Special Message from President for Current Class

Dear Alumni of Leadership Thunder Bay,

My name is Herpreet Lamba and I am the incoming President of Leadership Thunder Bay for the 2009-2010 year. I have been involved with the organization for many years now and I am really excited about the year ahead for the organization.

The purpose of my email is to inspire our alumni to support our wonderful organization as we approach our annual AGM on November 10th, 2009. Over the years our alumni has been instrumental in the success of our program as most of our new participants into the program come by way of referral from former graduates, and I thank you all for the continued support.

My goal is to have 100% of our alumni (currently 126) become financial supporters of our organization.

Achieving this status would significantly assist us in our efforts to secure donations and sponsorships from other community members. This goal of 100% is a significant challenge.

In an effort to help us achieve this goal, I pledge to donate $7.00 for every alumnus who donates to our organization before November 6th (why this date - it is 4 days before our AGM and I would like to announce our support at that event).

Please note, this is a per person match. Therefore, it does not matter if you donate $1, or $1,000, each donation will count the same. As we all learned in our classes, it's not the dollar amount that matters, but whether you are participating. I respect the fact that even the most modest donation may be a financial strain for some, so I have not tied this pledge to dollars, but rather to people. This is as much about participation as it is about fundraising.

So I ask that you consider accepting this challenge and consider supporting Leadership Thunder Bay. I look forward to being able to announce 100% alumni support at this year's AGM on November 10th, and to having you celebrate this achievement with us.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email me directly.

Sincerely,

Herp Lamba
herp.lamba@investorsgroup.com

Applications now being accepted for the 2010-2011 program year. Space is limited so apply early!

For more information visit our website at www.leadershiptb.com

"IdeA-Z" Mag-Oh-Zine For You

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2009

As Always, An Alphabetical "A"

Welcome to IdeA-Z, your mag-guide to strategies and creative solutions, break throughs for mind-boggling crunches and -guaranteed - finding the funny when you're stuck.

Each TUESDAY - your highest LEVERAGE day of the week (when you're most productive and alert!), IdeA-Z will showcase ways to get unstuck and unbogged. Let's just say, if you stay with me through to Z, your creative genius will be living with your creative muse. Now THAT's a partnership!

A = Alert

Being Alert is so obvious, you might not even notice when you're not. We'll cover the flip side - the Alpha State - next week, when being oblivious becomes the strategy.

You might think that you see everything around you, all the time. Truth be told, you don't. Perception plays a huge role in how your brain connects old information to new, and ping pongs unrelated info in your thought channels. Your brain runs on limited energy (a 40 kw lightbulb's worth), so it tries to save energy by discarding ideas and knowledge as quickly as possible. Conscious Alertness increases your ability to perceive the world around you. Your thinking energy is focussed.

"Limited perception" is the number one reason that your creativity falls flat. Dis-Alert, Un-Alert, Non-Alert, Alert-less...lights on, no-one home...

Here's an example: take a really close look at the photo in this blog. Stare at it for a while. Notice anything unusual?

Hundreds of students walk through this University's stupendous building regularly. Do they see the reflections created to enhance the structure by the architect? Most don't... because their minds are tuned into other channels of thought. They take advantage of the "Function" of the buidling and miss the beauty - the "Form" - as it was originally imagined in the designer's own mind's eye.

Here's your "Creativity" homework assignment for today:

Go for a 10 minute walk. Outside. Stop by a leafy tree or kneel down on the grass. Find a spot - a 2x2 square - to stare at. As you look deeper and deeper, tiny details will emerge - life in the veins and the blades. It doesn't appear immediately. Or, try this: sit on a sidewalk. When is the last time you stopped to stare at an ant carrying a gigantic load?

You can apply the same method to solving a problem.

• Go beyond the surface information;
• challenge your perceptions about what's going on, and stop defending your own point of view.
• Look for the solutions from other directions. (What if you were the ant - what load would you be carrying - where? why? for how long?).
• The Alert State of mind brings you into the "now", and as you know, that's all you have: right?

Kids are Alert naturally. They pay attention to everything, don't they? They question, instead of relying on what they perceive to be true.

Link your childhood curiosity to your adult Alertness, and you'll find that your perceptions will expand. Solutions become more obvious...

Become A-LERT - we need more lerts!

See you next week for "ALPHA States"!

- Maggie

PS: Last week's photo: Yes, a Diner! Congrats to our Hawaiian winner.

We Are Naturally Off the Wall

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine iCopyright 2009

Welcome Home!

You might have noticed that the lights were on, but no-one was home all summer. Yes, we took a break from the Blog and Twitter and Linkedin... but that's not to say we weren't productive!

The "we" isn't the proverbial royal "we"... my sidekick Richard - or am I his? - and I team up on a number of projects. That wasn't the plan when we were married 2 years ago. Rick retired as a most loved English and Math teacher, and basketball coach and then discovered photography. Funny thing, since I grew up in a photographer's family and spent most of my childhood Saturdays posing for my dad or hand-colouring portraits of brides. That too was a family affair.

So Rick takes great pride in displaying his latest shots, while I use my specialty - creativity - to fit a story to the picture he sends me each week for this blog as well as the Leadership Blog at www.xowhat.blogspot.com.

For the next few months, our focus will be on "how to do and be innovation". My background is in strategic systems thinking, where innovation and leadership reign. We're calling it "IdeA-Z".

We hope that these tips and examples will inspire and amuse you but most of all, help you to get unstuck or un-bogged or feeling like you can solve the problem another way.

Our self-portrait in this issue is an example of just being "off the wall" and doing something which most people wouldn't notice. If you look closely at the photo, you might notice a variety of "systems" at play.

If you can tell us where we posed for this photo (not the exact location, but what kind of structure), I'll not only stand and applaud you, but send a fave surprise by snail mail. Use the comment link below.

See you Tuesdays, and thanks for being "home" with us!

- Maggie