Authentic leadership

We believe that solutions are hiding there in everyone, in the individual, in the team, in the organization and we as developers can help unravel them. We do this by strengthening authenticity in order to increase efficiency and satisfaction. We work with a supervision approach and support experiential learning with development processes of personal profoundness, leaving with the participants the responsibility of digesting the learnings and taking decisions.

As organizational and leadership development professionals we believe that:

• people can really develop from the inside,
• authenticity leads to outstanding performance and efficiency,
• openness, sincerity and transparency in the organization enhance commitment and collaboration,
• in today’s large organizations it is not enough to have a few charismatic leaders, the key is in the formation of the leaders into a community,
• the organization has all the knowledge needed, it is the job of the leaders and us, consultants to mobilize it,
• the development of the leadership team will only be efficient if it is embedded in a wider scale organizational development process,
• instead of trying to impress the participants, we seek real progress sometimes even at the cost of confrontation.

We seek to create situations whereby participants can learn from personal experiences and develop as individuals, as a community and, in a broader sense, as an entire organization. The focus of our development efforts is to strengthen professional personality and individual performance, which we support with development processes of personal profoundness.

We prefer that participants discover their own solutions, so that they will bear the responsibility of exploration and decision-making.

We do not consider ourselves such developers, trainers, coaches:

• whose decisive goal is to entertain,
• who share ready wisdoms in the program and aim to impress the participants with series of spectacular models, fun exercises,
• whose work does not involve personal-level interconnection with the participants,
• whose presence is hidden behind a presentation,
• who organize the outdoor exercises for their own sake, purely to give the participants new experience without reflection,
• who are addicted to „isms”.

TEAMWORKS

A SERIOUS BOARDGAME FOR ORGANIZATIONS
to increase productivity and strengthen cooperation

How could we create a situation in which

• we can say what we mean
• important perspectives are brought to the surface
• we gradually build trust within the team
• work is done more effectively and efficiently
• a more positive atmosphere is generated

TEAMWORKS initiates a new type of discussion within a team to explore what
prevents a better execution of their tasks, what could improve clarity in their
relations, and what could serve their development.

www.TeamWorksGame.com

We are leadership development professionals. Our goal is to make leaders aware of their existing professional and leadership experiences and put them to work. We support the reinforcement of authentic leadership at individual, team and organization levels. In the course of our development processes participants become capable of using their own professional and personal experiences as a tool of self-learning. We strive to work with a systemic approach therefore we treat the development task not in isolation, but take into account the personal and cultural interaction of all stakeholders.

The focal element of our development approach is supervision, a professional competence development method which is not linked to one or the other professional area though. Participants become capable of using their own professional and personal experiences as a tool of self-learning. They begin to see in a new light the personal issues, dilemmas they encounter at work. The problematic nature of the issue gets expanded, revalued. They discover the hidden personal meaning of their own professional dilemmas, and this makes it possible for them to step beyond and overcome the unresolved situations, problems. In this way learning from one’s experiences becomes a skill and a continuous development potential and helps the individual reach a more efficient, authentic and self-aware level of presence.

For us, one of the most important elements of this process is awareness raising: making people aware of their surrounding world and their role in it. On the one hand, showing the leader what is happening in his environment: what the others do, think and say. On the other hand, making the others aware of what is going on in the leader: what he does, think, feel and say. The study of the situations with this approach will put right the relationship of appearances and reality, make the fabric of intuitions, feelings and thoughts more transparent, and give the leader confidence in his ability to lead the organization more efficiently.

Our experiential learning approach may strengthen leaders who seek to:

• become more open towards their environment;
• become more receptive to the feedback of others;
• become committed to their own development;
• consciously manage difficult situations;
• strengthen their self-respect in their working environment;
• improve their work performance as an individual and as an organization.

In our coaching processes we create a dialogue with the coaches, which is different from the everyday situations. They get the opportunity to see the underlying causes of their internal blocks, to explore and formulate the method of reaching their objectives, and become committed for change. Within this framework the everyday difficulties, work-related dilemmas are placed in a different context of understanding, which releases energy for the development of long-term workable and authentic solutions. We offer coaching processes for individuals, leadership teams and mixed groups.

The performance of a leader depends on his/her own underlying thinking. As coaches, we help him/her to recognize the underlying causes of internal blocks, and to explore and formulate the method of reaching the objectives. Within this framework the everyday difficulties, dilemmas are placed in a different context of understanding. The leader, with the help of the coach, focuses on being able to explore and understand the underlying causes of the work related difficulties, problems encountered. In this way he/she will be able to change his/her personal efficiency and consequently reach balance and success.

In coaching the key point of is that we create a dialogue which is different from the everyday situations. We replace the judgmental observations and reactions with nonjudgmental ones. Instead of manipulation rooted in external and internal motivations we offer genuine choice options. Doubts and the drive for excessive control are replaced by the leader’s own confidence in him/herself. This is what we strive for in the coaching sessions and this is the direction in which we support the leader to develop in his/her everyday work. The ensuing change will create a new internal world. Its external signs include a change in his behavior, and an increase in his overall performance and satisfaction.

Supervision is a development approach and process which we often use in our practice. In the group process, participants, with the help of the supervisor, create such ‘free space’ in which they can deepen their own professional and personal experiences. As a result they become more open, sincere and confident in their work environment. According to our experiences, an organizational-level supervision process is one of the most effective methods to enhance openness and collaboration within an organization.

In the supervision process learning becomes a skill and a continuous development possibility, and as an internal leader, guides the individual to a more efficient, authentic and conscious presence in his/her daily practice. Basically, it helps strengthen his authenticity in every professional situation. This development approach gives the possibility to:

• experience and use the problems as signposts of his/her personal development,
• understand in the recurrent difficulties and conflicts his/her own way of operation and so, step closer to self-acceptance and become more open to others,
• map his/her own personal and professional competence boundaries,
• develop his/her own professional roles easy to identify with,
• expand and strengthen his/her own professional personality in other roles as well,
• accept others and be able to represent his/her expectations towards others,
• view his/her own performance and behavior together with the other players of a situation as a changing system.

Training is a development tool to be used within appropriate limits. We do not believe that one training can change the participants in a day or two. Yet, there are a number of issues, eg.: the leader as coach, efficient communication, motivation, etc., which can be addressed efficiently in the framework of training. It is especially so when the participants perceive the program not only as a single session but as a process of series of encounters. In the course of the training we create situations in which the participants can address their most acute work related issues.

Tailor made programs

Basically, we do not rely on ready-made one-size-fits-all programs. We build each training program to match the needs and requirements of the client. In order to reach this goal, we try to understand the situation, problems and development concepts of the participants, and if necessary, also of his/her subordinates. Although we always have a draft plan of the program, we retain the freedom to adjust it to the needs arising during the process.

The cornerstone of adult education is learning from experience

We include in the program such situations, exercises, questionnaires and other elements which offer the participants an external view of the specific aspects of their work related performance and behavior.

Executive training with a coaching approach

The coaching approach plays an important role in our trainings. During the program we try to create such situations in which participants can address their most acute issues in the selected fields individually, in pairs or in smaller or bigger groups. This approach can bring the learning process to really personal level. We also try to imbed the development into a process as a result of which the participants will see the impact, results of their changed perception and approach when they return to the organization.

For us organizational development is a systemic approach of how we support organizations and within that, teams and individuals in fulfilling their true potential. In other words, we support them to be able to create value in the long term while maintaining all along the level of their commitment and satisfaction. By the end of the process of diagnosis and development our clients are able to understand their situation as fully as possible and find the right solutions. We seek to support the self-learning of the organization, which will enable our clients to overcome the encountered difficulties.

We are convinced that the key to the long-term success and effectiveness of any organization is essentially the human factor. Strategic position, brand, patent and size are all useless terms in themselves. At the end of the day, all depends on what the top management and the community of the organization do with it. The question is how the organization integrates in its daily operation the primacy, the utmost value-creating quality of the human capital. In the preparation for a leadership development assignment we look for the prevalence of three important organizational / human capital aspects of the business performance:

• talents, abilities, authenticity,
• co-operation, collaboration
• quality and clarity of and commitments to goals.

We are not strategic experts, but as developers we can support the leadership teams in the pursuit of their path. We believe that the process of this path-finding can be as valuable for future performance as its actual result. We also believe that no company management will be able to reach strategic goals imposed from the outside, if they cannot find the personal connection to those goals. We know from experience that the more a strategic goal is based on the personal talents, motivations of the decisive people, the greater the probability of success.

With encourage participants involved to develop open dialogue in the course of the development steps. We help the organization to step out of the customary approach in the strategic planning process and adopt a different perspective in viewing the internal operation and relationships, as well as the external environment, the market. Our independent, outsider presence helps eventually to melt frozen human relationships in the common thinking process, so that the participants are able to turn to each other with genuine interest. This simple change can have a rejuvenating effect on the quality of collaboration.