Effective Learning for Growth

03/24/2025

PQ Mental Fitness Breakfast
What’s “mental fitness?” Your capacity to respond to life’s challenges with a positive rather than negative mindset. Mental Fitness builds your resilience, improves performance, improves relationships, and manages stress.
Why should I come? You will learn a fast, effective way to stop your stress and take control of your mental and emotional reactions.
What will happen there? You’ll get an overview of a powerfully simple approach to taking charge of your mental life. You'll learn how this works and what results to expect
Where? Rotary Building, 809 Johnston St, Greenville NC 27858
When? Tuesday, March 25, 7:30-8:30 AM
Do I need to register? Yes, so I’ll know how many to expect. Here’s the link:

Join us for a morning of mental fitness exercises and a healthy breakfast to kickstart your day!

03/12/2025

Positive Intelligence (PQ) – What RESULTS?
For those who are wondering whether PQ can bring positive change to your organization, here’s part 1 of the results it brings, This is from their website –


At the Greenville Rotary building, I’m doing a “breakfast & learn” session on how this all works.
Here’s a link for more information and signup – It’s Tuesday, March 25, at 7:30, and everyone who attends will leave with a new way to stop stress quickly, on demand.
https://PQMF.eventbrite.com

02/24/2025

Breakfast event on Mental Fitness - Postponed for One Month!

In Positive Intelligence (PQ) we learn to see every situation as a gift or opportunity. It's an important part of the Sage perspective that enables resilience, one of the key benefits of PQ.

So about 2 weeks ago, I decided to put on a breakfast event tomorrow, 2/25. I set it up on EventBrite, arranged the location, and started telling people about it.

Nobody signed up to come. That's OK - what I'm learning from this is less than 2 weeks isn't enough time to get the word out and generate interest.

I also learned not to get sidetracked by Facebook trolls. Three of them messaged me that my Facebook account would be deleted within minutes of when I tried to set up a Facebook ad for it, and all were phishing attempts. It was enough to keep me from advertising it more carefully, adding LinkedIn promotion, and targeting the ads to the folks I most want to help: early-career leaders who may be struggling with overwhelm and adjusting to the inevitable frustrations and conflicts of leadership.

So I'll be writing more about what PQ has done for me and others I know well, publicizing the event on MARCH 25, and I look forward to learning how to effectively put on this sort of event.

02/17/2025

You’ve got Saboteurs!
Ever had a conversation go wrong, and it ruined your whole morning?
Ever make a mistake and keep “beating yourself up” about it?
You’ve got Saboteurs! Those things you say to yourself that
• Keep you upset/angry/annoyed
• Keep an argument going in your head long after it’s over
• Minimize your achievements, maximize your harsh self-critic
• Magnify others’ mistakes and exaggerate your blaming
• Compulsively insist on perfection
• Can’t stand to have anyone around you upset
• Keep you procrastinating
…All these (and more!) are from your Saboteurs.
So, what are these Saboteurs? What can you do about them?
I’m doing a “Breakfast & Learn” on PQ Mental Fitness next Tuesday, Feb 25, at the Rotary Building in Greenville.
At it, you will learn who your Saboteurs are, where they came from, and why they torment you.
You’ll learn what you can do about them – and how to stop stress quickly.
You’ll do some PQ Reps and start to train your brain to relax and release stress – on demand!
I’m asking people to sign up in advance so I’ll know how much breakfast to bring – here’s the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/.../pq-mental-fitness...

02/07/2025

PQ Mental Fitness Breakfast! I've decided to repeat an event I did in June 2023. Why? Because I want to bring PQ Mental Fitness to more people in Greenville - and beyond, if virtual.
PQ Mental Fitness is an app-based coaching program that is the most powerful tool for profound change I've found. It can change lives in weeks, and the effect continues. For a couple of clients that are still pursuing bi-weekly group coaching sessions, it's become a way of life that's resulted in better resilience, lower stress, a calmer way of life, and better productivity. One manufacturing client says the difference in how the participants handle client crises is still quite notable, after over a year.

So I've decided to do an event, Feb 25, at 7:30 at the Rotary Building, 809 Johnston St, Greenville, NC. I'll provide breakfast, there's plenty of parking, and all who attend will leave with the ability to take command of their stress with PQ Reps.

I'll also review how this works for individuals and organizations, the research basis for all this, and how it has effected those who tried it.

03/05/2024

PQ Mental Fitness - it's powerfully simple!
Last week I integrated some basics of the Mental Fitness program into the Problem Solving course I teach in nearby community colleges. Everybody got it, liked it, started using it right away!
I may be doing another "breakfast & learn" soon to start another pod in Greenville soon - so watch for the announcement!

05/10/2023

What's PQ Mental Fitness Coaching? A new program that builds practice - lots of practice! - into the simple, brilliant strategy to get more control of your mind so you can stress less, and be more productive, creative, and happy.

I will be doing a Breakfast Preview of this new structured program in June - the time & date are still being firmed up. Those who come to the preview will
- Recognize "saboteurs" in our heads that hold us back and create stress
- Learn & practice a FAST way to de-stress
- Hear some concrete cases where this worked and made a big positive change
- See how it simplifies neuroscience and positive psychology research to make it USEFUL
- Have a nice breakfast in good company, and
- Have some FUN with it!

I intend to start offering this "fast start" coaching program this summer in Greenville (and virtually). I went through the six-week program in a "pod" led by my friend Steve Semler - and wow!

So watch for the date & time, and it's fine to ask more about it here!

09/22/2021

Had an interesting insight from a customer in MN today. He had a candidate take the Talexes MX as a pre-employment assessment, and the match was great - 96% for the job profile.

The MX has a "candor score" and in this case it was remarkably low, meaning that the candidate was trying to "psych" the test by guessing what the "right" answers for the position should be.

Job market being what it is, my customer decided to take a chance, and hired the candidate anyway. The candidate was hired, showed up for the first day of work, and never showed up or responded to calls or emails again.

The Talexes MX candor score identifies those who are not answering as who they are. There's no fooling it.

That means it shows a hiring manager what they couldn't otherwise see. You see the "tip of the iceberg" in an interview process - MX shows you the rest.

08/20/2021

Webcast on Wednesday - "Hire the Best!" - back by popular demand!

Who Should Attend?
Anyone impacted by the hiring process needs to attend. If you think someone else would benefit from this email - please forward it to the appropriate person.

Why Attend?
During this 45 minute session, you will be introduced to systems and methods for hiring productive, profitable people. It will help you reduce turnover, people-problems, and other profit killers.

You Will Learn How to:
• Maximize your workforce potential
• Tailor your hiring process to the Millennial generation
• Maximize the effectiveness of your interviews
• Leverage innovative sources for finding candidates
• Hire the right person the first time
Benefits:
• Increase productivity and raise profitability
• Increase employee engagement
• Improve your competitive position
• Reduce turnover
• Prevent bad hires
• Improve morale
This is Purely an Educational Webinar.
This seminar is offered as a complimentary educational service. Not only will you leave with the latest information about hiring people who will perform at the highest level, but as a way of saying thank you for attending you’ll will be provided a guide for improving your interviews – “Interviewing Best Practices: Mastering Your Q’s and A’s.”

Register Now
Use the following link to register (makes sure you use the REGISTRATION CODE: CAL100 ): https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__xWzbMsWREKqFL8kv9l7ig

02/16/2021

This event is great! Lively speaker, packed full of useful content to help you Hire the Best! If you're involved in hiring and want to get the best fit possible in the people you talk to, this is a "can't miss!"