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    • HOME
    • 2023 RLF PROGRAMS
      • MID-ATLANTIC RLF
      • MIDWEST RLF
      • NEW YORK METRO RLF
      • NORTHEAST SPRING RLF
      • NORTHEAST WINTER RLF
      • PACIFIC NORTHWEST RLF
      • PACIFIC SOUTHWEST RLF
      • SOUTHEAST RLF
      • TEXAS RLF
    • ABOUT RLF
      • 2023 RLF REGISTRATION
      • REVIEWS FROM RLF GRADS
      • BOOKS
      • SPONSORS
      • PROGRAM SUPPORT
      • SIM LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
    • RLF ALUMNI OFFERINGS
    • ALUMNI ARCHIVES
      • LEADERSHIP TIPS
      • BOOK SUGGESTIONS
    • EXECUTIVE RLF
RLF-leadership

  • HOME
  • 2023 RLF PROGRAMS
    • MID-ATLANTIC RLF
    • MIDWEST RLF
    • NEW YORK METRO RLF
    • NORTHEAST SPRING RLF
    • NORTHEAST WINTER RLF
    • PACIFIC NORTHWEST RLF
    • PACIFIC SOUTHWEST RLF
    • SOUTHEAST RLF
    • TEXAS RLF
  • ABOUT RLF
    • 2023 RLF REGISTRATION
    • REVIEWS FROM RLF GRADS
    • BOOKS
    • SPONSORS
    • PROGRAM SUPPORT
    • SIM LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
  • RLF ALUMNI OFFERINGS
  • ALUMNI ARCHIVES
    • LEADERSHIP TIPS
    • BOOK SUGGESTIONS
  • EXECUTIVE RLF

RLF ALUMNI

CONTINUE YOUR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY

RLF GRADS ... YOU CAN EARN A $500 REFERRAL AWARD

A $500 AWARD IS AVAILABLE TO RLF GRADS WHO REFER SOMEONE TO RLF OR THE EXECUTIVE RLF IN 2023!

  • Any of the 5,000+ alumni from RLF programs are eligible to participate in this referral program.


YOU MAY SUBMIT MORE THAN ONE REFERRAL -- RECEIVE $500 FOR EACH ONE RESULTING IN A NEW 2023 ATTENDEE

  •  RLF graduates may submit more than one referral, and will receive $500 for each one that results in a new 2023 RLF or Executive RLF participant.


THE 2023 REFERRAL AWARD WILL BE PAID IN THE FORM OF A $500 AMAZON GIFT CARD

  • RLF will pay the 2023 Referral Award to the referring RLF grad in the form of a $500 Amazon gift card, to be received by the RLF grad on or around August 1, 2023.


PROCESS FOR SUBMITTING A REFFERAL:

  

1.  Any RLF grad wanting to refer someone for a 2023 RLF or Executive RLF program must email that person’s name to RLF Administrator Joanne Jackowiec (jjackowiec@simnet.org). The email should contain:

  • The subject line – “2023 Referral Award Request”.
  • The year and RLF forum that the referring RLF grad attended.
  • The name of the person they are referring .
  • The forum the person they are referring is expected to attend.

2.  Joanne will process / track the request by:

  • Confirming the email request came from an RLF alumni.
  • Confirming the candidate’s name is not an existing 2023 participant.
  • Adding a comment to the registration record that identifies the RLF grad as part of this incentive program. 
  • Sending a confirmation / thank you email to the RLF grad for submitting the name.

CRITERIA & DETAILS:

  • This program is available for 2023 new enrollment(s) in RLF or the Executive RLF.
  • Referral awards will be given for new RLF  names submitted after September 1, 2022. Offer is not retroactive to names submitted earlier than 9/1/22.
  • The deadline for submission of names is the date the 2023 RLF or Executive RLF program begins. 
  • The person whose name is submitted must register and registration paid in full for the 2023 RLF or Executive RLF program.**
  • Any RLF graduate who refers a 2023 participant will receive the incentive award if:
    • The participant’s registration is paid in full prior to the program's first session.
    • The participant’s attends at least two RLF or Executive RLF sessions.
    • The participant or their company does not request a registration cancellation refund.
  • For referred participants who register, all other discounts (SIM member, early bird, non-profit) are still applicable. 


**The $500 Referral Award will not qualify if the candidate name was previously submitted by an RLF sales representative, RLF facilitator, RLF Alumni, or large company.


CONTINUE WITH YOUR LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AFTER RLF

RLF grads -- continue developing your leadership skills throughout 2023!  Take advantage of ongoing opportunities that RLF provides so that you may continue your leadership development journey!


Sign up for one of RLF's scheduled CEE’s (Continuing Education Events) throughout the year. CEE’s are outstanding opportunities to reignite and reinvigorate your leadership development journey. Here are the registration links and details of the CEE’s currently scheduled throughout the year:  


  • April 27-28, 2023 ... an In-Person CEE in downtown St. Petersburg FL is now filled to capacity so registration is closed.  Please look for future communication about another possible CEE in Florida in September or October.  


  • Other CEE's are also in the planning stages for 2023 in Seattle, WA and in Philadelphia, PA.  Keep checking back here for future details and registration links.


A LEADERSHIP TIP for rlf alumni

CHANGES IN YOUR LIFE'S JOURNEY? REVISIT THEFT OF THE SPIRIT.

DR. CARL HAMMERSCHLAG

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Carl Hammerschlag, author of RLF’s longtime core book, The Theft Of The Spirit, passed away in January 2022 at age 82 from a chronic cardiac condition.  Some months earlier, Dr. Hammerschlag hosted a special virtual meeting with RLF grads and shared numerous perspectives which resonate quite strongly even though he is now no longer with us.  His final advice during that webinar is particularly apt:  


“We don’t take anything with us – it’s what we leave behind that matters in the end.  So, stretch your boundaries and don’t focus on the loss and the toll that life sometimes brings us.  Rather, always appreciate the preciousness of the moment.  And remember … the way it was, is not the way it is.”  


Dr. Hammerschlag’s works and philosophies will undoubtedly continue to resonate with countless RLF participants for years to come.  Below is how one RLF grad was touched by The Theft Of The Spirit which we are publishing again as a tribute to Carl Hammerschlag.    


Thank you, Dr. Hammerschlag, for being such a longtime friend of and contributor to RLF… 



RLF grads – consider revisiting "The Theft Of The Spirit" as changes occur in your life’s journey

by MICHAEL GARLICH


RLF alumni … remember reading The Theft Of The Spirit during your RLF experience?  Did you like it?  Did it resonate with you?  Well, whether it was a favorite book or perhaps one of your not-so-favorite books, I’m suggesting that RLF grads could benefit from taking the time to revisit this book – particularly as our life’s circumstances and trajectories inevitably change.  Let me explain.  


Carl Hammerschlag’s The Theft Of The Spirit has long been a core RLF book, known for its introspective reflections interspersed with the author’s highly-personal stories of spiritual connections.  This book is intended to be an introductory conduit toward the core competencies of self-awareness and self-discovery RLF participants ideally develop during the RLF experience.  That’s why it’s usually read and discussed during Session 1.  


But perhaps you were like me when I initially picked up the book in preparation for my own first RLF session.  I immediately judged the book by its cover, assuming it would simply be an anthology of stories and wondering why it was a required book for a leadership development program.  However, within a few minutes I came to the final words of the Prologue … “When our history is written, let it not be said that we floundered because we allowed the theft of our spirit.”   


As I read those words, and then each succeeding page throughout the rest of the book, unexpected self-awareness suddenly washed over me – along with some tears.    


You see, early in our marriage my wife and I lost our 1-year-old son to bacterial meningitis.  Out of the blue, our son became desperately ill, and a 107-degree fever overpowered him in a matter of hours before the doctors could determine what was wrong.  By then it was too late, and his ravaged body succumbed to the catastrophic damage from the fever. 


In all the years afterward, I carefully avoided anything that evoked too much of the searing pain and overwhelming grief we felt – that any parent feels when holding their lifeless child – and the excruciating years-long journey my wife and I traveled toward eventual acceptance and a measure of healing.  Yet, because of RLF and the assignment of The Theft Of The Spirit, I suddenly found myself drawn deeply into page after page that forced me to confront again what my wife and I had experienced … and survived.  


First, as I absorbed the Prologue’s final words that day, it hit me. That sentence encapsulated what my wife and I had experienced.  We may have lost our son, but we ultimately refused to allow our spirit to also be stolen from us.  Yes, we absolutely floundered.  But somehow we managed to hang on, clinging sometimes only by our fingernails to the power of a life-sustaining spirit between us, our other children and our Creator.  


All of these memories suddenly came flooding back as I began reading The Theft Of The Spirit … and as I continued to read.  


I encountered a passage in chapter 2 describing the same realization that my wife and I eventually came to recognize … that we would never fully comprehend “why did this have to happen to us” and how life-changing moments are constant and inevitable.  As Hammerschlag writes, “Our lives are not clear-cut paths to predetermined destinations.  Things are always happening to us along the way.  Our lives turn out to be a succession of surprises requiring mid-course corrections.  We don’t know anything about the end, only that it comes.”   


Later, in chapter 7, I read words that similarly captured how my wife and I somehow found our way despite stumbling through our numbing tragedy, when we felt we couldn’t endure one more day or take one more step in the darkness.  Hammerschlag writes, “I only saw the way it was, not the way it might be.  This is the ultimate blindness.  This kind of blindness has nothing to do with sight; it has to do with lack of vision, and vision is the stuff of dreams, hope, and possibilities … I learned to see in the dark.”    


Further on, in chapter 8, I pondered this passage: “It was only when he said, ‘Help me get through this day,’ that he knew he could survive the moment.  It is in our choices that we shape our destiny – not in lamenting our fate.  Events in life are neither good nor bad, they are both.”  My wife and I experienced exactly that.  In time, we came to realize that we had no option but to survive and therefore made the conscious choice to not be swallowed up by cursing our loss. 


As I continued reading the book, I came across a section in chapter 11 that reminded me how my wife and I learned to lean on each other and into our beliefs to somehow believe we could get through another day; Hammerschlag writes, “it is not the certainty in our heads that will save us but the truth of our hearts. What we ultimately learn about life’s journey is nothing – what we believe is everything.”  


When I arrived at the book’s final chapter, there I found two passages reminding me how my wife and I traveled back to a hope-filled life … “The songs of our hearts – prayers – are what gives lift to hope.”  And, “Prayer gives lift to the wings of dreams.”  We truly lived those words, continually turning to a higher power for hopefulness, courage and guidance. 


Then, in the book’s closing paragraph I encountered three simple sentences which resonate with me to this day; helping me to draw a powerful arc to the story of all that my wife and I experienced … “No one can steal your spirit; you have to give it away.  You can also take it back.  Find yours.”  


A few weeks later, I found myself sharing all of my new-found reflections with my RLF class when I led The Theft Of The Spirit book discussion in our first session.  And in the years since first reading it, from time-to-time I’ve revisited this book’s passages as I’ve encountered new challenges and sought to continually understand and articulate my life’s journey.   


Looking back today, I recognize that reading The Theft Of The Spirit for RLF helped to crystallize four things within me:


 • First, only we control how we deal with life’s burdens.  It’s the way we carry ourselves and those we love through challenges that defines us; not the experience itself.  

 • Second, only you control your spirit; and only you have the power to keep it or give it away.   

• Third, you always possess the power to find strength in yourself … a strength you may have forgotten or a strength you never knew you had.   

• Fourth, I came to know that RLF and its components like The Theft Of The Spirit have been precious gifts in my life, helping me to find meaning in my journey and new ways to better acknowledge, work through and share with others how I traveled through the darkest days of my life.  


So, if you’re facing a new challenge or an unexpected obstacle, I encourage you to take another look at The Theft Of The Spirit.  I believe you’ll find a nugget or two that may resonate with you more today than when you first read it.  


Or, if you haven’t recognized your spirit recently, I encourage you to pick up The Theft Of The Spirit again … to help you “find yours.”  My hope for you is that your spirit helps you find the way forward as you face any daunting development in your life’s journey.      


Michael Garlich is an RLF graduate and a Facilitator for the Southeast RLF program.  He can be reached at magarlich@gmail.com 

BOOK SUGGESTIONS

BOOK SELECTIONS BY FORUM

RLF is famous for fostering deep knowledge of various leadership principles through each Forum's book discussions -- taking place throughout every 2-day session.


In addition to the 15 "core books" required of all RLF participants in 2023, the facilitators of each Forum also chose other books for their participants to read this year.  The selection of additional books chosen for 2023 are  listed here, as suggestions for all RLF grads to consider as you continue your practice of absorbing and learning from a variety of books, perspectives and philosophies on leadership.

Additional books chosen in 2023 by the Mid-Atlantic RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 Mid-Atlantic RLF program chose these additional books for their participants to read, discuss and learn from: 

  • Think Again ... by Adam Grant
  • Think Like A Freak ... by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
  • Brain Rules ... by John Medina
  • The Art of Possibility ... by Rosamund Stone Zarber
  • The Secret Language of Leadership ... by Stephen Denning


Additional books chosen in 2023 by the Midwest RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 Midwest RLF program chose these additional books for their participants to read, discuss and learn from: 

  • Start With Why ... by Simon Sinek
  • The Prince ... by Noccolo Machiavelli 
  • Networking For People Who Hate Networking ... by Devora Zack


Additional books chosen in 2023 by the New York Metro RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 New York Metro RLF program chose these additional books for their participants to read,  discuss and learn from: 

  • The Advantage ... by Patrick Lencioni
  • The Pearl ... by John Steinbeck
  • Your Brain At Work ... by David Rock
  • Networking For People Who Hate Networking ... by Devora Zack
  • The Last Lecture ... by Randy Pausch


Additional books chosen in 2023 by the Northeast Winter RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 Northeast Winter RLF program chose these additional books for their participants to read, discuss and learn from: 

  • Radical Candor ... by Kim Scott
  • The Pearl ... by John Steinbeck
  • Trust First ... by Bruce Deel
  • American Icon ... by Bryce Hoffman
  • Dare To Lead ... by Brene Brown
  • The Power Of Full Engagement ... by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
  • The Person You Mean To Be ... by Dolly Chugh 
  • UnThink ... by Erik Wahl
  • Solve For Happy ... by Mo Gawdat
  • Leading With Soul ... by Lee  Bolman and Terrence Deal
  • The Lost Art Of Connecting ... by Susan McPherson

Additional books chosen in 2023 by the Northeast Spring RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 Northeast Spring RLF program chose these additional books for their participants to read,  discuss and learn from: 

  • Radical Candor ... by Kim Scott
  • The Pearl ... by John Steinbeck
  • Trust First ... by Bruce Deel
  • American Icon ... by Bryce Hoffman
  • Dare To Lead ... by Brene Brown
  • The Power Of Full Engagement ... by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
  • The Person You Mean To Be ... by Dolly Chugh 
  • UnThink ... by Erik Wahl
  • Solve For Happy ... by Mo Gawdat
  • Leading With Soul ... by Lee  Bolman and Terrence Deal
  • The Lost Art Of Connecting ... by Susan McPherson


Additional books chosen in 2023 by the Pacific Northwest RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 Pacific Northwest RLF program chose these additional books for their participants to read, discuss and learn from: 

  • Nine Lies About Work ... by Marcus Beckingham and Ashley Goodall
  • Orbiting The Giant Hairball ... by Gordon MacKenzie
  • Your Brain at Work ... by David Rock
  • The Pink Elephant ... by Janice Asare
  • Networking For People Who Hate Networking ... by Devora Zack
  • Uncomfortable Conversations With A Black Man ... by Emmanuel Acho
  • The Happiness Advantage ... by Shawn Achor
  • The Meaning Revolution ... by Fred Kofman
  • Leading With Soul ... by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal
  • Presence ... by Amy Cuddy


Additional books chosen in 2023 by the Pacific Southwest RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 Pacific Southwest RLF program chose these additional books for their participants to read, discuss and learn from: 

  • Leading With Soul ... by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal
  • Uncomfortable Conversations With A Black Boy ... by Emmanuel Acho
  • 4-3-2-1 Leadership ... by Vincent Boles
  • The C-Suite CIO ... by Ashwin Rangan
  • Tomorrow's CIO ... by Ashwin Rangan
  • The Prince ... by Niccolo Machiavelli
  • Up From Slavery ... by Booker T. Washington
  • The Heart Aroused ... by David  Whyte
  • Atlas Of The Heart ... by Brene Brown
  • Aware ... by Daniel Siegel
  • Factfulness ... by Hans Rosling
  • The Garden Of Leaders ... by Paul Woodruff


Additional books chosen in 2023 by the Southeast RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 Southeast program chose these additional books for their participants to read,  discuss and learn from: 

  • The Artist's Way ... by Julia Cameron  
  • Unthink ... by Erik Wahl
  • The Prince ... by Niccolo Machiavelli
  • Networking For People Who Hate Networking ... by Devora Zack
  • Adversaries Into Allies ... by Bob Burg
  • Secrets to Winning at Office Politics ... by Marie G. McIntyre
  • The Happiness Advantage ... by Shawn Achor
  • From Audience To Zeal ... by Laura Packer
  • Leading With Soul ... by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal


Additional books chosen in 2023 by the Texas RLF

The facilitators of the 2023 Texas RLF program chose these additional books for their participants to read,  discuss and learn from: 

  • Start With Why ... by Simon Sinek
  • Networking Fo People Who Hate Networking ... by Devora Zack
  • The Prince ... by Niccolo Machiavelli

ARCHIVES

PREVIOUSLY-PUBLISHED LEADERSHIP TIPS

PREVIOUSLY-PUBLISHED BOOK SUGGESTIONS

PREVIOUSLY-PUBLISHED BOOK SUGGESTIONS

Click here to view previously-published "Leadership Tips" from RLF facilitators and RLF graduates.

PREVIOUSLY-PUBLISHED BOOK SUGGESTIONS

PREVIOUSLY-PUBLISHED BOOK SUGGESTIONS

PREVIOUSLY-PUBLISHED BOOK SUGGESTIONS

Click here to view previously-published "Book Suggestions" from RLF facilitators and RLF graduates.

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