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Tuesday through Thursday I’ll be in Vancouver (WA) for the M. J. Murdock Christian Leadership Advance Conference. It’s an annual time of networking on overdrive, just my kind of gathering. One of the people I’m looking forward to connecting with this year is Vince Burens. Vince is making the trip west from Pittsburgh. He is VP and COO of the CCO  http://www.ccojubilee.org (I love all those letters). I met Vince in the 90’s at an Ivy Jungle Conference. Over the years we have shared a supportive friendship as we continued to work with and support collegiate ministry. Our times together always bring a combination of sports talk, laughing, listening and creative visioning. Here are some kind and supportive words from Vince:

I have known Jim for almost a decade. From the genesis of our relationship, he has been focused on helping me maximize my potential. Pragmatic, creative, and honest, Jim conducts himself with Spirit-led excellence. Jim truly wants his expertise and tools to benefit a person or organization so that they are as successful as they can be. I have always found him to be an exceptional listener and very wise on a broad range of topics. I would strongly recommend Jim to anyone trying to ‘figure it out’ in internships, leadership, mentoring, campus ministry, camping, and in variety of other areas.

     Vincent Burens, Executive Vice President/COO, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Pittsburgh PA

I think I’ll be creative and be the only one not to offer any Black Friday super sale, deal of the century, get it now at the best price ever…but then again…https://jimschmotzer.com/

Is your organization ready for interns? I’d like to help you explore this question.

For the purposes of this conversation interns will generally be defined as being in their young to mid-twenties and at or near the end of their schooling. Interns will participate in a short-term work/study arrangement for approximately 3 months to two years.

Following are some of the benefits organizations may find in offering internship programs:

• Interns bring new energy, an excitement to learn and explore possibilities to the work setting.
• Interns can ask questions that may have become forgotten in the daily processes, questions that can lead to problem solving or new opportunities.
• Establishing an intern program can create or enhance a learning culture in an organization. This can support learning and growth throughout an organization.
• Interns can bring a new sense of fun to a team.
• Interns can help organizations better understand and connect with younger generations. Think social networking and technology.
• Interns can be a great source of future employees. An added bonus is that the internship will give them time to learn the culture and job and you the opportunity to evaluate their “fit” for your needs.
• Implementing an internship is a way to build toward the greater future. You are growing people for careers and life, whether or not they continue with your specific organization.

I have developed and implemented intern programs for a number of organizations over thirty plus years involving over 150 interns. In recent years I have helped with the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust Vision & Call Intern Program http://www.murdock-trust.org/enrichment-programs/vision-call-internships.php supporting internships throughout the greater Northwest region.

I would love to help you explore internships for your organization. Please contact me and we can start moving forward: https://jimschmotzer.com/services/organizational-consulting

Next week: We will look at questions to help evaluate your organizations readiness for internships.

Paul Peterson and I are part of a small circle of friends that has been together for many years. We meet regularly and have walked together through life’s transitions, surprises and challenges. Oh, and we make an annual pilgrimage to a Mariner’s game. This year we were at “the Safe” for the six pitcher no-hitter! The following is from Paul:

I think the best word to describe Jim is ‘coach’. I’ve been able to observe him in a variety of ministry settings over our 25-year friendship. In each of these roles, Jim has primarily worked to develop the gifts and abilities of those he’s working with. He is very genuine in his desire to mentor and grow others to their best potential. You and your organization will benefit from his ability to apply his experience to the ever-changing nature of business and ministry.

Paul Petersen, Senior Pastor Bellingham Covenant Church, Bellingham, WA

I am in the process of training to become a middle and high school girl’s basketball referee. And no you can’t watch me practice blowing the whistle and making calls in our bathroom mirror (the trainer recommended it). After decades of seeing the flow of the game as a fan, player and coach I am now seeing it with new eyes.

I have to retrain myself to not follow the ball but keep my eyes focused on specified areas of the court and the players therein. While it is easy to default to my former experience I need to adjust my thinking and action to help the game flow and do my new job well.

Similarly in life we all have habits and patterns that guide our decisions and actions. Sometimes we need to build on our past strengths, at others we need to change focus and redirect our energies. Through Life Coaching I hope to help people see with new eyes and develop strategies to live more fully.

Through a personalized Life Coaching process of conversation, questions, reflection and related projects I can help individuals evaluate their life, gain a new sense of vision and begin forward movement.

I am in the process of doing my best to make the adjustments to become a good referee. Let me know if you’d like to connect to explore the Life Coaching process help make the best moves for your life now and into the future: //jimschmotzer.com/services/life-coaching

It is an honor and privilege to help others walk through a process of self discovery and living into the fullness of their potential. Sharing some of this journey with Breeze Potts has been a great joy. She shares some of her insights below:

I am a counselor. I haven’t always been a counselor. At one point in my life, I was a college dropout with no clear direction or plan. This is when I met Jim.

I am a counselor in part because of Jim’s encouragement and investment in my life. He helped me uncover who I am and discover where I was headed. This included walking alongside me and helping me discover my gifts, passions and work style. This occurred through personal conversations, his mentoring; referring me to a therapist, suggesting books to read and through a personal development curriculum that he led me through. His introduction to introspection through understanding temperament, personality traits and style of relating has helped me better understand others and myself. Jim’s dedication to helping me become more “fully myself” nurtured me to be able to more honestly evaluate who I have been and who I am becoming and enter graduate school. 

Jim’s support, friendship and leadership have been a significant part of my self-discovery process.  I know I am not the only one who has been impacted by his leadership. I continue to discover new things about myself but it is no longer terrifying. I am grateful for new insight and for Jim’s encouragement to open myself up to exploration and possibility. This is one of the things I love most about being a counselor. I get to invite others into a similar place and process. I am now a counselor and an advocate for self-discovery. 

Breeze Potts, counselor, Bellingham, WA

Please contact me and we can explore ways to help your process of self-discovery and living a full life. https://jimschmotzer.com/services/life-coaching

There I said it. It is great being able to help others through my Coaching, Mentoring and Consulting business. My goal is to help individuals discover and live the best life possible as well as supporting organizations to be strengthened in varied areas. To make this happen I need to continue to build contacts and clients. To do this I need help and hopefully you can be one of those who help me along the way.

I hope the following makes it easy for you to actively support me in the coming days. Let me know if you have specific questions, and thanks for your help.

How can you help? I don’t expect anyone or everyone to do all of these things, but if you do a few things a few times a month it will be a big help. A good way to make general connections is through About Me http://about.me/jimschmotzer.

First, you can speak on my behalf. Through my website jimschmotzer.com you can be better aware of my strengths and focus. If you think of a person or organization I can help and mention my name and how to connect with me, you have helped. People act when someone they trust and respect gives them supportive ideas. You can make a difference.

Second, please read my JSA blog posts https://jimschmotzer.com/blog. I will generally post about twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. This will help you better know what I am doing and how to communicate it to others. Commenting on or forwarding my blog posts would be a big help.

Third, connect with my Jim Schmotzer & Associates Facebook page. Follow this link https://www.facebook.com/JimSchmotzerAssociates and click the “Like” button. Then when you see post’s I have made it will help if you “Like,” “Share” or comment. I don’t expect anyone to support each post, but it will be most helpful if you support the posts that you see as of value to others in your circle of influence. Google+ is similar to Facebook, and I’m there as well.

Fourth, please connect with me on Twitter (if you Tweet). I’m @JimSchmotzer (https://twitter.com/jimschmotzer). With Twitter it will help if you Retweet my Tweets or send them to people you think will benefit form connecting with me.

Fifth, make the LinkedIn connection www.linkedin.com/in/jimschmotzer. As with Facebook you can “Like,” “Share” or comment on the posts.

Thanks for reading and I really appreciate any help you can give me along the way. Please let me know of ways I can help you as well.

Peace,

Jim