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
Pretty interesting week at the Duck with business planning for 2011 in full swing. We had an all day planning session for the Policy Service department which was quite a bit different than any I remember in the past. Instead of a focus on changing processes, it was centered around culture changes and what we can do to improve morale in 2011 ... I can't wait:) I also had a pretty good chat with my boss' boss about building our team and how we can grow, something that was much needed and will help our team come closer together I'm sure. Pretty pumped about this week as we have another all day planning session for a different department (ya, we're in charge of 2011 planning for three departments, same amount of resources:), I'm going for my Precision Leadership certification and we have a team building activity this Friday afternoon, canoeing down the Flint River ... should be a great time!
Finished up my only midterm on Monday at Emory where I did better than I thought I would but not as good as I thought I did ... trust me, it makes sense. Had another Investment Club meeting with my pals down here in Columbus where someone thought it was a funny idea to nominate me as the VP ... although I denied the nomination, I was overruled! Had a great Literacy Alliance Exec meeting where the team asked if I would consider taking on a second term as chair of the board since we have so much going on, so we'll see how that goes:)
I think this week may have marked my last week on the Miss GA Pageant Board as well with the wrap up of the 2010 Miss Georgia Pageant. In the three years I headed up the creation of the program book, we went from ad sales of about $18,000 to this year's sales of over $50,000 ... pretty awesome considering the whole recession thing going on;) We did have a pretty fun Pajama 5K late Friday night after the show where Jenny, Rick, Patrick, Alisha and I dressed up in our best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajama gear for the midnight 5K ... what a blast!
Saturday was our day of rest before today's Sprint Triathlon. Jenny, Rick, Whitney, Alisha and I (yes, that is I with a day-long mohawk:) made it an early morning as we mounted up the bikes and made our way to Callaway Gardens. This is the second year in a row I've made the trek to Callaway for a tri, but I didn't get much training in this year so I was happy in knowing the course was a bit shorter this year. 
A 1/4 mile swim, followed by a 10 mile bike and finishing up with a 2 mile run ... all under an hour, 57 minutes and 30 seconds to be exact;) We all had a blast and I finished the race without getting beat by a 9 year old ... although it was close!!
Work has been pretty interesting over the last couple of weeks as I learn to wade through the business waters at Aflac. Word on the street is that our team has not only been charged with coming up with the 2011 business plan for the Policy Service department, but the Customer Service Center too ... wow, guess we're doing a couple things right. 
O ya, then I heard through the grapevine that I'm now in charge of another online system, the complete data system for our agents. So, now we have that, our online system for our policyholders and the one for our accounts ... holy schnikes! I think we need a bigger team maybe:) Been spending some great 1v1 time with the team members over the last couple of weeks too doing personal SWOT analysis and setting them up with internal/external mentors ... I hope it will go well.
Crazy to think, but I already have my first midterm of the semester up at Emory, wow! It has been the most involved semester I have had thus far with hundreds of pages of reading ... incredible. I also started my third course for the summer too, Social Enterprise. It's an independent study course with two other students where we have weekly readings and then each Tuesday we get together over Skype to discuss, am very excited about this course!
It's been a pretty busy weekend too. Friday a few of us got together for an arena football game where the Columbus Lions put up 99 points, to the opponents zero, pretty sad! Then about fifteen of us got together on Saturday morning to help Melvin clean up his yard and lay sod with Habitat for Humanity. 
A little running action for next weekend's triathlon and rest by the pool took up the rest of it. Looking forward to some good Literacy Alliance gatherings in the next week as we are rollin' with programs.
O yes, last weekend was an absolute blast between breakfast with Gump, lunch with some ol' SIFErs, partyin' with pals at the Dry Dock, a couple weddings on Saturday and good family time on Sunday. I don't know how Jenny and I fit it in, but our "vacation" time usually doesn't involve much sleep, but we wouldn't have it any other way. 
Thanks to everyone for all the good times, including the hi-c juice box drinking match between the Klein boy cousins:)
Hope you all enjoy a wonderful week ... I know ours will be with a Pajama Run 5k, the Miss Georgia Pageant, a triathlon and yes ... the premier viewing of Toy Story 3!! Congrats again Bro on a good showing in your first golf tourney, pretty impressive I must say.
Alwayz,