About two months a year my brother, the wildlife artist Carl Ramm, manages bears—Alaska Peninsula brown bears, to be exact—at Brooks Camp in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. As part of a team of bear techs, he helps track the bears’ movement and, as much as possible, guides them away from the camp’s many visitors and toward a place that’s safer for bears and humans alike.
Read MoreIn the weeks following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and the protest that followed, I felt compelled to be part of the conversation. I couldn’t sleep one night and started googling speakers on this topic to be part of the Western Intergovernmental Child Support Engagement Council’s Micro Learning series. I ran across a video clip of Dr. Rita Cameron Wedding and in the clip she says, “talking about racism doesn’t make us racist.” This really resonated with me. Although Grays Peak has done implicit bias training and I have personally attending trainings on implicit bias this felt different. The conversation is now more raw.
Read MoreIn March 2020, as we know everything changed. The world somewhat shut down and people left their offices not knowing when or if they would be back. People were now working and leading from home and isolation and uncertainty set in. Our two Certified Executive Coaches, Liz Bullard and Dr. Puni Kalra met to figure out how to help people struggling. They quickly instituted weekly “Connect-In” sessions where people from around the country could call in for a check-in and a chance to exchange ideas and coaching. Liz and Puni facilitated these groups and put out tools that leaders could use in their own development, and in leading their teams. There was no playbook on how to lead through a pandemic.
Read MoreOn this episode of New from the Peak, we hear from David Ramm about Behavioral Economics, and how it impacts our daily lives. As a compliment to the episode, David has provided us with the following, which includes some great resources to learn more about the topic.
Election season growing up meant going to a lot of chili dinners and hanging out with my parents while they went door-to-door or made calls explaining why my dad was the best guy for the job (Superior Court Judge in Lafayette, Indiana). On election morning it meant getting up before sunrise to get donuts and then head out to put signs in at all the polling places. It was exciting and nerve-wracking. There was a lot of camaraderie down at the courthouse to watch the results come in.
Read Moreremember being on a call with all the producers of News from the Peak talking about launching the podcast, and we were sharing ideas and potential guests, topics we felt would be of interest to our audience, and at the top of our list (and I wish I still had the list to prove it) was an interview with Liz and Puni. Well, it only took us 11 episodes to get to it, but I promise you it’s worth the wait.
Read MoreWe are very pleased to be releasing our 10th Episode, and I can’t think of a better person to have as a guest than Irma J. Neal. I have been fortunate to know Irma and to cross paths with her for most of my professional life. Anyone that knows her understands that she brings something very positive, very productive and very real to the table. And if you don’t know her, this is your chance!
Read MoreBeing part of a consulting company is kind of like being a student in a very competitive classroom. You want to put your hand up and be recognized, but you can only do it when you actually have the answer down pat. And even then, you have to play it cool because all the other students are so smart. They probably know the answer even better than you. It’s important to preserve your dignity.
Read MoreAs pride month draws to a close, we wanted to dedicate an episode to hear from people close to us about what Pride Month means to them, and what it was like this year. We were fortunate to interview 4 people for this project, and actually wound up with so much good stuff, we decided to make it a 2 part series.
Read MoreThe Zoom meeting I was hosting was going well, I was sharing my screen with the agenda, people were engaged in lively discussion. I found myself daydreaming about an oat milk latte. No big deal, I took a quick mental break to open my texting screen and text my daughter to bring me one because this call was going to be awhile. While I was texting her I noticed I had missed some other texts from my business colleague, so being easily distracted then I opened up that text string to see what I was missing. Before long I noticed the chat box on the zoom was lighting up. It was a bunch of private messages letting me know I was still sharing my screen. Dang it!
Read MoreOn this podcast I am able to talk to one of my most favorite speakers, Ron Haskins, to discuss the impact that the current COVID crisis has had on Child Welfare.
Ron Haskins is a Senior Fellow and Co-director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution, where he holds the Cabot Family Chair in Economic Studies.
Together with Morgan Welch, a project coordinator on Children and Families also at the Brookings Institution – published an article about the impact this crisis is having on our Child Welfare system. “What COVID-19 means for America’s Child Welfare System” which was very applicable to the child welfare work that we are currently doing in Colorado.
Read MoreHaving a difficult conversation can be dreadful and often times we put them off and let things fester. Danielle has some great insight on this podcast on why we dread it so much and therefore how we can make it goes as smooth as possible. It’s important to come at conversations with curiosity and making sure we are asking questions to gather information rather than relying on our assumptions.
Read MoreOver the last few months, we have all had to get used to a lot of new things. One that we are hearing a lot about is the change to working from home. For those of us lucky enough to be working, and to have jobs where it’s possible, working from home has become our new normal.
Read MoreOver the last 3 months, many of us have found ourselves in a totally new situation where we are managing teams from a distance. In Human Services this has been pretty rare, especially in the public sector. So we decided to reach out to someone who has been doing this for a long time to get some tips and thoughts on how to be an effective manager from a distance. In this episode, Maureen Leif (President and Executive Producer) has a conversation with Tara Risser. In her role with Equinix, Tara has been managing teams around the globe for many years.
Read MoreIn celebration of April being Child Abuse Prevention Month, I was excited to be able to interview Anna Michaels Boffy today on an edition of our Podcast News from the Peak. I have gotten to know Anna through our work together on the Circle of Parents Expansion (COPE) Grant. I’ve been so impressed working with her and her commitment to families and children. She’s so passionate and smart and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work, and Organizational Leadership and Public Policy from the University of Denver.
Read MoreWe are All Ostriches Now: A News from the Peak interview with Brett St. Clair
By David Ramm, Senior Consultant, Grays Peak Strategies
The first full-length podcast in our recently launched News from the Peak series focuses on crisis communication during the time of COVID-19.
To get an expert’s view of how to handle both this specific situation and other crises that could arrive at any time, I interviewed Brett St. Clair, an accredited public relations expert with more than 25 years of experience in the field and the leader of Western Skyline Marketing & Communication.
Read MoreWe are excited to announce the release of our new Podcast, News from the Peak. It’s currently available on Spotify, and in a few days will be available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, and more. As of today - Friday April 17, we have just released our Preview Episode. We have three more episodes recorded, and being edited and we will start releasing new content very soon.
Read MoreHere at Grays Peak Strategies (GPS) working remotely is no stranger to us, but it is strange when the whole family is now working from home. So many people and companies are now adjusting to a new normal of being “socially distant” and working from home; so how do we manage to work from home, create a team bond, and produce top tier work while being across time zones? Here are a few of the best tips and tricks:
Read MoreThe coronavirus pandemic presents a very real and disruptive change that affects our lives in comprehensive and penetrating ways.
The relevance of change management in these days of ongoing change and seemingly endless bad news brings us to key change adages:
· Change occurs, whether we want it or plan for it.
· We can choose how we respond to the change, but we can’t control all aspects of the change.
· We can plan and prepare for change and even embrace change.
Read MoreAcross the nation (and the world) both governments and private and public sector organizations are scrambling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the request of Maureen Leif, a board member of the Western Intergovernmental Child Support Engagement Council, I recently led an online workshop for WICSEC members on crisis communication strategy in an effort to help them in their response to the coronavirus pandemic.
As background, I am an accredited public relations practitioner with more than 25 years of experience working with clients in a broad range of industries including private sector, government and nonprofit organizations. I’ve helped my clients develop crisis plans and respond effectively to crises, and I’ve taught crisis communication management as part of my professional association’s accreditation program.
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