Work is play ... team play. It requires that each and every member of our organization — whether a business developer, researcher, writer, administrator, or facilitator — collaborate and co-operate. Only then can high-quality, practical learning programs and processes be delivered on time for our clients. Team play isn't something we only teach, it's something we do day in and day out.
One of our team members noted, "The quality we deliver is no accident. It takes the whole team being in sync. Quality is the result of being focused, taking initiative, and dedicating ourselves to exceeding expectations."
When asked what it was like to work on this team, one person observed, "Here we really walk the talk." We work at living the content we teach. If we can't make an idea or an approach work, then we can't suggest that others do. We have high standards of performance and, to be quite honest, there are some days when we miss the mark but like all other learners we pick ourselves up, evaluate what happened, take our bearings, and try again.
A team member summed up one of the challenges we face nicely when they said, "Like every other organization, we are challenged to learn at the speed of change. Each of us owns the responsibility of being wiser tomorrow than we are today ... that's also true for us as a team."
Here are more specific profiles of the two team members that are most often facilitating learning with our clients.
A PROFILE
Click Here to see a video of Marilyn.
Marilyn Baetz is a partner of LIVE Consultants Inc. Since the company started in 1974, Marilyn has been designing and writing specialized programs for organizations that help their people develop skills, increase knowledge, and acquire the attitudes which support valued new behaviours. As well, Marilyn is a highly skilled facilitator who has worked with organizations all across Canada including TD Canada Trust, Imperial Oil Limited, Kuehne & Nagel, Canadian National Railway, and Stock Transportation.
As a facilitator, Marilyn has an ability to take complex ideas and make them easily understood. Her background and experience in psychology and education allows her to recognize how adults learn and she uses these principles to respond to the individual learning needs of participants.
Marilyn helps participants understand how to apply what they are learning in the real world and develop plans for action back on the job. Her active classroom approach is direct, to-the-point, and practical; her style is enthusiastic, fun, and down-to-earth.
Marilyn catches others doing
something almost right - and then, she works at making that almost right
even better ... a true developer and coach.
STEPHEN BAETZ:
A PROFILE
Click Here to see a video of Stephen.
Stephen Baetz, a partner at LIVE Consultants Inc., has been involved in management education and development in both the private and public sectors since 1974. He is a nationally recognized management educator, trainer, and writer who conducts over 75 seminars and workshops a year, with organizations such as TD Canada Trust, Stock Transportation Ltd., Purolator, Canadian National Railway, Kuehne & Nagel, S.C. Johnson, Business Depot, Enbridge, Ontario's Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Guelph.
Stephen holds graduate degrees in the social sciences and human services. He has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of university and community college.
His programs cover a wide range of topics in the people side of management: communication, leadership, motivation, delegation, strategic thinking and planning, change leadership — along with performance management, team building, and managing the marginal performer.
Stephen's presentation is always stimulating and down-to-earth, full of real-life illustrations and anecdotes from his own experience and others', told in a very personal and entertaining style that captures people's attention and interest. As one participant put it, "Stephen made me feel like the seminar was designed for me."
His special interests include strategic planning, team building, and how to make changes.
In addition to seminars, Stephen has done extensive organizational consultative work, instituted results-oriented management systems, designed surveys, and done education design, change leadership, and program development.