2025 AfMA's Personal Development Series
Stronger Together:
The Power of Synergy
Synergy is defined as working together to create something greater than we could do on our own.
We are all looking for ways to improve our motivation ,productivity and drive better results from ourselves and others in both our professional and personal lives.
The 2025 Personal Development Program brought to you by Isuzu UTE, will focus on practical strategies to enhance the way we interact both with ourselves and those around us.
The 2025 Program will cover:
• A deeper look at Coaching and Mentoring
• Understanding Motivation
• Strengthening Personal Productivity and
• Fostering Productivity in Others.
Webinars are free to everyone, online, interactive and last approx. 75 mins.
Click below for more information, dates and how to register.
FREE WEBINAR SERIES
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Coaching and Mentoring as Development Tools
Tuesday 18th March, 12-1.15pm
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Coaching and mentoring are often seen as formal programs but whether we know it or not, most interactions at home and at work have a coaching or mentorship aspect to them. This webinar will outline the similarities and differences between coaching and mentoring and why, when and where they are relevant.
In this webinar learn about:
- The evolution of mentoring and coaching
- Determining whether to coach or mentor
- The skills required to be effective
- Check your readiness to be a mentor, coach or mentee
- Where to find a coach or mentor.
Core Mentoring Principles and How to be an Effective Mentee
Wednesday 7th May, 12-1.15pm
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In this session understand the fundamentals of successful mentoring from both a mentee’s and mentor’s perspective. We outline why mentoring is important and focus on the tools to get the most benefit from a mentoring relationship or interaction.
Learn about:
- Why everyone (even you!) should have a mentor
- What good mentoring looks like?
- The importance of mentoring
- The roles and responsibilities of mentors, mentees and mentoring program managers
- What the most effective mentees do
- Hear from a mentee on what they got out of a mentoring relationship
- Exploding some mentoring myths – including ‘everything you were afraid to ask about mentoring’.
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Mentorship brings significant benefits to the mentor as well as the mentee. This session focuses on the tools, skills and characteristics that will help you become a better mentor.
Learn about:
- Why the mentor’s mindset and attitude matters most
- What the best mentors do
- 10 ways to create a good thinking environment
- Three skills every mentor should have in their toolkit
- Mentoring competence assessment tool (handout)
- Helping a mentee set goals
- Hear from a mentor on what they learnt
- Where to go for more advanced training and professional recognition
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Motivation is the driving force that moves us towards action to achieve our goals and dreams. We all experience periods of low motivation. Understanding motivation and what affects it, will enhance the productivity, energy and overall success of you and the people around you.
In this webinar learn about:
- Why motivation really matters
- How emotional intelligence plays a factor in motivation
- Distinctions between intrinsic and extrinsic motivators
- Visible and unseen signs of ‘the unmotivated’
- How gender and generation have no bearing on motivation
- Techniques and tools to address motivation in yourself—and others.
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We all want to maximise the use of our time and energy so that we can get more done in less time while reducing the stress and overwhelm we experience at home and at work. Discover how to manage and enhance your personal productivity.
In this webinar learn about:
- Factors that affect our energy and output
- Distinctions between efficiency and effectiveness
- Realities of goal setting and triaging ‘urgent vs. important’ tasks
- Thoughts and behaviours that foil focused work
- Emotional connection to ‘being busy’ status
- Habits and tools to overcome procrastination, reduce burnout, and increase results.
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We do not achieve results on our own at work or at home. Creating an environment that fosters productivity creates tangible and intangible benefits for all participants.
In this webinar learn about:
- Visible and unseen signs of an unproductive work environment
- Simple and serious factors that influence productivity
- Emotional roadblocks to addressing productivity issues
- Starter techniques for creating a trusted, psychologically safe environment
- Methods to encourage individual engagement—as a colleague and a leader
- Fresh strategies to improve team collaboration and capitalize on divergent thinking.
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Melissa Richardson
After a marketing career with big multinationals and in her own marketing consultancies, Melissa’s passion for coaching and mentoring led her to deep levels of training in the craft. She co-founded and built a successful mentoring software business, Art of Mentoring. She sold that business to a listed company in 2020 and was CEO until 2022. Her consulting work is now delivered through the firm Horizons Unlimited.
Over the last three decades, Melissa has trained thousands of mentors and mentees, designed and managed hundreds of mentoring programs, spoken at dozens of events on the topic of mentoring and has had three mentoring book chapters published.
She has served on two non-profit boards and founded a mentoring association specifically for female marketing practitioners. Melissa has an undergraduate degree in psychology, postgraduate qualifications in Strategic Marketing, in Counselling, a Masters degree in Organisational Coaching, and a Diploma of Coaching Supervision. She is accredited in profiling tools such as LEA, LSI, Birkman and Personal Directions.
People describe Melissa as a ‘calm’ presence. Maybe that’s because she’s survived a few crises and lived to tell the tale. She’s not afraid to share her war stories.
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Lisa Panarello
Lisa is an empowerment coach and previously featured on the CBS Early Show and a top nine finalist in Toastmasters International (World Champion of Public Speaking Contest).
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Lisa Panarello comes to the table with a level of energy and commitment that can’t be beat. She’s the founder and CEO of Careers Advance, a private practice specializing in professional training and development, career planning, leadership savvy, interpersonal communication, personal branding, and public speaking.
For more than 17 years, she has been sought after by corporate, civic, educational, and non-profit institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Novartis, the NYPD, NYU, My Goal Autism, and Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association. Her powerhouse programs have inspired more than half a million students, professionals and executives worldwide.
Since 2001, she’s helped organizations and businesses increase staff engagement and retention and drive bottom-line results while guiding individuals in navigating challenging work environments and turning frustrating job situations into exciting career journeys. Lisa is certified in Behavior Assessments (DISC/Driving Forces/Emotional Intelligence), holds a BBA in Marketing from Baruch College, and has 15+ years of experience in diverse industries, including retail, publishing, marketing, and human resources. With an entrepreneurial mindset and unique blend of humour and practicality, Lisa provides insights and strategies that enable success seekers create the reality the desire!