Memories of a Traveler

Salaam and Greetings, I have an 11 year old son. He is a nerd. If you check the dictionary, you would probably find his name next to the definition. He also has a slight dyslexia, mild visual challenges, and learning disability. Since early last year, he has been bullied in school. We didn’t know about it because he didn’t speak much on that. The boy that bullies him, sits in the next class. Recess time is a stressful period for my son. So he took refuge in the school’s library. My wife and I didn’t know that. All we know is that he knows a lot. Like astronomy. He can tell you there are many types of suns and what they are called. He can tell all the planets and how many moons each planet has or don’t have. He reads about animals, dinosaurs, flowers and bugs. We knew about the bully only when the school year ends, last year. He had that fearful look. Due to his learning challenges, my son was relegated to a lower class. And that bully, is in that class. That’s when he told us abo...

Salaam and Greetings, What I would like to talk about is teacher training and teacher development. I was fortunate enough to listen to a talk online given by Sir Ken Robinson. The first time I heard about him was about a year ago. It really changed the way I think. I shared this with my wife, and she cried listening. You can read more of what Sir Ken talks about in his book, The Element. Or, you can listen to him talk at http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html . However, if you are a visual person like me, a company RSA Animate, converted his talk to a very visual version at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U .  Why am I interested in schools and teacher training & development? I have six kids. 2 in universities, 2 in high school and 2 in primary school. Excellent family planning eh. Each day, all my kids tell my stories of something that happened in school or universities about what the teachers say or do. I am not sure whe...

Salaam and Greetings, Well, having it shorter and faster has its advantages. Your people don’t spend too much time, unnecessarily in a classroom, learning things they don’t require. This allows your people to spend more time on the work they are paid to do. To grow the company and profits. However, if you do a little bit of research, you will discover that, the high performing sustainable organizations that have lasted through the test of times, good and bad, tend to have a few things in common. And one of them is that they have consistent developmental training programs. Their programs are customized and their programs are never short. Example. I have a friend in GE. He is going for a program that is six days long, called Advanced Management Program (AMP). He needs this program if he wants to have a chance to be promoted. An article in Korn/Ferry Institute Briefings on Talent & Leadership Issue 7 Q3.2011, featured Cisco’s Talent Management Program. The article titled, Brains...