We are committed to your personal and organizational development
Leadership Trainings
“Leadership should be focused on extending the ladder of opportunity for everyone” ~Justin Trudeau
Specialized Hour-Long Trainings
Strengthening Your Resilience
Resiliency is our ability to cope and recover quickly from challenges we may experience; from day to day stress or larger life trials. We understand that change is inevitable but knowing and understanding that we are all equipped to overcome change, helps us grow stronger and more capable when new life changes or challenges come our way. Be affirmed in the skills you already possess or learn the skills resilient people possess and how to integrate those skills and traits into your own life.
Challenge = Opportunity
Life offers us challenges at every step. Some are big, some are small. Whether a challenge is individual or universal the way we handle it depends on how we look at it. If we let challenges stop us in our tracks we will never get ahead. Viewing challenges as opportunities for growth, gaining new skills or even eliminating a problem that is holding us back makes the path to opportunity a wide one. In this session, we will share a few tips for meeting challenges and realizing opportunities.
Building Your Own Personal Board of Directors
We all need a team of strong supporters. In today’s world we have available to us an abundance of information, opportunities and choices. All of which, drive us down the never-ending road of decision-making. Your PBOD acts as a sounding board and will provide you unfiltered feedback on life decisions, opportunities, relationships and challenges as they arise. During this time together we will discuss the role of your PBOD and the important factors to consider when thoughtfully building your own PBOD.
Teams
Touchstone’s conscientious spirit & attitude toward building a positive,
engaged & highly functioning team is something we model for our clients.
Putting Together a Team that Works Together
Recognizing the importance of intentional and ongoing commitment to personal and professional growth in order to remain a successful leader, this workshop focuses on activities that can improve confidence and skill development. In addition, this workshop encourages leaders to practice introspection and commitment to self-awareness and works on enhancing the bond between team members and improving effective communication.
A Day of Team Building
A day specially designed to meet individual organizational key objectives. Options include relationship building, celebrating team successes and enhancing teamwork skills.
Employees
“Pleasure in the job makes success in the work.” ~Aristotle
Employee Engagement
What better way to improve performance, productivity and retention than to learn how to develop and lead an engaged team. This workshop focuses on employee engagement in your organization. Participants will learn how to develop the primary drivers of engagement: growth, recognition, trust and communication.
OR
Building a new team? Be prepared! In this workshop, participants will learn Tuckman’s five stages of group development for work: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning.
Coffee Time and Employee Engagement
Through information gathering and discovery of your organizational needs, Touchstone will curate the right program to support desired results. As an outcome of this initial one hour “Coffee Time” discovery interview, Touchstone will employ one or more of a variety of information gathering methods to assist with gaining needed insight to get your team back on track. This is great first top in nudging organizations in a positive direction. Touchstone can provide an outside, honest and objective point of view. This consultation will result in a proposal for identifying specific organizational needs and facilitating a path forward.
Growth & Development
Led by Emily Smith
1:1 and Small Group Coaching
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other” – John F. Kennedy
A fulfilling life is a valued life and we each have our own definitions of what we value. Using a personalized approach, we will work together on enhancing individual or team performance. Coaching is an opportunity to identify what you really want in life. It's an opportunity to make a clear commitment to your desires. Coaching is a bold and transforming step that includes developing or realizing the inner strength and resourcefulness you have within to evolve, grow and expand areas of your life. Coaching sessions are opportunities for clarifying goals and helping individuals to focus on relevant areas. If you have a specific challenge that you are seeking to overcome, needing help with developing or achieving short and long-term goals and tapping into your potential or need help changing certain behaviors then coaching is for you. To inquire or get started, schedule a free 15-minute information session with Emily.
Ready, Set...Goal Setting
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ~ Yogi Berra
Want to make a Positive Change? Is it time to reflect, recover and reset your life? Goal setting is an opportunity to set an intention, commit to that intention and to develop a plan to achieve your objective.This workshop helps participants to identify what they want to achieve and leads them through a personal and/or professional planning process. Workbook and planning sheets are included.
Please contact Emily to schedule a 1:1 or small group workshop at a time that is convenient to you.
Authentic Leadership: Know Yourself and Lead Your People
“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” Vince Lombardi
Leadership is complex! This workshop will help individuals gain a better understanding their own leadership style which is critical to becoming a better leader. Participants will learn the characteristics and qualities of Authentic Leadership and techniques for incorporating these valued and important practices. If you’re interested in creating a more trusting, engaged, connected and supportive workplace so individuals can be more inspired, more resilient and creative this training is for you.
Mind Traps
“You are the leader you’ve been waiting for” ~Gloria Steinem
What are five of the most destructive habits of our human behavior that often misguides our decision-making? This session will investigate those mindtraps and provide guidance for steering away from them.
Your Organization
Led by Diane Adam
Board Development
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead
Let Touchstone walk your leadership team through exercises that will create a functioning board that works together and forwards the mission of the organization. Activities will focus on building strength, communication, governance practices and succession.
To inquire or get started, schedule a free 15-minute information session with Diane.
Board Service 101
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others" - Mahatma Gandhi
Non-profit organizations are governed by passionate volunteers. Board service can be fun and exciting but should not be taken lightly. We will walk through some essentials of board service that will help individuals understand the ins and outs of being a productive member of a board of directors. If you wonder what being a board member involves, if you are interested in serving or if you have been invited to a board...This session is for you! People already engaged on boards will also be able to gain new insights and ideas.
Next Workshop: Jan. 27, 2021 at 2:00pm - 3:30pm - $100
Contact Diane to schedule at a time convenient for you!
Vision & Mission- Establishment or Revisiting
“Leadership is the capacity to turn vision into reality” –Warren G Bennis
Touchstone can help define and refine vision and mission statements that support achievement of long-range goals and overall organizational growth.
Volunteer Cultivation
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth” – Mohammad Ali
Volunteers are the backbone of successful events and organizations. This workshop provides ideas to recruit and keep your volunteers working for you.
Touchstone Topics
Touchstone Topics was created out of recognition of the unique relationships between individuals at work and home and how important it is to support one another. Touchstone Topics provides opportunities for networking, resources to support on-going personal growth and development, nurturing life, and career goals.
Touchstone Topics will be the 2nd Tuesday of each month - Complementary virtual sessions from 12:00-1:00.
SEE UPCOMING TOPICS BELOW
Rajiv Mehta, CEO Atlas of Care
a conversation on personal science and caregiving
We will learn from Raj how a practice of personal science can help people realize the best in themselves as well as discover areas for improvement.
ATLAS OF CARE INSPIRES PEOPLE TO SEE AND APPRECIATE
THE COMMON HUMANITY IN OUR LIVES,
Using this mission, Raj and his team engage people of all ages around the world.
For the past 15 years, Rajiv’s work has focused on helping people better care for themselves, their families, and their communities. He is the founder and CEO of non-profit Atlas of Care, which conducts research on family caregiving, and developing tools that help people better understand and manage their lives. Funders and collaborators have included Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Michigan Health Endowment Fund, AARP, Santa Barbara Foundation, Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, and Fremont Area Community Foundation.
Rajiv has delivered keynote presentations and advised on care and community, personal science, and wellbeing technologies and innovations to organizations in the US, Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, Australia, Singapore, and China. He has been recognized as a Visionary on the Care100 List, as an Influencer on Aging by PBS affiliate NextAvenue, and is a Salzburg Fellow.
Earlier in his career, Rajiv led product innovation and new business efforts for Apple, Adobe, Motorola and numerous technology startups. Before that he was a research scientist at NASA. Rajiv studied aerospace engineering at Princeton (BS) and Stanford (MS), and business at Columbia (MBA).
For more information on Atlas of Caregiving click here.
April 9, 2021 | 12 PST | One hour | Free
Fridays in May
reserved for
Evoke the Leader Within
Women in Leadership Series 2021
Touchstone Topics will be back in June
featuring Kristen Flikinger and Tyson HalsethPacific Pride Foundation
Pacific Pride Foundation
Executive Director Kristen Flikinger &
Board Member Tyson Halseth
Join us In honor of Pride Month
Touchstone is happy to host Kristin and Tyson for a conversation about
Pride Month and the work of the Pacific Pride Foundation in the
LGBTQ+ community.
Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) began in 1976 as a Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counseling and Referral center for Gay men and Lesbians. In 1984 the agency initiated the AIDS Counseling and Assistance Program (AIDS CAP), in an effort to contend with the emerging HIV epidemic, and began offering free, anonymous HIV Testing in 1985 as one of the first Santa Barbara CA county test sites.
Over the next several years the program was expanded with state and county funding to provide HIV education and prevention to gay and bisexual men, substance abusers, and sex workers. In 1991, PPF established the Necessities of Life Project (NOLP), a food pantry providing free food and household items to low-income HIV-positive people and their families. In 1994, the organization changed its name to Pacific Pride Foundation, which became the parent organization for the GLRC as well as AIDS Project Central Coast (APCC – formerly AIDS CAP).
Since its formation, Pacific Pride Foundation has become the foremost resource for people living with HIV/AIDS and the LGBT community, both in Santa Barbara County and the coastal communities of California between Los Angeles and San Francisco
June 11 2021 | 12 PST | One hour | Free
Nicole Brittney , Author "Uncovering Your Power:
The Guidebook to Escaping Emotional and Physical Abuse"
Author and Community Activist, Nicole Brittney, brings to life her story of rising above Domestic Violence in "Uncovering Your Power: The Guidebook to Escaping Emotional and Physical Abuse". As a survivor, Nicole went through a time of uncertainty and isolation within her life that fueled her approach to writing her book.
Uncovering Your Power offers insight, through fictional characters, into the actions and support that Nicole found most helpful in her experience. The book offers guidelines and steps to take to help readers foster a more healthy relationship from the start. Nicole’s narrative directs readers to consider the red flags present and alternative actions that could steer the couples relationship to a healthier path.
Nicole will speak to the key aspects of support that she found helpful in leaving her relationship with abuse as well as rebuilding and redefining her confidence as a woman. She will also speak to how loved ones can offer support to someone they feel may be in an unhealthy romantic bond.
With the continued prevalence of our current pandemic, now more than ever, the importance of acknowledging and offering resources around fostering healthy relationships is necessary. This discussion will offer an opportunity for anonymous participant questions that foster an open and honest conversation around the impacts of mental and physical abuse.
July 9, 2021 | 12 PST | One hour | Free
Crucial Conversations:
Tools for Talking when the stakes are high.
by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny,
Ron McMillan & Al Switzler
Book Club Sessions held virtually on:
- April 1, 2021
- April 15, 2021
- April 29, 2021
- May 1, 2021
6:30-7:30 pm PSTRegister below for the 4 part series!
About Us
Life sometimes conspires beautifully in your favor! That’s our story. We believe it was serendipitous how our paths continuously kept crossing; merging and intersecting creating an inevitable coming together. The mutual love of our families, our work and our community only served to seal the deal.
The mission of Touchstone grew out of our desire, as professionals, to learn, grow and do better. Most importantly, our experience as mentors and support of other individuals and each other drives what we would like to encourage in others.
It’s our dream to create a movement that promotes inclusivity, community and encourages trust and open discussions and sincere collaborations amongst all people.
Emily Smith
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” ~ Harvey S Firestone
As a professional in industry, a community-volunteer and with over 20 years of experience in education, I’ve been fortunate to work alongside and lead diverse group of teams and individuals.
Recognizing the power in on-going learning, growth and development, I consider myself a life-long learner. It is through this lens that I work with clients to discover a successful path in their life and work journey. One of my favorite quotes is “Your life is a story, make it a bestseller.” It is my goal to establish a trusting relationship that inspires, empowers and motivates clients to progress and succeed. I consider it an honor to assist clients in establishing clear goals, bringing awareness to underlying beliefs and committing to a measurable action plan, ultimately creating their own “bestseller.”
I have learned throughout my own journey, that we all have a personal story. When we work from the heart we listen more, taking time to understand one another. This results in more opportunities to learn and grow. Sharing and listening removes barriers. Leading with love may seem unconventional, but it is good for ANY organization or relationship. There is no business or life without people. When people thrive, so do your business and your relationships.
When you demonstrate caring approaches to work and life, people respond positively and more productively. Showing genuine concern and compassion for the people you share life with doesn’t diminish your respectability or reputation as a strong leader, but instead brings out the best in others while fostering an environment that is supportive and trusting. The result of practicing good leadership is high morale, good employee retention, and sustainable long-term success for you and those with whom you work with.
I look forward to working with you on your personal leadership journey – from the inside out.
Diane Adam
Say “Yes” as Often as Possible
When I left a career in Clinical Laboratory Science I had a realization that I wanted to be with people more than with microscopes. The decision was easy then and I have been rewarded many times over with positive relationships and learning opportunities. I am always on the lookout for more!
A favorite saying at Touchstone is “we are all leaders in our own life” and Leading with Love means to me that I must endeavor to be a good colleague, friend, and human being. I strive to be empathetic, compassionate and receptive in my relationships and communications with people no matter the setting.
In my 20+ years as a community volunteer and non-profit leader, I have exercised honesty with my word and openness with my heart. Through a lens of empathy I have been able to prove myself in board rooms and work rooms alike. Important to my process is a collaborative spirit along with a dose of fun and creativity.
There is nothing like the feeling of being heard, acknowledged and validated. These feelings are especially important for me to foster during interactions with clients. As an active listener, I love to be present with individuals in terms of time and attention. I delight in opportunities to meet people where they are, in their work space and in their comfort zone. It is an honor to cultivate growth and teamwork as well as to connect talents of individuals with desired outcomes for themselves or for a group.
Whether I am leading a board of directors, making connections between people or being a worker bee, recognizing individuality and people's unique value is top of mind. The people and organizations I have been privileged to serve say they appreciate my spirit, can do attitude and follow through.
Touchstone Central Coast is a dream realized and Leading with Love keeps that dream alive.
