From Workplace to Playspace. Innovating, Learning and Changing Through Dynamic Engagement

Achieve a fully engaged workforce What if every single employee-every single one-worked in their dream job, utilized their best talents, worked with an inspirational leader and was fully engaged in their role? For companies, this scenario leads to breakthroughs in productivity, customer service, profitability, and shareholder value. For individuals, it means better health, stronger relationships with family and friends, and greater happiness. We sketches the landscape of today's changing job environment and gives managers and individual employees alike a road map to full engagement. Anchored with specific metrics, based on studies of 2 million people, includes engagement, retention, customer loyalty, and profitability Scientific research and academic insights are translated into actionable steps Authors have extensive experience in cutting-edge human resources solutions Achieve breakthrough results for yourself and your organization with the power of full engagement from We.

Integrate your mobile marketing program and take your brand to the next level Mobile marketing is finally entering the forefront of the marketing realm as megabrands roll out million-dollar budgets and small businesses have turned to the channel for its affordability, measurability, and repeatable successes in producing sales and driving engagement and loyalty. Through insights from bold industry visionaries and fellow mobile pioneers, Mobilized Marketing takes readers through campaigns worth repeating and others that are not. Learn the many roads that marketers can take and the proven strategies and tactics that move products and build loyalty through the consumer's most personal device. With examples from the more than 130,000 campaigns developed by mobile marketing leader Hipcricket, Mobilized Marketing breaks down how brands of all sizes have performed in their mobile efforts—why some have failed and how others bravely turned to mobile. Demonstrates how to integrate mobile into marketing programs and how to effectively measure it Explains how to make your existing marketing spends work harder Delivers step-by-step instructions on how to optimize campaigns in real-time Shows how to determine which mobile tactics are keepers and which are not It's time to mobilize your marketing programs and drive your profits to new heights.

Praise for Whole Church «Mel is a thoughtful analyst of church life today. Best of all—he actually does what he writes about. This book can lead to new levels of engagement for your church.» —John Ortberg, author and pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church «Mel Lawrenz's vision of a local church that actually reflects the wholeness and beauty of God as it engages with the Lord, one another, and the community is a much-needed call back to God's original Plan A – a plan that has too often been cast aside in the name of specialization, church growth, and expediency.» —Larry Osborne, North Coast Church, and author, Sticky Church and Spirituality for the Rest of Us «Wow! This book is for every Christian leader who wants to move their church from a narrow self-focus to active engagement in the world with all the resources and possibilities of heaven.» —Mike Slaughter, Ginghamsburg Church «While Mel Lawrenz's 'four kinds of engagement' aims at congregational application, it also creates a template that individual Jesus-followers can use for self-evaluation of what it means to be the church today. The final 'dynamics' section is worth the price of admission for church leaders.» —Reggie McNeal, author, The Present Future and Missional Renaissance «Having known Mel Lawrenz for thirty-five years in various capacities as student, intern, colleague, and eventual successor as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church, I can testify to his keen mind, his profound respect for and knowledge of history, his forward-looking curiosity, and his undoubted communication gifts. Add all these to his many years as a seasoned practitioner of church ministry, and the result is this very helpful book, Whole Church.» —Stuart Briscoe, author, Flowing Streams and broadcaster, Telling the Truth

The Challenges and Joys of Juggling There has been growing demand for workshops and materials to help those in higher education conduct and use the scholarship of teaching and learning. This book offers advice on how to do, share, and apply SoTL work to improve student learning and development. Written for college-level faculty members as well as faculty developers, administrators, academic staff, and graduate students, this book will also help undergraduate students collaborating with faculty on SoTL projects. Though targeted at those new to the field of SoTL, more seasoned SoTL researchers and those attempting to support SoTL efforts will find the book valuable. It can be used as an individual reading, a shared reading in SoTL writing circles, a resource in workshops on SoTL, and a text in seminars on teaching. Contents include: Defining SoTL The functions, value, rewards, and standards for SoTL work Working with colleagues, involving students, writing grants, integrating SoTL into your professional life, and finding useful resources Practical and ethical issues associated with SoTL work Making your SoTL public and documenting your work The status of SoTL in disciplinary and institutional contexts Applying the goals of SoTL to enhance student learning and development.

By attending to the adult learning that takes place through more collaborative approaches to leadership, this volume draws upon scholars who understand leadership as more participatory, transformative, generative, and democratic. Looking beyond position-based individual leadership it captures how adults learn through the diverse actions, processes, and strategies collaborative leaders employ to bring about change. Drawing from scholarship and practice, this sourcebook weaves theory with the authors' experiences by showcasing real-life examples of collaborative leadership in a variety of contexts including community, healthcare, secondary, and post-secondary education. It also provides a range of creative strategies—such as playbuilding, coaching, fostering global partnerships, and ensemble leadership—as well as indigenous and feminist perspectives on leadership. This sourcebook will support adult educators seeking to promote learning through more collaborative approaches to leadership and engagement in a variety of settings. Readers will benefit by deepening their understanding of how leadership is not only enacted among individuals, but how it is also expressed in collective ways of thinking, doing, being, knowing, and learning. This is the 156th volume of the Jossey Bass series New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Noted for its depth of coverage, it explores issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, and policymakers in a broad range of education settings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums.

How to optimize educational spaces and teaching practices for more effective learning Author David Thornburg, an award-winning futurist and educational consultant, maintains that in order to engage all students, learning institutions should offer a balance of Campfire spaces (home of the lecture), Watering Holes (home to conversations between peers), Caves (places for quiet reflection), and Life (places where students can apply what they've learned). In order to effectively use technology in the classroom, prepare students for future careers, and incorporate project-based learning, all teachers should be moving from acting as the «sage on the stage» to becoming the «guide on the side.» Whether you are a school administrator interested in redesigning your school or a teacher who wants to prepare better lessons, From the Campfire to the Holodeck can help by providing insight on how to: Boost student engagement Enable project-based learning Incorporate technology into the classroom Encourage student-led learning From the Campfire to the Holodeck is designed to help schools move from traditional lecture halls (Campfires) where students just receive information to schools that encourage immersive student-centered learning experiences (Holodecks).

An insightful, compassionate account of the grieving process that helps us through the pain and isolation experienced with the loss of a loved one.. We're never really prepared for the loss of someone we love. Thrown into a state of emotional chaos we experience rage, guilt, anxiety, and intense sadness all at once. It's the oldest story in the world, we tell ourselves – millions of people have had to cope with this before – and yet, we always believe that what we are experiencing is unique to us. We feel isolated in our anguish and often ashamed of what we are feeling. A profoundly compassionate and insightful book, Surviving Grief. & Learning to Live Again offers you the support and understanding you need to get you through this difficult time. Written by Dr. Catherine Sanders, a therapist and researcher specializing in bereavement issues and one who has lived through the loss of close family members, it helps you to see that what you are feeling is part of a natural process of readjustment and renewal. According to Dr. Sanders, grieving, like any other natural regenerative process, must be allowed to run its proper course if we are ever to regain our equilibrium and continue on with our lives. To help us better understand the process, she describes the five universal phases of grief: Shock, Awareness of Loss, Conservation and The Need to Withdraw, Healing, and Renewal, and guides us through each. Drawing directly from her own experiences and those of her clients and her research studies, she delves deeply and compassionately into the different experiences of grief, and talks about what it means to lose a mate, a parent, or a child. And she discusses the factors that can have an influence on the grieving process, such as age, gender, and the circumstances surrounding the loved one's death.

In Energy Leadership, renowned coach Bruce D. Schneider teaches how to understand the most important personal resource of all – energy, and shows how to harness it to achieve success in the workplace, the home, and in the world at large. This engaging and fast-paced story clearly explains how managers and leaders from all walks of life can use the principles of Energy Leadership to inspire themselves and others to achieve extraordinary results in whatever they do. The author provides insight into a cutting edge coaching process he has developed, which has positively impacted the lives of tens of thousands of people in both the corporate and private sectors. You will learn how to: Recognize the seven distinct levels that are the key to understanding why everyone thinks and acts the way they do, in life and specifically within the workplace. Distinguish truly effective leaders from those who deplete the energy of the people around them, and specific techniques to shift energy levels to inspire peak performance. Become powerful leaders who motivate themselves and others to reach their true potential. Identify the Big Four Energy Blocks and discover proven techniques and strategies for overcoming these and other obstacles to success. Develop the ability to shift internal energy to meet any leadership challenge, and use this newfound power to inspire respect, confidence, and loyalty in others. If you always try to inspire others but sometimes feel like something?s missing, something is. Energy Leadership puts you in touch with the missing link between your ambitions and your ability to achieve them.

Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy Psychological Safety at Work: How to Ensure Learning and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent—but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of “fitting in” and “going along” spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing. This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation. Explore the link between psychological safety and high performance Create a culture where it’s “safe” to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes Nurture the level of engagement and candor required in today’s knowledge economy Follow a step-by-step framework for establishing psychological safety in your team or organization Shed the “yes-men” approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. Psychological Safety at Work: How to Ensure Learning and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy helps you bring about this most critical transformation.

A non-biased, grounded, and practical approach to employee engagement For managers and business leaders who want to enhance performance, this easy-to-use guide to employee management offers real solutions for getting workers engaged and increasing productivity. It explains what employee engagement is, why it matters, what the benefits of it are, what helps and hinders it, how to measure it, how to put theory into action when trying to create it. As an added benefit, it offers plenty of advice on how managers can keep themselves engaged, even during the toughest of times.