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The League™
Purpose & Impact

Purpose

The League was designed to create a whole new level of intentional communication, networking and experience sharing among key executives at different companies with the same job description, such as a "League Operations Forum".  The League is also perfectly suited for professional association members, educators, and business networks in non competing territories, services or production. The Purpose of the League is to bring professionals together in a trusting and safe environment to share experiences, gain professional relationships, and discover themselves.

Empathy & Trust

It feels good to share our experiences, and even better when others empathize in response to our stories. 

 

Sharing with empathetic listeners in a safe, self-regulated meeting environment allows groups to appreciate each other, respect each other and build new relationships. Trust is developed by each personal decision to protect a colleague’s information in a confidential setting.

Impact

  1. Increased employee retention, which has led to dramatic cost savings and employee job satisfaction (Vynamic 2017-2019) 

  2. Intentional communication. Executives learn a new respectful language and listening skills. Business connections and communication increase when key employees exchange stories in their League forums.

  3. Heightened collaboration from new trusting relationships because of personal development, group interaction and shared stories.

  4. New forum leadership roles with a league committee and officers. 

 

These transformations are supported, self directed and perpetual.

Professional Development

ForumWithin™ is not a seminar, motivation program, personal coaching or office meeting. Forums are self moderated and self-directed in a league design. The meetings are a safe place to share experiences, practice trust, and deepen relationships

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Protected conversation promotes personal development. ForumWithin™ is voluntary with commitments. Leadership opportunities are created with new roles in the forums and the League. The process encourages recruitment, retention and transparent departures. ForumWithin™ processes demand privacy within personal and business stories. Networks are transformed within the marketplace guided by the League. Executives gain lifelong listening skills and relationships.

Privacy

An important commitment in a League forum is keeping private information in a tight circle of trust.

 

"What happens in forum, stays in forum."

Structure

ForumWithin™ is supported by a League Committee, Commissioner, and Forum Officer who determine the makeup of companies, forums, titles, and moderators. Forum moderators, in a leadership group themselves, also become carriers of the network and trust principles.

“I feel more aware of who I am in relationship to my colleagues since I joined forum.”

Ann Arbour Forum Participant

Member Selection

Leaders of Associations, trade and business groups,  work with ForumWithin and our Associates to design the model and membership in the League forums. Through the Formation process with the Commissioner and the selection of the Forum Officer and League Committee, the forum Design will emerge.

Horizontal

Horizontal League membership involves executives and management team members with the same position titles and responsibilities


Consideration 

  • Executive Horizontal selection is a powerful networking approach but has a tendency to create an “Us vs Them” message internally, as personal relationships are formed at the top while others are not participating. However, executive buy-in first might be necessary to set the tone for ForumWithin ™ the company.

Vertical

Vertical membership creates teams from different companies in a similar department but with different job titles


Consideration 

  • Vertical (Silo) selection will have people in the same forum who would be reporting to each other if they were in the same company. Vertical selection strengthens communication awareness within a silo however cross department collaboration will take longer with this design.

Diagonal

Diagonal membership involves different titles, levels, offices and departments through the organization charts of several League companies


Consideration

  • Diagonal selection offers sharing and learning opportunities by expanding communication and collaboration across silos and authority levels.

Virtual

On-line sessions follow the same format of 4 meeting facilitations to self-launch. Members use Zoom or Circles and log in with agendas and a moderator. 


Consideration

  • Virtual is great for multiple companies with traveling members, work at home, and satellite offices.

Combination

A great League Forum design may be the creation of various forum memberships: different companies, branches, departments, a virtual forum, a headquarters forum, a sales forum, a forum of supervisors, etc.

“Since we started forums, issues arise more naturally and reach resolution more quickly.”

Vynamic Participant

Design

League forum experience, communication and schedules are dependent on the design by which forums are facilitated. Our goal is to facilitate the most impactful forum sessions before launching each perpetual group. There are four basic designs from which we will base a forum program.

Ten Four

Each forum has ten members that participate in (4) facilitated forum meetings before they self-launch and another forum is launched.  


Advantages:

  • Ten Four has the advantage of personal attention to each forum with a gradual culture acceptance of one new forum every four months, with a new vocabulary and bonding of forum mates.

Staggered Start

A new forum is started on a reoccurring basis every month.


Advantages:

  • Staggered Start is very attractive because of an overlapping forum ramp up that creates a healthy cultural buzz in the League month to month as new forums are formed.

  • Staggered forums create launch dates in half the time of TenFour.

All In

All forum groups launch at the same time and have their facilitated meetings on an almost identical schedule.


Advantages:

  • This pattern is a great combination of privately facilitated forums progressing in unison.

  • The concentrated delivery results in a network culture shift in 4-6 months.

Opening Day

Moderators are trained before being paired with their (9) forum mates. They will then moderate the first (4) meetings with the help of a facilitator.


Advantages:

  • Opening Day creates a dramatic message in the openness and trust your League companies exhibit.

  • The full network forum-gathered sessions demonstrate corporate commitment to Forum and Executive Development.

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