 Christie Ward knows firsthand what motivates people to change their ways — how to restart their lost momentum — and help them muster the courage to overcome even the most daunting obstacles. She works with individuals and teams who want to learn skills that impact their lives and their companies. For seven years, she coached and managed 200 of the best professional trainers around the world for CareerTrack , Inc. Christie Ward is the source of incredible personal success stories including changing direction in her mid-40’s to lead a multi-million dollar sales team, and maintaining a 90 pound weight loss since 1985. She employs accelerated learning techniques and designs curriculum that speaks to today's adult learner.
Non-profit and Volunteer Board Leadership Experience
ASTD (American Society of Training and Development)
Board member: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
Various roles:
2x VP of Professional development
VP of Strategic Partnerships
President Elect, President (2005), Past President
Spoke at various events:
· Trainer’s College 2000
· Various Membership meetings Topics on Trends in the Industry, Present for Impact!, Panel on Vendor relationships
· Northwest Regional Conference 2006: Topic - Succession Planning
· Area Leader’s Conference 2004: Topic - Creating Strategic Partnerships
Nominated and elected to the NAC (National Advisors to Chapters) 2008-2010
Liason between 12 chapters (a region of the country) and the national organization. Communicate critical messages and deal with issues on local boards and at times conduct board retreats or interventions if necessary. Serving on various committees: Talent committee, Communication committee, Financial partnership committee. Board meetings are virtual, with face to face meetings 2x/yr. Conference calls and webinars are led monthly to educate and inform the membership on how to better lead their chapters.
NSA Colorado Board member 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
She personally coached the World Champion of Public Speaking for the year 2000!
Professional member of the National Organization for 15 years
Keynote:
1) "Volunteer Leadership – How to get people to step up to the plate!"
Say it once, make it stick, and make a difference
Whether you’re on a board, or on a committee, you need to work with other volunteers to accomplish a task you both believe in. Where do you start? What if people don’t have the skills or talents to do the work? Training and mentoring may be part of the picture. What if there’s a “good ole boys” or good ole girls” structure, and new voices aren’t being heard? Going back to the big picture and focusing on the mission may be important. Petty differences can divide a board or committee and render it useless. This session addresses the five wedges that can separate well intentioned volunteers. Then it offers solutions to fit any association or non-profit team. Christie Ward has been on association boards for the last 9 years in leadership roles, both locally and nationally. She has impacted volunteers by helping them resolve differences, implement new processes and focus on what’s important. She understands succession planning and can help boards move forward and regenerate.
Program objectives:
1) Learn how to jumpstart your volunteers when they come on board.
2) Keep the motivation going when there is a lull or disappointment.
3) Work on potential conflicts and get ahead of relationship issues between volunteers.
4) Dismantle the “good ole” networks so that new voices are heard.
5) Learn the five wedges that can divide and negatively impact a new leadership team.
6) Create solutions for each wedge.
7) Use your association story to teach organizational values and truths.
Breakouts:
1) New: World Cafe - Build Colleague Relationships and Solve Problems
The World Café is a group format to reintroduce us to a world we have forgotten, where we enjoy the age-old process of good conversation. The process is facilitated to create structured problem solving in an atmosphere that fosters trust and collaboration. The flow is very different from a regular business meeting or even a training or event. There is no predetermined agenda or presentation, and people move from conversation to conversation, focused on well-thought-out questions that explore the complex and the particular issues of an industry or association. The skill of the facilitator is key, and this person acts as a host, inviting people to enter into conversations around topics that are important to them, and then moving them to other groups to connect with new people. It is also a great tool for a conference to get attendees to network and really get to know others.
Today, people are more polarized, more overwhelmed, more impatient, more easily disappointed in others, and more withdrawn than ever. The World Café creates an opportunity to connect with colleagues and innovate in a safe environment. It has been used in many cultures, governments, educational institutions and world organizations to discover collective wisdom and collective intelligence. Participants leave with personal resolve to do more of, to change or to make better their current state.
Process objectives:
1) Create opportunities for people to explore topics that matter in small groups.
2) Discuss questions with several different people at the conference or gathering.
3) Form relationships with others through small group conversations.
4) Identify strategic issues and develop action goals/plans.
5) Enhance our capacity to talk and think more deeply together about critical issues.
6) Access the mutual intelligence and wisdom we need to create innovative paths forward.
7) Create a transcription from notes taken during the session to post to the entire group at a later time.
The World Café is a unique format that will ignite the passions and innovation of any group, creating opportunities for them to work together in new ways to accomplish new things. If you are ready for a different conference or retreat experience, let Christie host a World Café.
2) “How do I work on a team and still be an individual?”
Learn how to collaborate and still shine as an individual contributor
Have you ever said, “I’d just rather do it myself?” Or how about this, “Another team meeting? Please!” Teams are fluid and keep changing in the workplace, so it is difficult to keep momentum. If you know the role you play on a team, any team, then it is easier to work with others without conflict, strife and stress. When working with others to accomplish a specific purpose, people combine their natural thinking and behavioral preferences into an approach. Find out individual approaches to group process with the Team Dimensions profile. The approach score identifies a participant’s preferred role on a team, and the class focuses on awareness of this role and what it means to the group and the individual. Lots of interaction allows the group to process each role and learn to use it effectively.
Course objectives:
1) Learn how you play on a team and how others perceive you.
2) Plenty of experiential exercises to demonstrate team role and behavior.
3) Map out your preferred team role and discuss it’s significance.
4) Experience what happens when innovation is required, and how each team role functions.
5) Learn an appreciation for differences in team approach.
6) Look at the different styles of teams and decide which one fits your circumstance.
7) Explore team leadership and the self-directed team.
8) Create a positive, productive atmosphere at work and home in spite of changes and chaos.
This program utilizes the adult learning model and accelerated learning techniques to ensure participants not only know what to do but how to do it. There are opportunities for the group to work on real life situations and verbiage that they can take from the class and apply in their work and personal lives. Personal and group practice is built into the program to provide an environment of discovery learning.
3) "How to Deal with Conflict"
Understand how you respond and how that affects your response to others
Participants will build an awareness of themselves and their perception of others and the impact that has on how they deal with conflict in their personal and professional lives.
Participants will understand some basics about conflict (“Conflict 101”), including the difference between focus on position and focus on interest. Practice and interaction will ensure learning.
Participants will discover their dominant behavior style and how it affects their conflict management skills.
Participants will use their new knowledge of their own behavior style and others to practice problem solving in conflict situations so that a win-win is achieved and can be duplicated.
Course outline:
A. Build awareness of self and your perception of others
1. Warm up with a Behavioral “shopping spree” to introduce style
2. Use interactive process to determine traits that help and hinder conflict resolution
3. Use updated DVD to demonstrate 4 styles and your perception of them
4. Look at a recent conflict handled well and a current conflict that is not going well
B. Conflict 101
1. Signs and Clues that Conflict is Brewing
2. Contrast Healthy and Destructive Conflict
3. Define misunderstanding as different from conflict with examples
4. Explain position vs. interest with examples and interaction
5. Define difference between personality and behavior
C. Practice Problem Solving to achieve win-win
1. Use DVD to demonstrate how to handle the 4 styles under stress
2. Work in triads to problem solve with situations, focusing on interests
3. Learn the 4 steps to problem solving and the 10 communication rules to use
4. Give a problem solving model, and create real-world conflict situations to process in groups
4) "Generational Differences"
Making the most of the different age groups in the workplace!
We have learned all about the differences between races and genders, now let’s deal with the most pressing people skill of the decade….learning to get along with people of different generations! We live with them, but you can’t treat your coworkers like your kids or your parents. So, how do we understand each group, respect each group and listen to each group without bias or stereotype? How do you manage each group and listen to what is important to them? There are generational markers that define each group and separate them historically. There is a language that goes with each group. The four groups we’ll discuss are: the matures (prior to 1946), the boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1964-1980), and the Millennials or Generation Y (1981-2000). This class will dispel the myths and give you the tools to manage in this century.
Course objectives:
1) Learn the generational markers for each group: the matures, the boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y.
2) Understand the impact of your generation and behavior on others.
3) Assess the accuracy of your knowledge about differences, and listen with empathy.
4) Reduce conflict caused by the differences between generations.
5) Embrace generational differences as a source of organizational strength.
6) Explore the external and the internal uniqueness of individuals.
7) Practice the interpersonal skills necessary to interact with people who may be different from you.
8) Manage based on what is important to the individual so you can reach organizational objectives.
9) Practice getting buy in with the different generational groups.
10) Create a plan to grow the next generation of leaders in your organization and KEEP them engaged.
4) "How to Run Effective, Productive, Efficient Meetings"
How many meetings have you attended that were frustrating, took too long, were unfocused, or were time wasters? Do you groan when you have to go to a meeting or sigh when you have to lead one? This program will give you the tools you need to keep any group focused, motivated and moving forward.
Course objectives:
1) How do you create comfort in a meeting environment and keep it focused "forward"?
2) Decide when you need a meeting, and when there is another appropriate form of communication.
3) Control distracters and challenging behaviors before they control the group.
4) Create opportunities for participants to link new knowledge to organizational goals.
5) Learn the art of creating effective agendas.
6) Learn how to let the group help you problem solve.
7) Learn how to let contributors be creative with their time (alternative scheduling).
8) Learn when and how to use various questioning strategies and reflective statements.
9) Learn to find the best approach to problems through maximizing your available resources.
10) Take away specific tools for gathering information, like Process Flow Charting. |