Kevin Cottam's "The Nomadic Mindset UNCOVERED" Workshop

There is no beginning to your journey (to who you are)

There is no ending to your journey (to who you are)

You are migrating to expansion.

Here are the paradigm shift questions. As a Toastmaster, what is challenging you in your speaking journey? Are there worthwhile behaviors that are lost and need to be brought back? For example, your initial enthusiasm and efforts to be a better public speaker. Are these lost on you as time goes by? If yes, would you consider migrating to bring it all back over and above?

Professional Speaker, Executive Coach and Author Kevin Cottam, PCC, ACS, posed these thought provoking questions and went on to seek opinions from the participants on the true meaning of NOMAD. Most replied to the likes of "moving from place to place .....".

No. Its actually "the movement of the mind", quoting from Batgerel Bat, someone Kevin met in his own awesome journey.

There are three mindsets. Namely: Nomadic, Builder and Settler. These change from time to time, with one dominant or take precedence over the others in the moment.

Given a hypothetical situation: An annual conference to be organized by Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club is in consideration. A settler in the Club will want to assume no risk and choose not to take it up. Another member, a builder, will want to take action and aspire to have the conference to be held on time and under budget. A nomadic in the Club will be adventurous and seek to look out for new frontiers and hence explore possibilities. For example, nomads are excited to leverage on the most technologically advanced digital devices to outreach to bigger masses to join the annual conference. From the neuroscience perspective, a builder thinks in the head, a settler thinks in the heart, whereas the nomadic thinks in the gut.

"Think Vastly, Act Narrowly", quote from Binderiya, a Student at the National University of Mongolia, from the book, The Nomadic Mindset.

Kevin later shared more of his own personal journey to highlight the importance of having a nomadic mindset. His childhood days were spent in the west coast of Canada. Moving on, he later went to the city to study figure skating. He did well and became a Canadian champion in figure skating. Moving further on, he later took up a dancing job in New York, then at Moulin Rouge in Paris. Moving on again, he went back to Canada as a figure skating choreographer, then figure skating coach, then speaker, before eventually becoming an author. His stint in Mongolia is where The Nomadic Mindset came about. He learned from the nomads, "migrate is for survival, for a better life". That is when he come to realize he is not running away, being crazy going for the unknown after accomplishing much in the earlier pursue. He is simply running towards expansion, evolution and growth. Looking back, he can well connect the dots now.

"You must be ready to learn how difficult this situation is...... the difficult truth." - Benson Muntere, Maasai Warrior from Kenya.

That, in essence, is to face the lion.....

The ongoing pandemic and Toastmasters are helping us to evolve, by facing the lion; to take on much needed leadership roles. Do keep that movement of the mind. Do not put the mind within restrictive barriers. Be courageous by being still, alert, curious, a listener and an observer. Henceforth, to be a better person, a better speaker. This, is the message Kevin is conveying to all of us.

Do check out this awesome book, The Nomadic Mindset: Never Settle … for Too Long, by Kevin Cottam. It is a leadership book for adventurous, courageous, and bold leaders. It is based on harvesting the ancient wisdom, qualities, and mindset of nomadic cultures as a new way to lead successful, engaged organizations. Also click on the YouTube video below for a short introduction to this book.

Written by Wee Chee Sian, ACB, ALB