Just Look Where Conversations Are Changing!

CWH Trainers Are Changing Lives / Improving Organization Success!

We proudly announced our first Certified CWH Trainer, Toni Benner, recently. There are 16 additional trainers at various stages of completing their mastery portfolio. Five have what they need, they simply need to find the time in their busy schedules to complete their application.

Deb Connors is one of those practitioners. She has been offering both online programs as well as facilitating workplace courses for teams in Canada. She has integrated CWH into her “Better Place to Work” practice and is finding clients warm immediately to this approach to conversation. She is currently wrapping up her fourth cohort of teaching this course to management at Vancouver Island University and was told by a senior leader, “The conversations are really changing around here; this course is making a difference!” Those are the words every consultant wants to hear!

Michael Emmart is changing the way New York’s child welfare system influence lives. He has integrated CWH into the implementation of Family First legislation in seven Central New York counties. In addition, he is almost finished with a new curriculum for case workers that helps them learn to change the conversation during stressful situations involving the removal of children due to abuse and/or neglect. And if that’s not enough work, Mike has returned to school to add a Masters of Public Health from Columbia Southern University on to his Ed.D. He is a model for continuous learning and innovation, always applying what he is learning.

Sylvette Wake has delivered the Conversation Bootcamp to four different agencies, including a hospital, a bank, and Arizona University. She has also worked with a client on strategic planning using SOAR. In just four 3-hour sessions she enabled the client to create their vision, mission, and strategic goals!

Caroline Comport, an Emmy award-winning television journalist, brings CWH and Appreciative Inquiry to the field of journalism. She herself was a professional journalist for years and is now working to change the conversation in media. She recently attended a conference in Sundance, hosted by the Solutions Journalism Network. She spoke with David Bornstein, cofounder of Solutions Journalism Network and co-author of the “Fixes” column in The New York Times “Opinionator” section. She gave David a copy of Conversations Worth Having and will be following up with him. Her vision is to bring Appreciative Inquiry practices to journalism in order to help change the conversations in global media. We pray the wind be at her back!

Fasiha Haq, a Global Business Strategist at Eli Lilly, is doing amazing work to help physicians and other Health Care Professionals optimize patient consultations. She has integrated CWH into ‘Conversations in Motion’, a program designed to teach scientifically validated communication techniques and enhance interactions with patients. Even when time is limited, connecting through productive conversations can result in improved patient wellbeing. Fasiha’s mission is to drive global initiatives that truly impact patient outcomes and this is one of them! This communication workshop is empowering health care professionals globally and has filled a training gap in most medical schools. A senior physician shared, ”I was really skeptical, but I’m using the techniques. Asking questions helps patients open up and they walk away feeling we’ve  spent much more time talking than we actually did!”

Gratitude . . . but wait, there’s more!

We are deeply grateful for the talent and commitment of everyone one working to help foster conversations worth having in every sector.  Toni Benner, our first certified trainer, and the five featured trainers are doing amazing work and reaching such diverse sectors. Jackie and Cheri celebrate their work!

There are ten additional CWH trainers beginning to offer CWH bootcamps and develop plans to bring the materials to their clients. We all share a common goal: Change the conversations on our planet as quickly as we can in order to help all people and organizations flourish.

19 people is hardly sufficient to create a movement, and it’s a great start for our first year! We invite you to join us in being a conversation change agent.

AUTHOR:

Cheri Torres, author and speaker, is Lead Catalyst and CEO at Collaborative by Design, cheritorres.com. She work with HR directors and corporate executives to enhance their ability retain top talent and ignite full engagement. Download your free Conversation Toolkit at ConversationsWorthHaving.today.