Sunday, June 27, 2010

June 27, 2010 - Year is halfway done!

Hey there, hi there and hello there to one and all. A belated birthday wish out to uncle Kenny K and anniversary wishes to Grandma/Grandpa Seda ... hope all of your days were well. Isn't it crazy to think that the year of 2010 is already halfway done, we're almost at the 4th of July, amazing.
Aflac continues on the track of crazy-busy action! We had another 2011 business planning all-day session, my team's second of three departments that we've been tasked with preparing 2011 business plans for ... wow! The team is rockin' and rollin' though putting together the plans, finalizing project profiles for potential implementation next year (the three we have put together would save the company over $1M in the first year ... gotta love it!) This week I presented to the management team for Tier 1 certification for Precision Leadership ... weird I know, but basically I'm one step closer to becoming a "certified leader" within the Aflac organization. I have a presentation for our Sr. VP and exec team within the next week, so cross your fingers:)
Best part of the work week though had to be the team building activity we were able to do with the Future State team. Yup, that's the Flint River and yes, we did head outdoors for a team canoe trip. Five of the 8 participants had never canoed before, so needless to say, we had some difficulties throughout the day - or maybe we'll call those team building opportunities! The water was really low and after a few flips, we finished our five mile excursion in torrential downpour. Ever been on the river and you can see 500 feet in front of you a sheet of rain with nowhere to go ... yup, that was us! I didn't hear one single complaint though when the skies opened up on us, rather cheers of joy ... it was one of, if not the, best team experiences I've had at Aflac. Everyone did something they've never done or thought they could do and we all worked together to ensure everyone made it to the end, instant classic. Even if one of my team members tried to take off my elbow with their canoe ... ya, that's a deep contusion!!
Wednesday we had our Book Parade with the Literacy Alliance where a police escort, board members, TV stations and volunteers caravanned through 3 low income housing neighborhoods handing out free books to all of the kids/adults that came out. It was an amazing experience and very rewarding to see the joy on the children's faces when they sat down to read their new books.
Saturday marked two years worth of work in the making for the Young Professional's first Servant Leadership Day. It showcased to the YPs in our community what it takes to get on a local not-for-profit board, governmental committee or civic club. The morning was filled with various nuggets of knowledge and I was even able to join the United Way CEO on a panel discussion about how to get involved/what it's like. Then we had about 20 local agencies come out to try and get some of the YPs to volunteer/get on board with great success.
Finished up the weekend with a guy ping pong night and a trip on Sunday up to Emory for a group project. It was a nice bachelor weekend with the pooch, but we're ready for Jenny to come back home:) Pretty busy week ahead with some board orientation for the United Way, some work action, class and then on Friday Jenny and I are driving down to Florida somewhere for the weekend with Rick/Whitney. Should be a blast, but the next blog will be delayed ... then, before I know it, Steph and Blake will be down for a weekend of good times! I can't wait.
Welp, hope you all have a wondermous week and a great 4th of July!
Alwayz,
Nate

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