News from Rwanda - GRDP's first workshop was yesterday!

I've been waiting with great anticipation to get a message from Dave Ormesher, President of GRDP. Dave is currently in Kigali, Rwanda and yesterday he coached their first workshop to 45 entrepreneurs. You'll remember that Elizabeth and I presented to 70+ entrepreneurs last month in Kigali - presenting GRDP concepts, tools, and strategies, which resulted in 40+ entrepreneurs to register for 4 (quarterly) workshops in 2010 after the presentation.

Here's his email to me and Elizabeth (my travel companion last month): (sorry for all the work-speak :))

Elizabeth and Melanie,

I’m wiped out, but it’s that feeling after a great, exhilarating workout.

Fantastic workshop. Many, many stories. 45 was the final count. Perfect size. One guy actually left at the lunch break to bring back his business partner for the afternoon session!

Thanks for your timely emails during the workshop; I was able to read them to Sandrali, Immaculee, Donat, Sam, etc. Cyusa did a fantastic job on logistics .Great find. Thank you. He engaged the same volunteers that helped in December, so they totally knew the registration drill.
(note: Elizabeth and I interviewed for a part-time position for GRDP while in Rwanda - our suggestion was Cyusa.)

The end of the workshop was almost spiritual. I declared that we were all bonded through this experience as a family, and I challenged them to look around the room and imagine us all together three years from today looking back... having built deep friendships and successful businesses.

I did a full public debrief and had everyone take the mic to tell their highlight of the day. So inspiring. Many talked about how they learned to network today and how many people they had exchanged cards with. I pointed out to them that they could have gone to 6 months worth of parties with this group and never would have gotten as personal and transparent as they did today through small group sharing of Pos Foc, DSQ, DOS, and 3-year P. Again, this level of intimacy just doesn’t happen here. Ever. It was a very poignant moment, and why I keep doing these workshops.

Sam told me at the lunch break that he had already made two new contacts that were worth much more than the investment of time and money. He was very grateful. Another woman told me that after the DSQ, she was ready to leave... She had gotten so much value from that one exercise that all she wanted to do was leave and start working on her bigger future!

At 4pm after the coffee break I had planned to do a short 20-min bit on leadership, but I could tell everyone was full. I put a water glass on the podium and slowly filled it to the brim. As the water swelled at the top, everyone gasped. As I dropped one more drip and the water overflowed on the podium, I explained that sometimes we get to that point of diminishing returns in a workshop where one more concept or worksheet pushes our brain over the edge. We were there. So I stopped the content and moved to sharing.

I put together several great iTunes playlists of African music that I played during the personal worksheet time, and that worked well as always.

During my debrief over drinks with the two senior administrators and professors from Johns Hopkins, they expressed amazement at the intellectual quality of the group. This is a high-powered group, and once we set them free to imagine three years out, they went nuts. But by the time they had processed everything to get to the point where they could do the 3-yr P and then break it down to the next four quarters, you could tell that they were serious and ready to roll. There were some industry-changing ideas...

At the end I gave a high-level overview of the The Gap, and told them how most if not all of them would fall into it within the next month. One woman laughingly complained that I wouldn’t explain how to get out of the Gap until April! So I just used the opportunity to predict that some of them would be in the Gap by April and would be tempted not to come for fear of facing the rest of us with their lack of progress. I explained that if they were in the Gap, then the workshop in April is exactly where they would need to be! They got it...

I also pointed out to them the power of the Coach materials; the energy and vision they experienced was not because I had brought incredible American insights into how to run their business. I explained that Dan’s power was in coming up with powerful questions, not powerful (and ultimately limiting) answers. That through a series of questions and worksheets, I had pulled their three year plan right out of them! You could feel the room crackle.

I had dinner two hours later with Chris, and he told me that he had already received four phone calls from people who had been at the workshop and who told him how transforming it was.

I’ve got a full day of meetings tomorrow, and then I catch the evening Brussels Air flight out to get back on Fri afternoon.

It’s working! Thanks again for all your help. We couldn’t have done it without your efforts in Dec.

-do