Creating Spaces, Connecting People, Testing Assumptions
Have you ever been to a meeting and wished you were somewhere else?
What is your role as a leader?
Your staff spend anything between 30-60 hours per week with you; they think about work at home in the evenings, on holidays and at weekends. They are relieved and, if lucky, celebrate when things go well and fret and worry when things do not, regardless of whether these things are in their control. So the culture you create at work impacts their whole lives and those of their partners, their elderly parents, their children and ultimately society.
Do they feel secure, confident, welcome, acknowledged and empowered? Or are they anxious, stressed, frustrated, inhibited or simply bored and just praying for the weekend? What do they say about you and your organisation when they are at home? To friends, neighbours, at the local store, with the bank manager or their physician? All of whom are potential customers or clients of your services.
As leaders, you have the opportunity to practice a style of leadership that enhances the day to day lives of very many people, some of whom you may never meet. In so doing, you’ll earn the loyalty and respect of your teams and the reputation as a good employer, meaning less turnover, motivated people and a workspace that people actually enjoy coming to!
And when people feel secure, valued and are invited to contribute, they think better : the result great products, enviable customer service and a stellar reputation that starts with all the people they come in to contact with, both in and outside of the business.
At Wyman Associates we have developed a suite of programmes, based on the pioneering work of author and teacher Nancy Kline. Her “Thinking Environment” approach creates the conditions for people to think independently for themselves: inclusive, enlightening and emboldening spaces where people get to say what they really think, and others actually listen.
Mitzi Wyman has trained extensively with Nancy and is a coach, facilitator and teacher of the Thinking Environment. She uses this approach to develop leaders from across sectors and cultures where all can thrive.
To find out how you can create such an environment for your people and organisation, contact us today.
About Mitzi
I began my career as a lawyer but my interest in people led to a change in direction and I went on to study Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology and train as a coach. This combination of skills, coupled with experience of working at board level in complex organisations, gives me a unique insight into the challenges facing many of my clients, their organisations and the wider community. I have now been supporting leaders and teams for over 20 years and work across sectors. My focus is creating inclusive environments where true engagement, intellectual honesty, trust and transparency are expected and the norm.
I have been a Non-Executive Director in the NHS, Head of Practice Management at the Law Society and am proud to be an Ambassador with the influential International Integrated Reporting Council, a global coalition of regulators, investors, companies and NGOs, transforming the way organisations do business. I am on the Board of Public Finance by Women and on the Faculty of the NHS’s Leadership Academy. Through Windsor Leadership Trust I have had the privilege to facilitate residential retreats at Windsor Castle which contrasts with the workshops I have delivered in some of London’s most deprived communities.
In 2011 I established Fulcrumleaders.com, a forum for leaders from across sectors. Last year Fulcrum launched the International Centre for Inter-Generational Equity, to promote dialogue and understanding across generations – so vital in these polarising times.
The Thinking Environment approach underpins all of my work and I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to train extensively with Nancy Kline. I am a member of her collegiate and teach her Foundation and Thinking Partners programmes.
Some of the clients we have worked with
