At EITC, we are re-thinking how we offer our services. This should be an ongoing process, but what happens is we fall into comfortable patterns of operating and don’t stop and reflect on whether we are doing things in the best possible way.

We are re-thinking the courses that we offer. We have only ever offered the EQ-i and EQ-360 Certification Courses as public offerings. So now we’re trying a new course called “Emotional Intelligence for Success”, a more hands-on, practical applications ‘workshop’ to increase EQ. We are considering adding additional courses as well like emotional intelligence for newer managers and emotional intelligence for senior executives (we currently offer this course through our training partners overseas, but will soon be offering it in North America as well).

We are putting extra effort into promoting our EQ coaching services and linking it to training. I’ve decided I want to do more key note speaking, which I love, and we’ll be launching a new website dedicated to speaking. As those of you who work on your own know, it can be lonely, so we also have a new emphasis on working together as more of a team to create synergy. We are also looking at which information products and training tools make sense for us to offer for sale to our clients and customers.

Personally, I’m looking at what might be next for me in terms of professional development to take me to the ‘next level.’

What about you? What are you doing to renew yourself or your business activities? Drop me a line and let me know.

I told myself that there are back-up regulators on each diver and our dive master is an experienced professional and knows exactly what he’s doing. I had to trust and it calmed me down. I tried to remember everything I had learned in the pool and tried to breath calmly and continue breathing and not to hold my breath. Finally, the anxiety turned to excitement as our dive master motioned for us to follow him down into another world. I succeeded in getting myself into the appropriate emotional state to complete the task and it was fantastic!

After our dive I watched the next group where there were two sisters, one who looked very nervous. I had to watch as she began shaking and crying and it looked like she was going to back out for sure while her sister seemed to remain calm while waiting at the surface. When it came time to follow the dive master, the shaking crying sister had managed to pull herself together and made the dive while the calm sister ended up backing out and not making the dive.

Back on the boat on the way back I had to ask the shaking, crying sister how she managed to make the dive after all when I was so sure she would back out. She told me that she told herself that she had a Bachelor’s degree in Voice and that she knew all about how to control breathing for singing and this was no different. She got a grip, breathed calmly and followed the group down and had a wonderful, enjoyable experience. Her sister, on the other hand, was not able to find a way to change her thinking about her situation which would change her feelings about the dive and they prohibited her from being successful and having a memorable, enjoyable experience.

Do you have a good story of changing  your emotions by changing your thinking? Let me know about it.

Knowing that Dave had been to Nigeria and the Middle East prompted me to write about my ‘dental tourism’  trip to Mexico. In late April, an opportunity came up to travel to Telchac Puerto on the Gulf of Mexico.  Telchac  is about 45 km north of Merida and friends had built a beach home there. They were considering renting it out occasionally and wanted to run a test visit with people they knew to help iron out potential rental glitches.

I had some significant dental problems resulting from two root canal procedures gone awry and a 25-year-old cap in need of replacement.  My thoughts turned to a friend who had hip replacement surgery in India 4 years previously. He had been very pleased with the treatment he received and the results. I decided to do some research on the Internet.

The first dentist I emailed responded within 2 hours and after outlining the work I felt needed doing, I heard back from him quoting a price one-quarter the cost here in Victoria, BC, Canada. We agreed on an appointment for my first morning in Mexico.

Javier and his staff were warm, gracious and highly professional. Five appointments later, I had a brand new smile at one-sixth the cost back home. During the course of his initial examination of my mouth he had recommended another two caps, which modestly increased my cost, but also increased the price differential between Mexico and Canada. He did not request any payment until the completion of the work. What a concept! How civilized.

The most fascinating component of the whole experience has been the reaction of many intelligent and well-traveled friends and acquaintances. Weren’t you nervous? Was it clean? Were the facilities modern? What about all the drug violence in Mexico? Was he up to date with the latest techniques? It is easy to allay any concerns and I derive great pleasure in letting people know earlier in his career he was a trauma specialist in Houston and still uses a Houston lab for all caps and bridges.  As to the violence question, it is limited to a couple of northern states and the Yucatan is and felt very safe.

Another very interesting aspect of the trip was watching kids getting out of school at noon (because of the heat) and strolling to the central plaza of every small town we visited to flip open their laptops and take advantage of the free WiFi to do their homework. Very progressive! I took advantage of the free WiFi to have a couple of coaching sessions with a longtime client. If you’re interested in international medical tourism opportunities, email me and I’ll forward a very good link.

I hope you’re having a great summer. If not, what’s standing in your way?

My hosts and partners at STI Consulting, Abiodun, Keji, Olabisi, N’kechi, and Nicholas were awesome hosts – I thank you for all your warm hospitality and royal treatment. I look forward to our next opportunity to work together and courses we will offer together in Toronto, Accra, Dubai, and Johannesburg.

Now back to ‘head office’ to get ready for the next course, the Toronto EQ-i Certification Course July 14-16, immediately followed by “The Advanced Leadership Development Course” – a high level 4 day leadership course for senior executives based on the concepts of emotional intelligence in Toronto July 19-22.

Despite the mind-boggling 34 degree heat (Wednesday – it cooled off slightly past two days), Ottawa was absolutely lovely – what a beautiful city! I look forward to my return.

As for the professional update, we (Klaudia, Kim, Becky, Sherwin, Ben, and me) have lots of great plans. We continue to offer the EQ-i Certification Course in many great cities and the EQ-360 Certification Course via teleclass. We are offering EQ coaching through Klaudia and Kim to our wonderful course participants in various parts of the world. Becky and Sherwin continue to offer all manner of design, communications, web, and marketing support. I like to refer to what they do as “emotionally intelligent design.” (see their website www.pinksheepmedia.com) And now Ben, the youngest Cory, has joined the team as all around administrative support. I’m still trying to convince my wife, Jill, to join the team, but she stubbornly (or is it ‘wisely’) refuses to do so. ;-)

So far, 2010 is shaping up wonderfully well with many partnerships and great clients in many parts of the world. This year work will take me to Madrid, Seattle, San Francisco, Lagos, Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto, Ghana, Johannesburg, and hopefully back to Trinidad and Beijing. More people than ever are getting their certification to use the EQ-i in advance of the release of the EQi-2.0®, which is a very exciting new product from MHS. More on that as it becomes available.

I continue to wonder how I can better serve my clients. What types of products and services do my clients need? I’ve learned that they need products and services which can help them to make personal changes easier, better, faster, cheaper. I’ve learned that they are looking to understand the connection between EI/EQ and the bottom line better. And I’ve certainly learned that in a technical environment like the gas and oil industry in Calgary, that it’s harder to see the connection between EI/EQ and improved organizational performance – “it’s really just about the technology – isn’t it?”

I will continue to learn and I’ll continue to try to turn that learning around and pass it on to my clients. It is what gives me energy and it is my passion. Thanks for tuning in. This time, I’m going to do everything in my power to keep writing.

Cheers,

David