Risk & Business Magazine CMW Spring 2017 | Page 18

FEATURE STORY
reinforcement throughout their journeys.
The trick is to eventually be able to
answer the following three questions in a
productive manner:
1. Where are you putting your focus? Do
you create the outcomes you want or are
you overwhelmed with problems?
2. How are you relating to others, your
experience, and yourself? Do you act in
ways that perpetuate drama or empower
others?
3. What actions are you taking? Are you
simply reacting to problems thrown at
you, or are you proactively trying to create
healthier outcomes?
Many observers have come to swear by
Emerald’s message, helping to spur his
modest fable of self-empowerment into
a mini-empire of books, workbooks,
courses, and leadership training
programs. Participants in his programs
tell stories of dramatically turning their
lives around or freeing their workplace
from unnecessary drama and conflict.
Others tell of buying dozens of copies
of his books for staff and colleagues and
even registering to become TED * trainers
themselves. Today, Emerald’s TED * has
influenced giant corporate leaders like
Google and IBM as well as dozens of
municipalities, hospitals, associations,
and financial institutions. Emerald,
along with his wife, Donna Zajonc, now
heads the Bainbridge Leadership Center,
coaching companies on leadership issues.
He is also a business facilitator, public
speaker, and author.
TED IN THE WORKPLACE
The beauty of bringing TED * into the
workplace, says client Steve Hall, CEO of
driversselect.com, is that it can transform
both your personal and professional life
simultaneously into models of excellence.
Sure enough, upon landing at the
driversselect website, one is immediately
struck by an A+ rating by the Better
Business Bureau as well as a “Best Places
to Work 2016” citation by the Dallas
Business Journal, both of which symbolize
a commitment to fostering the type
of positivity that TED * embodies. The
company touts its purpose is “to infect the
world with highly contagious C.A.R.E.
18
(Caring Acts Randomly Expressed).”
Hall first met Emerald at a business event
some years ago and grew to embrace the
TED * model which, he says, has become
part of his company’s very DNA. “People
bring a certain amount of energy to their
work each day, and as leaders, we have
very little influence over that. But what
we do have influence on is how they
direct their energy,” says Hall. “Do they
choose to show up as Victims, Creators,
Persecutors, Challengers, Rescuers, or
Coaches? If they choose to become a
Coach, a Challenger, or a Creator, their
confidence will rise and they will be a
better performer and better person all
around.”
“PEOPLE BRING A
CERTAIN AMOUNT
OF ENERGY TO THEIR
WORK EACH DAY,
AND AS LEADERS,
WE HAVE VERY
LITTLE INFLUENCE
OVER THAT. BUT
WHAT WE DO HAVE
INFLUENCE ON IS
HOW THEY DIRECT
THEIR ENERGY.”
Hall has parlayed his strong belief in
Emerald’s leadership philosophy into a
boon for his company, growing revenue
from $38 million to $140 million since
implementing TED * two and a half
years ago. Nearly 60 percent of his
100-person workforce have completed
some sort of TED * training, and he
raves about the transformation. The
Power of TED * website quotes Hall: “A
big part is [that] the mental, physical,
emotional, and spiritual energy people
bring to work today is not being wasted
on internal drama and building silos but
rather focused on growing the business
and taking on the challenges of the
marketplace....We have measurable results
in turnover, absenteeism, and revenue per
employee that blows our industry out of
the water.”
Another TED * client, David Knoch,
praises Emerald for often being able to
see a client’s issues more clearly than
the client itself. A professional certified
financial planner, Knoch talks about
the period in 2008 when his clients’
portfolios nosedived—along with
practically everyone else’s—during the
Great Recession. “In this type of scenario,”
he says, “it’s easy to fall into a cycle of
victimhood.” He describes how in times
of falling markets, the client often feels
like the Victim and the advisor is seen as
the Persecutor for not implementing a
more profitable investment strategy. What
Knoch learned from his TED * work is how
essential it is to make clients impassioned
about their investment strategy, in effect,
feeling some ownership of it, so they can
have a majority stake in achieving their
financial hopes and dreams in both good
times and bad.
“We aim for enabling intentional living—
the empowerment dynamic,” says Knoch.
“Helping people make promises and
have them come true by taking action.”
When an employee survey revealed that
employees would prefer to slow down
the pace of change at their company,
Knoch and his team helped them better
embrace change by creating a 10-week
program, which included classroom
discussions and group work, to help them
adapt to their new work model. “We have
no choice but to move quickly in our
marketplace,” he said, “but we could arm
employees with information that would
allow them to feel empowered.” The
company is now even more TED * focused
than before, with TED * -themed forums,
discussion groups, and small-group work
designed to dive into leadership topics
even further.
GETTING STARTED
One easy way for a company to get
started with TED * , according to Emerald,
is to shift management’s philosophy
to one of “Ask first, tell second” rather
than the reverse. This means that
when an employee presents a question
to the boss, rather than jump in with
the answer, the boss asks the employee
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