What if you got rid of expectations and focused on what you wanted instead? I bet you’d experience…
•    More responsibility, less resentment
•    More courage, less disappointment
•    More ownership, less compliance
•    More acceptance less judgment
•    More honesty, less assuming
•    More persistence, less aggression
•    More trust, less control
•    More creativity, less coercion
•    More intention, less luck
•    More asking, less wishing
•    More mistakes, fewer failures
•    More joy, less justifying
•    More goals, fewer rules

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Upcoming Events

If you haven’t RSVP’d for our exciting event on January 20th, please e-mail michele@next-element.com today!
Lefeuvre-Pauley Jan 2012

We are extending December’s E-News contest until February, to learn more, here’s a link to December’s E-News, look for “Play Time,” and submit your entry!

You still time to register for Nate’s Feb. 14 “Essential Techniques for Productive Meetings” through Lorman Education.

There are a smattering of new public seminars available at MUSE School California throughout this year – while it’s not the Newton KS Train Station, it’s still a pretty cool location.  For complete information on all our upcoming seminars, please visit our calendar at next-element.com

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“Knowing about a tool is one thing. Having the guts to use it in a way that brings art to the world is another.” – Seth Godin

Over 40 years ago, Dr. Taibi Kahler discovered patterns of human interaction and communication that allow people to anticipate and respond more effectively to each other – second, by second. The science behind this has been proven. The art of using this tool continues to evolve, and we are grateful to be part of it.

Communication: Art or Simply a Means to an End?

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We love to share the word about the amazing stuff our friends and clients are doing. We know it is short notice…(Registration deadline is today, Jan. 13) and, this experiential symposium at Iowa State University is sure to be incredible!

Iowa State – Symposium

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We look forward to seeing many of you at the 22nd Annual International Association for Challenge Course Technology Conference in Boston, MA next month!  Please come say “hi” at one of our workshops or in the exhibit hall.  And we’re pretty doggone honored to have our very own Jeff King as the official emcee of the conference!

ACCT Conference Link

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Hot Wings Siting!

We received this fun Hot Wings siting from our friend Abe Regier, in Pittsburg PA.  The photograph is Maisie Harms, also known as the genius chef at Chez Cottingham.  Abe enjoyed the “Wing, Slider Patty and Nugget Platter.”

“Juicy, presumptuous, with a kick of phthalates. Oak-y, but at the same time plastic. The mouth feel is much more tender than we expected–the outer coating gives to the teeth. We highly recommend these Fisher Price wings for getting your fix. Any time, no prep, no mess = no wait for your wings.”

FEATURED CLIENT

Our featured client this month is Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch in Eastern Missouri.  Brett Bailey, director shares in this article, “Next Element has taught us how to more effectively bridge the transfer-of-learning gap, which is essential to the work Meramec offers its young participants.  We give youth the ability to recognize they have something unique and special to offer.  I believe that inspires a lot of purpose, which goes a long way toward developing efficacy and hope.”  Click here to read the article.

WHITE PAPER

There are a number of things that our parents told us when we were growing up that are not true, things like, “If you do not eat your green beans you will not grow up to be big and strong.”  However, one of the many things that they told us that is true: “You can do anything you put your mind to.”  This is why we like to say: “own your potency,” and this is how we define it: own and acknowledge your efficacy, effectiveness and strengths. Owning your potency is how you achieve success. Click here to read more of Jeff’s thoughts on this subject.

PCM NUGGET

Conditional vs. Positional – It’s a Matter of Degree! For more on the difference between first and second degree distress, check out this blog post…

NE CORNER

We celebrate and welcome new NEOS® users: Kathleen Friesen, Friesen Group, North Newton, KS; Michelle Axell and Jennifer Nelson, ID 287Plymouth, MN. And new PCM® trainers, Jason Leal, Prairie View, Newton, KS and Donald Morris, Savvis, St. Louis, MO.

PLAY TIME

Last month we asked “What three words could change your life?”  What we were looking for: “Need, But, and See” – as shared in Jeff’s White Paper. We neglected to specify “if you never use them again,” so we received a lot of inspiring and fun submissions. (Thank you!)
- I love you
- Impossible is nothing
- Process Communication Model
- I was wrong
- Your life matters
- I am pregnant
- Open, Persistent, Resourceful
- You are hired!

And, the first person who gave us the answer we were looking for was Carolyn Wilhelm, CFO of Kidron Bethel Village in North Newton, KS.

We learned a little lesson about communication ourselves with that one!

For December, we will give $100 to the person who submits the most compelling reply to Jeff’s white paper on Owning Your Potency… All entries must be submitted as comments on this page of our website.

GOT PROCESS POLL

New question… visit gotprocess.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and place your VOTE!!  “What is life like when you have Reactor-Persister as your base-phase combo?” vs. “What is life like when you have Workaholic-Persister as your base-phase combo?”

UPCOMING SEMINARS

We hope you’ll take advantage of the special 20% discount, exclusively for our clients and friends, to join Nate’s Lorman Education audio conference on February 14.  The title is “Effective Techniques for Productive Meetings”  Click here to learn more.

And… due to popular demand, we have added a PCM Core Competency Training to our schedule, January 11 – 13 in Newton KS.  This one is filling up fast, we hope you’ll reserve your spot soon!

Are you a PCM Trainer?  We’re offering an exclusive NEOS Certification just for you!  Join Jerome Lefeuvre from France and the Pauley’s from Maryland, January 19 – 20 event in Newton KS.

We would love to see you in one of our workshops at the Association for Challenge Course Technology’s (ACCT) Annual International Conference in Boston, MA – February 9 – 12.  Discover more on our website!

Facilitating Self-Efficacy – March 7 – 18, Newton KS

NEOS Certification – March 9, Newton KS

Visit our calendar often for upcoming seminars and events!

“I have been to a number of self help, motivational and improvement seminars during my career.  This by far outranks them all.  Very worthwhile investment of my time. Wish I had this information 20 years ago.”  - Dan Roberson, Exec. Broker, PDC Companies,  Little Rock, AR

    PocketPCM

Don’t leave home (or for some, go home) without it.

HOT WINGS UPDATE

Brian Kenady, outdoor education student at Georgia College, is enjoying some tasty Irish Whiskey Glazed wings at Fionn MacCools in Jacksonville, FL during the AEE international conference. These wings were doggone good!

We’re throwing down a challenge for 2012.  How many of these top ten places will we get wing sightings from y’all?

Brett Bailey, director at Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch (http://www.meramecranch.org/), is part of a statewide program that works with at-risk youth to discover and capitalize on their strengths and inspire change in their perspective. As a Great Circle ® agency, Meramec offers experiential adventure and wilderness programs in an effective way to teach skills that are therapeutic in a real-life environment.

Meramec is one of the most extensive high adventure facilities in the Midwest. With a 28-element high ropes course, team development initiatives, zip lines, and an adventure lake, ranch programs utilize outdoor, adventure, and wilderness experiences to help participants focus on key attributes to make a positive impact in the world around them.

Bailey says camp attendees gain mastery of skills and demonstrate how efficacy can change their lives. Though many of the youth have faced extreme cases of abuse and neglect, Bailey says after they work through building a fire, lashing logs together, or conquering a 40-foot tower by climbing and rappelling, the camp is truly a catalyst for change.

“We believe no other place builds that integrity, service, and interdependence between individuals better than the outdoors,” Bailey says.  “It’s pretty neat to watch efficacy grow and translate that into concrete examples, or use the river as a metaphor for where they are in their journey of life.”

Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch offers programs ranging from a day trip to 8-14 day cottage trips designed to meet specific objectives for the group’s treatment goals. Each program works to inspire growth and efficacy while also placing participants into a state of disequilibrium. Bailey says when a person feels off balance, it is natural to reach out for something stable. Research and personal success stories have proven that working through nature’s survival challenges can inspire change in hard-wired responses. The combination of the outdoors and the idea of disequilibrium go hand-in-hand to make each group adventure a purposeful trip.

“We give youth the ability to recognize they have something unique and special to offer,” he says. “I believe that inspires a lot of purpose, which goes a long way toward developing efficacy and hope. Next, they can reconstruct perceptions of things that have happened in the past. They will say to themselves, ‘That experience wasn’t my choosing, but I can use it to make me into a better, stronger, healthier person.’”

One year ago, Bailey and his co-director, Kassey Odneal, discovered the talents of Next Element and brought Nate Regier and his team on board to develop an assessment that could track the progress and outcomes of the work at Meramec. After deep, thorough discussions of Meramec’s goals, objectives and programs, and an onsite visit, Regier certified Bailey and his team in NEOS®, an assessment program that tracks three attributes of effective functioning: openness, resourcefulness, and persistence. Next Element also offered training in self-efficacy and Process Communication® for portions of the Meramec team.

“Brett and Kassey are passionate, full of energy and have a deep commitment to their clients,” Regier says. “Our work has been primarily research-focused and we are  equipping the Meramec team to be intentional about the work they are doing around self-efficacy. The time we’ve spent with them to design a product that will measure the ranch’s progress and outcomes is very unique to their goals – it is not a cookie cutter approach.”  Bailey says Next Element has also taught them how to more effectively bridge the transfer-of-learning gap, which is essential to the work Meramec offers its young participants. He says with any adventure program, the biggest challenge is making an individual connect what they’ve learned, or the skill they’ve mastered, to a situation at home.

“The cool thing about Next Element is that they are geared to individual and team development,” he says. “They are focused on changing and inspiring growth in each individual, and that’s our focus as well. In some ways we are a different animal as there are not too many programs in the Midwest that do therapeutic expeditions for this type of at-risk youth. Next Element has experience working with all those things, both in the adventure realm and therapeutic realm. That was a big selling point for us.”

Building relationships and changing perspective which can inspire is what Meramec is all about. Bailey says he witnesses incredible success stories of the youth who’ve come through Meramec programs. At the end of each journey in the woods with a fire, primitive hut and edible plants and amazing youth, he gains more perspective each time.

“If we can inspire and facilitate a change in our kids’ perspectives through the growth of efficacy, then instead of viewing a mountain as too high or too big, they will see they have the ability to get over it,” he says.

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By Rhonda McCurry, Contract Writer

An article in the November 28 issue of Time Magazine reported that 2 million people gave notice and left their jobs in September, the highest number of resignations since November 2008.  In this report, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 44% of those who quit their job in the last year did so believing they would find a better opportunity elsewhere.

In April 2009 we published a white paper titled “Prepare for the future: Invest in your people”, (http://next-element.com/whitepapers/prepare-for-the-future-invest-in-your-people/) outlining the current statistics on job satisfaction and engagement, and emphasized the danger of taking employees for granted during a time when they have fewer alternatives. In the months following we published a series of papers sharing perspectives and strategies to value, engage, and motivate your best people so that when things turned around, you would have a loyal and prepared workforce.

We are happy that the economy is showing signs of recovery, and we are happy that employees are taking the risk to find workplaces that value and respect them. Through thick and thin, you can count on Next Element to offer resources for maximizing your best people, helping those who are struggling, and making the tough decisions along the way.

- NGR

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FEATURED CLIENT

Our featured client this month is Kidron Bethel Village, a retirement village in North Newton KS.  Read how they increased communication effectiveness by 20 – 40% in six key areas.  The article can be read in its entirety by clicking here.

PCM NUGGET

“PCM leaves no-one indifferent because it is so pertinent, complete, and predictive” – Jerome Lefeuvre, Kahler Communication France

From California to Michigan, Vermont to Florida, and right here in the Midwest our experience has been the same as in France. PCM is transformative. We will continue to expand the reach and impact of PCM, innovate, and explore the depths of what this tool can do.

CONTEST

The first person to reply to this question correctly, “What three words could change your life?” will win a $25 gift card of their choice. (This prize has already been awarded)

GOT PROCESS POLL

And the winner is…How can I adapt my communication style and stay authentic?  Authenticity isn’t just about “sticking to your guns.”  Being yourself is about being all you are, accessing all your potential and qualities to be effective with others. Read more by clicking here.

UPCOMING SEMINARS

• Process Facilitation Seminar – Nov 14 – 16, Newton KS
• NEOS Certification – Nov 15 – 16, Newton KS
• Advanced PCM® Conflict Resolution Seminar – Nov 17 – 18, Newton KS
• PCM® Trainer Certification – Nov 28 – Dec 2, Newton KS
• To register, or find out more about any of these seminars, click here.

Here is a blushworthy quote from an attendee of a Process Communication Model Seminar hosted by the greater Wichita area Young Presidents’ Organization…

“I say modern life is conceived through communication. Have you ever moved an object without touching it? That is influence. That is what Nate & Jeff did.“  – Mark Hamade,  Chief Operating Officer at PKM Steel, Salina Steel, MSS Transport

If you haven’t purchased the PocketPCM from your local apps store yet, what are you waiting for?  This handy-dandy, at-your-fingertips communication tool may be just the thing you could use for one of those “awkward moments” at those upcoming holiday parties!

In case you missed it Nate’s article, “Problem Employees: Invest in them or invite them out,” was recently published by the Wichita Eagle.  Click here to read the complete article.

Aren’t non-profits different than the rest? Don’t the people inside the walls of a care-driven, faith-based company have healthy, happy hearts?  Often the people who work in these environments are uniquely altruistic and do the job for the right reasons.  And is that statement entirely true?

For many, there is a great sense of fulfillment working within a business committed to providing long-term care for people in need. Kidron Bethel Village of North Newton, Kansas, is such a place. The 26-acre continuing care retirement community features independent living townhomes and apartments, assisted living apartments and health care (skilled nursing) rooms, and was established in 1926. The company sets high goals and strives to give its residents the very best through its compassionate staff and quality living amenities.

Cindy Vanover, the CEO of Kidron Bethel Village since April 2009, says her work gives her the sense she can make a difference in the lives of the people she serves every single day.
She saw compassionate people giving of themselves until they simply were running on empty. The company’s leadership team desired more trust, more accountability, and to work toward productive and effective communication.

When Vanover met Next Element colleagues Nate Regier and Jamie Remsberg, she was hungry for a new approach to the challenge of drama in the workplace. Her staff members were very good at their jobs; however they wanted the opportunity to improve the process of communication. Personally, Vanover was searching for answers to guide her executive team to the next level. She says Next Element offered a path that seemed like it just might work.

“It was clear there was drama in my team, and you can’t have team alignment or effective communication when you’ve got a mis-aligned team,” Vanover says. “I wanted to raise awareness of dynamics and drama and address our personal responsibility for self awareness and change, to own our actions and be accountable, and to be grateful for what each individual brings to the team.”

Next Element spent the first six months of the year working through the Process Communication Model (PCM) training, specifically to help reduce drama at Kidron Bethel Village. The next phase was one-on-one coaching and teamwork, a dramatically helpful experience for the company’s executive team. Vanover says each person was given individual time with Remsberg, who coached them through meetings, communication strategies and how to manage their own sense of fulfillment.

Regier says when a company decides to eliminate drama, it saves energy and money, improves morale and reduces turnover.  PCM provides tools to manage healthy conflict, leverage diversity and lead professionals through reinforcement training, then into real-time practice where they can immediately apply effective communication skills at work.

The results from Kidron Bethel Village are real and measurable. Through Next Element’s meticulous data collection, the Kidron Bethel team was able to document reductions of 20 to 40% in six key areas including behaviors such as blaming, micromanaging, and manipulating in a mere 8 months. A significant portion of these positive changes occurred during phase two of its commitment, which focused on group and individual coaching to support the new application and integration of skills.

“Insight and learning only take effect when applied in real-life situations on a daily basis,” Nate Regier explained. “I applaud Cindy and the Kidron Bethel leadership team for courageously persevering through a tough period where new skills were tested. This is where profound change happens.”

“This dedicated effort makes Cindy a visionary leader,” Regier says. “She realizes there are no quick fixes. It takes hard work and courageous leadership to achieve these kinds of results. Her ideal team is benevolent, and she wants her folks functioning at a higher level.”

Randy Keasling is the director of human resources for Kidron Bethel Village. He says when team members identify drama, it ceases to be effective. As each person is trained to recognize when drama occurs, they can also develop ways to work around it.

“Less drama equals less stress, and that is a good thing in the workplace,” Keasling says. “We can recognize drama and reduce it because people can call it what it is. Our people have a new, honest and effective way to communicate with each other.”

Keasling is using PCM training to redesign the company’s employee evaluation process as well as during the hiring process, to ensure team support in the success of a new employee.

Vanover says Next Element has given her team a new language to make distinctions about emotions and behaviors – an internal code to help navigate away from ineffective, non-productive behaviors.

“We now have a higher level of effectiveness in relationships,” she says. “We try to communicate better so we’re not re-interpreting one another. We are checking assumptions and are aware of where we are. We are listening to understand, and I think all those are really important parts of what we’ve learned though Next Element.”

<em>
Article written by:
Rhonda McCurry, contract writer</em>

We are so excited to hit this critical mark! Many advisors have told us that most start ups don’t make it this far, and if they do – once they hit that three-year mark, success is much more attainable.

We have never questioned our ability to make it. And, since we chose not to participate in the recession, success has always been our only option.

We often get asked what is the secret to making it this far. It’s no secret. The keys to our success are integral to what we intend our clients to experience when working with us.  In no particular order of importance, here’s what we practice:

ACCEPT. First, we ACCEPT every one of our owners for who they are.  We all work differently, train differently, do social media differently, and the list goes on. The bottom line is that we ACCEPT all of our differences as wonderful and useful. And further, we do not judge those differences or put anyone in a box who thinks, acts or goes about business differently.

VALUE. Second, we VALUE everyone’s opinions. We may not agree and we not may follow each other’s advice every time. Still, we value and respect each person’s opinions.  We also invite all to share their opinions in staff meetings, emails, chats, or client feedback sessions. Opinions will always have a place.

HERE. Third, we want every one to be HERE. This may be via phone, Skype, e-mail, instant message or in-person. Wherever we are, we honor everyone’s presence and we want that presence.

HAPPEN. Fourth, we want to make it HAPPEN for Next Element. We want to make decisions as fast as our infrastructure will allow us. Then, once we have reached a goal or accomplished a task, we push on faster. Making things HAPPEN is not only important, it is a mandate for us all.

IDEAS. Fifth, we invite and entertain all IDEAS. We may not pursue all IDEAS. We may not use all IDEAS. Our intent though, is to have an open door policy on sharing all IDEAS – any time, any place, no matter how far out they are.

LIKE. Sixth, we LIKE each other for who we are. We are all different in how we live our lives. We are different in our approaches to faith, parenting, fashion, and work environments. We LIKE each other without condition. There are no strings attached at Next Element.

These six keys are something that we at Next Element follow and strive to put into practice every day. We also teach this to our clients and invite them to put this into practice.

These six keys, ACCEPT, VALUE, HERE, HAPPEN, IDEAS and LIKE are an integral part of why we are successful today and will be successful in the future.

Our first official staff meeting in our new office in 2008. (Nate was the photographer)

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