Keynotes
DANCING ON THE ARK: facing change in uncertain times
Change is normal for our time. We must learn to dance with new ways of providing the best product possible in order to meet the needs of our clients. While some accept change with delight, others have to stretch beyond their imagination in order to be both productive and content. We need to find ways to survive and thrive in these times of radical pressure and change.
This session will:
- Motivate you to embrace rather than fight change
- Help you realize that change will be never-ending. Face it.
- Offer you 13 ways to maintain personal health and sanity
- Make you take stock of how you deal with change and pressure
- Pull your group together through music, movement and laughter
- Give your group hope and courage for the future
Gimme Shelter: Where Do I Go In Troubled Waters
Originally conceived and written for clergy suffering the stresses of continuous caring for their communities. Many people today find themselves caring for elderly parents and young children — often in the same home! Kelly walks us through the common pitfalls and traps, and then shows us what we can do to save ourselves. This lively presentation is applicable to everyone caught giving too much.
LEADERS LEADING LEADERS: More than just bosses
Although it is true that true leaders are born not made, they need to be trained for great leadership. Most leaders find that they are simply "thrown into the job". They need to be made aware of their gifts, convinced of their abilities and directed in the role of leadership in order to succeed.
Kelly Walker has always been a leader. As Prior of the Dominican Order, he assumed heavy responsibilities in his early '30s. As a therapist he developed great skills of listening. As a speaker, mentor, author and entertainer he has influenced people in their leadership roles for many years.
This presentation on the art and skill of leadership will help your employees embrace this important role with enthusiasm, care and joy.
The following topics will be treated with insight, humour and skill. As a result, you will:
- Understand that good leadership requires "practice"
- See that power does not automatically mean authority
- Gain tools for better self knowledge and self actualization
- Be readier to be present to your employees
- Realize that all people in your organization count
- Be aware that you should be able to articulate your vision for everyone
- Find ways to clear out dead wood
- See the value of a mentor for yourself
- Celebrate your company
- Prescribe hope
BREAKTHROUGH: A prescription for healthy productivity how to get the most out of life
We've all climbed mountains. We've all dealt with difficult situations and survived. We've all gone places we'd never dreamed we'd go. That's life. But when new challenges present themselves, we often forget that we've done terrific things already and freeze. We need to reclaim our strengths and soar to new heights that can bring us contentment and rewards and point us to a greater future.
Kelly has faced more challenges than most and has arrived at a mature point in his life where he experiences peace and prosperity. At the age of 40 he left a Dominican Monastery where he thought he'd live his whole life, in order to start a new life. From the piano bar to the stage; from the role of therapist to author and international speaker; from the terror of cancer to the freedom of aging well, Kelly has discovered wisdom and humour that can help others shape a positive and productive life.
This session will help you:
- Reclaim your own story
- Find new ways to position yourself for success
- Discover that attitude and latitude are capital
- Realize that good team effort maximizes results
- Grow better as you grow older
WORK HARD AND LIKE IT: Attitude and latitude
Like anything else in life, work can lose its lustre. What began as an interesting and challenging opportunity can sometimes fade into boredom and drudgery. This keynote address explores the issues surrounding job, career and great work. We look at the gifts that you bring to the workplace but within the bigger context of your relationship to the world and the communities you find yourself in. We look at ways to improve, fortify and creatively explore your attitudes and aspirations in the ever-changing world that we are all living in. This session will give you practical ways to work better and prescriptions for liking what you do best.
This session will help you:
- Assess your present work life in the light of your signature strengths
- Re-think your choices that bring you frustration/contentment in your work
- Think green. Not only in terms of ecology but personal spirituality
- Look beyond worn down paths and honour the un-imagined possibilities
- Dare make imaginative choices for YOUR future
Kelly has never been stuck in the mud. Some have criticized his twists and turns in life as signs of instability. On the contrary, he has always been ready to forge ahead in new ways with daring and great courage (and a bit of fear). He has mastered the art of creative living and has been able to live an exciting life at every turn of the bend. He looks forward with great anticipation what life will look like in his eighties. His wisdom could become yours.
Workshops
BURNOUT: Understanding that there ARE limits
No one has to burn out.
Some people work hard and get tired. They rest, recover and get at it again. Others never seem to be able to get out of "driven"
mode. They become work. They find that they are boundary-less, unable to stop, and constantly overwhelmed. They become a health hazard to
themselves and eventually become a hazard in the workplace. Bosses love them because they accept every request. However, rage builds up
within them and they begin to explode in a variety of manners. They begin to lose themselves and retreat. In some cases, death awaits from
systemic exhaustion or suicide.
This session is designed to help that kind of person as well as those colleagues who have to put up with it all.
- We will explore the symptoms that accompany this inner sadness.
- We will look at roots.
- We will explore way to prevent burnout.
- We will consider various approaches to healing.
- There will be presentation and discussion if the group is small enough.
- In the end, we will learn ways to assure vibrant and happy work.
As a result, you will:
- Know what signs to look for in yourself and in your employees
- Be better prepared to help them find the appropriate approach for their healing
- Understand how to deal with those who are on the path towards burnout
- Understand what old scripts encourage burnout in individuals and in teams
- Look for signals in your recruitment procedures that will help you choose appropriate persons for your company
- Help co-workers cope with people who are overwhelmed and often overwhelming
- Realize that burnout can be prevented and cured
- Know that certain conditions need to be present for a happy workplace
This workshop can be two hours, half-day or whole day. It is also adaptable to clients and their spouses/life partners/family members.
FROM DOING TO BEING: A pre-retirement workshop
The very word retirement brings smiles to the faces of many. To others it generates fear, anger and insecurity. For many it means leaving work and beginning a period of leisure. For others it means leaving the one thing that gave them meaning. For many it is about a future filled with absence of identity, boredom and poverty. This workshop addresses these issues. Whether or not the retiree desires to leave work, there still ensues a period of grief, lack of definition and fear. New identities are difficult for us. We will identify the blockages to positive retirement. We will work on the dynamics that help provide a smooth flow into a new lifestyle — family relationships, work relationship, communications issues. We will also address issues about creating a stimulating future. And we will look at whole-health factors that will insure a longer and more vibrant life after retirement rather than fear and possible death.