Green Worker Cooperatives as a Business Model

August 2, 2012/0 Comments/in Community /by pvadmin

Tell me about the Green Worker Cooperatives.

The Green Worker Cooperatives are a non-profit organization that I founded in 2003 . It’s based in the Bronx, and our focus is to develop a strong local

justice. We are out to support and create businesses that empower their workers to improve their health and quality of life in the Bronx. We do that exclusively through worker owned green businesses, known as worker cooperatives.

Cooperatives are any business owned collectively by its customers. In the case of worker cooperatives it’s any business owned by its workers. With the workers making the decisions, it’s all about seeking alignment. The team has to be aligned on the future of the business and the direction of the company.

Profits made by the business stay in the community longer because the workers/owners are local to the community, spend their money there, and offer jobs to other members of the community. The other aspect of our work is making sure that the businesses are environmentally friendly. We specialize in transforming people’s ideas for improving environ-mental conditions into reality. We walk them through the specific ways their businesses can have a positive impact on both the environment and the community.

How did you use what you learned in the Team, Management and Leadership Program?

I had been looking for something like the Team program for years.

The 2 years before joining team were the most difficult. I had started a cooperative that was my brainchild, I had done the business planning, raised almost $1,000,000, and formed a team of people to run it. It lasted about 2 years, while suffering the whole time. It wasn’t making the sales it needed to and in 2010 we closed the business. It was really an emotionally hard time for me.

When I took the Communication Curriculum and then joined Team, I found what was missing. I wasn’t being accountable, holding others to account, and operating with integrity to make things happen. I’ve always been good at enrolling people initially and getting their support, but I was never really able to make it last.

Being on Team this past year has been amazing in what I’ve seen for myself and how I ran my business. I had been around the country talking about these cooperatives, but I didn’t really have a functioning team myself! I was completely out of integrity that whole time.

I had a group of people who were really dedicated but I wasn’t holding them to account for the work that they were doing. I was more concerned about being nice to the extent that I couldn’t hold myself and others to account or really honor my word.

I got the structure and the distinctions of Team to apply. Since then I’ve been able to build a much wider base of support. Before, it was just myself and 2 other people putting on the 16-week course. Now there are 3 different universities that supply classroom space and 2 colleges supplying students for researchers and support as graphic artists.

What kind of businesses are involved in this cooperative?

I started a training program called the Coop Academy. This has been my project on Team for the past year. We’ve been developing programs for participants to become leaders and to start up their own cooperatives. In order to go through it, they must have a team of at least 3 people. They start up the business and we work with them over the course of 4 months. They take courses together as a team and we supply them with support including lawyers, graphic designers, and web designers. The goal is to be able to launch their business by the end of the 4-month period.

You were mentioning before about how you came up with this project…

I had worked with several non-profit environmental organizations that were based in the Bronx and in other parts of the City. I spent a lot of time fighting against companies, the City and the State, challenging them on their plans to let dirty companies in our communities.

The idea for the Green Worker Cooperatives came out of a realization that there had to be some way of creating an economy run by those affected by it. One directly in our community, creating an economy that is local, able to empower people in their work place, and operates in a way that sustains life instead of harming life. That is what I was out to cause, and that’s what we are still creating.

How do you create jobs within clean companies? How does it work?

People come to us with an idea, saying “I want to start a business with my friends.” For example a woman who went through the Academy wanted to start a catering business that provided healthy food in the community. So that’s the business she started, a family business that has now become a cooperative. They cater events throughout the City and in the Bronx and they use locally grown food. They are really conscious of waste, not wasting, and using biodegradable products, things like that. Basically being conscious of what goes into their food, avoiding fat and things that can be harmful for you and the environment.

There are two things that we specialize in – being green and being cooperative. When it comes to being green, to being environmentally friendly, we work with the entrepreneurs to make sure that they look at every piece of their business and figure out things that they can do that will reduce the impact on the planet and the community. The other part of it is that we specialize in operating cooperatively, as a team.

We have lots of classes and workshops on how to work together, really looking at communication, how they are communicating with each other and with the people in their lives. Essentially looking at working together effectively in the same context as what we do on Team. Having them be there and supporting each other in what they are out to create. Doing it in a way that they have structures in place for all aspects, and people are accountable with those structures so things don’t fall through the cracks. As a result there are not unmet expectations for people to get frustrated about. We also partner with other organizations to provide training in the more traditional business fundamentals of sales, marketing and finance.

Does the government fund this program or is it self-funded? Do the people who take your classes have to pay for the courses?

We get funding from private foundations and individual donations. The people do have to pay and the registration fee that we charge is $500 per person. We require that each team fund-raise for the money and we ask them not to pay out of their pocket up front, but that their first assignment is to fund-raise so that each member of the team can go through the course.

Is this the only Coop organization in the United States?

No, but the worker-owned sector is extremely small in the US. It is estimated that there are only 400 businesses that are structured this way, where the workers own the business entirely. In the non-profit world, there are only a handful of such non-profits in the US. Green Coop is one of those that are dedicated to the creation of worker-owned cooperatives. So we are at the forefront of creating this new sector in the economy.

We provide training for entrepreneurs, but the distinction is that they are working as a cooperative, a Team. There are lots of opportunities to train people to be sole entrepreneurs of a business as an individual, but there is practically nothing out there for people to start a cooperative organization.

So where do you see this Green Coop in 5 years?

In five years I see our work extending beyond the Bronx. In five years the Bronx will become one of the largest centers of worker-owned businesses in the country. The program we have created, the Coop Academy, will be replicated in other cities around the US .

Five years from now the concept of worker-owned businesses will not be something alien. It will be some- thing that is commonly understood as another way of doing business and will become an option for many people as a result of the work we are doing.

Let’s say I want to start a company and I want to use Green Worker Coop model living in California. What would you recommend for me to learn to start a company using your model, and how does that relate to what you learned on Team?

Number one is to seek out resources that are local to you and other cooperatives support organizations. In the Bay Area there are actually a few worker-owned cooperatives.

If there is a team of people, have a conversation with them and have them lay out what it is that they want to accomplish, as a team, for the business and community. Create a plan of how they are going to do it, how to divide up the work, and have a number of conversations about how they are going to approach decision-making and division of profits. Those are the big things to consider. For the day to day, the distinctions we make on Team are what make any business work. They are even more important in a worker cooperative because workers are coming together as people who are invested in having a say.

In TMLP, the way people listen to us and we listen to others is very important, the same exists in a worker cooperative. You own the business with a team of people, so your team members, your cooperative members are not there strictly to get a check and leave. They have an interest in the business and they see each other as sharing common interests in the business. This is very different from just being an employee.

What’s the difference between a team and a group?

In a team there is direction, and there is movement in one direction. That’s a difference I see between a team and a group. I’ve been involved in many groups, and there are occasional moments when team was present, but there was not always movement in a cohesive direction, that’s the difference. Before being in the TMLP, I was more concerned about looking good, than actually being in communication and getting things done.

Is there something you’d like to share about your experience on Team?

I joined Team because I really wanted to create teams in my life. I wanted to be able to create something and form a team of people to make it happen. Through the TMLP I got that, in new ways that I hadn’t gotten it before. I got what it means to be accountable, to hold people to account, and to be my word.

Greenworker Coops: www.greenworker.coop

Interview by Kimchi Chow, Team San Jose
Written by Jan Marijag, San Jose Alumna and Kyle Bizon, Seattle
Edited by James Marchand, NY

Leaving Apple, Pursuing a Dream

July 18, 2012/in 2012-06 TMLP Times, Business and Workplace, Technology /by pvadmin

There are few people who leave a solid, productive career at Apple to start their own company. Todd Beauchamp is one of the few, leaving Apple to fulfill the dream of starting his own company, In2Technologies. That company has just come out with a consumer electronics home theater product called Unity, and it has already won an award for innovation.

Todd is a highly accomplished acoustic engineer. After working on projects for the US Navy, he joined American Technologies Corporation, ATC, in 1998. At ATC, he was responsible for research and development of their advanced, cutting edge audio technologies. Todd is the co-inventor of one of those, LRAD – Long Range Acoustic Device, which is one of the first devices ever to project a concentrated beam of sound waves. It is used for hailing and signaling, and in the military and commercial sectors as a non-lethal deterrent. It became famous for when it was used against pirates by the Queen Mary and other ships, and will be present with security forces at the London Olympics this summer.

At Apple, he ran the audio lab for the accessories group, responsible for anything connected to the iPod or iPad, and he worked on the final acoustics of the first iPhone.

He was responsible for the ubiquitous white Apple earbuds, the company’s highest shipped product ever at over 200 million units.

Todd completed two years of the Team, Management and Leadership Program in 2011 in San Jose. Kimchi Chow interviews him on his experience of the program and how participants can get the most out of it.

How did you come up with this business idea, and in which quarter?

The idea came from a dream I’ve had since 2004. I then faced some hurdles during that time, so I stopped. When I was in my 2nd quarter of Team, I brought this back as my project, and I pursued it throughout my 2 years of being on Team. Each quarter I reached a major milestone to fulfill my dream.

My project is about a product called Unity, a new home theater platform. It provides a great way for people to enjoy their audio & video everywhere in the world. As you know, music and movies are a huge part of our culture, and cultures throughout the world. I see an opportunity to provide a way for people to connect with their music & video.

When did you make the transition to creating a company that is now internationally recognized?
In April 2011 I completed the second year of Team and left Apple at the same time. I started my own company and brought this product to introduce to the world. Now I have a small team working with me. We just won a 2012 Innovation Award from the Consumer Electronics Association. We were named number 8 of the top 20 companies in the world in innovation for 2012. There are about 30 articles written & published in Fortune Magazine, Business Week, USA Today, Fast Company, CNET, Home Theater Magazine (June 2012), etc. All that press has potentially reached 30 million viewers as of today.

You shared with Team San Jose recently that you want us to do a project that’s worth doing. A project that will impact thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people, for several generations.

: Unity Home Theater System and Tv Stand

What do you suggest we do to get in touch with that big vision, since most us tend to propose small projects that impact only our personal lives, or at most impact less than a hundred people?
Most of us when we come onto Team, we still see the world as we have to do things by ourselves. When you take on the Team Design Statement of “Building teams and teamwork in any situation”, what seems impossible when you do things by yourself will be possible when you build team around it. We have so many concerns that are getting in our way that keep our project small. One suggestion is to write down all of your concerns about your project on paper. Play the “what if” – let your mind wonder, “what if all of these concerns were gone?” What would be possible if you now create what you’re going to do from nothing. The most important part here is getting connected with the outcomes- visualizing the experience of people, the positive impact of your project in people’s lives. When you connect with the positive impact, it will help you deal with your concerns and get them out of the way. You will know when you connect to a project worth doing when you feel very emotional about the impact it can bring.

Once you connect with the impact, use the Team 1 & Team 2 Design statements to build teams and cause leaders around the world to fulfill that dream, and it will become a reality.

What is the process that you used to overcome the challenges or concerns that you’re facing while building this company? Could you give us some specific examples that worked for you?
My old way of my being would be to fire people who don’t perform, and find someone new. My new way of being is to re-empower team at all times, so that we as a team will get the dream fulfilled. By having the project that’s worth doing, it pushes me to use all distinctions from the Landmark Forum to the Communication Curriculum- when-ever or whatever is appropriate, to move the conversations forward and be successful.

Understand that every person on this planet has a story about the world that can get in their way. Once in a while, their story pops up and they are not at their top performance. This understanding allows people to be in their humanity. Just be with them, recreate the experience, and re-empower them.

Looking back on your journey, you were in the Team, Management and Leadership Program for 2 years. What are the top 2 or 3 things you would recommend team members get developed in so that they get the most out of this program?
Play the game that is worth playing in each quarter. Get every bit of coaching possible until you are touched, moved, and inspired by the game you are playing – your project.

Get coaching on connecting the dots between your project and your Development Opportunities, and take on all the Accountabilities for the Communication Courses. On each session of your Development Opportunity, look at your project and ask “Where am I stopped in my action items?” Then, bring those concerns to your coach, and bring it to each Development Opportunity session. Use each Development Opportunity as a place where you are trained and developed in the area you are stopped in project, so that you can have a breakthrough and are able to move

what you’re doing forward. Take every opportunity to be accountable for something no matter how scary it is. The more you can take on, the more you grow, and that’s why you are on Team!

It’s not about what we have to do or to work at when we are taking on accountability, it’s about giving things up! Giving up the identity of who you think you are, and the conversation “you are not good enough.” Just give up the poor and crappy listening we have of ourselves. When you give this up, your natural leadership will show.

In what way did the experience for being on Team transform your life?
With my company last week- rather than firing people who hadn’t performed, my old mode of operating, I re-empowered the whole team to play at a level that’s worth playing at.

With my family, I have learned to master the distinctions from Landmark Education and bring those distinctions to effectively remove 35 years of anger & anxiety between two members of my family in just one conversation.

Todd’s company product, Unity, can be seen here:
http://www.in2technologies.com/engageunity/

Interviewed by Kimchi Chow, San Jose
Transcription and writing by Lindsay Tappero, San Jose
Alumna; writing also by Michael Pettingale, Seattle
Edited by James Marchand, NY

Dejando Apple, Persiguiendo un Sueño

July 15, 2012/in Spanish /by Luigi Sciupac

Todd y Dave in la Feria de Innovación

Hay muy pocas personas que tienen una carrera ejemplar y productiva en Apple y que deciden empezar su propia Companía. Todd Beauchamp es uno de esas pocas personas, que dejo Apple para perseguir su sueño de empezar su propia companía, In2Technologies. Esa Companía saco recientemente al mercado un producto de consumo electrónico de cine en casa llamado Unity, y ya ha ganado un premio por la innovación.

Todd es un ingeniero acústico muy logrado. Después de trabajar en proyectos para la Naval de los EE.UU., que se incorporó a la Corporación de American Tecnologías, ATC, en 1998. En el ATC, el fue responsable de la investigación y el desarrollo de sus avanzadas tecnologías, y de vanguardia de audio. Todd es el co-inventor de uno de esos, LRAD – El dispositivo acústico de largo alcance, que es uno de los dispositivos que jamás haya proyectado un haz concentrado de las ondas sonoras. Se utiliza para la comunicación por la radio y señalización, y en los sectores militares y comerciales como un elemento no letal de disuasión. Se hizo famoso porque se utilizaba contra los piratas por el buque Queen Mary y otros buques, y estará presente con las fuerzas de seguridad en los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres este verano.

En Apple, el dirigió el laboratorio de audio para el grupo de accesorios, responsable por
cualquier cosa conectada al iPod o iPad, y trabajó en la acústica de finales del primer iPhone.

Fue responsable por los omnipresente auriculares blancos de Apple, el producto más elevado que la compañía envío que fue más de 200 millones de unidades.

Todd a completado dos años del Programa de Equipo, Administración y Liderazgo (TMLP) en el 2011 en San José. Kimchi Chow lo entrevista sobre su experiencia del programa y de cómo los participantes pueden obtener el máximo provecho de este.

¿Cómo se te ocurrió esta idea de negocio, y en cual trimestre?
La idea surgió de un sueño que he tenido desde 2004. Luego me enfrente a algunos obstáculos durante ese tiempo, por lo que me detuve. Fue en mi 2 º trimestre de equipo, que he traído esto de nuevo como mi proyecto, y lo perseguí a través de mis 2 años de estar en el equipo. Cada trimestre, he alcanzado un hito (milestone) importante para cumplir mi sueño.

Mi proyecto se trata de un producto llamado Unity, una plataforma de cine en casa nueva. Que proporciona una gran manera para que la gente disfrute de sus archivos de audio y video en cualquier parte del mundo. Como ustedes saben, la música y las películas son una gran parte de nuestra cultura, y las culturas de todo el mundo. Veo una oportunidad para ofrecer una manera para que la gente se conecte con su música y videos.

¿Cuándo hiciste tú la transición de crear una empresa que hoy es ya reconocida internacionalmente?
En abril de 2011 terminé el segundo año en Team y al mismo tiempo deje Apple. Empecé mi Companía e introduje este producto al mundo. Ahora tengo un grupo pequeño trabajando para mí. Recientemente ganamos el premio 2012 de Innovación de la Asociación de Consumo Electrónico (CES). Fuimos elegidos 8 en la lista de las primeras 20 companías del mundo para 2012. Hay ya cerca de 30 artículos escritos y publicados en Fortune Magazine, Business Week, USA Today, Fas Company, CNET, Home Theater Magazine (June 2012), etc. Hasta hoy, toda esta propaganda ha alcanzado a más de 30 millones de lectores.

Recientemente compartiste con el Team en San José que querías que creáramos proyectos valiosos, proyectos que impactaran miles o inclusive cientos de miles de personas, y por muchas generaciones. ¿Que sugerís que hagamos para estar en contacto con esa visión, ya que la mayoría propone proyectos pequeños que impactan solo nuestras vidas personales, o a lo sumo menos de cien personas?
Cuando empezamos Team, la mayoría de nosotros vemos el mundo como que todo lo que tenemos que hacer, lo tenemos que hacer solos. Cuando adoptamos la Definición de Team de “Construir equipos y trabajar en equipos en cualquier situación”, lo que parecía imposible cuando hacemos las cosas por nosotros mismos, es posible cuando construimos equipos y trabajamos en equipo alrededor de la situación.

Nos ponemos tantas preocupaciones en nuestros caminos, que mantenemos nuestros proyectos muy pequeños. Una sugerencia, es escribir todas las preocupaciones que tenemos acerca del proyecto. ¿Después, jugar a preguntarse “que pasaría si”, dejar que la mente considere todas las opciones, “que pasaría si esta preocupación no fuera cierta, si esta preocupación no existiera?”. ¿Que seria posible si ahora uno creara lo que quiere crear sin preocupaciones, de la nada? Lo más importante es estar permanentemente conectado a los resultados que uno quiere alcanzar – visualizando la experiencia de los resultados en la gente, el impacto positivo del proyecto en la vida de las personas. Al conectarse con el impacto positivo a crear, uno facilita la resolución de las preocupaciones y puede desplazarlas del camino. Uno sabe cuando esta conectado a un proyecto que vale la pena desarrollar cuando experimenta emociones profundas acerca del impacto que el proyecto traerá a la gente. Una vez que uno se conecta con ese impacto positivo, uno debe usar las Definiciones de Team 1 y Team 2 en construir equipos y ser la causante de leaders en el mundo que llenen ese sueño, y el sueño se hará realidad.

Cual es el proceso que usabas para resolver los problemas que se te presentaban al construir la Companía? ¿Puedes darnos ejemplos específicos de soluciones?
Anteriormente si alguien no producía, lo despedía y buscaba a alguien nuevo. Mi nueva manera de ser es de continuamente estar motivando y dando poder al equipo de manera de poder llenar y completar el sueño en equipo. Eligiendo un proyecto que me valga la pena desarrollar me obliga a usar las distinciones del Foro de Landmark y del Curriculum de Comunicaciones en cada situación y en cada lugar que es apropiado, de manera de tener conversaciones que empujan el proyecto hacia adelante y en forma exitosa.

Sistema de Teatro de Hogar Unity con la base para la TV

Lo importante es comprender que cada persona en este planeta tiene o crea su historia acerca del mundo que se interpone en sus caminos. De vez en cuando, sus historias aparecen en frente de ellos y los saca de su máxima efectividad. Este entendimiento permite a la gente vivir en su “humanidad”. Simplemente acepta lo que ellos son en cada momento, recrea la experiencia que ellos tienen, y vuelve a motivarlos y darles poder en si mismos.

Mirando hacia atrás en tu camino, tu estuviste en el Programa de Equipo, Administración y Liderazgo (TMLP) por 2 anos. Cuales son las 2 o 3 cosas mas importantes que les recomiendas a los miembros de team que desarrollen, de manera de que saquen lo mas posible del Programa?

Participa activamente en las oportunidades de “juegos” que se te presentan en cada cuatrimestre. Obtené cada oportunidad de enseñanza posible que se te presenta con tu entrenador hasta que te sientas impactado e inspirado en el juego que estas jugando – tu proyecto. Obtené entrenamiento en conectar los puntos entre tu proyecto y tus oportunidades de entrenamiento y desarrollo, y toma Acauntabilidades para los cursos de comunicación. ¿En cada sesión de tus Oportunidades de Entrenamiento y Desarrollo, observa tu proyecto y pregúntate “en que estoy frenado en las acciones que tengo que tomar?”. Y entonces trae esas preocupaciones a tu entrenador, y trae esas preocupaciones a cada Oportunidad de Entrenamiento y Desarrollo, como lugar en la cual puedes ser entrenado y desarrollado en la área que estas frenado en el proyecto, de manera de crear una transformación y poder mover lo que estás haciendo hacia adelante. Aprovecha cada oportunidad para ser responsable sin importar qué tan miedoso sea. ¡Cuanto más se puedan echar encima, lo más que crecen, y es por eso que están en el equipo!

¡No se trata de lo que tengamos que hacer o trabajar al menos cuando estamos tomando en la rendición de cuentas, se trata de soltar las cosas! Renunciar a la identidad de quien te crees que eres, y la conversación “no soy lo suficientemente bueno.” Sólo renunciar a la escucha pobre y cutre que tenemos de nosotros mismos. Cuando sueltas esto, tu liderazgo natural se mostrará.

¿De qué manera la experiencia de estar en equipo transforma tu vida?
Con mi compañía la semana pasada, en lugar de despedir a la gente que no se había realizado, mi manera vieja de operar, volví la facultad a todo el equipo para jugar a un nivel que valga la pena reproducir.

Con mi familia, he aprendido a dominar las distinciones de la educación de la señal y llevar esas distinciones para eliminar efectivamente los 35 años de la ira y ansiedad entre los dos miembros de mi familia en una sola conversación.

Todd Beauchamp, Team San José
Entrevistado por Kimchi Chow, Equipo San José
Escrito por Lindsay Tappero, Equipo San José Alumna y por Michael Pettingale, Equipo Seattle

Equipo de Traducción
– Luigi Sciupac, Equipo San Francisco
– Anne Vigneaut, Equipo Montreal
– Laura Swan, Equipo Denver
– Raquel Herrera, Equipo Chicago
– Mario A. Rodriguez, Equipo Chicago
– Mary Borja, Equipo Newport Beach
– Paola Bortoluz, Equipo Mexico

Creating Happiness for Sick Children

July 8, 2012/in 2012-06 TMLP Times, Technology /by pvadmin

By Dr. Parijat N. Goswami, Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Team India

Dr. Parijat N Goswami, Professor and Head of Microbiology has taken up a project for spreading happiness to children suffering with cancer. She is keeping the possibility of love, care and enjoyment alive for these children. She has created leaders around her, and they are working as a team with a oneness of purpose amongst them.

On March 23, 2012, Mr. Ramesh Karolkar and his team presented an entertaining drama they produced to convey to parents and children an important message around medical care. The play creates removing the many taboos and superstitions about seeking medical care. It shows how one can get the proper treatment from appropriate hospitals and doctors. The team leader, Mr. Ramesh Karolkar, is the writer, producer and director of the play. The next program in April was a program wherein the children themselves participated by storytelling and recitation of poetry. Children also listened to the poetry and stories created by the team leaders. This was followed by a wonderful birthday celebration for the children including a cutting of a special birthday cake.

The third phase of the project was on May 4, 2012. Around 65-70 children were gifted with drawing books, colouring crayons, pencils and erasers. There was a drawing competition amongst the children between 3 to 13 years old. The best three drawings were awarded prizes.

All of the children participated with zeal and enthusiasm. Over twenty children did drawings, coloured with crayons or drew pencil sketches. They all had different ideas, imaginations and visualisations created and put down on paper. First prize was received by Ms. Khushi M. Jadeja, 7 years old. Media coverage was present for the event.

Landmark Advertising

July 6, 2012/in Uncategorized /by pvadmin

Landmark Education has made a new step in advertising:

Landmark is proud to work with the NBC Owned Television Stations
as an advertiser of local coverage of the 2012 London Olympics.

Creating Smiles: Dental Care for Kids in Los Angeles

June 18, 2012/in 2012-06 TMLP Times, Technology /by pvadmin

Dr. Jay Grossman, Team Los Angeles

Dr. Grossman is a privately practicing dentist in Los Angeles with a commitment to provide free dental care to thousands of homeless men and women living in the area. Twenty years ago he started a non-profit program called Homeless not Toothless as a community project in the Self Expression and Leadership Program at Landmark Education. Over the last twenty years, his project has resulted in 2 million dollars’ worth of free dental care to the homeless of Los Angeles. Upon completing the first year of the Team, Management and Leadership Program three years ago, he had a desire to create a new project that would expand Homeless not Toothless to include providing free medical and dental care for the 28,000 children currently in the Los Angeles Foster Care Programs. Dr. Grossman is currently in his second year on Team.

Having declared wanting to do this new expansive project, he knew he could not do it alone. One of the things he mastered in the first year of Teamwas how to powerfully share and create opportunity so that someone would want to take an active role in his project. Dr. Grossman reached out to celebrities in the community. Sharon Stone is an active member of the board. Felicity Huffman and Bill Macy appear at special events and speak publicly to gather attention from the media. Many other celebrities came together to throw a huge gala fundraiser, one of the outcomes being the donation from Los Angeles County of an entire building, which is being used to create offices. Dr. Grossman’s team is responsible for staffing the doctors, dentists, and medical supplies. These professionals are not working for profit, and have their own teams of assistants.

All the while, Dr. Grossman is still the owner and a practicing dentist in his own office, where he works twenty hours a week and confidently lets the office team manage the rest. His practice wasn’t always this free and easy. Between his first and second year in the Team program, he was involved in a serious auto collision. The accident took him away not only from his project, but also from his dentistry practice for a year and a half. Thanks to the distinctions he learned on Team, Dr. Grossman’s practice continued to flourish. “Now I’m in a place where I’m clear that it’s going to powerful with or without me.”

Dr. Grossman is looking to raise a million dollars, and open the doors to his newest dental clinic in February 2013. He produces powerful results in his own practice, three businesses that he is either CEO or President of, plus running the non-profit Homeless not Toothless. He has learned to take on multiple businesses and manage them with minimal breakdowns. On how he runs five corporations having three to over a hundred team members, he says: “I can’t say it’s always easy but I’m clear there’s always a solution to get out of it…and to me that is one of the biggest breakthroughs, the ability to deal with whatever the gap is that I’m playing for in a powerful way that doesn’t slow me down.”

For more information on how you can participate, visit the website www.homelessnottoothless.org

Interview by Kimchi Chow, Team San Jose

Written by Lindsay Tappero, San Jose Alumna and

Mike Pettingale, Los Angeles

The Change Agent: Shifting the Conversation of Mexico

June 18, 2012/in 2012-06 TMLP Times, Politics /by pvadmin

mpoderando las relación México – Americanas

Words create our world. Our conversations create the context of how the world occurs to us. Relationships are born and built of conversations. So what are the words and conversations we hear in the press about Mexico? Drugs, drug cartels, violence, revenge, corruption, illegal, immigration, killings, death etc. The conversations are invariably about the problems of all those words. On these conversations we then build the relationship of America to Mexico and Mexico to America. A relationship akin to a two-way mirror so dirty and damaged we have no idea what or who we’re really looking at, so we make up what is by what we hear.Jorge Flores-Kelly for a long time had been disturbed and resigned by this terrible press image of Mexico. When he started the Team, Management and Leadership Program from Landmark Education almost two years ago he resolved to create a project that would change the nature of this conversation of Mexico.

Jorge started a blog in both English and Spanish to discuss the vibrant activity that is happening in this country of over 113 million people. Starting conversations on subjects like technology, education, art, literature, economic growth, health care , and Mexico’s international relations. The blog is called elcatalista.org in the Spanish version and thecatalist.org in English. The blog’s subtitle sets the contexts for the site: “Empowering the Mexican – American Relationship”. Here’s the genesis of his idea explained on his site thecatlist.org:

The Catalist is not a spelling mistake.

Our name is the result of the combination of two other words that define the essence of this blog:
catalyst and optimist.

catalyst n. someone or something that helps bring about a change

Since starting the blog in his participation on Team Mexico, things have really taken off for Jorge. He’s produced and presented two videos and written a book that talks about creating a powerful context to relate to Mexico. He talks about what is going right in the country, what is working and working well. The intention is that by developing a positive context for people’s conversations about the country, the general decision-making will no longer be biased by negative sensationalism.

The book, Mexico Piensa + , released in Spanish, but translated as Mexico Thinks Positively, was published in November 2011. As of this March it was sold out and the publisher was printing a second edition. One reviewer on Amazon.com had this to say about Jorge’s book:

The book is a call to action for Mexicans and an eye opener for foreigners. It also challenges the way we tend to speak about one’s self and it’s a powerful illustration of the impact words can determine our destiny and shape our view of ourselves and subsequently, others views of us.

In Mexico, Jorge’s book has been featured in more than 15 different magazines. He’s been interviewed about it and his work to shift the context of the conversation of Mexico by more than 20 different TV and radio programs. He’s been invited to speak on creating powerful contexts about Mexico and it’s citizens by Universities, the British Embassy, the Embassy of Finland, and the TEDxCondesaRoma conference.

On Team he’s developed the ability to create powerful contexts that allowed him to fulfill his dream of writing a book that is making a difference for his country. Primary for this was developing the ability to give things up or let them go. Letting go his thoughts of “I’ll write the book when I have something interesting to say”, and just starting to write it. He applies this to the country also, urging people to give up : “I’ll invest, travel, create a company, etc. when conditions are favorable..”, and instead having people understand they can create favorable conditions by informing oneself in a proactive, profound manner.

Jorge looks back over the last two years and sees how being on Team has brought opportunities and experiences to his life that he never even dreamed about. The communication tools he’s acquired and the power of team are reinventing his life. And who knows, apparently a whole country’s image as well.

Jorge’s blog in Spanish: www.elcatalista.org
and in English: www.thecatalist.org

Jorge Flores-Kelly, Team Mexico
Written by: Paola Bortoluz, Mexico, James Marchand, NY

Starting a Web Business That Connects Designers with People

June 18, 2012/in 2012-06 TMLP Times, Business and Workplace /by pvadmin

Chi explains, “It has been my dream to join the Team Management and Leadership Program (TMLP) at Landmark Education to create a business, so this is a dream come true!” And when her love for both fashion and business resulted in a fashion business with a cause — to support designers and enhance women’s beauty — the dream was complete.

In addition, Chi also holds a full-time marketing job. Just how does she do it all? “Without the team structure of TMLP and what I’ve learned from Landmark’s communication courses, this definitely would never have happened,” says Chi. At one point, Chi and her partner had not heard from the web developing team based in another country for an extended period and multiple project deadlines had been missed. Before getting this training, Chi reports she would have just written off this team and angrily started interviewing new firms. Instead, she was able to see things from the other’s viewpoint and scheduled a conversation during which she learned about what was going on with the design team, cleared out what was in the background for each of them, and agreed on how best to communicate moving forward and created an appropriate timeline.

A concrete result of this conversation is the team agreed to add a web designer to aid the coding team by preparing the html files before sending them to coders, reducing the team’s workload and offering more options to the site.

Things are now moving forward smoothly and they are keeping to the timeline created in their conversation. Chi shares “I had it in my head that the communication tools I learned only work with other people in Landmark programs — it was a huge breakthrough to take this into my life and have it work!”

Since completing the first year on Team, Chi set out to be a successful entrepreneur and she refuses to stop there. Drawing on the structures she learned on Team to create effective results, Chi incorporated them into her business. One of the structures she employs is to have a business coach listen in on her weekly call with her business partner, creating an environment where each partner feels heard and is committed to collaboration and partnership. This has transformed their conversations, allowing them to communicate without drama or making things up about the other person, while maintaining their joint focus on their promised actions and results.

In August, Chi will re-join the Team, Management and Leadership Program for a second year dedicated to the practice of empowering leaders in her business and building the leaders of Team New York. Now that Chi is consistently connected to her business team, she is able to flow with the work process and not feel frustrated or that something is wrong. “I’ve got enormous peace and freedom to do what I love to do — both with MyRentDress.com and in my full-time job,” Chi concludes. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Chi Le’s Business will be at:
www.myrentdress.com

Chi Le, Team New York

by Lisa Cerqueira, Team New England

Supporting Youth in Toronto

June 17, 2012/in 2012-06 TMLP Times, Community /by Tara TMLP NY

Razia Jeena, Team Toronto
by Lisa Cerqueira

As her son grew into his twenties, single parent Razia Jeena discovered he felt she had not been there for him as he was growing up. “It was a lack of consistency on my part,” Razia shares. “I think he was looking for a structure and for me to act as a guide.” Having moved from her native Uganda to the Toronto area twenty-five years ago, shortly before her son was born, Razia was busy figuring out how things work herself and didn’t always know how to guide her son without the familiar structures from her own childhood. “Some of the things my son does have thrown me for a loop. What youth deal with in the Western world is foreign to many immigrant families,” she confesses. “I suggested we partner up and figure things out together and he refused. He said, ‘No. You’re the parent. You figure it out.’ I felt utterly helpless.”

Participating in the communication courses offered by Landmark Education helped her to take these conversations with her son and convert them into an inquiry. “Now I’m really clear on what I need to do as a parent and, as a mom, I want to share this with other parents,” Razia says. “It breaks my heart to see youth, who have so much to contribute, be lost and dependent on others for their livelihood when they are so brilliant, so compassionate. I want to see youth be engaged. I also want to support communication and connection between parents and their children.” To address this need, Razia created Youth ‘n’ Action within the Team Management and Leadership Program (TMLP), a one-year leadership program focused on developing participants to create teams and teamwork in any situation.

Youth ‘n’ Action is an outreach program targeting young people between the ages of 14 to 24 to engage them to take positive action in their lives that supports their family, community and what matters to them. Razia and her team enlisted Scarborough-area youth organizations such as Malvern Rouge Valley Youth Services and Ontrack Career and Employment Services to create the first Discovery Session on Oct 29, 2011.

At the Discovery Session, young people are encouraged to explore their areas of interest through activities and conversation with a variety of Subject Matter Experts. They answer questions, work together to create community projects that provide concrete experience, and share suggestions on how to turn the young person’s interests into a career. Through the Discovery Sessions, some youth choose to go back to school. Razia’s team is in the process of partnering with local community colleges and high schools to facilitate this process.

Once a young person has gained experience, they are invited to become an expert in the field and a mentor for other youth. Razia describes her vision as an octopus with the core team at the center as the head and the eight arms are the youth intertwined with the community partnerships. Those being mentored today become the mentors of tomorrow. While her vision was so clear, it kept appearing to her as unfulfilled. When she looked more closely, she realized that “while I had created a team, I was only going through the motions of a team and not really utilizing them.” After that insight, she set the date for the event, created milestones by working backwards from that date, and had the team members pair up and take on separate tasks with each team being held accountable by the other, while doing their own work.

The result was a well-received initial event and additional partnerships with Centennial and Seneca College as well as with Rathika Sitsabaiesan, a Member of Parliament who has offered to speak at upcoming events and serve as a mentor. The team is also in conversation with the YMCA, Scouts Canada, and the City of Toronto Outreach workers. Their next steps include providing support to the youth who attended the first Discovery Session, creating more Discovery Sessions, increasing their outreach and marketing, and finding ways to draw parents into the mix.

“Youth ‘n’ Action is unique because we bring different youth organizations to work together towards the common goal of youth transformation, creating our leaders of tomorrow. Our goal is to transform the lives of 3,000 youth by December 31, 2013,” Razia shares. Since completing the TMLP, Razia has been engaged in conversations surrounding the next steps. She is leading the youth transformation project and meets monthly with representatives of other organizations serving youth and their families and will begin partnering with organizations to facilitate conversations with the parents of pre-teen and teenagers beginning in September.

Out of her experiences working with young people, Razia found the courage to initiate a conversation with her own son. He agreed to go to counseling with her—and while ultimately her son chose to move out, Razia has been able to let go of her guilt. “I realized that now it is my son’s journey and he gets to choose his life — no judgments. I am confident one day we will have a relationship based on mutual respect.”

Out of her experiences and her commitment to happy, empowered families, Razia continues to be a stand for parents everywhere. “It is the guilt and unfinished business where parents and the children are left feeling disempowered. I am taking a stand in my life for myself and for my son. I am coming from love rather than fear, and I am experiencing peace that I have not had for some years now.”

Créer à partir de rien: Vieux Pneus recycles en revetement de Toiture chez AmeriSlate

June 16, 2012/in 2012-06 TMLP Times, French /by Luigi Sciupac

Robert Cummins est un participant de la gestion et leadership à Landmark Programme. Robert est dans son premier trimestre dans le programme et il dit aimer “ chaque moment.”

Kimchi Chow a interviewé Robert pour découvrir comment il a démarré son projet, ce qui l’a attire dans cette nouvelle affaire, et comment sa participation dans l’Equipe de la gestion et leadership a Landmark lui as permis d’etre dans la voie du succe.

Robert tient une palette de tuiles en à partir de pneus usagés.

Quand avez-vous commencé cette entreprise, quel est votre rôle dans l’entreprise et quel est le produit?
J’ai debute cette idée d’entreprise; il y a un peu plus de deux ans: l’idée originale est venue de mon partenaire. Je suis essentiellement “l’executant” je mets les composants en place pour realiser la vente de ce produit, et l’etablissement d’un plan de gestion. J’ai ete nomme : Chef de direction et President. Le but de la société est de prendre les pneus qui sont généralement jettes en décharges qui fournissent des matieres inertes qui ne se décomposent pas, pour les recycler en matériaux de construction.

Le produit actuel est appelé AmeriSlate. Il s’agit d’un materiel de revetement de toiture qui, initialement vient des composants de vieux pneus qui sont recyclés en material pour le revetement de toitures. Ce nouveau material est utilise pour sa longévité, il fournit une excellente et solide isolation tout en etant impermeable aux UV. En effet, j’ai transperce un ecrou de chemin de fer dans notre produit: resultat etonnant, aucune fuite, il est auto-obturant! AmeriSlate est resistant a la grêle et aux plus grandes. Par exemple, chaque année, Des centaines de millions de dollars de dommages sont causes par les empêtes de grêle au Texas. Les compagnies d’assurance offrent souvent des taux de réductions pour encourager la pause de ce type de toiture resistant a toutes les intemperies.

Qu’est-ce qui vous a inspiré pour démarrer cette affaire avec votre partenaire?
C’est un produit génial. il apporte solutions aux idees qui me sont importantes et fournit une solution à un certain nombre de problèmes de l’ environnement.

Avec ce produit nous pouvons effectivement éliminer le carbone negatif. Ce produit fournit materiaux de construction pour le logement, des projets pour les sans-abri à des organisations comme “Beautiful Day” et des groupes similaires.

Chaque année aux États-Unis, Plus de 350 millions de pneus sont jetés dans les decharges. Le material des pneus ne se décomposent pas. La transformation de ses pneus en material de toiture ou batiment peuvent totalement transformer notre environment. AmeriSlate est partenaire avec une entreprise Australienne qui produit des revêtements de toiture qui ont jusqu’à 91% thermique réflectivité. En Australie, en raison de l’appauvrissement de la couche d’ozone, quatre personnes sur cinq développent des cancers de la peau. En utilisant les materiaux d’ AmeriSlate ils peuvent se proteger des UV, réduire incroyablement les consommations de chauffage, et d’air climatise.
Par exemple, en utilisant AmeriSlate materiaux une personne a Sacramento (Californie) a réduit durant les mois d’été sa facture d’électricité de $ 200 par mois.

Pensez-vous que ces materiaux de revetement de toiture surpasseront les materiaux traditionnels?
Oui. Ces materiaux sont beaucoup plus légers que l’ardoise, à une fraction du coût, ils possedent de meilleures propriétés thermiques, et susceptible de durer un siècle. C’est un produit vert.

Que pensez-vous accomplir avec ce projet durant votre premier trimestre dans l’équipe, Gestion et Leadership Program?
J’ai l’objectif d’amasser un montant de 1,3 millions de dollars de capitaux pour le financement de ce produit. Actuellement, je suis en contact avec trois investisseurs. Un d’entre eux: Erin, m’a introduit à un autre participant de l’équipe qui travaillait dans un projet différent, nous avons commencé a discuter de nos projets courants comme une activité secondaire. Il s’avère qu’elle avait debute dans l’équipe avec pour objectif d’assembler un demi million de dollars avant la fin de sa première année. Durant son troisième trimestre dans “Team”, apres avoir amassé le montant incroyable de 1,4 millions de dollars elle a décidé de quitter le programme pour commencer son affaire. Tres rapidement, son entreprise a atteint 20 millions de dollars qu’elle a revendue, aussitot. De retour dans l’équipe elle se consacre a aider les autres entreprises à demarrer leur affaires en mettant l’infrastructure en place pour assurer leur succès.

Le pouvoir d’être dans Team est le suivant: en travaillant avec votre équipe, vous vous liez aux personnes qui vous entourent, ces personnes sont des enegies qui viennent illuminer vos “points morts” ou vous aider avec vos carrences. L’ équipe est la pour soutenir vos idees, votre transformation. Chaque personne de l’équipe developpe ses forces et connaissances personnelles qu’elle partage pour assurer la realisation de votre projet ainsi que de votre croissance.

Que recommanderez-vous à d’autres avec un même projet, si ils sont obliges de soulever des fonds ou de rechercher des investisseurs?
Impliquez-vous dans l’équipe, de gestion et de leadership Programme! Partager. Mettez votre projet en cours. Parlez-en. Nous nous inspirons des autres et nous inspirons les autres quand nous partageons qui nous sommes et quels sont les membres de notre équipe!

Vous avez dû relever des défis de construction de cette entreprise. Quels sont quelques exemples?
Mon plus grand défi, c’est moi. Un exemple de ceci est que j’ai toujours eu le besoin de tout comprendre avant d’entreprendre quelque chose de nouveau. Ceci vraiment limite les possibilites. Lorsque j’ai debute le Forum a Landmark, j’ai vu clairement que je devais laisser tomber ce concept et commencer a agir dans le monde de l’action.

Maintenant, je prends chaque étape comme elle vient sans avoir besoin de connaitre tous les aboutissants. Creant mon propre monde avec mes mots et actions, ainsi tous les elements se mettent en place. Nul ne doit avoir tout compris avant d’entreprendre un project, un plan, une affaire.

Comment avez vous fait en sorte que ce projet aille de l’avant?
Je connais fort bien ma tendance de vouloir tout connaitre, tout penser, tout mettre en oeuvre d’abord, et lorsque je me vois aller dans cette direction, je me ressaisis et commence a prendre des mesures. Ce qui est vraiment stimulant c’est la confiance dans les relations que j’ai avec mon équipe. Demander leur aide, leur soutien, leur savoir faire, plutôt que de m’enliser a touver toutes les solutions, a vouloir tout comprendre. Quand je suis perdu ou paralyse, ils me ramènent à l’action.

Que voyez-vous dans la valeur de l’équipe de Gestion et Leadership Program?
Je me souviens quand j’ai décidé de faire le programme apres une longue conversation avec Todd [Beauchamp] qui m’a demontre toutes les possibilites. Je suis seulement dans mon premier trimestre, et je peux dire que je n’avais aucune idée de ce qu’etait ce programme vraiment. Il s’agit d’une impressionante l’expérience et la façon dont je me vois a changée. Je pensais etre effectif avec le management de mon emploi du temps, a present je m’apercois mon inefficacite avec le nombre d’heures que je perdais chaque jour

Lorsque, j’ai un bloc de temps disponible, je pense, “Comment puis- je utiliser ce temps de manière efficace? “Chaque decision est maintenant consciente” A present, je pense, “Je pourrais le faire“ Cette mentalité d’etre sans cesse en action est très puissante.

Avez-vous tout ce que vous avez besoin maintenant pour réussir dans votre projet?
Si cette question m’etais posee avant mes cours a Landmark Education, j’aurai dit: «Non, Je n’ai pas ce dont j’ai besoin. “ Maintenant, après avoir pris le Cours du Landmark Forum, et les Cours de Communication, je me rends compte que je ne possede pas tout ce dont j’ai besoin. Cependant j’ai acquis une grande confiance avec les outils qui m’ont ete donne, a chaque instant, je cree, les choses, les rapports, les connections dont j’ai besoin.

Quelle est la seule chose que vous recommandez aux gens pour qu’ils puissent trouver leur passion, comme avez vous trouvé la vôtre?
Ils doivent se demander ce qu’il dans leur vie crée l’excitation, l’amour et l’affinité. Qu’est-ce qui les motive des leur reveil? Qu’est-ce qui vous permet de trouver un sens à ce que vous faites? Quelle est cette chose? Puis parler avec les gens de vos idees, faconner vos idees vos reves, faites parler votre coeur votre ame, transformer les en réalité.

Robert Cummins, Équipe San Jose
Propos recueillis par Kimchi Chow, Équipe San Jose
Écrit par Valri Castleman, Équipe San Jose et ancienne élève

L’équipe de traduction
– Luigi Sciupac, Équipe San Francisco
– Anne Vigneaut, Équipe Montréal
– Michelle Habib, Équipe San Jose

Archive for year: 2012

Chi Le, Team New York

by Lisa Cerqueira, Team New England