The Deep Blue Sea(la)

SEALA 1, DAY 5

A peek behind the curtain. The 8:15 am facilitators meeting. They make it look easy, but it takes enormous effort and preparation on their part to achieve their sessions' effect of seamless grace.

Team Challenge: Shipwrecked in the South Seas, afloat in rubber rafts far from land, SEALA participants must work in teams to survive. Each group will examine the ten objects they have salvaged from their sinking ship, and rank them in order of importance. 

Will they exercise their leadership skills successfully – observing, inquiring, collaborating, deciding? Or will they fail and sleep with the fishes?

Navneet tells his group not to worry, since he has already radioed for his personal submarine to pick them up. Agustinus is skeptical.

Adeel makes a strong argument for prioritizing the shaving mirror. How else will the men on the boat be able to look good in case they encounter any mermaids?

Navnath wants to know if the case of canned food is northern Indian food or southern Indian food.

Time to present the rankings.

With an overfull raft, Shadab's crew mates have told him he has to get in the water and hang onto the outside of the vessel. Shadab's personal priority would have been a shark cage. He'll have to make do with the floating seat cushion instead. Talk about taking one for the team!

Thanks to her expertise in marine biology and anthropology, Tasneem is an outstanding resource for this exercise. She draws on her own experience of ocean craft, explaining how plastic sheeting can be employed as an oar, and noting ways of lashing driftwood to the raft. 

Sharing the traditional folk wisdom of the Andaman and Nicobar Island tribes, she points out further that chocolate bars dissolved in shark repellent make for a bracing breakfast beverage. Moreover, nylon rope can be used to lasso flying fish as they pass by. And fishing kits make great dental floss.

The second half of the morning is devoted to building effective teams. Are you getting maximum performance out of your team? Jim Crupi shows how.

Assemble your team and get them to focus on the task. Task clarity is everything.

Anthony makes suggestions from the sidelines. Hey, wait a minute, back seat drivers! No rights without responsibility! Join the team and share its burdens; otherwise the peanut gallery can keep its opinions to itself.

Going for the team performance record.

Bill Starnes (Partner, Trammell Crow International, retired) takes up the theme of holding others accountable. Interpersonal conflicts are inevitable, and issues over broken promises, missed expectations and generally bad behavior cannot be left to fester. There are targeted skills that can be learned which can simultaneously diffuse such problems and enhance the relationship. Bill's slide points the way.

Bill's audience points the other way.

Evening small group discussions afford participants the opportunity of drilling down into specific topics in a round table format, led by seasoned experts in those areas.

"Work-Life Balance."

"Building a Personal Network and Finding Mentors and Coaches."

Certain mischievous individuals are playing truant in the corridor. Let's watch SEALA staff member Mercedez Spears shepherd them into the room for their session.

"Hiring and Firing: Getting the Right People on the Bus."

"Effective Communication: The Role of Stories in Leadership."