Month: May 2018

Mom & daughter
MicroBlog

Tip 27: Traveling with Mom

Theme Night Director

It’s Mother’s Day 2018 so it only seems fitting to write some tips for having a great mother-daughter trip.  Mostly we suggest you make sure both of your wishes for the trip are well known before you depart. Perhaps your Mom is hoping for a lot of adventure while you were thinking it was a “rest and relaxation” trip.  Or perhaps you are hoping for some alone time to pause and reflect while your Mom wants to soak up every second of togetherness.  All are perfect wishes, but it is best to communicate them so you know what would make this trip most awesome together.

At Lead.Travel.Pray. we fully endorse fun family adventures. We have had some awesome trips with our Moms including an Alaska cruise, New York City Christmas windows tour, New Orleans garden district, Germany autobahn, Rome and more. We’d also love to hear your stories and ideas for awesome adventures with Mom.

Rebecca’s family used to take a Mom’s “Mystery Trip”. The idea was for all the girls in the family to take Grandma on a surprise trip out of town where everyone would be patiently waiting to greet her.  We all looked forward to these special gatherings.

Here’s some great advice for making the most of a trip with your Mom.

What has been your favorite Mother-Daughter trip?  What travel traditions do you have to share?

Change commitment
Podcast

Episode 5: Living through Change

Theme Night Director

 

Change cartoon
No takers on leading change?

CEB Research – https://www.cebglobal.com/insights/change-management.html

What tools or models do you think are most helpful to people leading change?

When you see someone who just has a knack for championing change, what characteristic/trait sticks out to you? (What makes them great?)

  • Flexibility
  • Curiosity
  • Passion
  • Authenticity
  • Aware of stakeholders

What are often overlooked execution strategies leaders miss as they get wrapped up on “doing the change”?

  • Celebrating small wins
  • Anticipating resistance – more info on Pre-Mortems
  • Slow down to move fast – aligning on the front end
  • Knowing when it’s ok to direct change vs allow for more collective intelligence/wisdom of the crowd – Kerber and Buono research (this is a bit more academic but good stuff)

How can the leader solidify the change in the culture?

  • Provide opportunities for 2-way conversation with employees
  • Communicate, communicate, communicate
  • Reward the right behaviors
  • Modeling what you want to see in others
  • Select people who align with and advance the culture you are building
  • Know when to change talent on a project team to reinvigorate a change

What strategies do you use to personally cope with change?

  • Reminding myself that it’s usually not as bad as I assume it will be
  • Focus on gratitude even in the midst of pain
  • Not ignore our feelings
  • Giving up control
  • Being intentional about how you are spending your social time and making sure you are not isolating yourself

How do you help those who struggle with resistance to change?

  • Demonstrating empathy
  • Not passing judgment when someone is struggling
  • Provide personal examples
  • Change style indicator – brochure
  • William Bridges’ transitions model

What change books and resources have been helpful?

It seems like all industries, fields, even hobbies are changing a lot based on digital and other trends. How do you stay on top – or in front, when possible – of these changes?

  • Think of other ways to do things you do today especially ways to use digital tools differently
  • Twitter and LinkedIn helps connect global thought leaders
  • Conferences or Professional development sessions and organizations

 

BONUS!

Girls’ Trip Elephant Adventure pictures – Sandy on an elephant at the Indianapolis Zoo

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Power Outlet
MicroBlog

Tip 26: Power adapters and converters

Theme Night Director

When you are traveling out of the country, it’s a good idea to research the electrical situation so you don’t blow up your curling iron.  Sometimes you will only need a new connection end on the plug and sometimes you’ll need to actually convert the power to a different voltage.

Here’s a great tool for finding out what you’ll need (see the pull-down menu near the top middle of the page): http://www.walkabouttravelgear.com/adapterIndex.html

More good advice here: https://www.smartertravel.com/2017/06/19/electricity-overseas-converters-adapters-beyond/

 

 

 

 

Shoes
MicroBlog

Tip 25: #Crowdsource tip time! What are your favorite travel shoes?

Theme Night Director

We’re now a quarter of the way through #100days100traveltips and we’d like your help!  What shoes are your favorite to pack for a trip?  Whether it be form or function, what do you suggest to fellow travelers?  Comment here to share your ideas!

Airport Shopping
MicroBlog

Tip 24: The best Duty Free deals

Theme Night Director

Many airports now have an excellent selection of local and high-end shops.  Duty free deals, which avoid some import duties and taxes, can be a great bargain…but it’s not always the case.  Savvy shoppers know how the airport or duty free prices compare to the retail price at home.

Here are some comparisons:

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/duty-free-deals

More good advice:

https://www.skyscanner.com/tips-and-inspiration/when-to-shop-at-duty-free-stores-and-what-to-buy

https://www.tripsavvy.com/duty-free-a-good-deal-459050