Archive for the ‘build-a-bike’ Category

Over 150 top level leaders from Avon Products Inc. came together in Irving, Texas for an afternoon of fun and learning while experiencing a Build-A-Bike team building event. The end result was a lot of laughter, a sense of camaraderie and 24 bikes being built and given to local children from Safe Haven of Dallas, Texas. The children being present at the end of the event to receive the bikes added to the pleasure of the evening. The leaders came together for several days of meetings, which included a time to focus on teamwork, while having fun and making a charitable contribution to the community. The group overcame several barriers to work together to accomplish tasks, solve problems and eventually gather the materials assemble the bikes. With the various leadership groups represented everyone had fun and also made some discoveries about themselves as well as others.

Often times because we have been engaged in a conversation we think tat communication has taken place. But real communication is predicated on listening and understanding; much more than just conversing. We often say things we understand but the receiver of the words and body language interprets it completely differently than we meant. Both parties are clear to themselves what they are saying, but don’t take the time and energy to make sure they understand what the person really means. There can be a vast difference between what someone says and what they mean; between what they think they said and how it was understood. Carefully listen means restating and clarify what is heard so to ascertain the correct meaning of the communication. Many times it has been said that we are born with two ears and one mouth meaning that we should listen twice as much as we speak. Good advice, as long as the listening involves making sure we understand, so that we can be sure to be understood. Next time you are involved in an important conversation make sure you listen well, understand completely, and turn your conversation into constructive communication.

Thanks Avon for a great team building event and for making the difference at work, and in the Irving community by enhancing the lives of children.

Members of Cigna in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, came together for meeting in Dallas for an afternoon of fun and team building. 90 people built 14 bikes during an afternoon of fun, laughter and even a little bit of instruction. Everyone enjoyed the activities that culminated in the bicycles being donated to children from the Boys and Girls clubs of the Greater Dallas Area. The children were present at the end of the program to accept the bikes- much to surprise the bike builders. It was a great feeling when those who had participated in the event got to see the children’s faces and talk with those who were receiving the bikes. It was a very touching moment to end an afternoon of fun and learning.

Often times we get caught up in our own lives. We’re working; we have families, other activities and so many draws on our time. We forget that we also have opportunities to make a positive impact on lives around us if we will just stop and look around. Even in corporate programs it is easy to have meetings and training events, and forget the impact we can have not just within the organization, but within the community. When these special people came together it was to benefit others, not just themselves. They had their necessary meetings, but then they got an opportunity to relax, have fun and make a significant contribution to their community.

Thanks to Cigna 14 children were given some positive reinforcement along with new bikes. What a great time to have fun, learn a little about leadership and teamwork and then benefit the kids and the community. The Build-A-Bike Team Building Event was a hit with Cigna and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas.

I just got back from San Diego, California where I conducted one of my favorite team building events, Build-A-Bike, with Henry Schein.  For those of you who don’t know Henry Schein is the largest distributor of healthcare products and services to office-based Dental and Medical practitioners world wide. It is a Fortune 500 company and employs more than 13,500 people in over 200 countries. In this brainy two-hour corporate team building event, the company built and donated ten bikes to ten children from the San Diego Boys and Girls Club.  The group of 60 people had already completed three days of training and as one participant said, “I just wanted to thank you for an amazing event!  To be honest…when I first walked in…exhausted from the weekend already…I wasn’t to sure about all the activity.  Not only was it fun, the fact that we were forced to complete a “team building” task and really work together for success and the end result helping someone else…so touching and rewarding.  You brought great energy to our group!  It has already made an impact here at the office…it’s been a very positive week!”  It’s was a joy to work with Henry Schein and I’m confident they are off to the races with an exciting new year to come!

AFFCU held a great Build-A-Bike Team Building Event in Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday, February 21^st. The 38 teams built bikes that were given to children from an area school that had participated in special events to earn the special reward. The group met for 2 hours to complete tasks, participate in group activities, learn some valuable lessons, and build the bikes. It was a fun event and everyone roared with laughter at some of the situations each was put into. After the event many great comments were made concerning the fun and enjoyment of the event, and how great it was to see the children receive their bikes. All the laughter and fun of the activity was replaced by a very touching moment when the children came in. The participants didn’t know the children would be there, and the children didn’t know (until the last minute) that they had won new bicycles.  You can see their excitement in the following video.

It was great to see the teams come together. Often times in team building situations we’re taught lessons, and given scenarios to try and learn. But in the Build-A-Bike event people are put into situations where they have to lean on their own team and then find out that the different teams have to work together to achieve the goal. In work situations we often have our own team that works to accomplish its tasks and projects, but often times we forget or overlook the fact that one team’s efforts can help another. And likewise we often don’t search for help from other teams that have completed similar tasks, but we “re-invent the wheel,” so to speak, rather than get help and/or advice from others. Team work goes beyond there being one team, to include all the other teams that make up an organization. It isn’t one team functioning well that makes a company successful, but rather all teams functioning well, and functioning together that makes a positive difference.

Thanks to AFFCU for a great event and congratulations to the children that received the bikes. Team work and children benefiting is what the Build-A-Bike Team Building Event is all about.

Southern Co. invited The Leader’s Institute(R) to conduct a full day of team building in Birmingham, Alabama. The team participated in a Rescue Bear (R) and Build-a-Bike (R). Both events allowed Southern Co. to give back to their local community in Birmingham. Here’s a look at the day’s action:

Southern Company fosters collaborative partnerships to educate children, develop communities, conserve habitat, protect wildlife, provide recreation, and accomplish other services. They also provide leadership and expertise at local meetings, speaking engagements, research support, safety education, and board service, and provide a helping hand for other volunteer activities. They work at all levels from the grass roots in field offices and power plants up through corporate channels at each of our subsidiaries and headquarters to support communities and ecologies within their service territory.

Rick Highsmith
The Leader’s Institute

Folks from General Electric Health Care conducted a bike team building event in Baltimore. Baltimore, like any large city, has a number of inner-city kids, whose lives have been smacked by the recession.  It’s hard for parents to get food on the table, forget what most children dream of – bikes. 

Bike part by bike part, team by team, GE employees solved clues to win a part, and Build-A-Bike.  Voilla!  Ten dreams for ten kids, from The Boys and Girl’s Club.  To get a bike, they had to do something extra, improve attendance, grades, attitude.  And are they well-behaved?  You betcha!  Readying to come into the room, one little boy spoke up, “Girls first.”  And they all quietly fell in line, girls first.

Doors open, ten adorable kids claimed some dreams, and put a lurch in more than one heart, and watery eyes to many GE folks who built the bikes.  They mixed with the kids to say hello, get to know them a bit, make sure seats were the right height, exact a promise to wear helmets, and take a picture or two.

GE folks walked away, with a feeling of doing good, knowledge that they just infused these youngsters’ lives with joy.  The bikes are physical empowerment for these kids, giving them control of at least one thing in lives.  This event sends a clear message,  “Someone other than your family cares about you.  We want you to succeed in life.”  This kind of team-building philantropy is woven deeply into the very fabric of what, and who GE is.

It is sure that the faces, of these little ones, are etched into the minds of all who came together as a team.  More than one participant thanked me for giving them the chance to meet these kids.  What!  My pleasure – they did the work.  By Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor & Performance Coach/The Leader’s Institute

Starbucks Partners kicked off the New Year by gathering together at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville.  They built ten new bicycles for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee in a Build-a-Bike Team Building Event.  This team building project was initiated through Starbucks’ “Shared Planet ™” program.

Kim Kaine of Boys and Girls Clubs said, “Some of the children receiving bicycles had never owned one before.  Now, through Starbucks bike team building event, the kids are the proud owners of their own bike.  This donation of their time is greatly appreciated.  Thank you Starbucks!”

Starbucks website explains the “Shared Planet ™” program, “From the neighborhoods where our stores are located, to the ones where our coffee is grown – we believe in being involved in the communities we’re a part of. Bringing people together, inspiring change and making a difference in people’s lives – it’s all part of being a good neighbor. And it’s a commitment rooted in the belief that we can use our scale to be a catalyst for change.”

The following video shows how thrilled the kids are…

Richard Highsmith

About 50 attorneys from Citigroup were surprised by their evening activity. At the end of the first of two days of meetings they joined together in a beautiful setting to take part in a team building exercise. The exercise turned out to be the opportunity to build bikes for at risk third grade children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northern Westchester.      On the schedule was just a time slot entitled “Team Building.” But when they entered the room with tables set around and another table that housed bicycle parts they quickly knew this was more than just a lecture or games. After a brief introduction the teams received their assignment- to build 8 bikes to go to a local charity. It wasn’t as easy as just building the bikes; they encountered some problems along the way that had them working together and seeing each other in a little different light than they might normally. In the end the bikes were completed and the real surprise was when the children who were receiving the bikes were introduced to receive them.

It was an evening of surprises. The attorneys didn’t now they were going to do bike construction; they didn’t know the children would be there to receive the bikes; and even the children weren’t aware that they were getting bikes until they arrived at the facility. One of the thrilling highlights was when Matt, one of the bicycle recipients, presented a thank you plaque to Katie Kessler, the principle organizer of the event.  After the program was over everyone enjoyed meeting the children and spending time reliving the event. There was a fantastic feeling of camaraderie and generosity within the group. I talked to several people, and perhaps one of the third grade girls, wearing her new bicycle helmet summed it up really well. I sat down with her and said, “Wow! Hot chocolate and cookies, a new helmet and a brand new bicycle, a pretty neat night, huh?” Her response choked me up, “This is the best night ever!”

A big thanks to Katie Kessler; the Citigroup committee that chose the Build-A-Bike team building event; and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northern Westchester for making a truly worthwhile and memorable event. And a special thanks to Jill Franco for her help in the logistics of putting the program together Thanks to you all for a wonderful evening and a very special memory.

Johnson and Johnson has long helped Mom dry the tears and cheer up the kids with a little ouch-less help for skinned knees.  But this company is so much more. It is at the forefront of medical breakthroughs, striving to discover new methods to improve our quality of life.  Need a hip replacement?  They have developed it.  Need to know what is going on inside your head, lungs, or heart, Johnson and Johnson is right there.

At a conference in Princeton N.J., the Scientific Affairs Division of Pharmaceuticals looked inward.  To their credo, which calls on them to put the needs and well-being of the people they serve first. They explored the goodness of volunteer efforts of their own people, and their accomplishments were many.

Build-A_Bike. At the core of their credo is to give back to the community, and today they got down to the nuts and bolts of giving to kids in their community.  Learning how to build a stronger team, they learned how to They built a stronger Johnson&Johnson team, by solving a puzzle to earn a wheel, or handle bar, to build bikes for kids who have none.  When all the nuts were tightened, seats adjusted, tires pumped and checked for safety, 36 smiling kids claimed them, amid tears of joy from those who tightened the nuts, and pumped up the tires.  It was a tangible, and heart-felt lesson in how giving back, rewards the giver.  by Connie Timpson/Regional Instructor/Performance Coach

Over 100 people from SXC Health Solutions came together in Chicago for a Build-A-Bike Team Building Event. After hours of fun, laughter, and teamwork 16 bikes were completely assembled and given to children from the Union League Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago. River West Meetings planned the event for SXC and their employees were excited to participate and contributed to the success of the event, and when the children were brought in at the close of the event to receive the bikes- it was a very moving moment. In the end, SXC had a great time and made a life changing difference in the lives of 16 children and in the communities that they live.

SXC has a goal of making their customers, clients for life. To do so they focus on three strategic areas: customer focus, operational excellence and employee fulfillments. in the Build-A-Bike event these areas were addressed in creative ways and ideas were expressed and experienced that will guide toward the goal. Often times when workers are in different locations, or branches, and now with more and more people having home offices- that separation can lead to silos where one, or small groups work together without the benefit of a larger group. After time that individual, or small group, can become totally dependent upon themselves and not see how they are connected to a larger group. Through the Build-A-Bike event the participants learned that often the best way to solve a problem, reach a goal, or overcome an obstacle is to break down the silo and get help and aid form other sources and resources.

It was a fun afternoon, values were reiterated, mission was underlined, and vision was reinforced. And beyond just that everyone had fun and contributed to help at risk children and the community at large. What a great team member enhancement, child and community development, and team building event.