Today I had a great time diving into Our Team Dynamic with the TCI National Trust. Participants were eager enjoyed discussing, learning and playing together.
The games in this session challenged the team to work together, even when unexpected circumstances sneak in and can affect the groups success. They did an awesome job! Way to go team!
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 Yesterday we kicked off a 'lunch and learn' session with InterHealth Canada - The Turks and Caicos Islands Hospitals. I have been looking forward to this for some time because Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is one of my absolute favorite topics!
The importance of DEI training is often underestimated, but in taking the first steps to increase awareness and eventually take intentional action, companies begin to see the benefits of having an inclusive environment. Benefits to embracing DEI include:
“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson  Today I was excited to host the HR team from the Financial Services Commission for their team building session. One of the themes that arose was the importance of having clarity in the vision and the goals of the organization and what each team must do to be in a position to succeed.
Through their games, the HR team was reminded of the power of rhythm and consistency. Although this is important in all teams; we discussed the role that HR teams have in providing consistent resources and support to their organizations.
“I think that the greatest gift God ever gave man is not the gift of sight but the gift of vision. Sight is a function of the eyes, but vision is a function of the heartâ€. Myles Monroe
Today we had a lovely time in COMO Parrot Cay with the Young Leaders group from the Turks and Caicos Islands Hotel and Tourism Association. In addition to a personal and professional development chat on intentions, goals, and habits, participants created their vision boards as a tool to manifest their personal and professional desires.
We are looking forward to hearing about the success of their vision boards in the months to come!  "Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." – Vince Lombardi Often, I am asked whether small teams should do team building exercises as well. Of course! Once you have a team, you should be intention about the way you build it.
Today's group, the Bank and Trust team from FSC, enjoyed discussing and working through the challenges in Building Our Team Dynamic. While completing the challenges the group did a great job at connecting what they were learning to everyday workplace scenarios. Way to go Bank and Trust! 
Yesterday I had the pleasure of presenting at a phenomenal event, the Turks and Caicos Island Economic Empowerment Conference. This conference, which was hosted by Epic Events, had a variety of speakers and panelist and that dove deep into topics that provided the audience with a wealth of knowledge, advice and potential action points.
I was honored to be a keynote speaker. My keynote focused on Wealth Disparities, Generational Outcomes and Mindset.  Paradigms are like glasses. When you have incomplete paradigms about yourself or life in general, it's like wearing glasses with the wrong prescription. That lens affects how you see everything else. - Sean Covey Today we hosted some of the managers and supervisors from the Financial Services Commission at Learn and Lead. They completed "The Dynamic Leader" a full day session that focuses on equipping managers and supervisors with want they need to lead their teams.
Participants, after taking part in an activity that challenged their perception, found that with each theme we explored it challenged them to be reminded of their individual paradigms and the effect that can have on the way they behave, interact and lead.  One of the most common concerns that The Business Writer participants have occurs when they know what they want to say but aren't sure how to say it. Taking time to plan your writing can help tremendously in the flow and clarity of your writing. In The Business Writer, participants are taught quick and easy brainstorm tricks to use before they start writing. These tips help whether you are writing an email, a report, a proposal or any other business writing document.
Congrats to these participants from Fast Track TCI that have one more session to go! They have been working diligently to improve their writing!  "You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins." -- Jim Stovall Today I worked with FSC Team no. 2, the IT team. A significant take home point that came out of today's workshop was the impact of mindset and the importance of every team member doing their own 'mindset work.' This is the foundation needed for the collective team mindset required to propel teams towards their desired outcomes.
Way to go IT!  "When in doubt, check if your actions are aligned with your purpose. " Azim Jamal & Brian Tracy On Monday we began the first of a series of workshops with the Financial Services Commission. I enjoyed beginning these sessions with the Insurance Department. This group was ready and willing to take in new information!
One of the highlights for me, which is highlighted in this post's picture, is how essential alignment is for progress. In our professional lives, that means that we must ensure that our actions are aligned with the purpose of our organization. Way to go Insurance Team! Your business writing can serve as persuasive evidence of your competence, your personality and your management style." Wilma Davidson  Last week we were busy beginning a new round of The Business Writer. We had 3 groups begin their 5 session programs yesterday. Although The Business Writer can be done privately, it's a great program to do as a team. It challenges team members to work together to improve the quality of writing coming out of their department.
 The 2023 Economic Empowerment conference will be taking place on March 24th and 24th at Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort & Spa. I am honored and excited to speak on a Changing Generational Outcomes and Wealth Disparities: Building a Wealth Mindset. My chat will focus on the following areas:
 Happy International Women's Day! I am honored to be recognized on this important day by the Human Rights Commission for Innovation and Technology. Thank you! 
This week is Education Week in the Turks and Caicos Islands and we were invited to read a story to the Grade 5 students at Thelma Lightbourne Primary School in Providenciales. Once the request came in, Mrs. Guilmise and I both knew exactly which book had to be read! "Christopher, Please Clean Your Room" has been a favorite of mine for more years than I can count! It's written by Itah Sadu, a Black Canadian author and chronicles the struggles of a little boy named Christopher that just doesn't like to clean his room and faces some unexpected consequences!
One fun fact that many people don't know about me is that in while attending university I was a Children's Librarian part time with Montreal Children's Libraries. I was one of two librarians at the Richmond Hill Branch, located in Tyndale St. George Community Center in Little Burgundy, one of Montreal's historic Black Neighborhoods. This was a favorite book at the library and was one while I taught in the classroom. Mrs. Guilmise made this book come alive today, and the children had a fabulous time! Thank you to the Grade 5 teachers at Thelma Lightbourne Primary for the invitation and we hope it sparked not only interest in a new book, but desire for your students to learn and grow as readers and storytellers!  Watching children develop their language skills is an extraordinary thing. Watching a baby transition from cries, to gestures and calculated eye contact, to grunts, to sounds that sound a little like words, to words is fascinating.
So how does a baby move from babbles and almost words to conversation? Does this happen at nursery, at pre-school? This, like everything in education, begins in the home with the child’s parents and caregivers. There are two types of language: expressive and receptive. Receptive language is the child’s understanding of language and the meaning they take from the words that are spoken to them. A child’s expressive language is the way in which they use language to interact. Although expressive and receptive language go hand in hand, in today’s post, I’m going to focus on expressive language. A child’s ability to become a little conversationalist does not come out of the blue. We often think that children are born with a certain ability. I challenge you to think about a seed. A seed has certain potential. However, if it is not exposed to the right conditions and given the right amount of care, it will never be able to reach its potential. Children are much like seeds. If they are not nurtured, and given the right amount of nourishment and care, they will not reach their potential. Language development involves a lot of nurturing. We often get as much out of language development as we put into it. A child’s environment impacts their vocabulary and expressive language skills. If you want your child to have a rich vocabulary, they must be immersed in an environment with a rich vocabulary. If you want your child to be able to hold conversation with not only their friends, but the adults around them, they must be used to environments where they are included in conversation. Expressive language is key to a development. Children who have difficulty with expressing orally by using their words and language may also have difficulties with:
So how can you as a parent encourage the language development of your child? I am going to borrow the concept of the 3 T’s from Dr., researcher and author Dana Suskind. Through her research and the development of the Thirty Million Word Initiative, which works with parents to help encourage language development, she came up with the 3 T’s. Tune in, talk more, and take turns. These three t’s are to allow for maximal brain development in early childhood…as this is the time when intelligence is most malleable with children. Tune in: The making of a conscious effort to notice what a child is focusing on, and when it is appropriate, talking with the child about it. When a teacher or parent is tuning in, they are following and responding to the child’s lead. Keys to tuning in:
Talk more: Increased focus on talking with your student on what they are focused on.
Take turns: Conversation exchange should be engaged. The result of building the three T’s are the development of:
So, to conclude, remember that young children are like sponges. Although there is a certain amount of growth that happens naturally, their learning and likelihood of reaching their potential is a direct result of their environment. 
On Saturday Mrs. Guilmise spent some time with a group of young leaders at the Edward Gartland Youth Center. During their time together, they focused on exploring the Qualities of a Leader. Special focus was put on discussing Responsibility and Accountability.
At Learn and Lead, we love to learn through play. The young leaders enjoyed playing Minefield, which is a great game that we use to illustrate essential principles of leadership.  This morning we concluded our first round of DEI training at Fortis TCI. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training is an essential and welcome tool for many companies trying to get their next level. Diversity training is about awareness. DEI workshops challenge participants to gain a deeper understanding of the complex elements of the subject matter and apply that understanding they live and work.
Congratulations to Fortis TCI, for taking the initiative to train their entire company on this topic! 
Earlier this week I was honored to be part of a panel to discuss Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the LIME Live 2 Lead Conference. This conference, which was a John Maxwell Conference, was a combination of live panels and virtual speakers. There was both a Live and virtual audience. So many great learning moments in this conference! I especially enjoyed John Maxwell and Patrick Lencioni's contributions.
The DEI panel was moderated by Samuel Dormeus, and the other panel members were Darron Turnquest, from The Bahamas, and Larraine Kennlock. |
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Yolande Robinson, M.Ed. Podcast
Shifting Perspectives is a conversation with Yolande and Latasha that challenges Listeners to fuel themselves with diversity in the way they think, the way they work, the way they parent and the way they live their lives.
Listen to Shifting Perspectives on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Castro, Castbooks, or Podfriend. Archives
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