A fresh approach to
voluntary action and
civic engagement

Facilitating the contributions of others

The philanthropic quest invitational program offers a fresh approach to achieving new heights of performance and results in our organizations, social causes, and communities.

How? By expanding your ability to facilitate the contributions of others, bringing forth their very best.

You'll learn to activate, in a nearly automatic way, the built-in human drive to contribute, to invest ourselves in the future, to make a difference. In the process, you'll be opening doors to make possible what was once impossible -- from the individual to the societal.

Higher expectations than the typical workshop

At the center of the program is an unusual workshop, every moment of which is devoted to this rigorous purpose of taking our personal and organizational efficacy to the next level. When the series of brief readings and personal follow-up are taken into account, this is a year-long program, designed for lasting effect in both learning and action.

During the workshop, we apply the power of appreciative inquiry -- asking questions in a way to "appreciate" (increase in value) our assets, much as a house or business appreciates in value. This model interrupts the usual diet of deficit discourse, problem-diagnosis, and short-term fixes that can restrict our horizons.

The program fortifies the power and "want-to" in the individual and the group to make a difference and illuminates the forces in the world, often unnoticed, that amplify our strengths -- in contrast to headwinds that seem to diminish our potentials.

Hope and confidence in the future grow as a result, becoming the bedrock of inspired action.

The fundamental skill

You will leave the program with an exciting and specific skill: the conduct of the appreciative interview. When you return home, this interview will be your key to locating and mobilizing the will to act.

In fact, you'll gain so solid a grounding in this approach that you'll find yourself turning everyday conversations, even the "we-can't-do-that" variety, into the more promising dialogue of the quest and AI.

More take-aways

1. You'll create a set of principles to guide you in bringing to the surface the best in others -- principles that we'll construct together.
    
2. You'll leave knowing what the next stage of success will look like for you -- and perhaps, your greatest contribution -- to move you forward with even more vision, exerting even more influence.
    
3. Time is set aside for a telephone interview back home. This interview will kick-start your re-entry and invest at least one other person in the results you seek.
    
4. In the end, you'll have gained new strategies to advance the organizations and causes you are most invested in.

If you want action planning, we'll give you the best we have: While still at the workshop, you can begin to plan the first strategic steps (or the next ones if you're already on your way) to put into action what you've learned.

And ... if the experience of past participants is any guide, you can expect to leave this workshop inspired with a renewed sense of why your work is so important to you and to society.

In the first minutes of a workshop in Africa, a board chair sat in a mood of healthy skepticism. "All of this talk of possibility?" Before we departed, he reflected what many others have expressed:

"This workshop -- it got me back in touch with why I work on behalf of this cause! Thank you for that. It will last for the rest of my life."

More details

The program includes:

• The 3.5-day workshop, plus an optional day.
   
• Access to me for individual follow-up after the workshop, to continue to apply what you've learned.
   
• A subscription to a written series of tools that you can draw from or pass along, to carry these ideas to people you work with.

Is this program for you?

If you see this program supporting your aspirations, I would welcome hearing from you. Here's how to inquire about participating.