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COVID19 (Coronavirus) Update:

At Our Community Listens, the care of our participants and facilitators is our utmost concern.

We are living in extraordinary times, and events and guidelines are changing quickly. To lessen the spread of the Corona Virus outbreak, Our Community Listens has decided to put our in-person classes on hiatus until May 1st, 2020. We will reevaluate at that time if the hiatus will be extended.

If you have already signed up for class that meets before that time, our logistics leader will be in direct contact with you to coordinate rescheduling a class at your earliest convenience.

If you haven’t signed up for a class yet, but would like to, please choose the location where you would take the class below and complete the application, indicating your preference of future class date. Once we receive your application, our logistics leader will contact you regarding class specifics. In the event that future class needs to be postponed, we will follow up with you directly to reschedule.

Thank you for your understanding as we work through this difficult time and thank you for your commitment to building healthy, connected communities.

A life-changing experience.

Communication Skills Training

What if you could improve every single one of your relationships—personal or professional—by discovering more about yourself and how you interact with others? Through this deeply personal exploration of how you listen, relate, discern and communicate, you’ll:

  • Explore how the Communication Cycle forms the foundation of all of your interpersonal communication;
  • Improve your ability to attentively listen and see how it can be the most important thing a person can do for another;
  • Appreciate the impact your non-verbal behavior has on your verbal communication;
  • Develop a more effective way to have difficult conversations;
  • Feel empowered to strengthen and facilitate healing in broken relationships;
  • See and celebrate the good in others; see and celebrate the good in yourself.

This is no ordinary training! After three days of powerful classroom instruction, experiential activity, and group discussion, you’ll be equipped with the tools to have deeper, more meaningful relationships and inspired by the course’s ability to bring about a more compassionate world.

OCL training goes way beyond communication!  When we become more aware of ourselves and others we will become the best version of our self. Linda Chaloupka, Wisconsin Chapter (Mequon) Alumnus

Class Schedule

Select the location where you would like to take a class.

This class has enhanced my relationships both personally and professionally. The results have been remarkable in my relationships with my adult children, having learned to show grace and become a better listener. Terry Patton, Greater St. Louis Chapter Alumnus

Alumni Resources

Want to sharpen your newly acquired listening skills? Ready to learn more about developing and mastering your ability to listen with empathy? Please check out these valuable resources so that you can continue to be The Message!

  • Everybody Matters

    Read the book that will challenge the way you think about how to run a business and, above all, how to be an inspirational leader. Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia share the lessons learned throughout the transformation of capital equipment and engineering consulting firm Barry-Wehmiller as well as Chapman’s own personal transformation as a leader. You’ll get an insider’s view of the steps Chapman and his team undertook to create a thriving organization where making people feel valued, cared for, and an integral part of the organization’s shared purpose is the priority. You’ll be inspired and equipped with tangible actions to implement today to build an exceptional organization for tomorrow. View more

  • Leaders Eat Last

    Imagine a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, then returns home feeling fulfilled. This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today, in many successful organizations, great leaders create environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable things.

    In his work with organizations around the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives are offered, are doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why?

    The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. "Officers eat last," he said. Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What's symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort--even their own survival--for the good of those in their care.

    Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Sinek calls a "Circle of Safety" that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside.

    Sinek illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

     View more

  • Taking Flight!

    Taking Flight illuminates the proven DISC four-style model of human behavior, and shows how to use it to become a far more effective leader, salesperson, or teacher; revitalize your career; build deeper personal relationships; fully leverage your natural gifts, and empower everyone around you. Drawing on their immense experience coaching executives and training world-class organizations, Merrick Rosenberg and Daniel Silvert introduce DISC through a fable that's quick, fun, and easy-to-understand. If you're already familiar with DISC, this book will help you use it more effectively than ever before. View more

  • Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

    Learn how to keep your cool and get the results you want when emotions flare.

    When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation badly and suffer the consequences; or read Crucial Conversations and discover how to communicate best when it matters most. Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You'll learn how to:

    • Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique 
    • Make it safe to talk about almost anything 
    • Be persuasive, not abrasive 
    • Keep listening when others blow up or clam up 
    • Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want 

    Whether they take place at work or at home, with your neighbors or your spouse, crucial conversations can have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a crucial conversation again.

     View more

  • Bob Chapman's Truly Human Leadership (blog)

    What is Truly Human Leadership?

    Since the early 2000s, Chapman has championed the transformation of Barry-Wehmiller’s culture into one focused on bringing out the best in its people through communication, trust, celebration, respect, continuous improvement and responsible freedom. “We now have a new way of defining our success,” says Chapman. “At Barry-Wehmiller, we measure success by the way we touch the lives of people.”

    Through his speeches, his writing and the newly launch BW Leadership Institute, it is Chapman’s hope that the value of people-first leadership, or Truly Human Leadership, as it is known, will become a reality in other organizations. By sharing his experiences, insights, stories, advice and more, he hopes to spread his message about the power of this kind of leadership. He believes businesses and organizations can become the most positive influence on our society by providing caring, empowering, fulfilling work environments.

    Bob Chapman hopes to change the world one job, one person, one company at a time.

    View Link
  • New OCL Logo The Impact of Our Community Listens
  • Fusion-Facebook-Bob-Chapman-Speaker-Promo-2 Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman
  • Truly Human Leadership “Leadership Crisis” video Truly Human Leadership “Leadership Crisis” video
  • golden-circle-why-simon-sinek-559x415 Start with Why - Simon Sinek
Talk to Us, We're Listening!