Mexicali, Mexico

A couple of weekends ago, I had the pure satisfaction of training a leadership course with Ed Groody in Mexicali, Mexico. This was our first time to train together, even though we had talked about partnering a few years ago. The course was organized by an HR consultancy in Mexicali, so the participants were managers from different companies. Basically none of us knew each other well (except for 2 managers from the same company, which we didn't know were co-workers). We heard that a couple of the managers were "asked" to attend the course, and the rest signed up of their own accord.

We had most of the day Friday to do the last minute preparation, get our partnership in sync, and check out the training room. In the course of our drive from San Diego (which is 2 hours of starkly beautiful, desert mountain terrain), we discussed how to deal with a group that "locked up" (unwilling to participate), or a group that was dominated by one or two people, or a "nice" group that would just "go along" and not really invest themselves in the course.

As it turns out, all participants shared openly and honestly; and we ALL bonded, even the simultaneous translator! Truly one of the remarkable courses of my experience. Everything worked, Ed and me and the group and the team … and of course, the material was right down the middle of the fundamental leadership issues. It all worked!

Looking back, I see my original pattern of having high hopes, which weren't met, and the resulting disappointment. Now I see the pattern of exploring antidotes to difficult scenarios – all to prevent being disappointed (and disappointing others).

Juxtaposed to that pattern is one of faith in myself, my partnerships, the material to be delivered, and the people with whom we are engaged – the total journey. This time, even though the "what if's" were explored, neither of us was anxious, so I am assuming that the Faith pattern prevailed … this time.