What an exceptional meeting! Rotarian Geoff Nadler spearheaded an interactive workshop on communication skills, focusing on how to have honest, open and respectful discussions. District 5280 sent a team of facilitators, led by Rotarian Dr. Vicki Radel, and Scott Martin, founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders. Geoff was right…he referred to our guests as “the dream team” – and that they were!
Geoff led off the program by reviewing the “ground rules” and goals for the meeting. We divided into four groups, each ably guided by a district facilitator. Our goal for the workshop was to have a dialogue on the topic of “tribalism”. Each group selected a recorder/reporter to track and summarize the group’s discussion.
We covered four questions:
What do you want to get out of today’s workshop?
Do you consider Rotary a form of tribalism?
What is your personal experience with tribalism in the community, outside of Rotary?
What is the most positive, memorable event for you as a tribal member and how did that make you feel?
At the end of the discussion, each group reported out on their key findings and conclusions. Most of us ran out of time before we could get to question #4, but I personally took that as a good sign….we were all very engaged in the conversation and clearly had a lot to say!
Overall, it was an energizing and interesting workshop. Marc asked for all of us to send him an email if we would like to do something like this again. Kudos to Geoff for organizing this educational and thought-provoking workshop! Rotary has a long history with and commitment to “Peace and Conflict Resolution” and this program was one way in which our Club members had the opportunity to experience some of this rich tradition.
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