“Social Distancing” and the Hunger for Connection
By Ritch Hochstetler | July 2, 2020
Beyond the massive economic disruption and health crisis, Covid19 has shined a spotlight on a core need essential to our humanity – connection. The 70’s band Three Dog Night’s hit song “One is the Loneliest Number” sums up the agony that we feel on a relational and cultural level …read more
“A Fixed Point In A Spinning World: Transforming Injustice Through Humility
By Ritch Hochstetler | June 12, 2020
Recent events have ripped off the scab of decades of injustice to reveal the gaping wound still festering and bleeding from individual and systemic racism in America. No matter who’s side you’re on …read more
“Supporting Others During Times of Mental Strain: An Introvert’s Perspective”
By Bekah Finch | May 22, 2020
A two-month quarantine at home with my husband and kids seemed like a dream come true. Having my partner in crime around all day to wrangle our boys, help with household chores, and provide adult conversation felt like the greatest gift I could receive. Unfortunately, this was not a gift that kept on giving for everyone. …read more
“Gratitude: A Healing Ointment for the Soul”
By Ritch Hochstetler | May 15, 2020
Today I opened a card that expressed thanks for a job I had agreed to do, and that I got paid for. How could such a simple expression, two words – “thank you!”, reverberate through my mind and touch my emotions? …read more
“What’s Poppin”
By Kailey Paszko | May 8, 2020
“Popcorn is prepared in the same pot, in the same heat, in the same oil and yet…the kernels do no pop at the same time. Don’t compare yourself to others. Your time to pop is coming.”
– Unknown
“Heavenly Connections”
By Ben Rheinheimer | April 30, 2020
“The connections we make in the course of a life–maybe that’s what heaven is.” Mr. Rogers
I have been a stay at home dad for a baby. I have a 20+ year resume of youth work. I have taken kids out of the country on service projects. I have worked …read more
“Freaking Out, Stir Crazy, & Catastrophizing: Fighting Stress in a Global Pandemic”
By Ritch Hochstetler | April 27, 2020
I don’t know if you are aware, but this is national stress awareness month. This “event” has been populating our calendars every April since 1992. According to one description I read, during this annual 30-day period health professionals across the country join forces to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic…read more
“How Do You Relate?”
By Bekah Finch | April 17, 2020
Anyone who has participated in a ULEAD experience knows that they are highly interactive. They invite conversation, promote teamwork, bring you out of your comfort zone, induce laughter, and (hopefully) provoke new ideas or ways of thinking. In order for this growth to take place though, something has to be done other than…read more
“Closed”
By Bekah Finch | April 9, 2020
“Closed.” It’s a word we’re hearing a lot right now. Schools, businesses, churches, libraries, museums, zoos… Many of the places we want to visit are unable to welcome us at this time. The beauty in these closures however.…read more
“Helping Students Cope with Stress through Self-Awareness”
By Ritch Hochstetler | March 27, 2020
Self-awareness is the ability to accurately perceive your own emotions in the moment and understand your tendencies across situations. It’s even listed by the World Health Organization.…read more
“Virtual Teambuilding Resources”
By Ritch Hochstetler | March 20, 2020
What if you (and your team) “hotwired” technology… Zoom, Slack, Hangouts, Skype, email, text, and more, for intentional team building in this challenging time? Check out the activities below to spark your imagination and to help you be intentional, generative, positive, and resilient as a person, a team member, and a leader.…read more
“Trust Requires Connection and Vulnerability”
By Ritch Hochstetler | Feb. 7, 2020
For people to experience trust, there needs to be a solid connection they both believe in. For this connection to be solid means that both people are “all in!” It’s built on a solid history of being trust-worthy (a history of behaviors that support your belief.)…read more
“Cooperation is More than Playing Nice”
By Ritch Hochstetler | Jan. 31, 2020
Webster defines cooperation as “the actions of someone who is being helpful by doing what is wanted or asked for.”
According to the latest research on teams, however, there is a lot more to cooperation than playing nice. For cooperation to infuse a team with greater effectiveness, every team member must be pushed, even pressured, through their “social network”, to take ownership in where the team is heading…read more
“The Power of Interaction on your Team”
By Ritch Hochstetler | Jan. 24, 2020
The factors most people think of as driving group performance – cohesion, motivation, and satisfaction, are less significant than we thought. According to the latest research, the largest factor in predicting group intelligence is the equality of the conversational turn taking: groups where only a few people dominate the conversation, are less collectively intelligent than those with a more equal distribution of conversational turn taking…read more
“7 Ways to Open Your Mind to Creativity”
By Ritch Hochstetler | Oct. 10, 2019
Our staff team recently digested, and were highly impacted, by the book Creative Quest by Questlove, the drummer and joint front-man for the Grammy Award-winning band The Roots. The Roots is the in-house band for The Tonight Show…read more.
“I Remember When…”
By Bekah Finch | Sept. 9, 2019
It was during my very first experience with this amazing tool that I fell in love with one activity in particular- “I Remember When…”…read more.
Any Good Recommendations?
By Ben Rheinheimer | August 12, 2019
It all began at the corner of E. Alejo Road and Indian Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs as I waited for the light to change…read more.
The Power of Sports
By Kailey Paszko | July 25, 2019
I don’t know if it can be pin pointed. Or if there is one exact moment that stands out over others. Maybe it’s the adrenaline pumping through your bloodstream moments before the start of a big game…read more.
The Power of Play
By Ritch Hochstetler | July 12, 2019
As I made my way from where I parked to my office this morning I encountered teams of people moving in and out of shops and stores. I stopped to ask someone what was going on…read more.