by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association

Last night came the inevitable battle between the two world powerhouses in women’s hockey: USA vs. Canada. The two teams have dominated the sport for many years, and the impending contest at the Olympics resulted in a pressure cooker building for years leading up to the contest. One game, winner takes gold. Imagine trying to motivate the players, or more exactly, ensure that they peak on the right day at the right time without allowing the stress, pressure, and anxiety to take over.

Peter Jensen

Now you understand the role that Dr. Peter Jensen plays for the Canadians. As founder and director of Performance Coaching, Jensen is the sports psychology trainer for the Canadian women’s hockey team, and has been the sports psychologist for 40 Olympic medal winners. In recent years Jensen has taken his techniques and applied them to real life, instructing leaders in business and education, and parents, in how to “ignite” the kind of passion and commitment in others that Olympians have.

We are pleased to announce that fresh off his Olympic success, Dr. Jensen, author of Igniting the Third Factor, will serve as keynote speaker at the opening session of the IECA conference. He will focus on five actions that all of us can take to motivate students to succeed.

Early Bird registration ends today, so if you haven’t registered be sure to do so today. For more information, go to our conference page.

by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA

Registration for our Spring 2010 Conference will be opening soon and details of the scores of speakers, breakouts, seminars, and more will be posted on our Web site. I do want to share a little information about one of our featured speakers. Dr. Peter Jensen is a member of the Canadian Olympic team, soon to travel to Vancouver to help the host country’s athletes. Jensen won’t be on the snow or ice, however. His role is to get into the heads of the athletes, providing them with the mental preparation needed by elite athletes to improve personal performance. Author of The Inside Edge, Jensen has been advisor to athletes for many years, including the last six Olympics Games.

Jensen will be joining us at our Toronto Conference just weeks after the 2010 Olympics. But what does such a professional offer to IECA members and school admission staff? His new book, Igniting the Third Factor gives us the answer.

In his new book, Jensen looks at the techniques parents, counselors, and educators can use to motivate students to succeed. At our conference he will offer solutions on motivation, engagement, self-reliance, and developing adolescent initiative using humor and stories based on his own experiences. The heart of his presentation will be five actions that separate igniters from extinguishers, something every parent and educator needs to know, as well as a wealth of strategies that can immediately be put into action.