Developing Emotionally Competent Leaders & Teams

The Hardiness Workshop on stress management was engaging right from the start. There was a good mix of participation via the Chat and information being shared. Handouts were clear and user friendly. This was such an important topic for the staff as we are navigating uncharted territory and there is much more stress than the past. Taking each one of the 3 C's at a time and then having small breakout groups for discussion provided more in depth conversations. Debriefing as a large group was meaningful as well. ~ Principal, K-8 Northwestern CT

Timely assignment turn around, thorough and encouraging responses to graded work, genuinely supportive, and exceptional at cultivating the appropriate atmosphere needed to propel this class.

Deene is very professional, encouraging and knowledgeable. It is obvious that she lives and loves emotional intelligence. Hard not to be inspired in this class.

Thank you for all of your feedback and insights throughout this class. The information and resources you've shared have been beyond helpful and I will certainly refer back to them.

I just wanted to reach out and thank you for the EQ Professional Development training on Create and Move Positive Change Forward with Feedback this week. I have been telling (literally!) everyone I know about the 5:1 statistic and I can feel it being in the forefront of my thoughts throughout the day. For example, I just received an email from a school colleague passing along attendance information and I found myself thinking "let's send her a note telling her how much I appreciate her communication instead of just letting it sink into my inbox." I knew feedback was powerful but your teaching totally reshaped its importance in my life. I just wanted to thank you for that!

I had a conversation with a senior colleague today and she told me I am a totally different person and director than I was a year ago. I just want to say THANK YOU. You are probably the best thing that happened to me second only to my wife and son. I cannot even begin to tell you how much you helped me. This may seem kinda strange to get this after so much time as passed, but I never really connected the dots until now.

Absolutely recommend. Deene will help you see the value of your strengths so you can move forward being the real you.

Our team development retreat was a great success, and we accomplished more than I could have imagined. People gained a much deeper understanding of both their natural talents as well as their stressors from this staff workshop. There continues to be permanent, good results. Our team 's communication, cooperation and understanding continue to be better. Deene led an excellent workshop and I would highly recommend her to lead a team retreat.

There are many things I love about Deene’s workshops, but perhaps the best thing I find most valuable is that she uses a very interactive style with participants that has us moving around, working with other people and completing exercises that really demonstrate not only our own interaction style preferences, but how those preferences can be perceived by differing styles. I learned a lot about myself and how I prefer to run meetings and how that may differ from others. As an example, in meetings, I very much dislike silence so I’m always quick to speak up and fill the silence. What I learned in Deene’s training is that some people need the silence to think, process and formulate their ideas or answers. So now, despite my uncomfortableness with silence, I try to embrace it and remember that I need to allow other’s time to process information. Again, every time I attend one of Deene’s workshops – even if it covers the same material, I learn something new. This is because she is interactive in her workshops and the discussions evolve with the participants. Deene is engaging, extremely knowledgeable and I highly recommend her.

Your communication and inspiring skills are amazing. You have helped me improve myself to be a better human being. The awareness that this class has opened up is a life changing step.

There is a direct correlation between Deene’s work with our organization and our improved bottom line. Employee retention is up, while sick and overtime utilization is down. I see increased collaboration within my leadership team, new skills being used to successfully resolve team and interdepartmental conflict, better skills to coach direct reports – overall a happier, more motivated, engaged and invested work force. So despite being pulled away from their demanding work for training, our staff remains energized to learn and develop new interpersonal skills. Even the most skeptical employees are buying in with positive, behavior changes. It’s exciting and inspiring. If you are looking to take your organization to a higher functioning and positive culture, I highly recommend Deene.

Deene Morris is an amazing facilitator, coach and interpersonal guide! We started with our administrative team, and then the Board of Education to understand their own communication, motivation and leadership styles as well as their colleagues. We’ve now created an EQ Academy with a cohort of teachers and five workshops in a year. Our teachers enthusiastically embrace this learning and are integrating the social and emotional language into their classrooms. We even have an EQ workshop for parents - and use our new language in our hiring process to determine the specific EQ skills needed for a job position. The learning is contagious and spreading wide and deep. Deene presents materials clearly, asks effective questions, and facilitates engaging activities. These experiences greatly enhance our team’s communication with one another. Deene is not only knowledgeable, she is able to personalize her presentations to meet her audience’s learning styles.

I want to thank you again for taking the time to meet with the Hartford Dental Society last night and share your passion. It was really one of the more unique and engaging presentations we have had in a while and there was a lot of discussion after you had left.

I am so grateful for the great opportunity to spend the day with you in our leadership program. Learning about my personality type answered so many questions that I had always in my head about myself and others around me. Since I became a mother I have been struggling with understanding who I am. I trying to move forward in my career by going to school for an engineering degree and I am trying to balance being a mother, full time employee, and student. I sometimes question myself if I am making the right choices but now I understand much more about me. I am looking forward to applying everything I learned to my life and hopefully this will help me improve my relationship with those around me.

Deene always has a way to make me smile, and I really look forward to our meetings. She really has a wonderful gift and I'm so glad she is willing to help people like me become a better person. We e-mail between sessions and I'm grateful for the ongoing feedback and positive notes.

Loved the workshop on Feedback and Assertive Communication! I think this work is extremely important for all of us and can shift the paradigm and move the world into a positive direction. What really resonates is the 5:1 ratio of positive to corrective feedback. This was exactly the validation I needed to hear. And it’s essential to wait until you are grounded and can communicate effectively, assertively, and kindly without blaming or shaming. Words can be so powerful and live with us for years or even a lifetime. This is so important for teachers. Thank you again.

“It has been an outstanding learning experience for me as a student in your class. Thank you, very much for all the feedback…” “You’ve always been so positive and motivating, and I appreciate it more than you know…” “I learned valuable skills about performance and leadership from you that I have carried through the remainder of my degree plan, and I am certain I will continue to carry throughout my career.” “Your positive words of encouragement motivated me through a challenging time in my professional career and helped me further apply our course learning. Thank you!” “You continue to give me positive feedback, even as I improve, and it really makes me feel like the hard work is paying off!” “I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful class filled with learning. It also meant so much to me all the times you allowed me to improve. I am also able to use materials from this course at work including the giving productive feedback form. “

I just wanted to again thank you for all of your work. I’m not usually one for group exercises and categorizations, but in this case I found the experience to be really intriguing both on a personal and a professional level. (I think it helped my marriage ) It gave us all a lot to think about, and a lot of tools for working well together (which, of course, was the goal). Anyway, I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated your help and efforts!

I've struggled the past few months with work and my relationship with my manager. Today during our team meeting she let us know that she resigned yesterday. Turns out the job was more stressful for her than she anticipated. This past week I had the thought that maybe all of our disagreements and misalignments could be from personal issues she's having, and not for other reasons. The things I learned in this class helped me navigate these issues better than I think I would have, had I not taken this class during this time.

I am someone who loves to learn and grow and understand myself more deeply, so the opportunity to work with Deene on Type Psychology was a gift. Deene’s insightful questions, careful listening, and warm encouragement allowed me to really see and accept who I am and how I interface with the world around me. This has given me a strong sense of inner peace and new direction in my work. It’s good to be me!

I would be remiss if I didn’t reflect on the amazing day we had at Central Connecticut State University, hosts of our 2018 Summer Workshop on August 2nd. This year Inspire Leadership presented on the topic of “Enabling High-Performing Teams and Relationships” to a sold out crowd of over 75 attendees who were given tools and ideas to help them learn to interact more effectively with others. We were thrilled with the turnout and the positive response from our participants. ~ NEACRAO, September 2018 Newsletter

Deene Morris has facilitated Personality Type for our Leadership Northwest program through the Northwest CT Chamber of Commerce. The Leadership program teaches business professionals leadership skills and how to work in teams with people of differing personality types. Every year, Deene brings new information and learning to the class and students walk away with a much deeper understanding of their personality types than they’ve ever been given before. Many of them have done similar assessments but haven’t taken away nearly as much as they do with Deene. It’s their favorite class of the year! The learning is immediately applicable for both individual and team development. The students apply their learning throughout the year. I personally enjoy working with Deene because she’s enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable about the topics she presents. She’s very organized and thorough, which makes planning the session a breeze. I would definitely recommend Deene for business professionals looking to grow both professionally and personally.

Deene has an exceptional talent for assisting individuals and groups optimize performance and I was eager to learn more from her. I had already taken the MBTI assessment but I wanted a more in-depth understanding of my preferences to help in my work life. In working with Deene I had many of the questions confirmed, clarified and explored in much more detail. This was extremely helpful to me in regards to both my personal and professional relationships. In particular, Deene opened up a much greater understanding of an area that had always puzzled me, and this gave me a more concrete view of how others might perceive me and my actions – an ‘aha’ moment for me. Deene is warm, intelligent and insightful. She gave me a fresh and in-depth understanding of my natural strengths and potential blind spots to integrate into my personal and work relationships.

Deene is a fantastic team builder and taught me how to understand Personality Type as it relates to interpersonal relationships. She is a great listener – patient, and inspirational. She can identify issues in a team and suggest communication techniques to resolve conflict. As a manager, I would recommend Deene to any group that needs help improving team dynamics and productivity.

Thank you for all of your feedback and insights throughout this class. The information and resources you've shared have been beyond helpful and I will certainly refer back to them.

Working with Deene was an eye opening experience to say the least. I’ve always had a “Type-A” outgoing personality and found it easy to get along with everyone; but after taking her class I may have been looking at things through rose colored glasses. I just assumed that everyone thought the same way I did – so going along with my ideas meant they agreed with me. After the seminar I realized that this isn’t the case at all; instead, there are many, many types of personality and a good majority of them can be intimidated by mine. What I saw as agreement was sometimes an unwillingness to argue or push back. This class really led to some self-evaluation in how I approach people and group work. Now, instead of just pushing my agenda and expecting everyone to agree because they like me, I think about their point of view and the idea that they may actually have their own opinion but are not comfortable being open about it. Deene’s program help open my eyes to the different personality types and how to get the best out of a team of very different individuals. I would recommend her to anyone who has contact with people in any way, shape, or form.

I decided to work with Deene because I wanted to improve my communication with others, especially in interview type situations. I wanted more tools in my toolbox for situations where I was having trouble connecting with those around me. I liked Deene’s passion and knowledge for what she does. It was very encouraging and nurturing to me, who was totally new in this space. I truly felt a progression over our sessions together, with significant growth and understanding at every step. The experience was positive and empowering. I now feel that I have ample tools to better communicate (especially in interview settings) and have the opportunity to gain further insights with the online resource provided to me. I would 100% recommend Deene to family and friends, especially recent grads like myself, that are looking to improve their communication in a substantial way.

Deene’s abilities and expertise are invaluable! She helped me discover gifts I didn’t know I had and claim others I was reluctant to own. She is bright, thoughtful, engaging, caring and a joy to be around.

Deene is an excellent instructor! She is extremely knowledgeable on emotional intelligence and Type preferences. She facilitated this class perfectly and made all participants comfortable to share their experiences. She gives learners all the important pieces of emotional intelligence to use and apply at work.

Taking the time to think seriously about future career paths can be hard and raises a lot of questions. Deene’s work with assessments were the ideal method for me to find out about my strengths and challenge areas – amazingly accurate and structured. It was a pleasure and eye opener to have Deene on my side to help me create a decision platform. Deene is a warmhearted and encouraging person and able to accurately put crucial things in a nutshell. She is an empathetic listener and consultant and you can feel that she is highly passionate about what she is doing.”

I walked away with the affirmation of what makes me “tick” – insight as to how to approach those with differing preferences and ideas on how to “recharge” my energy. Deene’s knowledge of personality type and the research behind it, her listening experience skills and life experience made for perfect coaching sessions!

Deene provides timely turnaround, thorough and encouraging responses to graded work, genuinely supportive, and exceptional at cultivating the appropriate atmosphere needed to propel this class.

Deene presented What If Your Team Actually Rocked? at our 2016 Annual Conference as a breakout session. The room was filled with participants and her amazing energy. The breakout session covered increasing interpersonal communication skills, learning how to positively engage employees and how to implement a plan for team success. The response we received from her session was outstanding! (“Bring her back!”……”Energy ++++”) Thank you Deene! We look forward to working together again soon.

I have 35 years of experience assembling professional teams to create and produce new works of art and performance. In a recent consult with Deene Morris to review my preferences in relationship to my leadership style, I was both affirmed and challenged. I recognized many of my positive leadership behaviors and also identified areas of stress. The challenge going forward is to learn from these triggers, and while in the height of production stress, adapt some of my behaviors. Deene’s keen analysis and observations allowed our process to be fun and motivating. I would highly recommend her services to both leaders and groups dedicated to positive team building.

Our team development retreat was a great success, and we accomplished more than I could have imagined. People gained a much deeper understanding of both their natural talents as well as their stressors from this staff workshop. There continues to be permanent, good results. Our team’s communication, cooperation and understanding continue to be better. Deene led an excellent workshop and I would highly recommend her to lead a team retreat.

I decided to work with Deene after she provided emotional intelligence work with department heads at my facility. My work with Deene has made a tremendous difference in my work and home life – just by being able to be more understanding and objective. I can step back and ask: Is this really important and do I really need to be involved? Most times, the answer is no for both. Deene allows me to be myself and teaches life lessons that are really easy to implement if I am willing to learn. It sometimes takes me awhile to catch on to where we are going, but it’s very exciting to realize the fruit of my labor. Conflicts become much less frequent and learning tools rather than a seat in the CEO’s office. Working with Deene has made me a more tolerant and compassionate person – not only at work but more importantly with my family as a loving, caring father and husband who appreciates the bigger picture now more than ever. I recommend Deene if you are willing to look at yourself honestly – the positive and negative. She’s an amazing instructor who has helped me in all facets of my life.

Why Deene? Our non-profit arts organization experienced significant growth in the last several years, and it was time to assess the effectiveness of our leadership and governance. We sought a professional to assist us with this potentially stressful process. With Deene’s help, our Executive Committee learned a lot about our individual leadership preferences, which came as a surprise to many of us who have worked together for over 20 years! We came to understand and appreciate the native talents we bring to our Board service and how to work together even more effectively to achieve our organization’s goals. Deene is an excellent facilitator who with grace and humor, skillfully kept our discussions focused. Deene’s extensive experience gives her unique insight into the challenges that boards face – an insight that proved very valuable to our Directors as we identified meaningful action steps that will result in positive change for our organization. For these reasons, I highly recommend Deene’s services to any non-profit considering a Board or governance review!

I enthusiastically and whole heartedly recommend Deene as a learning and development workshop facilitator. I serve as an advisor for our Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership program and as a result, I have now attended Deene’s trainings three years in a row. Every year, I am astounded at what I learn. I always walk away with concrete insights about myself and how I deal with others, and then put this knowledge immediately to work with practical and positive interpersonal results. There are many things I love about Deene’s workshops, but perhaps the most valuable is that her workshops are very interactive. She has us moving around, working with other people and completing exercises that really demonstrate not only our own communication style preferences, but also how those preferences can be perceived by differing styles. Deene engages all participants at their level of comfort and as a result, meaningful discussions evolve. Deene is engaging, extremely knowledgeable and I highly recommend her for your next retreat, conference or leadership or team development training.

Deene Morris is an amazing facilitator! She led our administrative team and Board of Education members to understand their personality type and leadership styles individually as well as their colleagues styles. She presented materials clearly, asked effective questions, and facilitated engaging activities. These experiences greatly enhanced our team’s communication with one another. Deene is not only knowledgeable, she is able to personalize her presentations to meet her audience’s learning styles.

I completed a two-part program with Deene Morris and the experience was astounding. I had never participated in this assessment before, and while I expected to learn about my personality type, I quickly came to realize that working with Deene opened many surprising doors to understand better my own leadership and strategic preferences, strengths and contradictions. Her ability to engage fully with my goals and challenges, all the while providing me with expert resources to dig deeper into how to use my new understanding to improve team dynamics and individual creativity and productivity, was quite impressive. Moreover, I found participating in this process also shed light on many personal and family dynamics of which I had not be fully aware. Deene is a gifted and dynamic change agent and it is pleasure to highly recommend her.

Deene is very professional, encouraging and knowledgeable. It is obvious that she lives and loves this material. Hard not to be inspired in this class.

I am someone who loves to learn and grow and understand myself more deeply, so the opportunity to work with Deene on Type Psychology was a gift. Deene’s insightful questions, careful listening, and warm encouragement allowed me to really see and accept who I am and how I interface with the world around me. This has given me a strong sense of inner peace and new direction in my work. It’s good to be me!