, along with the assurances they’ll need in order to move the company forward.

Firm, steady, and compassionate leadership. DiSC.

Leadership and Team Development in the Age of COVID

Leadership and team development in the age of COVID are like nothing any of us has ever experienced.

A daunting reality check

Some 745,000 people around the world have died because of the coronavirus. Here at home, we’ve lost 165,000 loved ones. And we’re all facing the biggest global recession in modern history. Supply shortages triggered price gouging, market gridlocks, and panic buying. Unemployment claims in America have reached as high as 26 million.

And the psychological and emotional toll is equally alarming. Pervasive fear and paranoia about succumbing to the disease. Increased reports of domestic violence. Stress and anxiety. Depression. Insomnia. Panic attacks and hysteria. Millions of us are either exploding in rage and rebellion or imploding under the weight of paralyzing terror.

Daunting challenges

Meanwhile, corporate America struggles to keep hoping for a brighter future; to keep moving forward. But the question for millions of CEOs is “How do we move and where are we going?”

In 380 BC, Greek philosopher Plato said, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” In 2020 AD that statement is both profound and ironic. That’s because COVID 19 has necessitated—indeed, compelled—executives around the globe to reinvent their leadership style in imaginative ways under unimaginable circumstances.

Undaunting optimism

The way forward is unclear but what is clear is that millions of us are rallying together optimistically and courageously. Corporate teams have been fragmented into isolated remote workers but this decentralization has not dampened team spirits in many places.

Hierarchies are giving way to greater parity. There’s less siloing of info and more sharing and as a result untapped, unrecognized talent is being showcased and decisions are being made more quickly and efficiently.

Captains courageous

Leadership guru John Maxwell famously said that “anyone can steer a ship; a leader must steer the course.” And around the world, captains of industry are not only reinventing their business models, they are both changing and steering the course of their ships.

Example #1: Regional hospitals that conducted 100-200 virtual office visits every year before the pandemic, now conduct more than 100,000 virtual house calls every month!

As the bottom line gets smaller faster, leaders are thinking bigger faster.

Example #2: As reported on McKinsey.com, “At Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim (MAF), attendance at movie theaters fell (as a result of government-mandated closures) while demand for its online supermarket soared; in two days, the company retrained 1,000 ushers and ticket sellers to work for the online grocer.”

Transformative leadership and team development

This moment is a personal turning point for CEOs and business owners everywhere. It’s a defining moment during which they must come to terms with who they truly want to be as people and as leaders. Only through personal transformation can they rise to this unprecedented occasion and do what must be done.

As they re-calibrate their lives, so too may their corporations be re-calibrated and reinvigorated. But as courageous as they all may be—or want to be—many of these leaders can’t do it all on their own. Knowing when you need help and asking for it are two clear signs of authentic leadership.

Magnovo’s Team Development Training Program can:

help detect the need for new or modified policies, procedures, and business tools;
develop strategies for continual adaptation to continual changes during the crisis;
identify what to keep and what to let go;
help determine who to keep, who to reassign, and how to retrain valued personnel;
conduct DiSC personality profile training to better understand and utilize employ talents; and
recommend and train team members in new communications protocols as needed.

Leadership and team development in the age of COVID in partnership with Magnovo—this is the way forward.

How to Enable the Disabled

This year marks a milestone for disabled Americans and you can help them celebrate! But the question is how? How to enable the disabled, celebrate this historical moment, and strengthen the bonds among your team at the same time? Answer: Magnovo’s virtual charitable team building workshop called Wheelcharity.

Americans With Disabilities Act

Thirty years ago, American took a stand for those who cannot stand, or walk, or function on their own. Thanks to passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990, no child can legally be denied an education because of a disability. Schools, workplaces, and other public venues have been modified or completely redesigned to accommodate the blind, the hearing-impaired, people who can’t walk, and others.

Suffering outside and inside

Today some 40 million Americans or 12 percent of the civilian non-institutionalized population deal with some form of disability. Senior citizens are the largest segment of this group.

In addition to suffering physically, millions among the disabled also suffer emotionally. That’s because the lifestyle of a person with disabilities is almost completely defined and confined by what they can’t do—or what people think they can’t do.

Despite efforts to enlighten and educate the public, there’s still the social stigma, stereotyping, and other forms of discrimination.

What being disabled in American means

Limited job training and employment opportunities;
Limited participation in extracurricular activities from sports to movies and dining out to other social outings [even before COVID-19 struck];
Lower voter turnout [this means that as many as 2 million votes may not be cast during the next election]; and
No accessibility at all to thousands of buildings that have not been retrofitted for the disabled.

How to enable the disabled: reach out

What’s different about the disabled is not as important as what they have in common with all Americans. And there’s no better way to demonstrate that than to reach out and share our common humanity in a tangible way.

For example, there are currently 4.7 million disabled American veterans. Thousands of these patriots are housebound because they don’t have wheelchairs. Just think: two simple wheels could transform their lives emotionally, economically, and physically.

How to enable the disabled: charitable giving

Now look closely and you’ll see your staff in the picture: donating wheelchairs to disabled vets in your community. How? Magnovo’s Wheelcharity team building event is among our most popular precisely because of how much we all value the recipients of these donations!

In the comfort of your own remote office-nooks you can still bond as one harmonious team by focusing your energy and efforts on some truly deserving folks in your own hometown. Leave the procurement and delivery of your gifts to us and just savor the knowledge that you and your company are catalysts for change in your neighbors’ lives.

Now picture them rolling into their favorite grocery store. Cruising around the park. Voting in the upcoming election. Confidently applying for a new job and speeding around the office. Meeting and greeting old friends from a safe distance in their brand new chariot-of-kindness! Enablement means empowerment.

We salute you for enabling them!

The Virtues of Virtual Team Building

For obvious reasons, online meetings have become the new normal. But the enumerable virtues of virtual team building are still being discovered, and one of the greatest virtues is philanthropy.

Philanthropy and communities in crisis

COVID-19 has redefined life in the 21st century in every way imaginable. Our homes, family relationships, and employment—or the lack thereof. Large and small business start ups—or the lack thereof. Education, healthcare, travel, and every other aspect of daily life in America have been turned upside down.

But there’s one other area that’s suffered the same fate, only in a good way: philanthropy and corporate social responsibility are being completely reconfigured. Small community-based rapid response teams and international philanthropists have joined forces to expedite coronavirus testing, and the availability of diagnostic tools and medical supplies, as well as vaccine research and development.

According to McKinsey.com, major players around the world have doled out more than $10 billion since the pandemic started. Equally astonishing is the way they did it: they cut out all the protracted grantsmanship red tape and simplified the application process. This would have been practically unheard of just a year ago! Today, there are fewer hoops to jump through and more collaboration than ever before in modern philanthropic history.

Corporate social responsibility’s new normal

CSR is no longer about creating a positive public image. Corporations recognize that being a good socially responsible neighbor is now literally a matter of life and death.

The “big I” and “little you” mentality of the wealthiest few is being swept away in the midst of a pandemic the likes of which no one has ever experienced. Many ivory towers are being whittled down to street level and the silos of information are opening up to the masses.

Reassessing your company’s role and responsibilities in your community is now as big a priority as your bottom line—or at least it should be. That’s because today the word ‘community’ means “what we all have in common to commune about.” And that’s “all” as in “we’re all in this together so let’s all work together.”

Yes, at different socioeconomic levels, we’re all in this together……yet we’re safer apart. This paradox puts virtual team building front and center. And virtual charitable team building is at the core.

Donating your time and talents is the way forward and the context is a virtual team building workshop. It can bring your team together for a good cause and strengthen staff relationships at the same time.

Whether you give to first responders, military personnel, veterans, or low-income families, you’ll discover the virtues of virtual team building and make a difference where you live. Let’s take people-parents and pet-parents, for example.

Micro-schools

Remember the one-room school house on the TV show Little House on the Prairie? Well, welcome back! Compulsory quarantining has compelled millions of parents to home-school their kids. Now micro-schooling is growing into a new educational model.

According to a report from NBC’s Today Show, “Micro-school is a broad term used to describe small neighborhood schools that usually enroll fewer than 10 children. In the age of COVID-19, many parents are taking the micro-school approach into their own hands and creating ‘pandemic pods.’ In some pods, parents are planning to share supervision of students during periods of remote learning; in others, they’re pooling the money needed to hire a full-time teacher to come to them and work directly with a small group of students the same age.”

Old school or new, some things never change—except, that is, for the prices. And for some families these items will strain their budgets. How would you like to relieve some of these parents of this financial strain?

Backpacks. Wide-ruled composition books. #2 pencils. Pens. Rulers. Glue sticks. Crayons. Scissors.Plastic school boxes. Facial tissues. Protractors. 3-ring binders. Loose-leaf, college-ruled notebook paper. Subject dividers. Highlighters.

Why not build a virtual partnership with a social service organization, a school, or a home-school group and donate these supplies? Thanks to your support, students of all ages—whether on campus, online, or at home—in your city will have the basic tools they need to learn.

Revenge of the nerd

And speaking of students, you’ve probably got a few quiet, studious types on your staff. They always sit at the end of the conference table and only speak when forced to. Ironically, they’re probably also among your most brilliant and productive team members, too.

One way to acknowledge what a valuable asset this wallflower really is would be to tap into their one grand passion and develop a charitable event around it. For example, a gung ho animal lover would welcome the chance to help prospective pet-parents find a new fur baby. Leashes, food and water bowls, scratching posts, litter boxes, beds, blankets, and toys.

During a virtual charitable team building event, you could collect the starter gear for a new pet owner. And you could even turn the presentation of your gifts into a virtual “fur baby shower.”

Yet another of the virtues of virtual team building: personal transformation among your staff and public acknowledgement of their value to the team. From wallflower to passion flower, this invaluable employee will blossom and outshine their colleagues for the first time ever! [Call it revenge of the nerd.]

How to Honor First Responders

The war against COVID-19 has made the brave troops on the front lines more visible and more valued than ever. Of course, America’s paramedics, firefighters, nurses, and doctors have always been among our most beloved heroes. But now, we all want to know how to honor first responders and express our deepest gratitude for everything they’ve done and continue to do.

And millions of other courageous essential personnel deserve our gratitude as well—bus drivers, sanitation workers, military staff, grocery store and retail workers. They put their lives on the line for us every day and no hourly wage, salary, bonus, or benefits can ever repay them for all they’ve sacrificed over the past few months.

You and your colleagues can be among the first to respond to these selfless public servants in your city by showing them how much you value their work and by supporting their efforts.

How to honor first responders in the classroom

Believe it or not, school resource officers also serve as first responders because they’re charged with coordinating a school’s protocols in cases of emergency. These administrators, teachers, and their colleagues invest their talents and skills in keeping our kids safe and preparing them for the future.

And their jobs are often more demanding than many of us realize. As many teachers will tell you, their duties don’t end when the bell rings. They are passionate about being educators and that dedication compels many of them to pay for school supplies out of their own pockets rather than see their students go without the basics.

Our virtual Mission: Kids Care Charitable Team Building Workshop is your chance to say thank you! During this fun-filled exercise, your staff can divvy up into teams and compete for school supplies to donate to local students.

The competition is friendly, and it’s also a great way to build camaraderie among your employees. The school supplies include spiral notebooks, three-ring binders, pens, pencils, highlighters, assorted art supplies, and colorful backpacks.

What better way to thank local educators than to equip their students for the upcoming school year. Whether on campus or online, these students will be prepared for success.

How to honor first responders among our troops

Mission: Military Care is another virtual charitable workshop in which “care” is the key and the kudos are tangible! Whether deployed domestically or overseas, military personnel always welcome reminders of home. Comfy socks, scarves, caps, and gloves. Cologne. Perfume. Sunscreen. Lotion and other toiletries. Cookies, candies, and other non-perishable snacks. Individually and collectively, these gifts are expressions of support and kindness that will last a lifetime.

How to honor first responders at ground-zero

Many community hospitals have become ground-zero in the fight against COVID-19. At least 600 hundred American healthcare workers died from the coronavirus while fighting valiantly to save others. Granted, they didn’t volunteer for this horror show; they were drafted. Nonetheless it’s no exaggeration to call them authentic war heroes.

And of course, we’ve all seen videos of city residents across the country cheering hospital staff during shift changes. No doubt we’ve joined in as they marched back into work ready for another battle against this dreaded disease. Cheers, applause, salutes—they deserve it all and more!

How’s this for a heartfelt salute from your company: Partner with a local restaurant and Donate-a-Dinner to weary workers who are finally heading home. Thanks to you and your team, they’ll enjoy a sumptuous feast at the end of a long day.

And during our virtual Hospital Helpers Charitable Team Building Workshop you can donate loving and comforting gifts to some of their patients.

Lotion, lip balm, massage oils, dry shampoo. Lozenges and mints. Toothbrushes and toothpaste. Books, magazines, word puzzles. Headbands, scarves, eye masks. Doctor-approved snacks. Any diversion from the tedium of their hospital beds will be much appreciated.

And so will you. Your kindness and sacrifice will build a lasting legacy of goodwill for your company.

The Key to Leading Through Change is Resilience

The key to leading through change is resilience and the keys to resilience are courage and optimism. I have never seen a better example of this than my enterprising young friend, Bill.

Almost a decade ago he lost his job during a round of layoffs. Many of us thought he’d also lost his mind when he decided to launch a new business. With absolutely no experience in food services, he opened his own food truck! His recipes were unorthodox but delicious. His tenacity became legendary and before we knew it, he had a monster hit on his hands!

A few years in, and he’d garnered national recognition and enough capital to convert the food truck into a stationary restaurant. Another slam-dunk under his belt! We were so proud of and excited for him! He rebounded from that layoff like a boss!

And then the pandemic came and slam-dunked Bill’s restaurant into oblivion.

Like millions of other small businesses across the country, his became another heartbreaking casualty of COVID-19. But while his heart was broken, his spirit was not. In his mind, he didn’t have time to grieve or grouse because he had a young family and several employees to support.

His next move proved undeniably that the key to leading through change is resilience. He resurrected the food truck and hit the road again. While many of us might have seen this as a step backward and a humiliating sign of failure, Bill was grateful for the chance to recoup his losses and roll into a brighter future. What a gutsy guy! He is more courageous and in many ways more optimistic than before—perhaps because he is older and wiser now.

Another key to leading through change is reevaluation

Desperate to process this turbulent whirlwind, some managers are so focused on their vanishing bottom line they can’t see their way forward. The fact is that panic management doesn’t work over the long term. As profits fall away, so do key personnel.

Is it time to reevaluate what to keep and what to change in your overall operational model? Should you redefine what your company considers “success” to be? Are your quotas attainable now?

One more key to leading through change is re-training

What do you need from your staff now? How realistic are your expectations in light of current business trends? Are you willing to restructure teams, and provide new leadership opportunities to facilitate adjustments to mandatory changes?

Once you review what you need from your staff, consider what your staff needs from you. How realistic are your expectations in light of how each employee is coping? Are you open to providing emotional support to those who need it? How stable is their home-based workspace? Do they need training on new digital platforms? How much of a learning-curve can you allow without adding undue stress?

For some people, like my friend Bill, resilience, courage, and optimism are innate. The good news for the rest of us is that we can all learn these attributes if we’re teachable. And there’s never been a more compelling time to be teachable than the era we’re living through right now.

Magnovo’s Leading Through Change training can teach you how to regain the ballast you need to stabilize your ship. Our facilitators can guide your managerial staff through the process of achieving total buy-in among subordinates to new policies and procedures. Magnovo’s trainers are skilled at helping leaders identify and embrace the long view and build a road to success even during unpredictable times.

We can help you plot your course through policy changes, workflow shifts, and new client protocols. And we can help you deal with members of your staff who are resistant to what they may perceive as “a barrage of changes” you need to implement.

The key to leading through change is DiSC

Magnovo’s convictions about leading through change are passionately people-focused. Instead of being punitive, our approach is to increase sensitivity to individual personality traits and assess where they are professionally and personally. And DiSC personality profile training is the best tool for managers to learn how to understand their workers individually and help them maximize professional and personal success.

Dominant, Influential, Supportive, and Conscientious [DiSC] employees—we’re all in this together. DiSC training can help you grow together, stick together, and move forward together. A cohesive team can succeed no matter how many changes there are to navigate during this pandemic.

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