Dialogue in Action: Opening the power of ‘here and now’, June 2011

How often do we act, speak or take decisions in the here and now? Our current perceptions of events, initiatives and people are often clouded by our memories of the past, the assumptions we make, old and strong emotions and the beliefs we have picked up from other people along the course of our lives. ‘We tried it before and it didn’t work’, ‘They are never going to accept this change’, ‘Change is a bad thing’. The truth is we seem to depend more on what is going on in our minds than what is actually happening.

The more we are able to stay in the present moment, the more alive and alert and powerful we can be. We can make better choices based on current reality and are able to take responsibility for our thoughts and actions as individuals and as teams. This session combines dialogue and mindfulness practice to enable individuals and groups to experience the power of the present moment and use it to effect change in their organisations and in their lives.

‘Presence begins with self-awareness. When fully present, we are more attuned to those around us and to the needs of the situations, and we fluidly adapt to what is needed – in other words we are in flow. We can be thoughtful, funny, or self-reflective, drawing on whatever capacity or skill we need at the moment.’
Daniel Goleman, Working with Emotional Intelligence

Dialogue in Action: Being the change you want to see, September 2011

Gandhi invited us to ‘be the change you want to see in the world’.

If you are planning to make a change in your organisation ask yourself ‘When did I last make a change in myself?’ It is very difficult to change something outside unless you are open and willing to make a change in yourself – your thoughts, attitudes, feelings, perceptions and behaviours. It is also hard to enable change in others unless you are first willing to be aware of the part you are playing in things being the way they are.

Organisations reflect the people who lead them, not only in terms of what they do but also in how they are being. Leaders at all levels set the tone for the organisation. Most staff hold attitudes and behave in ways they see being modeled by their leaders and peers. In this session you will explore those aspects of yourself, your leadership and your team that may be inhibiting or slowing down the change you want to see and work on the changes in you that could enable the organisation to move forward and be different.

‘To know how other people behave takes intelligence, but to know myself takes wisdom. To manage other people's lives takes strength, but to manage my own life takes true power.’
John Heider, The Tao of Leadership

Dialogue in Action: Resolving difference and conflict, December 2011

We face difference and conflict everyday; they are a simple fact of life. However, rather than focus on working with and managing the difference effectively, our tendency is to focus on the conflict and equate it with fighting, arguing and blaming which makes it seem dangerous and destructive and difficult to resolve. Thomas [2002] offers us an alternative through his definition of conflict:

“Conflict is simply the condition in which people’s concerns – the things they care about – appear to be incompatible”

When we come to perceive conflict as simple incompatibility, we can see that we have choices in how we deal with it so that we are more able to resolve it constructively and creatively. With the accompanying realisation that much of the turmoil we experience when we encounter difference and incompatibility, stems from basic misunderstandings that can be clarified through loving speech and careful, deep listening, then the path to resolution begins to come clearer. Creating an environment where people feel safe, where there is energy, where judgment is suspended, voices are heard and as a consequence there is a deeply felt and shared sense of potential are all crucial to this.

In this session we will offer new ways to work creatively with difference and conflict using dialogue and mindfulness. We will explore what creates and perpetuates conflict and learn compassionate ways to restore harmony.

‘Much of the turmoil between people at war, comes from basic misunderstandings that can be clarified through careful listening. Only when both sides listen to the other and try to understand, can we transform from conflict to peace.’
Thich Nhat Hanh

‘Whenever you are able, have a “look” inside yourself to see whether you are unconsciously creating conflict between the inner and the outer, between your external circumstances at that moment — where you are, who you are with, or what you are doing — and your thoughts and feelings. Can you feel how painful it is to internally stand in opposition to what is?

When you recognise this, you also realise that you are now free to give up this futile conflict, this inner state of war.’
Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks