Good to Great is the revolutionary approach to combating a crisis in Australian fatherhood which is affecting our children. Dads4Kids, based in Wollongong, Australia, is pioneering this innovative advance in fatherhood training, which is now available at a national level.

Almost one million Australian children are growing up in a home without their biological father. Research shows that this is not the optimum environment for children to grow up in. Many children, and indeed adults, carry a father-wound inflicted by careless or uninvolved fathers. Many men who are now fathers still feel the old wounds inflicted by their own father. The challenge is to break this generational cycle and create a better place for our children.

Mothers will also reap the benefits of more involved and committed fathers. We are talking about education, support, recognition and a mutual sense of achievement for groups of men, who together strive for excellence in the most important task of their lives. Men partnering together for a fathering breakthrough.

Good to Great is all about inspiring and equipping fathers to go to the next level as a dad. Every young child believes that his or her father is the best dad in the world. Good to Great is about preparing fathers to prove their children right, one family at a time.

Knowledge empowers people to rise above their circumstances. The Good to Great Fathering Course provides foundational information and skills to assist men in understanding and prioritising their relationships. The Good to Great Fathering Course deals with the real issues of effective fathering.

Core topics addressed include:

• keys for success
• goal-setting
• love & marriage
• building relationships
• values
• listening /communicating
• conflict resolution
• unconditional love
• fun & laughter
• secret of forgiveness
• learning lessons
• moving forward
• humour & health
• exercise & food
• key to friendship
• spiritual foundations
• servant leadership
• lifelong mentoring
• power of praise
• rites of passage
• sexual integrity
• managing testosterone
• mystery of sex
• mystery of fatherhood
• time management

The structure of the course is as follows:

Training is conducted in small groups with a heavy emphasis on interactive and experiential learning. Fatherhood mentors provide hands-on practical advice for the challenge of moving to a greater level of fathering excellence. This course runs for ten weeks. An extra week is included at the conclusion of the course for the Graduation and Family Celebration Night.

The course commences at 7.00 pm and concludes at approximately 9.30 pm. The first hour is allocated to a speaker, followed by a question time.
A 15-minute break for tea and coffee follows.
The final period is allocated to groupwork, written questions, discussion, field exercises and reporting sessions.

The training regime is tough, and a high level of commitment is expected and required. Entry requirements will likewise be high to help ensure successful completion of the course. Encouraging a sense of camaraderie and mateship between fathers will aid in dissemination of the benefits of this course to those fathers who are unable to undertake the training themselves. Personal recommendation is still the best advertisement.

The course is designed around practical components or ‘field exercises’. Activities designed to bring to bear a positive fathering skill such as romancing your wife; strengthening effective communication with your children; showing appreciation of the gift and the responsibility that is fatherhood. Skills and knowledge learned or applied during exercises, together with strong peer and mentoring support, makes this a challenging and rewarding learning experience.

The Good to Great training program is modelled on the training plan of Australia’s elite Special Forces, the SAS. The SAS is recognised as one of the very best elite military forces in the world. Those who survive the training regime are the best of the best, proficient, disciplined and committed leaders. Likewise, successful recruits for the Good to Great Fathering Course must be confident, capable men, passionate for excellence as fathers and able to lead other men in the offensive against the threats posed to our children by fatherlessness, dysfunction and complacency.