In this interview excerpt, Speaker A asks how smaller organizations with limited budgets can benefit from the Training Partner Cooperatives (TPC) program during a Nairobi engagement in November 2019. Speaker B explains that the TPC program evolved organically from requests by smaller groups seeking access to the larger organization’s workshops and ongoing training. The program partners with entities such as the National Association of Women in Construction during International Women’s Week, offering cost savings and, more importantly, a support network that connects participants across organizations. This cross‑organizational interaction provides diverse perspectives, helps prevent leadership silos, and fosters shared ideas, strategies, and mental‑health support, countering the “lonely at the top” cliché.
Because you will be in Nairobi, um, November 2019 to engage with the corporate trainings in various capacities, there is something called TPS, Training Partner Cooperatives. How can smaller organizations with smaller budgets still benefit from your training under this umbrella you're calling Training Partner Cooperatives.
Mm, we're so excited about that because, yeah, the TPC program really evolved organically. It came from smaller organizations who were, you know, approaching us to access our workshop training and whatnot and ongoing training programs. We wanted smaller organizations to get the entire package, right, that a larger organization would. So a couple of them came to us, and it was through an association. Interesting, again, we're talking on Women's International Women's Week, right? National Association of Women in Construction here in the States, which is a fantastic organization. Fantastic. In fact, we're going to try to get you more involved with them. We had, we had several good discussions about that this week, but they just came to us and said, can we partner with a couple of other companies and bring you in for the workshop? And we said, why not, right? And not only is it a cost saving, which is You know, which is helpful. That's really good. I don't think that's the biggest benefit though. The biggest benefit of the TPC is that you're working with people outside your own organization, right? So you get a different perspective and we're creating a support network so that you can share your ideas, your thoughts, your strategies, to discuss leadership with people that are in a little bit different environment than you are. Because one of the dangers in leadership is that we become kind of siloed, right? We become kind of myopic. It's very difficult. You know, the cliché goes, what, it's lonely at the top?
Well, it shouldn't be.
It shouldn't be. It shouldn't be. We're really trying to break that myth apart because when we reach out and we engage with leaders that are in different environments and different organizations and different cultures, you know, then it strengthens us. It gives us different perspectives. And that's so important because again, all over the world and, you know, it's happening greatly in Kenya right now, um, as well as every place on earth. Even small organizations are really operating with and serving a very diverse group of people, right? We've got people moving to our locations from everywhere in the world, and we're connected globally, so we're doing business all over the world. So those different perspectives are really, really useful. And, you know, one of the benefits to us as individuals— let's be constructively selfish for a second— to prevent it being lonely at the top. Hey, sometimes, you know, we need to just vent and talk to one another and share our problems and share our challenges, right? And have somebody just pat us on the shoulder and say, you know, you're not alone, I've been through that too. You know, that's hugely helpful to us as leaders for our, for our mental health, right? And our physical health as well. So, so we're, yeah, we're very excited about the TPC programs. And I know you've got a couple of, of those prospects happening in Kenya, and we're so excited about that. I really think that's That's gonna be a great program going forward.
