General: 10 New Leadership Activities from CADA 2012

Just got home from another tremendous trip to California for the annual CADA state convention. What an amazing group of activities directors, teachers, administrators and staff. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of the CADA family.

Click here to download my handout from my Saturday Meet The Pros roundtable.  It contains ten of my newest leadership activities that I lead in my own keynotes, workshops, camps and conferences.

CADA attendees: click here to access the CADA-only page of our web site, including the links to purchase our PLI curriculum at a 20% discount.

Teaching PLI: How to use Delicious in Your Leadership Class

General: Activities for your Leadership Class Series (Part 3)

This is the third post in a new series sharing many of our favorite leadership activities we do with our audience members across the nation. Each activity has a proven track record since we actually present at over 300 conferences, retreats, school assemblies and corporate events every year and have for the past 20 years.  Enjoy and feel free to share via Facebook, Twitter or email with your network of friends, teachers, trainers, speakers or absolute complete strangers!  (We are @pli_leadership on Twitter.)


Balloon Toss

PLI Essential – Fostering Relationships, Wise Judgment, Goal Processing

Objective – For each team to keep as many balloons off the ground as possible

Time Needed – From 45 - 60 minutes

Material Needed – 12” round Balloons, Trash Sacks

Best Case Scenario – At least a few teams of 8 people and room to play

When not to do it – If there isn’t any floor space to work with

Debrief Possibilities – This activity teaches how to work with others, how to overcome challenges, how to recognize and work with human behavior patterns, how to communicate, how to plan strategically, and to not be satisfied with status quo

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Each team of 8 gets 1 sack of balloons (3 more balloons than people in the group, i.e. if there are 8 people in the group they will need 11 balloons) and 1 trash sack.

2. Each person must put their strongest hand behind their back and they cannot use it at any time during the activity (except for the feeder).

3. Each team selects a feeder.  The feeder holds the trash sack.

4.Blow up all the balloons and put them in the trash sack.

5.The team needs to figure out how they are going to keep the balloons off the ground by only tapping or nudging them.

6.The feeder will take a balloon out of the sack and feed it to the team at 10-second intervals.

7.Once a balloon touches the ground, the team must sit down and try again after all teams have been seated and the activity leader re-starts everyone. 

8.This process can continue as long as time allows or until the teams have completed the task.

One of our most popular curriculum pieces is The Activator.  It contains this activity, as well as 49 other effective leadership activities!

Purchase Activator Here

General: Activities for your Leadership Class Series (Part 2)

This is the second post in a new series sharing many of our favorite leadership activities we do with our audience members across the nation. Each activity has a proven track record since we actually present at over 300 conferences, retreats, school assemblies and corporate events every year and have for the past 20 years.  Enjoy and feel free to share via Facebook, Twitter or email with your network of friends, teachers, trainers, speakers or absolute complete strangers!  (We are @pli_leadership on Twitter.)

Super Shaper

PLI Essential – Integrity, Innovativeness, Fostering Relationships, Goal Processing

Objective – For each team to design all of the shapes using only their bodies

Time Needed – 20-30 minutes

Material Needed – List of possible shapes, Music

When not to do it – When the students aren’t in teams

Debrief Possibilities – This activity is primarily just a fun roller-coaster ride for the students, but it does speak to their integrity in playing the game since it is so hectic, it is very easy for the students to cut corners and not get noticed.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Have students in a team pick one runner and then sit in a tight circle on the floor.

2. Explain the rules: When the activity starts (music starts) each runner will come to the activity leader and receive their first shape.

3. The runner will go back to the team and tell them the shape.  The team must make the shape, using only there bodies and hold that position for 10 seconds.

4. After the 10 seconds is up, the runner will come back to the leader, tell the leader the shape they just made and receive their next shape…repeat as many times as desired.

Shape Examples

Square
Christmas tree
Barn
Stop sign
Airplane
Horse
Circle
Computer
Rectangle

One of our most popular curriculum pieces is The Activator.  It contains this activity, as well as 49 other effective leadership activities!

Purchase Activator Here

General: Activities for your Leadership Class Series (Part 1)

This is the first post in a new series sharing many of our favorite leadership activities we do with our audience members across the nation. Each activity has a proven track record since we actually present at over 300 conferences, retreats, school assemblies and corporate events every year and have for the past 20 years.  Enjoy and feel free to share via Facebook, Twitter or email with your network of friends, teachers, trainers, speakers or absolute complete strangers!  (We are @pli_leadership on Twitter.)


Clumps

PLI Essential – Fostering Relationships

Objective – To get into the right clump

Time Needed – 10-20 minutes

Best Case Scenario – An open area with 15 – 100 students

Debrief Possible – It teaches how people are different in many regards and how we shouldn’t judge people on their differences.  We should instead recognize and appreciate differences and find points of similarity to create mutual interests, points of conversation and friendship building blocks.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Everyone gets up in the open area.

2. The point of the game is to get in a clump.

3. A clump is a circle of people with their arms interlocked.

4. Participants know how to clump up based on the “descriptor” the activity leader gives.

5. Participants know which clump to get into based on communicating with others to find people that are like them.

6. For example, when the activity leader yells out eye color, all the blue eyes get in a clump, all the green eyes, brown eyes, etc.

7. There cannot be “split clumps.”  For example, if shoe size is the descriptor, all the 10’s have to be together, all the 9’s, etc.  There cannot be two clumps of 6’s or two clumps of 8’s, etc.

8. Once all the clumps have been formed, the activity leader will give another descriptor.

9. Numbers can also be used to form the clumps instead of descriptors.  The activity leader can say 5 and everyone gets in clumps of 5 people.

10. To take the game one step further, once the clumps are made, have everyone go around and briefly introduce themselves to the other people in their clump.  The brief intros can be name, hometown, and favorite hobby.

11. Once the leader feels like the game has gone long enough, a great way to end it is to have everyone get in one big clump (by using the descriptor of “who is here today”).  Once they are in one big circle, the leader can stand in the middle and talk about how everyone is different, but there are certain points of similarity.  Point out the fact that everyone in the room has what it takes to be a positive leader.  This is also a good time to preview what will happen next, as the leader will have their attention.

12. To add an element of competition to this game, have everyone get in a clump before the leader says Stop.  All the people who are not in a clump or are in an illegal clump (like a split clump) have to sit down.  So, the leader would say get in clumps by your age.  Then say go, let them scramble, and then say stop.  Everyone not in a clump has to sit down.  Keep going until the group has been narrowed down to 3 or 4. 

One of our most popular curriculum pieces is The Activator.  It contains this activity, as well as 49 other effective leadership activities!

Purchase Activator Here

Teaching PLI: 10 Essential Leadership Questions

The PLI curriculum is built on the 10 Essentials of Leadership. If you are teaching the curriculum this year or if you are just wanting a guide for developing your own leadership abilities, the following 10 questions serve as a primer for gaining insight into the importance of each Essential.

Vision - What am I doing today to be where I need to be in 5 years?

Integrity - How am I helping my team trust me?

Innovativeness - What are the challenges I am facing today that require more "solution thinking"?

Wise Judgment - Who do I consult with before making major decisions?

Service Mindedness - Do I have enough volunteerism in my life?

Goal Processing - Do I have challenging goals that stretch and grow my abilities?

Skill Assessment - What is my core strength and have I put myself in the position to do that everyday?

Emotional Maturity - Do I handle struggles and "failures" with grace and a growth attitude?

Fostering Relationships - What is the condition of my most important relationship?

Masterful Communication - Do I listen to others with focus?

Now, print this post and invest time thinking about, writing down and working on your answers. Good luck!

Teaching PLI: Great and Awful Teacher Traits

Last year we set out on a mission to answer this critical question...

What are the commonalities of great teachers and awful teachers?

We heard from students, teachers, administrators, vendors, etc. The following lists contain the most frequent answers we found among the hundreds of responses.

Best/Most Effective Teacher Traits

• Organized
• Passionate about seeing students succeed
• Passionate about their subject
• Holds high expectations for students; challenges them to succeed
• Seeks out professional development
• Avoids using negative weapons - embarrassment, guilt, fear
• Invests in students beyond teaching the subject

Worst/Least Effective Teacher Traits

• Doesn't teach for understanding; only teaches for testing
• Does not understand subject
• Does not have effective teaching techniques
• Reads straight from textbook
• Doesn't make an effort to get to know students
• Talks down about other students not in the classroom
• Is vocal about not liking their job, the school, the staff and/or the students

This project was both inspiring and discouraging.  Many of the traits from the bottom list came directly from students.  They don't like teachers who take it easy on them or who only make the classroom fun.  They want to enjoy school, but also learn what they need to learn.  The study was also discouraging because of all the clearly awful teachers these students have to be around and these administrators/teachers have to put up with.  It is so difficult to remove a teacher from a school, the awful ones stay in the system even though they are clearly not fit for the task of inspiring, motivating and educating.

If you are a teacher and/or have influence over one, please share this list.  At the 2009 TED conference, Bill Gates said there are two major global issues he believes are not getting enough attention and, if fixed, would significantly improve our quality of life.  Figuring out how to make teachers great was one of those.  I am excited to be playing a part in this inspiring task at school faculty/staff in-services this year.   Teaching educators how to be great is a challenging, yet rewarding mission.

Teaching PLI: The New Blog Label - Teaching PLI

When you have over 300 posts (which are essentially 300 additions to the PLI leadership curriculum), keeping everything organized is very important.  We have added another layer of organization for our PLI teachers and anyone else who reads our blog for the purpose of adding to their leadership teaching or learning!

We have a new label for our posts called Teaching PLI.  This label is applied to any post where the purpose is to give ideas, instruction, clarity of mission or tips/tricks on teaching leadership and specifically teaching the PLI leadership curriculum.  You can quickly access all of these posts by clicking on the Teaching PLI Posts link in the right-hand column. 

Enjoy!

Teaching PLI: Must Read Post for All PLI Teachers/Trainers

In preparation of our trip this week to the California Association of Directors of Activities state conference in San Diego, here is a list of the most useful "teaching/training PLI" blog posts to help all our new friends get started on the right foot. Enjoy!

Essential Resources for PLI Teachers

Iphone App

Exceptional PLI Authors, Bloggers, Videos

How to Run Your Initial PLI Classes

Overview of the HUGE PLI Delicious Database

TRAX Grading/Evaluation System

Books to Supplement PLI

Teaching PLI: My Library

I get asked often, "What books do you read to stay current on leadership concepts and presentation techniques?"  Honestly, most of my reading over the past few years has been and will continue to be the 150+ blogs I read daily (Download my subscriptions here - learn more about OPML files here), as well as books via my Kindle for iPhone.  However, the collection listed below is from the previous 20+ years of reading for feeding the brain...

These are pictures of the library in my office.  If you click on any image, a larger version will open.  I have included my favorites for each image...

These are all favorites.  Seth Godin is always a classic read.

Story Factor, Annette Simmons
See You At The Top, Zig Ziglar

Managing the Nonprofit Organization, Peter Drucker
All of the Marcus Buckingham books
All of the Mark Reardon books

YOGOWYPI Facor, Bill Cordes
Leadership is an Art, Max DePree
How to Win Friends And Influence People, Dale Carnegie
How to Become a Great Boss, Jeffrey Fox

Speak and Grow Rich, Dottie/Lillie Walters
The Element, Ken Robinson

Brain Rules, John Medina
See You at the Top, Zig Ziglar

My Fast Company library dating back to 2002.

Elements of Style, Strunk and White
Switch, Chip and Dan Heath
The Art of Manliness, McKay
Slide:ology, Nancy Duarte
Quantum Teaching, DePorter

The Traveler's Gift, Andy Andrews
Work Hard, Be Nice, Mathews
Children Learn What They Live, Dorothy Law Nolte

The Man Who Was President for a Day, Andrew McCrea

Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World, Zig Ziglar

The Wealthy Speaker, Jane Atkinson
Remarkable Leadership, Kevin Eikenberry

Presentation Zen Design, Garr Reynolds
Bob Hope:  My Life in Jokes, Bob Hope

Teaching PLI: Leadership Truths Are PLI Essentials (Part 2)

Post by Ryan Underwood

We wholeheartedly recommend Truths About Leadership as a companion to your PLI curriculum. You will be affirmed in knowing that the curriculum you are training and teaching is backed by phenomenal research and findings by Jim and Barry. To help you connect the dots, we’ve outlined below Jim and Barry’s 10 Leadership Truths with the PLI Essentials.

Leadership Truth 6: Trust Rules

PLI Essential: Integrity

When you follow the rules you showcase your character. This strength of character serves as a powerful force in influencing others because rules bring certainty, stability, order, and organization. When you follow the rules, you are more likely to attract people who will follow the rules you establish.

Leadership Truth 7: Challenge is the Crucible of Greatness
PLI Essential: Innovativeness

Expert leaders have challenges. In fact they have more challenges than most because leaders are great at solving problems. When you develop your innovativeness you become known as a solution-oriented person. People are greatly inspired by leaders who concentrate on what can be done and who know how to make it happen.

Leadership Truth 8: You Either Lead by Example or You Don’t Lead At All
PLI Essential: Integrity, Goal Processing, Emotional Maturity

Life happens. Ups and downs, rights and wrongs come to us all. Leaders command their personal behavior in all situations. They understand when they don’t do this, they simply cannot be in a position to lead. When leaders use their values to leverage feelings and emotions they make decisions to maximize the success of the whole. They set a clear example for how others can effectively follow and positively process whatever life may bring.

Leadership Truth 9: The Best Leaders Are the Best Learners
PLI Essential: Skill Assessment

Expert leaders are self-aware. They are thirsty for personal and professional growth. They understand that they will only be able to lead that which they are prepared, have the skill, and capacity to lead. This commitment to learning inspires followers to become learners, expand their ability, and become masters of their own talent.

Leadership Truth 10: Leadership is an Affair of the Heart
PLI Essential: Vision

People are greatly inspired by passionate people with a purpose. When you love what you do, who you do it with, and what you do it for your actions are authentic. You will attract others with a similar heart. When these passions combine, you now have a leadership force that can truly improve the world around you.

Teaching PLI: Leadership Truths Are PLI Essentials (Part 1)

Post by Ryan Underwood

What are the essentials of leadership?

This is the question that started the Personal Leadership Insight curriculum project nearly five years ago,  Our goal was to truly understand the qualities all leaders need to master in order to confidently say, “I am a leader.”

Our journey to discover the essentials led us to hundreds of interviews and thousands of responses to surveys from leaders from all walks of life throughout America. White House Fellows, West Point Graduates, professional athletes, executives, elected officials, teachers and some of the best student leaders in the country all weighed in. Once we assembled all the data, what emerged was ten clear leadership attributes that became known as the PLI Leadership Essentials.

World renowned leadership experts Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner recently led a webinar sharing the “Truths About Leadership” based on their recent book of the same name by Wiley & Sons Publishing. After 30 years of detailed study on leadership, Jim and Barry’s research has concluded ten universal truths of leadership that, as the subtitle to their book reads are, “No-Fads, Heart-of-the-Matter, Facts You Need to Know.” Jim and Barry’s findings on leadership truths align perfectly with what we presented through the PLI Leadership Essentials curriculum project.

We wholeheartedly recommend Truths About Leadership as a companion to your PLI curriculum. You will be affirmed in knowing that the curriculum you are training and teaching is backed by phenomenal research and findings by Jim and Barry. To help you connect the dots, we’ve outlined below Jim and Barry’s 10 Leadership Truths with the PLI Essentials.

Leadership Truth 1: You Make a Difference
PLI Essential: Skill Assessment

When you realize you are a person of influence and have assessed your skills and are ready to do what you were meant to do, your next step is to make the difference you were born on this earth to make.

Leadership Truth 2: Credibility is the Foundation of Leadership
PLI Essential: Integrity

You may have all the talent in the world, but integrity and credibility are the ticket to the leadership game. Without it, you can’t play.

Leadership Truth 3: Values Drive Commitment
PLI Essential: Vision, Wise Judgement

Expert leaders are driven by their core beliefs. This forms the vision for the world they create and the decisions they make. When values are clear, the commitment, enthusiasm, discipline, and work necessary to achieve become easier.

Leadership Truth 4: Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart
PLI Essential: Vision, Goal Processing

People are greatly inspired by leaders with a purpose who know where they are going and why. This lifestyle (and yes, it is a lifestyle) is a powerful force because your accomplishments and purpose-filled behavior set you apart and influence others to follow your lead.

Leadership Truth 5: You Can’t Do It Alone
PLI Essential: Service Mindedness, Fostering Relationships

Expert leaders invest their energy and time in using their skills, talents, and abilities to serve and help others. When you are others-centered you greatly expand your ability to attract others to help you.

Check back tomorrow for the final five.

Teaching PLI: Resources

Following is a list of ways to connect, learn and grow from us:

http://delicious.com/pliblog - Huge database of leadership content I have gathered for you (and us) from the 150+ blogs I read daily. It contains over 1,000 articles, blog posts, videos, etc. They are all indexed by our curriculum's 10 leadership essentials (http://www.PersonalLeadershipInsight.org).

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pli-blog/id349608878?mt=8 - iPhone app that aggregates the RSS feed from this blog, my other blog, our PLI_Leadership twitter account (We also have other Twitter accounts you can follow - TeamTRI, RhettLaubach and yns1).

http://plileadership.blogspot.com/ - The PLI leadership blog.

http://www.authenticityrules.com/ - The speaking skills blog.

http://www.leadersingear.com/ - My new leadership and presentation skills book.

http://www.slideshare.net/rhettdean - A collection of my PowerPoints.

http://tinyurl.com/theleapshow - The slide show I use at the end of many of my keynotes to inspire.

http://www.personalleadershipinsight.org/- Our rich, beautiful, meaningful and interactive leadership curriculum.

We are also on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Twitter. Just search for our names (Rhett Laubach and Ryan Underwood).

I hope you enjoy these resources and find them enriching and valuable.

Teaching PLI: My Leadership Quotes

If you are teaching leadership in either a classroom, training or conference environment, here are a few of my leadership quotes to use as discussion starters, thought provokers, etc...

Rhett Laubach's Newest Leadership Quotes

"Leadership is acting on the fact that people are basically good, but naturally selfish.  They need you to inspire their better self."

"Leadership is the intimate collision of bold performances and courageous souls."

"Leadership is having and doing something with great ideas that hide under piles of blood, sweat & tears."

"Leadership is more than finding new committed people. It is also finding the new commitment in the people you already have."

"Leadership is creating awesome, meaningful stuff and therefore attracting awesome, meaningful people."

"Lead is a verb. Leader is a noun. Leadership is both."

"Leadership is creating value and seeking growth."

"Leadership is being interested in others first and interesting to others second."

"Leadership is unrealistically supporting your team's potential and working unusually hard to reach yours."

"When the world says give up, the leader whispers give it one more try."


Get more by following me on Twitter - @yns1.  You can also follow @PLI_Leadership.

Teaching PLI: A few of my Favorite Leadership Books and Blogs

At the very back of my leadership book, Leaders in Gear, I have a list of my favorite leadership books and blogs.  I have a library of hundreds of leadership and life skills books and I read 150 blogs every day.  These are my favorites...
.

1. The Art of Innovation, Tom Kelley
2. The Bible
3. Brain Rules, John Medina
4. The Dip, Seth Godin
5. The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker
6. The Element, Sir Ken Robinson
7. Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman
8. Getting Things Done, David Allen
9. How to Become a Rainmaker, Jeffrey Fox
10. How to Say it for Women, Phyllis Mindell
11. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
12. Influence, Robert Cialdini
13. Inspire any Audience, Tony Jeary
14. Leadership 101, John Maxwell
15. Leadership is an Art, Max DePree
16. Little Black Book of Connections, Jeffrey Gitomer
17. Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath
18. Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham
19. Presentation Zen, Garr Reynolds
20. Quantum Teaching, Bobbi DePorter
21. Season of Life, Jeffrey Marz
22. See You at the Top, Zig Ziglar
23. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey
24. Slide:ology, Nancy Duarte
25. The Story Factor, Annette Simmons
26. Teaching as Leadership, Steven Farr
27. Three Signs of a Miserable Job, Patrick Lencioni
28. Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
29. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
30. Winning with People, John Maxwell



1. Books – blog.800ceoread.com
2. Brain Science – brainrules.blogspot.com
3. Business & Sales – www.thejfblogit.co.uk
4. Happiness – www.happiness-project.com
5. Ideas – ben.casnocha.com
6. Ideas – changethis.com/blog
7. Ideas – sethgodin.typepad.com
8. Ideas – www.danpink.com
9. Leadership – plileadership.blogspot.com*
10. Leadership - blogs.hbr.org/goldsmith
11. Leadership – www.allthingsworkplace.com
12. Leadership – www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog
13. Leadership – www.marksanborn.com/blog
14. Presentation Design – blog.duarte.com
15. Presentation Design – www.ethos3.com/blog
16. Presentation Design – www.presentationzen.com
17. Presenting – www.AuthenticityRules.com*
18. Presenting – sixminutes.dlugan.com
19. Productivity – www.zenhabits.com
20. Productivity – www.marcandangel.com
* Rhett’s blog

If you are in the Oklahoma City area and are interested in a powerful personal development conference experience, check out the information and consider attending our Core Four Conference on September 9, 2010.  Learn more at http://tinyurl.com/corefour.  We would love to have you!

Teaching PLI: Must Read Posts for PLI Teachers

We are having a great time at the California Association of Directors of Activities state conference in Reno. Over 1,000 dedicated Activities Directors, Class Advisors, Administrators and Leadership Teachers from California and beyond. Since we are going to have a number of new PLI affiliated schools, it is time to remind all our PLI teachers of the most useful blog posts for your teaching experience. Enjoy!

Essential Resources for PLI Teachers

Iphone App

Exceptional PLI Authors, Bloggers, Videos

How to Run Your Initial PLI Classes

Overview of the HUGE PLI Delicious Database

TRAX Grading/Evaluation System

Books to Supplement PLI

Teaching PLI: The PLI Blog iPhone App is Here!

If you have an iPhone and enjoy studying leadership, you will be pleased to know the PLI Blog iPhone App is now available on the iTunes App Store.

Click here to learn more and download.

The PLI Blog App Includes:

The RSS feed of this blog.

The RSS feed of my Authenticity Rules speaking skills blog.

The RSS feed of our PLI_Leadership Twitter tweets.

The RSS feed of our huge Delicious links database.

It is a very valuable and very free leadership library in the palm of your hands. Enjoy!

Teaching PLI: How to Run Your Initial PLI Curriculum Sessions

This post is primarily for our wonderful teachers and facilitators of the PLI curriculum, but is also a good read for anyone teaching leadership. Following are a few tips/suggestions on how to run your initial sessions (i.e. – your sessions before you start going through the Vision Essential.)

1. Pick one of the five breakdowns of the PLI Essentials in the opening section of your Navigator (PLI Essentials Defined, PLI Natural Laws, Basic Questions, Heroic Acts, Team Needs) and use it as a basis for group discussion/overview of the ten Essentials. The purpose here is to get everyone enrolled in the ten Essentials, as well as get a very specific conversation going about leadership behaviors.

2. Take the breakdown of the PLI definition (on the page in your Navigator that is titled Understanding PLI), and have the group member’s go around and read each element out loud. Either after each piece is read or after the entire breakdown is read, have a discussion about the group members’ thoughts. The purpose here is to get a very general conversation going about leadership.

3. Ask each of your group members to peruse the PLI blog and come to the session armed with one blog post that resonated with them and that they would like to have the group discuss the merit of. The purpose here is to get them started using the blog, as well as engaging them in the session very quickly by having them bring something of value to the table.

4. Pick anything on the Locator’s pages 6-7 (their intro pages) to use as fodder for group discussion.

5. Ask each group member to pick either a historical leader or a leader they personally know and prepare a short explanation outlining: why they picked that person and which of the PLI Essentials that person demonstrates at an expert level. Again, the purpose here is to get the group members immediately engaged in the session by having an assignment to bring. They will also have to study up on the Essentials to know which one(s) to tie to their selected leader.

Let us know how it goes!

Teaching PLI: The Absolutely Huge PLI Delicious Links Database

Del.icio.us is one of the most popular social bookmarking sites. It works just like the favorites in your internet browser - only anyone can see what you bookmark. For example, if you have an interest in gardening, you can peruse Deli.cio.us and look through other gardening enthusiasts' links to find their favorite sites.

We have this set up for our leadership curriculum. I read around 150 blogs every day. When I come across a post that fits into one of our 10 PLI Essentials, I tag it. This enormous collection of leadership lessons, strategies and advice is now over 800 posts large!

So, how can you find value in this resource? If you are reading this blog to engage in personal leadership development, you can read through our Del.icio.us links to further your studies. If you are reading this blog as a PLI teacher/facilitator, you can find additional fodder for group discussion, ideas for lessons and much more from the Del.icio.us links.

Beware, even though every Del.icio.us link is indexed by PLI Essential, the size of the database can be overwhelming. Therefore, we have culled a few from the herd to get you started.

 
Vision [all Del.icio.us links]
9 tactics to effectively communicate your vision [link]
Creating a personal vision [link]
Ducks In A Row: Leadership Vision [link]


Integrity [all Del.icio.us links]
What you say, what you do and who you are [link]
Is effort a myth? [link]


Innovativeness [all Del.icio.us links]
5 Practical Steps for Generating New Ideas and Insights [link]
Where are you most creative [link]
10 Tips on how to think like a designer [link]


Wise Judgment [all Del.icio.us links]
The Essential Guide to Effective Decision Making [link]
The Fine Art of Decision-Making – 7 Tips for Getting Decisions Made Easier [link]


Service Mindedness [all Del.icio.us links]
How Giving Changes Everything [link]
A Guide to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life, With 7 Practices [link]

    
Goal Processing [all Del.icio.us links]
Theory of Productivity [link]
Topics du Jour: Give Your Life Direction in Less than 10 Minutes a Day [link]
Seven Productivity Tips For People That Hate GTD [link]


Skill Assessment [all Del.icio.us links]
12 Keys to Greater Self-Awareness [link]
Do You Have an Excessive Need to Be Yourself? [link]
50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do [link]


Emotional Maturity [all Del.icio.us links]
Happiness Quiz: How well do you know yourself? [link]
12 Practical Steps for Learning to Go With the Flow [link]


Fostering Relationships [all Del.icio.us links]
50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind [link]
21 Keys to Magnetic Likeability [link]


Masterful Communication [all Del.icio.us links]
Nine steps to PowerPoint magic [link]
PowerPoints are not your Presentation [link]
7 Little Tricks To Speak In Public With No Fear [link]

Teaching PLI: Essential Resources for PLI Teachers/Trainers

This post is a quick resource list for our many PLI curriculum teachers and trainers across the nation. If you are not familiar with the PLI curriculum, go to our web site to learn more and/or preview this document.

• PLI Delicious Tags - Your go to place for more PLI-related content ideas. There are over 800 web sites indexed by PLI Essential.
  
• TED videos indexed by PLI Essential - The new TED videos portion of our Delicious tags. Each TED video is only 3 to 17 minutes in length.
  
• PLI Facebook Page - Connect with PLI on Facebook.
  
• Twitter Feed - Connect with PLI on Twitter.
  
• The Warehouse on the PLI site - The go-to place for class posters, curriculum updates, videos and more.
  
• Rhett's Authenticity Rules Blog - My presentation skills blog. Valuable information to increase your facilitation IQ.
  
• The TRAX testing model - The testing methodology for PLI. This post explains how it works.
  
• PLI Related books - A list of popular books indexed by PLI Essential.
  
• PLI Essentials Primer - A quick overview of each of the ten PLI Essentials.

If you need any help or additional ideas for teaching PLI, please email me at rhett@yournextspeaker.com. Thanks!