|
Featured Affiliate - Skip Ahnemann
By: Mike Scicolone
...continued
 Even
though Skip has been to many exotic places throughout the world, his
favorite place to visit is Nantucket. In his free time, Skip and his
wife, Lucia, enjoy walking the beach at sunset. When not spending time
at the beach, Skip and Lucia enjoy entertaining family and friends.
Both Skip and Lucia come from large families: Skip being one of seven
children, and Lucia one of six. This makes any type of “small” family
get together a bigger deal than most would expect.
 Skip
graduated from SUNY-Oneonta College with a bachelor’s degree in
psychology. He then attended graduate school at Assumption College,
earning an M.A. in counseling psychology, and Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute with an M.S. in management. Skip’s training has enhanced his
work with Designed Learning. “I think that my training in counseling
psychology helps me to listen, and read individuals and groups,” he
says. Skip also feels that many of the concepts, such as dealing with
resistance, are based on psychological theory so he can use his
counseling experiences as examples in the workshops.
Skip first encountered Designed Learning by
participating in one of the workshops at The PHH Corporation, a company
by which he was previously employed. Before being introduced to
Designed Learning, Skip characterized himself as “a pair of hands.” It
was not until he attended the workshops that Skip began to see himself
as much more than a pair of hands. Skip became more collaborative in
his own workplace and was able to be more effective with clients.
One of the things Skip enjoys most about being a
consultant is the great variety that exists within the field. The
diversity in the workshops and the uniqueness of each group he
encounters always keeps his job full of surprises. The work is never
monotonous or boring. Skip says he is always doing something different,
and that is what makes his job so exciting. “I would not know how to
survive on an assembly line,” he says.
 At
the end of a workshop, Skip hopes that that his participants will have
had an “ah-ha” experience. These “ah-ha” experiences involve truly
understanding what the workshops are trying to teach and being able to
see how the concepts and ideas can be applied to the participant’s
workplace and client relationships.
Skip’s experience as a pilot also plays a pivotal role
in his work with Designed Learning’s workshops. “When flying you always
need to be prepared for anything and that there is always room for
improvement. You can never become overconfident; overconfidence is the
beginning of the end,” Skip says. The idea of improvement is vital to
Skip’s work with Designed Learning. When Skip is involved with a
workshop he makes sure to keep himself open for improvement. He says
that there are always ways in which he can improve how he conducts the  workshops
to make it more efficient and beneficial to those
participating.
Skip Ahnemann is a valued affiliate of Designed
Learning, a loving husband to wife Lucia, and a friend to many.
Skip has conducted over two hundred workshops for Designed Learning and
has been a very important member of the Designed Learning team.
|
