I’d like to invite you to write a brief recommendation of my work that I can include in my LinkedIn profile. You will need to be a member of Linkedin to do this.
Alternatively an endorement for my website would be appreciated and this can be emailed to DavidWatters@nbiassociates.co.uk
I will gladly reciprocate and endorse the work that you do. Top quotes will also be featured on http://www.nbiassociates.co.uk with a link to your site.
Thanks in advance for helping me out. DAVID EQUALITY WATTERS
YOU CAN ENDORSE ME AS A WRITER, PUBLIC SPEAKER OR WORKSHOP PROVIDER – HOWEVER YOU KNOW ME BEST.
Since graduating from The Institute of Education, University of London, David has gone on to train with LEAP, as a mediator, and is a qualified facilitator for The Pacific Institute. He is a writer on social inequality issues, is a key player in the Equal Love Campaign UK and author of the forthcoming book, NEVER BLEND IN which supports and is supported by the Trevor Project and theHarvey Milk Foundation, features key voices from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community including Stephen Fry, Colton Ford, Mike Ruiz, Calpernia Addams, Alan Cumming, Darren Hayes, Lt. Dan Choi, LGBT Olympic athletes, actors, politicians, military, firefighters, Harvey Milk colleagues (Anne Kronenberg, Tom Ammiano and Dan Nicoletta) and has a foreword by Stuart Milk.
This groundbreaking book aims to inspire and encourage those who may lack self-belief or who question their validity.
David is also currently promoting a youtube campaign, “Give ‘em Hope”, and is asking individuals, couples and groups to make and share videos telling about the benefits of living with personal authenticity.
He has shared a platform with Stuart Milk and Peter Tatchell and is a supporter of 17-24-30, The Trevor Project, Schools Out, The Harvey Milk Foundation and has great admiration for the WHOF initiative and all the brave members of this group who speak out against the prejudice and bigotry in our society.
I think that out of everyone in society LGBT people, especially LGBT youth, are subjected to most negative energy and the most negative portrayals of themselves and so it’s really important for us as a community to give back and to let people see that the sun can shine
Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk and Equality Advocate, has said: “I love your work, which is vital to show the richness of embracing and celebrating our wonderful diversity. As Harvey would say, you’re bringing medicine into the world that the world needs! Thank you!”
He (Harvey Milk) had great confidence in me; I really felt that the basic message was “you can do it”. He was a cheerleader first and then he would deconstruct content second. I think there was always this attention to helping somebody really feel that they can make their way.
If you look at his speeches that’s there; there’s really this broad stroke that’s about positivity and confidence so you’re on the right path in terms of carrying on his work that way.
For young people coming to terms with their sexuality it’s really important that they have positive, high achieving role models as a way of boosting their self esteem and confidence. This kind of book shares the experience of a very diverse group of LGBT people. Individual and collective experience offers the inspiration and motivation for LGBT people to do something worthwhile with their lives and live their dream.
There are two ways you can approach not fitting in. If you get to see it as a blessing, feeling like an Outsider can eventually give you the freedom and license to create your own world, follow your own goals, and make your own reality. I’ve always thought it must be a lot harder for those who effortlessly belong – how much stronger the temptation to just blend in and be a non-questioning sheep! Yes, there is pain. Feelings of rejection, confusion, self-doubt. But think of those negatives in a positive light: you have the chance to acquire resilience, fortitude, understanding and the realization but you have one life to live, so you absolutely have the right to live it your way!
It’s no shame to get help and inspiration from others, which is why David Watters ‘Never Blend In’, is so timely.
TRISHA GODDARD
…some people growing up LGBT will certainly want affirmation that they are not alone, but they will also (quite rightly IMHO) resist the idea that there is a “type” and that they fall into a categorisation. Such is the human paradox, yearning to assimilated and demanding to be treated as unique and apart. A part of the tribe and apart from the tribe. There are plenty of young LGBT people I know or have known who hate the idea of any sort of ghetto or connection with others. I’m Jewish and I’ll fight against anti-Semitism, but I’ll also raise issues about Israel’s violations of human rights and express my happy atheism and contempt for much of Judaism… It’s not a question of “hurrah, there’s a role model, now I know who I am and who my people are and where I belong in the world.”
My wonderfully supportive Never Blend In brother Colton Ford has agreed to join my “Give ‘em Hope” Campaign and has promised a video contribution! Will you join the campaign and give hope to those who need it most?
MATERIAL HERE IS COPYRIGHTED AND SHOULD NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE CORRECT AUTHORISATION.
THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THIS.
COLTON FORD INTERVIEW EXTRACT:
You are entitled to be the person you are. Your sexual orientation is a part of that entitlement. It doesn’t make you good or bad, it just is a part of who you are. Try to embrace it and forgive those that cannot. Live your life fully, take good care of yourself, and in the process the people around you will be able to see the authenticity of you.
Colton Ford is the professional name of Glenn Soukesian, a former same-sex adult film star who has successfully transitioned to become a mainstream musician and actor. In his first mainstream film appearance, Ford appeared in the documentary film, Naked Fame (2004), which follows his journey from the world of adult films to mainstream club/dance music.
He released his first album, Tug of War, digitally in 2008, and…
…he was part of the True Colors Tour 2008 (an annual music tour created by American pop singer Cyndi Lauper to benefit the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations that provide support to the LGBT community and to the straight friends and family who love them, including PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)) and the Matthew Shepard Foundation, as well as local organizations in cities where the concerts were held.
From 2007 to 2009, Ford played Sheriff Trout in TV series, The Lair.
Under the Covers (2009) is his second full-length album.
Self-proclaimed as “a work in progress”, Colton Ford/Glenn Soukesian currently resides in New York City.
Tug of Waris the debut album by former adult film star Colton Ford.
Track listing
All songs written by Ford and DJ/producer Quentin Harris, unless noted otherwise.
1. “Ready” – 3:04
2. “You Ain’t Gonna Change” – 4:50
3. “Gotta Do” – 4:51
4. “That’s Me” – 3:32
5. “Bluntly Speaking” – 3:30
6. “The Way You Love Me” – 5:05
7. “You Get What You Want” – 4:59
8. “Tug of War (My Heart Won’t Let Go)” – 4:32
9. “Love Has Found a Way” – 4:14
10. “I’ll Be Alright” – 5:28
11. “Wait for Me” – 5:40
12. “Your Love Is Everything” (Ford, Denise Rich, Laythan Armor) – 6:09
Under the Covers is the second full-length album from Colton Ford
MATERIAL HERE IS COPYRIGHTED AND SHOULD NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE CORRECT AUTHORISATION.
THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THIS.
COLTON FORD INTERVIEW EXTRACT:
You are entitled to be the person you are. Your sexual orientation is a part of that entitlement. It doesn’t make you good or bad, it just is a part of who you are. Try to embrace it and forgive those that cannot. Live your life fully, take good care of yourself, and in the process the people around you will be able to see the authenticity of you. If they are able, they will open themselves up to a new way of perceiving things, which is a great gift that you will have given them. If they are not able, accept it and move on. You can’t force anyone to change. They have to want it.
I think more and more people are getting frustrated with what we are doing to ourselves, and are becoming more aware of the hypocrisy of it all.
THE FULL FRANK AND FASCINATING INTERVIEW WILL APPREAR IN NEVER BLEND IN LATER THIS YEAR.
David Watters: “Equality” is his middle name — literally!
Reintroducing David Equality Watters
You know how, if we’re really passionate about something – say, gardening – we might say, “Gardening is my middle name”? Well, “Equality” is David Watters’ middle name – literally!
David tells how he legally added “Equality” to his name at the age of 40. “To me it was symbolic and something that I did to mark my 40th year on the planet – 40 years of inequality – and to remind myself that there is still work to be done. I believe that those who have inserted ‘Equality’ into their online profile names are also making it clear to others that victory in the battle for equal rights is still some way off. It opens conversation and debate too.”
We at 10,000 Couples first got to know David last fall when he shared news about the Equal Love Campaign in the UK – an effort to obtain a legal ruling that neither marriage nor civil partnership should be limited by a couple’s gender(s) or sexual orientation(s). Throughout 2011, David is contributing to 10,000 Couples, introducing us to the eight couples who have filed applications “in the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the twin bans on same-sex civil marriages and opposite-sex civil partnerships” (Peter Tatchell). See David’s first couple-profile here.
David is also author of the forthcoming book Never Blend In: The Legacy of Harvey Milk, featuring key voices from the LGBT community with the goal of inspiring and encouraging “those who may lack self-esteem or who question their validity” (NBI Associates website)
In fact, all that David does involves assisting people – any and all people – to live authentically, to no longer accept the judgments and limitations imposed on them by others, and to believe in themselves as valid individuals. To that end, he has recently undertaken two new endeavors: NBI Associates, an organization which empowers people to make personal and professional transformations, and the “Give ‘em Hope” video campaign on YouTube, which David himself explains in the video below.
In response to my question of whether NBI is specifically geared toward the LGBT community, David explained that he doesn’t find it useful to label people – that he believes
“the best approach, with regards to understanding our common human experience, is to be fully inclusive and to acknowledge that there are similarities in the way society can limit us all by the labels that are attached.” He went on to explain that “NBI is absolutely open to anyone wishing to look at where they are ‘stuck’ and why. It’s about understanding that our beliefs inform our choices and our behaviors.” David offers one-on-one coaching via Skype, email, or in person, to any individual who wants to move forward in life. NBI uses Cognitive Behavior and Performing Arts strategies and tailors workshops to meet the needs of individual, academic (both students and staff), and corporate clients.
School workshops cover such topics as Labeling, Self-Esteem, Confidence, Interdependence, and Goal Setting, as well as those designed specifically for Performing Arts students. Business workshops explore Change in the Workplace, Equality & Diversity, Owning Your Goals, Assertiveness at Work, Public Speaking, Giving & Receiving Feedback, Team-Building, and more. (See sidebar for descriptions of some of NBI’s Student workshops.)
David & Richard
David shares his life with his partner, Richard, whom he met when both were living in South East London. The couple has been together for seven years. Says David, “I think that we are incredibly well suited (and for the purpose of this article, Richard agrees!). We want the same things and have always managed to be strong and supportive when the other needs it. We have experienced the usual ups and downs that life sends, but the older or wiser one gets, [the more] one realizes that without the bad, the good has less value.”
David continues, “I admire and respect Richard more than anyone I’ve ever met. I think that we have been a good influence on each other. He teaches me not to stress out, and I teach him (he would say push) to take on new challenges. The Equal Love Campaign would not be something that Richard would have put himself forward for, but I know that he is secretly proud to be part of such an historic initiative.”
Richard has two adult children and a grandchild on the way. David feels blessed to be fully included in Richard’s family and proud to be a part of their lives. He states, “I love it when they come to me for support or advice; it’s like being a dad without having to have dealt with all the teething and dirty diapers!”
David sums up his and Richard’s relationship this way: “We’re just a ‘normal’ couple doing ‘normal’ things and trying to do the best we can to get by in life – we’re just as boring as the next couple!”
To which this author, having read much of the content on the various websites for David’s multiple ambitious, global-society-impacting, high-intensity, much-effort-requiring projects, responds with an “I’m not buying it” sort of smile: “Normal? Boring? Um, yeah… right!!”
TONY WRIGHTON IS…A PRESENTER, BROADCASTER AND THE UK’S TOP SELF-DEVELOPMENT AUTHOR ON iTUNES.
I am a dedicated follower and devoted supporter of Tony Wrighton’s work. His audiobooks are accessible and bring a contemporary angle to the “self-help” genre.
Whether it’s confidence, motivation or inspiration you seek, then please download or buy in print his sincere and genuinely helpful and practical guides to making more of your life.
Tony introduces different strategies and caters for all learning styles so that, whoever you are, you’ll get it.
I’ve listened to his books on my way to deliver presentations, attend interviews or when writing my own articles and book…and have felt motivated, inspired and more in control of my own destiny.
Tony’s new book is released on April 7th 2011 (Virgin Books) and he couldn’t be more excited about helping you with some super-quick ways to relax. There are some crazy techniques in there from all over the world, and of course, every single one takes a minute or less.
In Relax in a minute you’ll discover how to:
Use your favourite music to make instant changes and help you relax
Get to sleep much more quickly and sleep deeper
Learn the secret to virtual massage to help you feel calm in stressful situations
Make changes to the way you deal with long-term stress, and much more
Tony is the UK’s top personal development author on iTunes. He has coached thousands to make quick, lasting changes to their lives with his innovative and down to earth techniques.
Tony is also a TV and radio presenter and has been doing it for 15 years. It’s given him some incredible opportunities. He’s interviewed top Premier League footballers, World Cup winning captains in Football, Cricket and Rugby, stars of music such as Take That, Britney Spears, Oscar-winning actresses, and his undoubted favourite – Kylie Minogue. His broadcasting career has seen him work everywhere from New York to Newport, from Florida to Fir park.
Tony has 16 audiobooks and 14 iPhone and iPad apps available. He has sold over 150,000 copies on iTunes and is currently in the self-development charts in Britain, USA, Canada, Ireland and Australia and many other countries around the world.
His book Confidence in a minute is published by Virgin Books, and has been translated into many different languages around the world including Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Turkish and Dutch. His second book Relax in a minute comes out on April 7th 2011 and is also being translated into multiple different languages. He is currently writing (slaving!) over his third book which is taking up lots of time - Persuade in a minute, and that is published in September 2011.
Tony is a licensed NLP Master Practitioner and Trainer and he has extensively studied in these techniques used by successful people in many walks of life. He has been refining his own down-to-earth, original personal development style for a decade and with this audiobooks has inspired hundreds of thousands to feel more confident, relaxed, win at sport, improve their business, and make a change to their lives.
Tony started presenting on Sky Sports in 2006.
As well as regularly presenting on Sky Sports News, he’s presented football, boxing, cross-country running and even ten-pin bowling. Tony is currently hosting the Weber Cup weekly on Sky Sports until the end of April.
Tony absolutely loves presenting sport on TV and he is a passionate cricket supporter, having followed the England team around the world. He loves playing sports including golf, cricket, football, snowboarding, pool and table football (spot the mis-spent youth!). He presents a number of freelance TV and radio shows for various channels. In the last two months these have included a radio series on the Ashes, and the ‘World Cup of Pool’.
Previously he has appeared on ITV, BBC, Century FM, and presented the breakfast show on Atlantic 252 – two of the most enjoyable years of his life.
DAVID E WATTERS IS…LOOKING FOR FREELANCE WORK OR A PERMANENT POSITION
An active and collaborative member of any Management Team; providing principled and practical leadership on equality, inclusion and diversity; developing a departmental vision and supporting the team to realise this vision; keeping abreast of policy initiatives and trends to help in ‘future proofing’ the work of the department; creating a culture that enables managers, teachers and support staff to provide teaching, learning and courses that are up to date, innovative, relevant and meet the progression needs of students.
DAVID E WATTERS
Since graduating from Napier University, Edinburgh and Trinity College of Music, London I have worked internationally within the arts and education and since 1998 I have been an educational manager in both corporate and academic settings.
Upon completion of my PGCE from the Institute of Education, University of London, I was immediately recruited as a Head of Performing Arts where my implementation of student focused and individualized teaching strategies led to a dramatic increase in achievement and progression.
Continued professional development in mediation, facilitation and educational management all enhance my ability to provide strong, clear, supportive leadership and effectively build a communicative, cohesive and motivated team. I am passionate about sharing good professional practice, with regards to differentiated learning and classroom management strategies, and strongly believe in communicating the concepts of independence and interdependence.
My current freelance roles (Program Director, NBI Associates and Associate/Facilitator, the Pacific Institute) and most recent full-time position (Head of Performing Arts, Greenwich Community College) have involved the management and leadership of staff; including recruitment and ongoing support and supervision for a diverse range of tutors. Core responsibilities have included devising and delivering staff development initiatives; support and supervision; appraisal and lesson observation; coordination and monitoring of arts, key skills and tutorial programs; internal verification and coordination of external verification; assessing and monitoring student recruitment, retention and progression.
I am an active and collaborative member of any Management Team with the ability to provide principled and practical leadership on equality, inclusion and diversity and to develop a departmental vision and support the realization of this.
Besides the direct management and Leadership of staff, I have a vast knowledge and experience on Curriculum Development and Quality Control – Leading on curriculum innovation and development, providing a curriculum which embeds equality and diversity, and promotes the benefits of inclusion; leading and managing curriculum and ‘self and team critical’ course review processes within the annual cycle of self assessment; setting and monitoring targets for recruitment, attendance, retention, achievement and success and ensuring the effective use of feedback from students, employers, parents and carers, higher education providers, work based learning providers which inform and improve pedagogy, success and progression.
The most rewarding aspects of educational management are the elements relating to student support – Individual and group tutorial provision, offering personal, professional and academic guidance and encouragement; providing management for student behaviour, attendance and discipline; supporting the management and development of the tutorial processes; providing expectations for the enrichment of the students’ learning experience, for example the development of creative partnerships including work experience, course-related visits, speakers and events. As a school manager, Head of Department, teacher and personal tutor I have been instrumental in coordinating educational and charity events which have involved the liaison with public figures (including Kylie Minogue, Stephen Fry, Darren Hayes and Joan Baez), educational establishments and charitable organizations (notably, The Terrence Higgins Trust, The Albert Kennedy Trust).
Keeping abreast of policy initiatives and trends to help in ‘future proofing’ the work of any department and creating a culture that enables managers, teachers and support staff to provide teaching, learning and courses that are up to date, innovative, relevant and meet the progression needs of students is the key to my approach as an educational manager.
My core skills, since managing my own private theatre school through to running a Performing Arts Department and, more recently as Program Director for NBI Associates, are perfectly suited to any educational management role; I posses advanced IT skills, highly effective interpersonal skills and clearly understand the need to provide, even or especially in this current economic climate, a quality of learning that will ensure healthy student and staff recruitment, retention and progression.
Having experienced a wide variety of socially and culturally diverse educational settings and, a broad background in educational and management experience, I am equipped to bring inspiration, motivation and customer focused professionalism to any role.
Leadership and management – Providing a collaborative, equitable and respectful style of management in accordance with college personnel policies and procedures; regarding induction for new permanent and agency staff, auditing staff development needs, identifying staff development plans and supporting the monitoring and review of the outcomes and impact of these. Additionally, encouraging an active and innovative approach to teaching and learning which is personalized and student centred; planning and ensuring the development of courses which meet student, employer, further and higher education needs.
Curriculum and Quality – Leading on curriculum innovation and development, providing a curriculum which embeds equality and diversity, and promotes the benefits of inclusion; leading and managing curriculum and ‘self and team critical’ course review processes within the annual cycle of self assessment; setting and monitoring targets for recruitment, attendance, retention, achievement and success and ensuring the effective use of feedback from students, employers, parents and carers, higher education providers, work based learning providers which inform and improve pedagogy, success and progression.
Student support – Individual and group tutorial provision, offering personal, professional and academic guidance and encouragement; providing management for student behaviour, attendance and discipline; supporting the management and development of the tutorial processes; providing expectations for the enrichment of the students’ learning experience, for example the development of creative partnerships including work experience, course-related visits, speakers and events.
Resource management – Compliance with organizational financial regulations in the management of a departmental budget, liaison with senior management to agree and maximize funding opportunities.
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
The Institute of Education, University of London – PGCE. 2006
SMART TRAINING – Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Award in Management. 2010
SMART TRAINING – Edexcel Level 3 NVQ in Management. 2010
The Pacific Institute – Facilitator for PX2 PROGRAM. 2010
The Pacific Institute – Facilitator for the Investment in Excellence. 2009
American Express Europe Limited – ICP (Instructors Certificate). 2001
Trinity College of Music, London – DipTCL (Merit). 1996
Napier University, Edinburgh – Diploma in Music, ALCM (Performance) and LLCM (Peripatetic Teaching Qualification). 1991 and 1992
Dundee College of Further Education – NVQ Theatre Arts 1989
HIGHLIGHTED TEACHING EXPERIENCE
July 2010: NBI Associates – Program Director: Arts Based education programs utilizing Cognitive Behavioural strategies to encourage personal efficacy, goal setting and to eradicate limiting labels. Responsible for writing courses, training staff, creating resources which cater for different learning requirements of individuals and environments.
July 2009 – Present: The Pacific Institute – Associate Personal and Professional Development Facilitator:Management consultancy and market research to create courses specific to individual business or community requirements. Following key concepts and Learning Objectives, I devise and deliver customer focused courses.
July 2006 – July 2010: Greenwich Community College – Head of Performing Arts: Responsibile for WRITING UNITS BASED ON GIVEN CRITERIA (BTEC FIRST, BTEC ND, LOCN) and the coordination and delivery of BTEC FIRST & ND Performing Arts (Musical Theatre). Creation of relevant learning resources, writing Schemes of Work, Assignment Briefs, Internal Verification, Coordination of External Verification. Additionally, staff recruitment and support; providing guidance and training where necessary, Portfolio Development, Strategy Planning, interdepartmental liaison and coordination with particular regard to performance events, student guidance towards entry into Higher Education providing them with the correct balance of knowledge, skills and experience to confidently audition for Drama School, University or to enter the profession directly.
April 2004 – August 2006: Plumstead Manor School – Music and Performing Arts Tutor: Responsible for devising, delivering and assessing the work for BTEC First and BTEC ND Performing Arts Courses. Classroom teacher for Years 7 to 11 including GCSE, A Level Music and Music Technology. Singing teacher and choirmaster. Direction and/or Musical Direction for Unit related performances.
Jan 2004 – Dec 2005: Franchisee and School Manager for Greenwich Theatretrain: This role involved program planning, Staff and Student Recruitment and Retention, Budget Planning, Accounting, Publicity and Promotion, Project Coordination, Event Management (both large and small scale); Script Writing/Adapting, Musical Arranging, Costume/Prop/Set Designing and Making, the building of Creative Partnerships, Student Welfare and staff/student/parent liaison.
May 2003 – August 2006:Bexley Business Academy, Kent – Tutor and Choirmaster: Responsible for teaching technique, repertoire and musicianship to students preparing for Rockschool, Associated Board and GCSE Examinations. Choirmaster role was to build a varied choral repertoire suitable for performance at internal and external events (Assemblies, Award Ceremonies and Local Festivals)
2000 – 2002:American Express Europe – Training Co-ordinator EMEA: Responsible for coordinating training with recruitment needs. Devising and delivering training on Products, Processes and Systems for New Accounts EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Asia ). Creation of learning tools and resources. Staff training and support.
1998 – 1999: Reynolds Theatre Academy, Dartford – Head of Vocal Studies.
I am a communicator, first and foremost, and have had a diverse range of experiences. Originally trained as a classical singer at Trinity College of Music, London, I spent many years performing and working as a director and musical director. In addition to this, I worked as a teacher in private theatre schools; teaching music and drama to students aged 5 to 50!
Every different situation taught me new ways to communicate better, to be clear in my planning and in my delivery of instructions. In whatever area of work I found myself, there was always an end product, something to be achieved.
I formally trained as an educator, gaining a PGCE from the Institute of Education, where I explored diversity and differentiation strategies and then during continued professional development, I trained as a mediator (learning about conflict resolution), as a facilitator (learning the 80/20% rule; giving ownership of learning and development to the group) and then in management roles and training, I began to understand the theory behind much of what I was already doing in practise.
OR DOES IT? READ ON…
In order to be an effective leader it is important to understand how an effective team works it is useful to refer to John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership, which is a model for team leadership and management and the Belbin Team Inventory, also known as the Belbin Self-Perception Inventory or the Belbin Team Role Inventory, which is an assessment used to gain insight into an individual’s behavioural tendency in a team environment and which was developed by Dr Meredith Belbin after studying numerous teams at Henley Management College.
John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership
John Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership work encompasses and endorses much of the previous thinking on human needs and motivation by Maslow, Herzberg and Fayol and his theory adds a simple additional organisational dimension to these earlier works. It is a model which offers a clear strategy for leadership and the management of any team, group or organization and is a simple leadership and management model, which makes it easy to recall, adapt and apply to any business scenario.
Good managers and leaders who have full command of the three main areas of the Action Centred Leadership model and who can use each of the elements according to the specific situation will keep the right balance, get results, build morale, improve quality, develop teams and productivity; and this is the mark of a successful manager and leader.
Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership model is commonly represented by three overlapping circles (SEE ILLUSTRATION BELOW).
Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership model
Adair’s three core management responsibilities: achieving the task, managing the team or group ANDmanaging individuals
This task-team-individual model adapts incredibly well for the demands of modern business management and has a valuable place within an educational environment.
This model clarifies the role and responsibilities of the manager for achieving a given task. These responsibilities are to identify aims and vision for the group, purpose, and direction – define the activity (the task), identify resources, people, processes, systems and tools (inc. financials, communications, IT), create the plan to achieve the task – deliverables, measures, timescales, strategy and tactics, establish responsibilities, objectives, accountabilities and measures, by agreement and delegation, set standards, quality, time and reporting parameters, control and maintain activities against parameters, monitor and maintain overall performance against plan, report on progress towards the group’s aim, review, re-assess, adjust plan, methods and targets as necessary
This model clarifies the role and responsibilities of the manager for the group. These are toestablish, agree and communicate standards of performance and behaviour, establish style, culture, approach of the group – soft skill elements, monitor and maintain discipline, ethics, integrity and focus on objectives, anticipate and resolve group conflict, struggles or disagreements, assess and change as necessary the balance and composition of the group, develop team-working, cooperation, morale and team-spirit, develop the collective maturity and capability of the group – progressively increase group freedom and authority, encourage the team towards objectives and aims – motivate the group and provide a collective sense of purpose, identify, develop and agree team- and project-leadership roles within group, enable, facilitate and ensure effective internal and external group communications, identify and meet group training needs, give feedback to the group on overall progress; consult with, and seek feedback and input from the group.
It also clarifies that the responsibilities of a manager for each individual is tounderstand the team members as individuals – personality, skills, strengths, needs, aims and fears, assist and support individuals – plans, problems, challenges, highs and lows, identify and agree appropriate individual responsibilities and objectives, give recognition and praise to individuals – acknowledge effort and good work, where appropriate reward individuals with extra responsibility, advancement and status, identify, develop and utilise each individual’s capabilities and strengths, train and develop individual team members and to develop individual freedom and authority.
Adair’s premise is that leadership is different to management and that all leaders are not necessarily great managers, but the best leaders will possess good management skills.
Definitions of the original word meanings may be useful to emphasise what Adair meant:
Leadership is an ancient ability about deciding direction, from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning the road or path ahead; knowing the next step and then taking others with you to it. Managing is a later concept, from Latin ‘manus’, meaning hand, and more associated with handling a system or machine of some kind. The original concept of managing began in the 19th century when engineers and accountants started to become entrepreneurs.
The Belbin Team Role Inventory
The Belbin Team Role Inventory is a behavioural tool which assesses how an individual behaves in a team environment. The assessment includes 360-degree feedback with the individual’s own evaluation of their behaviour and evaluation from observers; this contrasts how individuals see their behaviour with how their colleagues do. This system is unlike the Myers-Briggs model, which sorts individuals into one of 16 types by how clearly they express their preference for 4 distinct types of behaviour; the Belbin Inventory scores people on how strongly they demonstrate qualities from 9 different Team Roles.
These 9 Roles are: Plant, Resource Investigator, Coordinator, Shaper, Monitor Evaluator, Teamworker, Implementer, Completer Finisher AND Specialist
In more detail these can be described as follows:
Plants are creative, unorthodox individuals and are generators of ideas. Other common qualities are innovative and free-thinking; when a creative solution to a problem is required, a Plant is the best person to ask. Plants, however, may tend to ignore incidentals and detail.
The Resource Investigator is vigorous in pursuit of of opportunities and looks beyond or outwith the team for ideas and inspiration. A good Resource Investigator is an excellent networker and creator of possibilities.
Coordinators are confident, stable and mature team members who recognise abilities in others and are adept at delegating tasks to the right person for the job. The Coordinator clarifies decisions, helping everyone else focus on their tasks. They are often perceived to be manipulative, and may tend to delegate all work, leaving nothing but the delegating for them to do.
The shaper is task-focused, a leader who is high in motivation and is goal orientated. A shaper will often challenge, argue or disagree and will demonstrate aggression in the pursuit of goal achievement. When 2 or 3 shapers are present, according to Belbin, conflict, aggravation and in-fighting.can occur.
Monitor Evaluators demonstrate fairness and are logical observers and judges of what is going on. They can detach themselves from bias and are often the ones to see all available options with the greatest clarity. They are analytical and take everything into account; however they can become excessively cynical, even damping enthusiasm for anything without logical grounds.
A Teamworker is diplomatic, often a good listener and can demonstrate skill at resolving conflict.
The Implementer is efficient, motivated and self-disciplined, and can be relied on to deliver on time.
The Completer Finisher is a perfectionist, has a strong inward sense of the need for accuracy, rarely needing any encouragement from others because that individual’s own high standards are what he or she tries to live up to. The Completer Finisher may worry excessively about the quality of work and finds it hard to delegate.
Specialists have specific depth of knowledge, and enjoy imparting this, they are passionate about learning and developing (in their area of interest). Specialists bring a high level of focus, knowledge and skill in their area of expertise but may tend to be less interested in anything which lies outside of this.
Performing Arts Team: Effectiveness and Interaction with Key Customers and Other Stakeholders
At the time of writing, the Performing Arts Team is relatively small and consists of one fulltime member of staff (David Watters, Musical Theatre Coordinator) and 3 part time staff (MD, Musical Theatre & Singing, JB, Urban & Jazz Dance and MN, Acting)
The Belbin Model has proved a useful tool in assessing character traits of individuals within the team. The system clearly has some credibility but I would not base judgements entirely upon this. We are all more complex than this system suggests and although Belbin does state that individuals can cross over into a number of roles, I personally still find his 9 roles to be limiting.
The team functions well and this, I feel, is due to the shared backgrounds of each team member. To explain, all trained initially as performers before becoming teachers, all also continue to work as professional performers or in performance related fields such as choreography, musical direction or direction.
Coming from disciplined backgrounds and having qualified in our specialist areas at respected institutions, the team have an understanding of the required standards necessary for our students to progress into Higher Education.
We share a similar outlook on teaching strategies and, as performers, have good interpersonal skills. We have been trained to take criticism as a positive interaction and to continually seek self-improvement. Giving and receiving feedback presents no challenge and we all instill this in our students.
There is consistency in expectations across disciplines and this has a positive impact upon learners. Some students may initially find the intense demands of a disciplined life to be challenging but we all agree that this is a necessary aspect to our particular subject.
The current team interact well with each other, show respect and commitment to the goals of the department.
As a leader I see my role as one of support and supervision, of encouragement and empowerment. In many ways I feel that our team meet the needs of our customers (the learners) when I follow Adair’s guidlines of:
If music be the food of love, Sing on till I am fill’d with joy; For then my list’ning soul you move To pleasures that can never cloy. Your eyes, your mien, your tongue declare That you are music ev’rywhere.
Pleasures invade both eye and ear, So fierce the transports are, they wound, And all my senses feasted are, Tho’ yet the treat is only sound, Sure I must perish by your charms, Unless you save me in your arms.
If music is the “food of Love” then REMEDY JAM OUTBURST is a new website that is head over heels.
The site is dedicated to exploring how music impacts a life through pop culture, current events, politics, emotions and opinions.
The term “Remedy Jam” (coined by founder Rich Overton) is a song that hits one at the very right place at the very right time, showing a new perspective, outlook, path, or simply brightening a day.
Rich told me, “Remedy Jam Outburst is a music site I started to celebrate artists whose voices are helping to change the world. There are interviews, blog entries, music news, and more. Check it out!”
Check it out I did….and found it to be an exciting place to explore. Before long, I was linking to youtube, checking out videos by the artists on the site.
You know how it is? You start on one site, you hear or read something that stimulates an interest and the next thing you know you’re off on a musical journey.
How music impacts YOUR life and what it means to YOU is, in itself, a Remedy Jam Outburst.
Recent “Remedy Jam Sessions” (exclusive interviews) include Grammy nominees Sam Sparro, Lisa Loeb and Queen of Electro-Soul Billie Ray Martin.
If you love to discover new music or to read interviews with people whose music you enjoy then what are you waiting for?
Share your comments, ideas, opinions and keep checking back for giveaways, contests, updates and feature interviews. The more you comment, the more promotion that specific story gets!
Credits -
Rich Overton by Photographer Kim Elphinstone
Logo by Pirela Creative Solutions
Rich Overton is the CEO of RJO Artist Relations & Management which is a promotion, and development company that includes projects targeting the LGBT Community. Featured artists have included Billie Ray Martin, Ari Gold, Levi Kreis, Brian Kent, Kelly King, Rachael Sage, Girlyman, Billy Porter and more.
With over 10 years experience in the entertainment industry, Overton, a Boston Native, began his career as the first ever male host of WERS Women In Music where he built the shows popularity by interviewing artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Donna Delory, Billie Myers, Patty Larkin, SONiA and Ferron. This led to many opportunities working and gaining experience at Full House Promotions (Vance Gilbert, Greg Brown) in Boston, Nettwerk Management in Los Angeles (Dido, Sarah McLachlan), Virgin Records in Beverly Hills (Janet Jackson, Nikka Costa, Lenny Kravitz), MPress Records (Rachael Sage) and Two Sheps That Pass Marketing in NYC (Groovelily, Mannheim Steamroller). In 2002 Overton created RJO in New York City and highlights have included managing and developing Out Award Winning Recording Artist Ari Gold through 2 World Tours, 2 CD Releases and a Top 10 Billboard Dance Hit. Other highlights include producing 3 Brian Kent Music Videos and placements in such outlets as Billboard Magazine, People Magazine, Out Magazine, VH-1, LOGO, HBO, NPR, XM and Sirius Satellite Radio.
Overton is heavily involved in such organizations as The Reciprocity Foundation, Marriage Equality, Ali Forney Center, LIGALY and more. He recently received the QBliss 2008 Empowerment Award for creating change within the LGBT Community.
BESIDES ALL THIS, RICH IS A MEMBER OF MY NEVER BLEND IN FAMILY.
BELOW IS AN EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM HIS INTERVIEW WHICH WITH BE FEATURED IN THE FORTHCOMING BOOK, NEVER BLEND IN:
The media definitely has a role to play in the promotion of role models for minority groups because of its default obvious influence over our culture and world. Sometimes it is the only outlet for some LGBT youth and young adults who have not yet come out or who are surrounded by a narrow-minded environment. Because of this, I think it is important for the media to take responsibility for depicting the full spectrum and positive sides of people in all minority cultures. When this happens, it can change lives for the better. Unfortunately this is not always the case as sometimes only the negative stereotypes or negative angles/tones are shown in media. Because of this, I do think it’s important to acknowledge that some of the best role models may not be on television or in the media at all. They can be a friend, a loved one, family member or even stranger that one shares a single moment with.
The greater diversity of the LGBT community does not just extend to television, but also in film and music: Candis Cayne, Wanda Sykes, Sam Sparro, Nathan Lane, Clay Aiken, John Amaechi, Chuck Panozzo, Ellen… the list goes on and on. Within our community there is so much diversity and I am very happy to see a greater presence in the media. I can only hope for more as we progress and become even more educated as a nation. There are so many more out there living their truth in the public eye, including so many artists I have worked with directly at RJO. This not only has a tremendous effect on those who identify as LGBT, but also on the world at large. It shows that the world as a whole is being represented more authentically. People need to see this and continue to see more of this. This breeds acceptance.
The talent of my artists and the obstacles that they face inspire me all the time. They put themselves out there in such a vulnerable way being singer-songwriters with SOMETHING TO SAY. Working with artists who have SOMETHING TO SAY is what inspires and moves me the most to be a better person and make an impact. With all the struggles, ups & downs from every side of this music industry, it is worth it when I hear the music and see the live performance. I am so grateful for the artists I have met and worked directly with as part of this journey.
READ MORE ABOUT NEVER BLEND IN AND NBI ASSOCIATES @
DAVID E WATTERS HAS JUST LAUNCHED A VIDEO CAMPAIGN TO COINCIDE WITH HIS BOOK, NEVER BLEND IN. PLEASE JOIN HIM IN THIS INITIATIVE AND BRING HOPE TO THOSE WHO HAVE NONE
PRESS RELEASE – THE “Give ‘em Hope” VIDEO INITIATIVE
In these times of increased bullying and the rise in suicide ideation amongst those who identify as LGBT, author of the inspirational NEVER BLEND IN and Director of NBI Associates, David E. Watters, is launching a video campaign to inspire, encourage and uplift those who may feel disenfranchised or who may lack self-belief.
He is seeking individuals, couples and groups to share their stories in a bid to provide support and encouragement to anyone doubting their validity.
These stories of living authentically, with dignity and unlimited by labels will become a powerful toolkit to help others understand how self esteem determines the path they choose and that life need not be a self fulfilling prophecy when they improve self-concept, drive out fear and embrace new challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, eliminate self imposed limitations and cease dependence on others to provide validity.
IF YOU LIVE UNLIMITED BY LABELS THEN TELL US HOW IT’S DONE.
HELP TO VALIDATE THE DISENFRANCHISED BY SHARING YOUR STORY AND HAVE IT SHOWN ON THE NBI ASSOCIATES YOUTUBE PAGE (NBIassociates), NBI WORDPRESS (
http://neverblendin.wordpress.com/ ) AND THE NBI ASSOCIATES WEBSITE (www.nbiassociates.co.uk)
You can be as creative as you like and the only criteria is that you encourage, as you already do, others to feel confident in living the life that they were born to live.
An active and collaborative member of any Management Team; providing principled and practical leadership on equality, inclusion and diversity; developing a departmental vision and supporting the team to realise this vision; keeping abreast of policy initiatives and trends to help in ‘future proofing’ the work of the department; creating a culture that enables managers, teachers and support staff to provide teaching, learning and courses that are up to date, innovative, relevant and meet the progression needs of students.
DAVID E WATTERS
Since graduating from Trinity College of Music, London I have worked internationally within the arts and education and since 1998 I have been an educational manager in both corporate and academic settings.
Upon completion of my PGCE from the Institute of Education, University of London, I was immediately recruited as a Head of Performing Arts where my implementation of student focused and individualized teaching strategies led to a dramatic increase in achievement and progression.
Continued professional development in mediation, facilitation and educational management all enhance my ability to provide strong, clear, supportive leadership and effectively build a communicative, cohesive and motivated team. I am passionate about sharing good professional practice, with regards to differentiated learning and classroom management strategies, and strongly believe in communicating the concepts of independence and interdependence.
My current freelance roles (Program Director, NBI Associates and Associate/Facilitator, the Pacific Institute) and most recent full-time position (Head of Performing Arts, Greenwich Community College) have involved the management and leadership of staff; including recruitment and ongoing support and supervision for a diverse range of tutors. Core responsibilities have included devising and delivering staff development initiatives; support and supervision; appraisal and lesson observation; coordination and monitoring of arts, key skills and tutorial programs; internal verification and coordination of external verification; assessing and monitoring student recruitment, retention and progression.
I am an active and collaborative member of any Management Team with the ability to provide principled and practical leadership on equality, inclusion and diversity and to develop a departmental vision and support the realization of this.
Besides the direct management and Leadership of staff, I have a vast knowledge and experience on Curriculum Development and Quality Control – Leading on curriculum innovation and development, providing a curriculum which embeds equality and diversity, and promotes the benefits of inclusion; leading and managing curriculum and ‘self and team critical’ course review processes within the annual cycle of self assessment; setting and monitoring targets for recruitment, attendance, retention, achievement and success and ensuring the effective use of feedback from students, employers, parents and carers, higher education providers, work based learning providers which inform and improve pedagogy, success and progression.
The most rewarding aspects of educational management are the elements relating to student support – Individual and group tutorial provision, offering personal, professional and academic guidance and encouragement; providing management for student behaviour, attendance and discipline; supporting the management and development of the tutorial processes; providing expectations for the enrichment of the students’ learning experience, for example the development of creative partnerships including work experience, course-related visits, speakers and events. As a school manager, Head of Department, teacher and personal tutor I have been instrumental in coordinating educational and charity events which have involved the liaison with public figures (including Kylie Minogue, Stephen Fry, Darren Hayes and Joan Baez), educational establishments and charitable organizations (notably, The Terrence Higgins Trust, The Albert Kennedy Trust).
Keeping abreast of policy initiatives and trends to help in ‘future proofing’ the work of any department and creating a culture that enables managers, teachers and support staff to provide teaching, learning and courses that are up to date, innovative, relevant and meet the progression needs of students is the key to my approach as an educational manager.
My core skills, since managing my own private theatre school through to running a Performing Arts Department and, more recently as Program Director for NBI Associates, are perfectly suited to any educational management role; I posses advanced IT skills, highly effective interpersonal skills and clearly understand the need to provide, even or especially in this current economic climate, a quality of learning that will ensure healthy student and staff recruitment, retention and progression.
Having experienced a wide variety of socially and culturally diverse educational settings and, a broad background in educational and management experience, I am equipped to bring inspiration, motivation and customer focused professionalism to any role.
Leadership and management – Providing a collaborative, equitable and respectful style of management in accordance with college personnel policies and procedures; regarding induction for new permanent and agency staff, auditing staff development needs, identifying staff development plans and supporting the monitoring and review of the outcomes and impact of these. Additionally, encouraging an active and innovative approach to teaching and learning which is personalized and student centred; planning and ensuring the development of courses which meet student, employer, further and higher education needs.
Curriculum and Quality – Leading on curriculum innovation and development, providing a curriculum which embeds equality and diversity, and promotes the benefits of inclusion; leading and managing curriculum and ‘self and team critical’ course review processes within the annual cycle of self assessment; setting and monitoring targets for recruitment, attendance, retention, achievement and success and ensuring the effective use of feedback from students, employers, parents and carers, higher education providers, work based learning providers which inform and improve pedagogy, success and progression.
Student support – Individual and group tutorial provision, offering personal, professional and academic guidance and encouragement; providing management for student behaviour, attendance and discipline; supporting the management and development of the tutorial processes; providing expectations for the enrichment of the students’ learning experience, for example the development of creative partnerships including work experience, course-related visits, speakers and events.
Resource management – Compliance with organizational financial regulations in the management of a departmental budget, liaison with senior management to agree and maximize funding opportunities.
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
The Institute of Education, University of London – PGCE. 2006
SMART TRAINING – Edexcel Level 3 BTEC Award in Management. 2010
SMART TRAINING – Edexcel Level 3 NVQ in Management. 2010
The Pacific Institute – Facilitator for PX2 PROGRAM. 2010
The Pacific Institute – Facilitator for the Investment in Excellence. 2009
American Express Europe Limited – ICP (Instructors Certificate). 2001
Trinity College of Music, London – DipTCL (Merit). 1996
Napier University, Edinburgh – Diploma in Music, ALCM (Performance) and LLCM (Peripatetic Teaching Qualification). 1991 and 1992
Dundee College of Further Education – NVQ Theatre Arts 1989
HIGHLIGHTED TEACHING EXPERIENCE
July 2010: NBI Associates – Program Director: Arts Based education programs utilizing Cognitive Behavioural strategies to encourage personal efficacy, goal setting and to eradicate limiting labels. Responsible for writing courses, training staff, creating resources which cater for different learning requirements of individuals and environments.
July 2009 – Present: The Pacific Institute – Associate Personal and Professional Development Facilitator: Management consultancy and market research to create courses specific to individual business or community requirements. Following key concepts and Learning Objectives, I devise and deliver customer focused courses.
July 2006 – July 2010: Greenwich Community College – Head of Performing Arts: Responsibile for WRITING UNITS BASED ON GIVEN CRITERIA (BTEC FIRST, BTEC ND, LOCN) and the coordination and delivery of BTEC FIRST & ND Performing Arts (Musical Theatre). Creation of relevant learning resources, writing Schemes of Work, Assignment Briefs, Internal Verification, Coordination of External Verification. Additionally, staff recruitment and support; providing guidance and training where necessary, Portfolio Development, Strategy Planning, interdepartmental liaison and coordination with particular regard to performance events, student guidance towards entry into Higher Education providing them with the correct balance of knowledge, skills and experience to confidently audition for Drama School, University or to enter the profession directly.
April 2004 – August 2006: Plumstead Manor School – Music and Performing Arts Tutor: Responsible for devising, delivering and assessing the work for BTEC First and BTEC ND Performing Arts Courses. Classroom teacher for Years 7 to 11 including GCSE, A Level Music and Music Technology. Singing teacher and choirmaster. Direction and/or Musical Direction for Unit related performances.
Jan 2004 – Dec 2005: Franchisee and School Manager for Greenwich Theatretrain: This role involved program planning, Staff and Student Recruitment and Retention, Budget Planning, Accounting, Publicity and Promotion, Project Coordination, Event Management (both large and small scale); Script Writing/Adapting, Musical Arranging, Costume/Prop/Set Designing and Making, the building of Creative Partnerships, Student Welfare and staff/student/parent liaison.
May 2003 – August 2006:Bexley Business Academy, Kent – Tutor and Choirmaster: Responsible for teaching technique, repertoire and musicianship to students preparing for Rockschool, Associated Board and GCSE Examinations. Choirmaster role was to build a varied choral repertoire suitable for performance at internal and external events (Assemblies, Award Ceremonies and Local Festivals)
2000 – 2002:American Express Europe – Training Co-ordinator EMEA: Responsible for coordinating training with recruitment needs. Devising and delivering training on Products, Processes and Systems for New Accounts EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Asia ). Creation of learning tools and resources. Staff training and support.
1998 – 1999: Reynolds Theatre Academy, Dartford – Head of Vocal Studies.
I am a communicator, first and foremost, and have had a diverse range of experiences. Originally trained as a classical singer at Trinity College of Music, London, I spent many years performing and working as a director and musical director. In addition to this, I worked as a teacher in private theatre schools; teaching music and drama to students aged 5 to 50!
Every different situation taught me new ways to communicate better, to be clear in my planning and in my delivery of instructions. In whatever area of work I found myself, there was always an end product, something to be achieved.
I formally trained as an educator, gaining a PGCE from the Institute of Education, where I explored diversity and differentiation strategies and then during continued professional development, I trained as a mediator (learning about conflict resolution), as a facilitator (learning the 80/20% rule; giving ownership of learning and development to the group) and then in management roles and training, I began to understand the theory behind much of what I was already doing in practise.
OR DOES IT? READ ON…
In order to be an effective leader it is important to understand how an effective team works it is useful to refer to John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership, which is a model for team leadership and management and the Belbin Team Inventory, also known as the Belbin Self-Perception Inventory or the Belbin Team Role Inventory, which is an assessment used to gain insight into an individual’s behavioural tendency in a team environment and which was developed by Dr Meredith Belbin after studying numerous teams at Henley Management College.
John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership
John Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership work encompasses and endorses much of the previous thinking on human needs and motivation by Maslow, Herzberg and Fayol and his theory adds a simple additional organisational dimension to these earlier works. It is a model which offers a clear strategy for leadership and the management of any team, group or organization and is a simple leadership and management model, which makes it easy to recall, adapt and apply to any business scenario.
Good managers and leaders who have full command of the three main areas of the Action Centred Leadership model and who can use each of the elements according to the specific situation will keep the right balance, get results, build morale, improve quality, develop teams and productivity; and this is the mark of a successful manager and leader.
Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership model is commonly represented by three overlapping circles (SEE ILLUSTRATION BELOW).
Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership model
Adair’s three core management responsibilities: achieving the task, managing the team or group ANDmanaging individuals
This task-team-individual model adapts incredibly well for the demands of modern business management and has a valuable place within an educational environment.
This model clarifies the role and responsibilities of the manager for achieving a given task. These responsibilities are to identify aims and vision for the group, purpose, and direction – define the activity (the task), identify resources, people, processes, systems and tools (inc. financials, communications, IT), create the plan to achieve the task – deliverables, measures, timescales, strategy and tactics, establish responsibilities, objectives, accountabilities and measures, by agreement and delegation, set standards, quality, time and reporting parameters, control and maintain activities against parameters, monitor and maintain overall performance against plan, report on progress towards the group’s aim, review, re-assess, adjust plan, methods and targets as necessary
This model clarifies the role and responsibilities of the manager for the group. These are toestablish, agree and communicate standards of performance and behaviour, establish style, culture, approach of the group – soft skill elements, monitor and maintain discipline, ethics, integrity and focus on objectives, anticipate and resolve group conflict, struggles or disagreements, assess and change as necessary the balance and composition of the group, develop team-working, cooperation, morale and team-spirit, develop the collective maturity and capability of the group – progressively increase group freedom and authority, encourage the team towards objectives and aims – motivate the group and provide a collective sense of purpose, identify, develop and agree team- and project-leadership roles within group, enable, facilitate and ensure effective internal and external group communications, identify and meet group training needs, give feedback to the group on overall progress; consult with, and seek feedback and input from the group.
It also clarifies that the responsibilities of a manager for each individual is tounderstand the team members as individuals – personality, skills, strengths, needs, aims and fears, assist and support individuals – plans, problems, challenges, highs and lows, identify and agree appropriate individual responsibilities and objectives, give recognition and praise to individuals – acknowledge effort and good work, where appropriate reward individuals with extra responsibility, advancement and status, identify, develop and utilise each individual’s capabilities and strengths, train and develop individual team members and to develop individual freedom and authority.
Adair’s premise is that leadership is different to management and that all leaders are not necessarily great managers, but the best leaders will possess good management skills.
Definitions of the original word meanings may be useful to emphasise what Adair meant:
Leadership is an ancient ability about deciding direction, from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning the road or path ahead; knowing the next step and then taking others with you to it. Managing is a later concept, from Latin ‘manus’, meaning hand, and more associated with handling a system or machine of some kind. The original concept of managing began in the 19th century when engineers and accountants started to become entrepreneurs.
The Belbin Team Role Inventory
The Belbin Team Role Inventory is a behavioural tool which assesses how an individual behaves in a team environment. The assessment includes 360-degree feedback with the individual’s own evaluation of their behaviour and evaluation from observers; this contrasts how individuals see their behaviour with how their colleagues do. This system is unlike the Myers-Briggs model, which sorts individuals into one of 16 types by how clearly they express their preference for 4 distinct types of behaviour; the Belbin Inventory scores people on how strongly they demonstrate qualities from 9 different Team Roles.
These 9 Roles are: Plant, Resource Investigator, Coordinator, Shaper, Monitor Evaluator, Teamworker, Implementer, Completer Finisher AND Specialist
In more detail these can be described as follows:
Plants are creative, unorthodox individuals and are generators of ideas. Other common qualities are innovative and free-thinking; when a creative solution to a problem is required, a Plant is the best person to ask. Plants, however, may tend to ignore incidentals and detail.
The Resource Investigator is vigorous in pursuit of of opportunities and looks beyond or outwith the team for ideas and inspiration. A good Resource Investigator is an excellent networker and creator of possibilities.
Coordinators are confident, stable and mature team members who recognise abilities in others and are adept at delegating tasks to the right person for the job. The Coordinator clarifies decisions, helping everyone else focus on their tasks. They are often perceived to be manipulative, and may tend to delegate all work, leaving nothing but the delegating for them to do.
The shaper is task-focused, a leader who is high in motivation and is goal orientated. A shaper will often challenge, argue or disagree and will demonstrate aggression in the pursuit of goal achievement. When 2 or 3 shapers are present, according to Belbin, conflict, aggravation and in-fighting.can occur.
Monitor Evaluators demonstrate fairness and are logical observers and judges of what is going on. They can detach themselves from bias and are often the ones to see all available options with the greatest clarity. They are analytical and take everything into account; however they can become excessively cynical, even damping enthusiasm for anything without logical grounds.
A Teamworker is diplomatic, often a good listener and can demonstrate skill at resolving conflict.
The Implementer is efficient, motivated and self-disciplined, and can be relied on to deliver on time.
The Completer Finisher is a perfectionist, has a strong inward sense of the need for accuracy, rarely needing any encouragement from others because that individual’s own high standards are what he or she tries to live up to. The Completer Finisher may worry excessively about the quality of work and finds it hard to delegate.
Specialists have specific depth of knowledge, and enjoy imparting this, they are passionate about learning and developing (in their area of interest). Specialists bring a high level of focus, knowledge and skill in their area of expertise but may tend to be less interested in anything which lies outside of this.
Performing Arts Team: Effectiveness and Interaction with Key Customers and Other Stakeholders
At the time of writing, the Performing Arts Team is relatively small and consists of one fulltime member of staff (David Watters, Musical Theatre Coordinator) and 3 part time staff (MD, Musical Theatre & Singing, JB, Urban & Jazz Dance and MN, Acting)
The Belbin Model has proved a useful tool in assessing character traits of individuals within the team. The system clearly has some credibility but I would not base judgements entirely upon this. We are all more complex than this system suggests and although Belbin does state that individuals can cross over into a number of roles, I personally still find his 9 roles to be limiting.
The team functions well and this, I feel, is due to the shared backgrounds of each team member. To explain, all trained initially as performers before becoming teachers, all also continue to work as professional performers or in performance related fields such as choreography, musical direction or direction.
Coming from disciplined backgrounds and having qualified in our specialist areas at respected institutions, the team have an understanding of the required standards necessary for our students to progress into Higher Education.
We share a similar outlook on teaching strategies and, as performers, have good interpersonal skills. We have been trained to take criticism as a positive interaction and to continually seek self-improvement. Giving and receiving feedback presents no challenge and we all instill this in our students.
There is consistency in expectations across disciplines and this has a positive impact upon learners. Some students may initially find the intense demands of a disciplined life to be challenging but we all agree that this is a necessary aspect to our particular subject.
The current team interact well with each other, show respect and commitment to the goals of the department.
As a leader I see my role as one of support and supervision, of encouragement and empowerment. In many ways I feel that our team meet the needs of our customers (the learners) when I follow Adair’s guidlines of:
Actions by one person typically produce material outcomes for the other. In response to these outcomes, the second person develops thoughts about the first person, typically about their motives. There is then some emotional response to this. The second person forms an intention to act, arising partly from the emotional response.
Strength of Communication Skills
Skills developed in teacher training/ working as a teacher or personal tutor can usefully be transferred into other areas.
My background is in performing and this too has aided my ability to communicate effectively; developing listening skills, reading body language and seeing from a variety of perspectives.
As a teacher, I use expressive skills to give others information about their behaviour, and my beliefs, feelings and intentions.
Emotional Skills
Emotional skills enable me to say those things which need to be said, but which are difficult to say. For example, when conflict arises or when change needs to occur.
One such time was when a member of my team was not fulfilling his role; not writing appropriate Assignment Briefs or meeting Assessment deadlines. I made every effort to communicate my concerns, in a supportive manner, to uncover the underlying reason for this.
Support and guidance were offered and this was followed up, by mutual agreement, through email correspondence and one to one training. I find that I can postpone my own concerns/ emotions until I understand the perspective of my student/colleague.
Listening Skills
I use Listening Skills to obtain information about the student/colleague. Mediation Training with LEAP has helped me to listen effectively and Cognitive Behavioural knowledge has given me a better perspective on how a person’s “truth” is shaped by their interpretation of the world and sense of self. This allows me to listen with greater understanding and compassion.
Dealing with Stress
Although I have high standards and in all areas of my life aim for perfection, I realise that this is never entirely possible. I am able to manage stress better now that I allow myself to fail. I look at the worst case scenario and put this into perspective; then I look at how to avoid this scenario.
I think before I react to situations, I am as prepared and organised as I can be in all professional situations and in using clear communication skills I can avoid conflict which may have arisen from misinformation.
Stress in itself is not a bad thing; it is important, however, to deal with stress appropriately and professionally. Personally, I believe that stress can be a motivator and, if correctly handled, can produce good results. I do, however, understand the need to create a balance between work and my personal life, where all aspects of my character are fulfilled. This in itself reduces stress.
Time Management
Good Time Management is vital with regards to dealing with stress. It is vital to organise and prioritise tasks. I have developed a system in which I list tasks to be done and set targets for achieving these goals. Targets need to be manageable and achievable; much like setting SMART targets for our students; I use this technique to ensure that work is covered and that no one task dominates my time.
In any given working week, I will be teaching each day, will have meetings with colleagues, communication with external colleagues/creative partners, support and guidance time with individual students – so knowing how best to prioritise work is vital.
Good preparation of Schemes of Work, Lesson Plans and creation of resources will mean less time worrying about what needs to be done from a teaching point of view. This creates time for unexpected guidance sessions with students who are in need of support or for time with staff to discuss any issues or concerns
In conclusion, as a Team Leader or Manager, managing YOUR time effectively can reduce the instances of stress that YOU might face. This means that YOU are in a better position to support YOUR team and, through clear communication, achieve YOUR desired outcomes for the team (learners and colleagues), the department and the business.
Shéone Nap est modèle photo depuis plus de 6 ans, il pose pour quelques panneaux publicitaires, et surtout pour des séances artistique non commerciales. Tout comme le projet de 2009 ayant pour thème Aids, la lutte contre le SIDA, Shéone voudrait cette fois ci s’engager contre l’homophobie et le harcèlementmoral subit par les plus fragiles. Pour cela Il recherche un ou plusieurs photographes sensibilisés par ce problème de société grandissant encore aujourd’hui.
Sheona Nap has been a photographic model for over 6 years; he has posed for a few billboards but is especially involved with non-commercial artistic sessions – such as the 2009 AIDS-themed project.
Sheona would next like to engage with sympathetic photographers who wish to explore the theme of homophobia.
He is looking for that one or more photographer who is sensitive to this ongoing societal issue.
COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE – LA “Give em Hope ‘” initiative vidéo
En ces temps de l’intimidation a augmenté et la hausse des idées de suicide parmi les personnes qui s’identifient comme LGBT, auteur de la source d’inspiration BLEND JAMAIS DANS Associates et directeur de NBI, David E. Watters, lance une campagne vidéo pour inspirer, encourager et élever ceux quipeut se sentent exclus ou qui peuvent ne pas avoir confiance en soi.
Il est à la recherche des individus, couples et groupes de partager leurs histoires dans le but de fournir un soutien et d’encouragement à quiconque douter de leur validité.
Ces histoires de vie authentique, avec dignité et illimitée par des étiquettes va devenir un outil puissant pour aider les autres à comprendre comment l’estime de soi détermine la voie qu’ils choisissent et que la vie ne doit pas être une prophétie auto-réalisatrice quand ils améliorent l’image de soi, chasser la peur et relever de nouveaux défis comme des occasions d’apprendre et de grandir, d’éliminer les limitations imposées auto et de cesser la dépendance des autres pour la validité.
SI VOUS EN DIRECT PAR DES LABELS UNLIMITED ALORS DITES-NOUS comment on fait.
Que vous soyez L.G. B ou T … ou toute autre lettre de l’alphabet, fabriquer et envoyer votre vidéo: DavidWatters@nbiassociates.co.uk
Aident à valider les prive de leurs droits PARTAGE votre histoire et ont montré qu’il SUR LA PAGE NBI ASSOCIATES YOUTUBE (NBIassociates), le PNB WordPress (http://neverblendin.wordpress.com/) ET LE SITE NBI ASSOCIATES (www.nbiassociates.co.uk )
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Harvey Milk was a pioneer, a visionary, a tenacious, tireless and determined advocate for social equality but he was also a man who only found his calling when he found himself. His journey towards self-efficacy is what makes Harvey interesting and, to know that he struggled before finding his authentic core, demystifies the man and gives hope to us all that somehow in someway we too may be capable of great things.
Harvey famously said: And you have to give them hope.
Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great.
Hope that all will be all right.
Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us’es, the us’es will give up.
“I can highly recommend David for his ethics, his talent, and his dedication to nurturing individuality and originality through his fine writing. David uses the gift of the written word to inspire leadership by preserving the memory of historical visionaries who dared to be different. His essays on Harvey Milk and his determination to “never blend” preserve an important man and time in history while encouraging all of us to realize that we all have the power to change history ourselves on a grass-roots level with community outreach and activism.” January 11, 2011
Joe Mannetti, Contract Clinician, Waterford Youth Services Bureau
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“I had the opportunity to work with David as part of his team in the performing arts department. During that time David had a great leadership styles that enable his staff to develop at their own pace, while maintaining a high standard for his team. His advice and support for CPD has been extremely beneficial which has resulting in me writing development programs. Furthermore, David’s passion on the subject of equality and diversity was very inspirational. With this in mind, I recommend David as a leader who can write about our unique experience’s in and outside the working environment. Hope to work with him in the near future.” September 18, 2010
Michael Noble, Owner, IyPSchool
reported to DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David Watters is a tireless advocate of social justice and engaging writing. Working with David on a community service project in San Francisco, with him in England, was a breeze, fun and highly effective. I recommend his services, charm and, most importantly, passion for any advocacy needing to be done.” August 21, 2010
Melton Cartes, Chief Ad Guy, AnAdGuy.com
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David’s work was outstanding. The depth of knowledge and accuracy was just what was required for the features he wrote for us.” August 21, 2010
Top qualities: Great Results, High Integrity, Creative
Andrew Howard,
hired DAVID EQUALITY as a Writer/Editor in 2009, and hired DAVID EQUALITY more than once
“David has a gift with words. His writing is eloquent and polished. The stories he writes are entertaining and well driven. His poetry is lyrical and full of emotion. David is simply a wonderful author that would be an asset to any English language publication.” August 10, 2010
GABRIEL ROMERO, President, LOVE & LIGHT INC.
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David Watters is a hard-working, tireless advocate for social justice and I recommend him highly in any capacity!” July 28, 2010
Lesléa Newman, Writer and Writing Consultant, Write from the Heart
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David writes excellent work dealing with coming out issues for LGBT college students. Having a good body of literature to draw from when coming and when dealing with LGBT issues while in college is essential; and helps break down the barriers between different communities.” July 28, 2010
Maria Mizz M York, Contributing Writer, Bi Social Network
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“DAVID WATTERS is not a relative, although I’d be proud to be in his family. David is a fine writer and passionate advocate, a man who boldly uses his intellect, wit and sense of fairness to every project he undertakes. If you are looking for the spark to ignite your plan, call DAVID WATTERS.” July 27, 2010
Willie Watters, attorney/author, attorney/author
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David is a person of unrivalled integrity, who has great passion for his art and for whom I have the greatest respect.” July 27, 2010
Matthew Kolakowski, Curriculum Leader, Greenwich Community College worked with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David is a rare individual. Someone with a cause but also someone who is pragmatic. He understands his area but also the way the world thinks and is not judgemental but someone who looks for a ‘win/win’. This is rare but is the measure of the man. I would heartily recommend him for his intelligence, people ability and pragmatism.” July 27, 2010
Gladeana McMahon, Director, Gladeana McMahon Associates
worked directly with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“I have worked with a myriad of Harvey Milk related researchers in recent years and I wish they were all as thorough and considerate as Mr. Watters. I trust him and his workmanship implicitly.
Dan Nicoletta” July 27, 2010
Daniel Nicoletta, owner, Photography by Daniel Nicoletta
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David is excellent with timelines, content and substance in all of his work. His thought-provoking articles have been a huge hit with our readership in Ambiente Magazine. We welcome Mr. Watters work as often as he can provide it!
Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity
Herb Sosa,
hired DAVID EQUALITY as a Writer/Editor in 2009
“David is a great writer and recommended highly.” July 27, 2010
Melissa Robinson, Credit Management, Qwest Communications Corp.
worked directly with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David is an extraordinary writer and freelance journalist. His work is always cutting-edge and his writing skills nearly flawless. His articles focus on the most urgent of human issues facing the planet and his attention to detail make his articles a very informative alternative source of news and important information. His perspective is unbiased and his work is always outstanding.” July 27, 2010
CQ Scafidi, Author, Time Logistics Couriers
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“Never Blend In: The Legacy of Harvey Milk by David Watters offers an innovative approach to a subject that has been taboo for such a long time. Dedicated to the cause, David aims to help clarify that equality is not about race and gender it’s about fairness and the freedom. It’s imperative that we are all treated alike and not individualised. David’s book explores the sometimes traumatic journeys others have taken and faced, their struggle to come to terms with not only themselves but, the prejudices they have endured along the way. It’s about survival and acceptance. A unique compilation of compelling stories. An awe inspiring piece of work. David’s writing is reaching out to all.” July 27, 2010
Julie Norton, Part Qualifiied Accountant, Unemployed and looking for work. was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
“David is very proactive. He contacted me about his new book ‘Never Blend In’ – told me about the book and I decided to do an interview with him. He quickly articulated interesting answers to the questions I put to him and his story made for a very intriguing article.
I have already approached David about working with him again in future as I strongly agree with the direction of his work.” July 27, 2010
Will Astbury, Editor/Director, Manchester Mouth
was with another company when working with DAVID EQUALITY at VARIOUS
PRAISE FOR…
NEVER BLEND IN: THE LEGACY OF HARVEY MILK
Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk and Equality Advocate, has said: “I love your work, which is vital to show the richness of embracing and celebrating our wonderful diversity. As Harvey would say, you’re bringing medicine into the world that the world needs! Thank you!”
I think that out of everyone in society LGBT people, especially LGBT youth, are subjected to most negative energy and the most negative portrayals of themselves and so it’s really important for us as a community to give back and to let people see that the sun can shine
“I have worked with a myriad of Harvey Milk related researchers in recent years and I wish they were all as thorough and considerate as Mr. Watters. I trust him and his workmanship implicitly. Dan Nicoletta”
July 27, 2010
Daniel Nicoletta , owner , Photography by Daniel Nicoletta
He (Harvey Milk) had great confidence in me; I really felt that the basic message was “you can do it”. He was a cheerleader first and then he would deconstruct content second. I think there was always this attention to helping somebody really feel that they can make their way. If you look at his speeches that’s there; there’s really this broad stroke that’s about positivity and confidence so you’re on the right path in terms of carrying on his work that way.
For me as a care professional, working in chem-dependency, to have any kind of guidebook that talks about self-esteem or how to keep people from committing suicide…I’m all for it. The few kids that have shown up that had suicide ideation, quite honestly, I didn’t have a template for what to tell them so I had to rely upon my intuition but I have no idea if I’m doing the right thing. I definitely feel that the therapeutic community, the psychological therapeutic community has a role to play in LGBT civil rights and I applaud you for doing this.
I was reading some of your pages on your website and I thought, “This is the antidote to my suicidal friend. If he could just read this, it would help him rephrase what he is defaulting to now.”
PETER TATCHELL
For young people coming to terms with their sexuality it’s really important that they have positive, high achieving role models as a way of boosting their self esteem and confidence. This kind of book shares the experience of a very diverse group of LGBT people. Individual and collective experience offers the inspiration and motivation for LGBT people to do something worthwhile with their lives and live their dream.
There are two ways you can approach not fitting in. If you get to see it as a blessing, feeling like an Outsider can eventually give you the freedom and license to create your own world, follow your own goals, and make your own reality. I’ve always thought it must be a lot harder for those who effortlessly belong – how much stronger the temptation to just blend in and be a non-questioning sheep! Yes, there is pain. Feelings of rejection, confusion, self-doubt. But think of those negatives in a positive light: you have the chance to acquire resilience, fortitude, understanding and the realization but you have one life to live, so you absolutely have the right to live it your way!
It’s no shame to get help and inspiration from others, which is why David Watters ‘Never Blend In’, is so timely.
STEPHEN FRY
At all times, but especially as an adolescent you need to be told “You are not alone” – there is no more positive and euphoric feeling than the discovery that others, including people of courage, genius, insight, passion, talent and charm felt the kind of feelings you feel. Especially when society, religion and the world tell you that those feelings are wrong.
I have to modify that with this point though: some people growing up LGBT will certainly want affirmation that they are not alone, but they will also (quite rightly IMHO) resist the idea that there is a “type” and that they fall into a categorisation. Such is the human paradox, yearning to assimilated and demanding to be treated as unique and apart. A part of the tribe and apart from the tribe. There are plenty of young LGBT people I know or have known who hate the idea of any sort of ghetto or connection with others. I’m Jewish and I’ll fight against anti-Semitism, but I’ll also raise issues about Israel’s violations of human rights and express my happy atheism and contempt for much of Judaism… It’s not a question of “hurrah, there’s a role model, now I know who I am and who my people are and where I belong in the world.”
ANTOINE SPITERI
Role models are described as those individuals who we ‘aspire to’ and who provide strong and achievable targets that we can emulate in pursuit of our career or personal aims. This book breaks down the common stereotypes of gay people and unveils a more realistic perspective, chronicling the success of many gay role models that others aspire to.
In “Never Blend In” David Watters has brought together a number of role models in one publication featuring successful gay artists, scientists and entrepreneurs, who share their experiences and take you on their journey. These are men and women with whom you can relate, whose stories will inspire and motivate you and leave you ready to move forward, both personally and professionally.
Be inspired by the successful members of the gay community; real men and women. Read about the challenges they faced along the way, what helped to keep them going, and what it takes to make a small business, a life, a success.
This book illustrates the breadth and creativity of gays everywhere. It is a pioneering work and the success stories of inspirational gay role models from a wide variety of backgrounds should be made available in every library, every school. These are men and women you can aspire to but who have all shown just what it takes to become a role model – determination, courage and an unwavering desire to succeed.
“Never Blend In” brings you some amazing candidates all of whom have succeeded in very different ways. They each have inspiring stories to tell about their achievements and future ambitions, yet I noticed they all had one thing in common they were passionate about what they did.
So in reality gays are still struggling for acceptance and to reach the top of the ladder. However, I think for the gay who enters the celebrity arena or who decides to do his/her own thing - they no longer have to do it at the expense of their happiness- they can do things on their own terms. For many it will provide them with the work/ life balance that wasn’t available for them in the past. It’s vital we have gays in big business and we need more gays to be there. I think companies need to realize they can’t operate without gays. But they do need to provide the very thing we all tend to take for granted – the basic right of being given the same opportunities and earning power as str8 men. We are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, lovers, and friends. We are like you.
Anthony Spiteri, BS, MSc, PhD (Psychology)
DR JOHN R. SHAFER
The book NEVER BLEND IN is a provocative look into the lives of successful people who live in a world where the odds are stacked against us. It is important to give hope to the younger generation with diverse sexual orientations to see that we can be happy, healthy, and successful players in this game we call life. I hope by telling my story in this book, I can, in some small way, make life easier for those who march to the beat of a different drum. I am a rebel with a cause…you can either march with me, or step out of my way.
I am excited to order several copies of your book and share them with friends and family as gifts. I may try to use it with one of my classes that I teach at my college on the psychology of diversity.
Director of the Counseling Center and Professor at Franklin College of Indiana, President, Shafer Consulting Services
GLADEANNA MCMAHON
As one of the leading personal development and transformational coaches in the UK, Gladeana was instrumental in founding the Association for Coaching for which she now holds the positions of Life Fellow and Vice President.
The Book that David Watters is proposing is long overdue as there is little written on the topic of LGBT issues.
Positive role models are important to individuals whether they be LGBT individuals talking about their experiences or the family and friends of such individuals who can model acceptance and positive affirmation. Therapists are likely to be interested in such a book in a bid to understand the specific needs of those who identify as LGBT considering the best ways to work with such individuals and/or their families. Academics are likely to find the book useful in considering issues around diversity and, of course, the general public will also benefit as a book of this sort educates the reader. This book will also help LGBT individuals to understand their situation and consider how to develop a deep and meaningful sense of self-worth. It will also help such individuals understand how best to help those around them to understand their situation as much as it will educate family and friends.
HERB SOSA
NEVER BLEND IN, and the efforts of writer David Watters, is a brilliant collection and resource of openly LGBT and successful role models across the globe. The value to all, especially for the younger generation, is paramount. The presentation of individuals who are successful, determined, active and visible in our communities will undoubtedly inspire all who read this collection, to do better, become a better person, and strive for greatness in their lives and that of others.
The LGBT community has often been portrayed in a less than favorable light – NEVER BLEND IN rips that inaccurate veil off, and offers a face and portrait of today’s LGBT community, its leaders, history, accomplishments and potential.
“NEVER BLEND IN is a vital project that is sure to make a difference in many young (and not so young!) lives. As the author of HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES, I have seen firsthand how important it is for children to see a family like theirs portrayed in the media. It is just as important for teenagers and adults to see themselves represented in books, in film, and on TV.
By showcasing people who are out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender and living authentic lives, David Watters is sending an important message to those struggling to come out and be out: You CAN be yourself and live a full, satisfying, meaningful, and glorious life.”–
This book is crucially important because we need to continually shed light on the struggles and adversity facing the LGBT community.
We can never become complacent in our fight for equal rights and we need to remember the trailblazers who ignited the spark for the flame of progress that burns today.
As role models following in the legacy of others like Harvey Milk, we need to stand as proud confident people and continue to broaden the path of acceptance for those that follow us.
“Never Blend In: The Legacy of Harvey Milk” is an important work that will inspire and lead at the same time. Harvey’s legacy to us is one of activism, “can do” spirit and honesty.
This project authored and edited by David Watters will help certainly reach out and touch a generation of young people who will be the ones to carry on his legacy by helping transform our perceptions of the LGBT community and lay the foundation for a healthy and whole sense of self.
…we are in the fight for our very lives. NEVER BLEND IN says that we are committed to living out in the open, as we have a right to do. NEVER BLEND IN, means never settle for second best or the notion that we are “second class citizens” I will NEVER blend in.
I always feel inspired by someone everyday. I think we should learn something new each day from anywhere or anyone. I’m inspired right now, by you, answering your intelligent questions Mr. David Watters. It’s not often I get to answer some great meaningful questions. So Bravo!!! MARCUS PATRICK
There’s plenty of times in this world where we can feel isolated and alone and anytime we can find a source of community, a feeling of being a part of something bigger than ourselves; that can provide tremendous inspiration and solace, then that’s invaluable.
In the world of “Lost Hope” for the youth of the World this book stands as a beacon of light that others have travelled the road before. “Be true to yourself” & “Never Blend In”.
JOEL FRAZIER, M.D.
“Never Blend In,” is so absolutely crucial to our very survival. For when we first discovered our difference, we believed we were alone. This is why statistically, gay teen suicide attempts are four times that of heterosexual youth, and for every completed suicide by a gay youth, there are between 100-200 attempts that are made by other gay teens. Astoundingly, one-third of ALL teenagers who commit suicide do so because they are gay. In America, we have had as many as 11 teenagers a day commit suicide due to their sexual orientation! “Never Blend In” provides a guiding light for all LGBT people (in fact, for all non-LGBT people as well) because it demonstrates that not only are you not alone, but that you too can rise to attain your most desired dreams. There is nothing and no one that can hold you back.
Harvey Milkpaved the way for us all to be able to be ourselves and to simultaneously provide a role model for others. Whether you are the parent, uncle, or cousin of a gay child, or friend of a gay adult, the stories presented here give a unique insight into the relationships we cherish. You do not need to be gay to be inspired by the lives of these amazing heroes, whose stories are told, often for the first and only time, in “Never Blend In.”
As a parent bringing up a straight and a gay child, I think one of our messages to our children was ‘be yourself’ in all things – think for yourself, dress for yourself, and don’t be afraid to stand up and be recognized for who you are or what you believe in. Never Blend In is all of these positive messages. IRENE MILLER
Never Blend In is about more than being gay, straight, or whatever orientation. It’s about the importance of building a life appropriate for you–the real you. Harvey Milk encouraged us to give EVERYONE hope, and this work does just that, showing people that they can live happily and well no matter WHO they are.
STEPHANIE SILBERSTEIN
I have always been separated from the rest…I have always forged my own path despite the obstacles of being different. The true leaders in all social realms are the individuals. These are the people who are not afraid of closed doors, untraveled paths, and at the end leaders into uncharted territory…Thank you for allowing us to tell our tale. I am and always have been comfortable in my own skin although I know it’s not a suit most would choose to wear…Thanks for giving me the forum to express that. Best of Luck to you…(I know you don’t need it)
LIZA FRIEDLANDER
NBI is likely to be encouraging to anyone who isn’t ‘normal’, with the vital message, Be Yourself – normality is at fault! “
CHRIS McCABE
Adolescence is an emotional minefield for any boy or girl. For gay teens, navigating that treacherous minefield can be especially challenging.
NEVER BLEND IN is a wildly valuable source of comfort, support and inspiration for young people at this most vulnerable time in their lives.
I applaud David Watters for providing a book that offers a valuable lesson to all young people, regardless of gender or sexual orientation: be comfortable in your own skin, make the most of your own unique assets and never fall for the trap that “being like everybody else” is better, smarter or easier.
I highly recommend NEVER BLEND IN: THE LEGACY OF HARVEY MILK.
SHELLY GOLDSTEIN
NEVER BLEND IN is a perfect title because as the book it requires you to surmise your own individual independent meaning. For me…To NOT be a follower…to think for yourself, and to be authentic and pure.
JAMES MICHAEL McCRACKEN
NEVER BLEND IN is a defiant title. It is almost like an elder’s advice – ‘Hey, Kid, Whatever you do & however you live remember – “Never Blend In!”‘. TUHIN CHATURVEDI
A PRO-EQUALITY BLOG, written by Diversity Specialist, writer and motivational speaker David E Watters (NBI ASSOCIATES).
Articles on Equality & Diversity, Personal & Professional Development, Education & Management; his book, NEVER BLEND IN (http://www.nbiassociates.co.uk/Never-Blend-In.html), and the Give 'em Hope Campaign http://www.nbiassociates.co.uk/Give--em-Hope-Campaign.html)
pictured, David with 
