Synthesis
Feedback Verbatim
Women Serenity Leadership
September 26-28th, 2007
New-York
The Women Serenity Leadership approach, methodology, content-concepts
- I feel happier than ever.since a long time.., I am grateful
- I am balanced, hopeful, joyful, ready, feeling good
- Fascinating to go way back in myths and history: Long view
- Away from the typical American perspective and culture we are surrounded
- More multicultural vs on our national identity
- Multidisciplinary approach
o Very enlightening the link between sciences
§ leadership, brain anatomy, psychology..
- The flow of presentation and the contents
o Very good balance of the amount of info given and the pace
o The fact that it was an easy flow of things
- The unstructured structure
o I never felt and agenda to follow, very open, I trusted you, it never overpowered our conversations
- The ice-breaker and trust built all along
- Great the space to talk about us
o We can express ourselves instead of gossiping
- Concepts-Paradigms
o Shift of paradigms
o Important to question paradigms at all times
§ It takes consciousness to break them
o Useful to be aware of stereotypes
o The difference between Persons of Power and leaders
o I appreciated the historical links to Leadership
o The date today: a turn off itself
o The non-verbal language
o The male-female differences and implication in work place
§ Very interesting and helpful
- Alternative solutions and strategies
o Alternate networks, growing networks
o Virtual, exponential networks vs vertical ones
Leadership is Awareness
- It was a lot of info, at no point did I feel overwhelmed
- The women as leaders since Adam and Eve
- It confirms why so many strong women could be leaders at a much bigger level vs "leaders in the closet" and not accepted
- I am experiencing that knowledge can be very selecting
- A lot I knew but different perspectives
- The biological aspects and differences having an influence on gender differences
o On issues, empathy, communicating and relating
- Nurturing self and being at ease with who we are
- I am more perceptive
- All of us have PoPs moments
o Traits and characteristics for us to understand
o The PoPs are in denial vs true leadership
- Leadership takes your breath away
o Is not interchangeable with management
- "I have wings that can make you fly"
- "Being the change you want to see in the world"
- Power is voicing who I am
- No longer to be afraid as women
- The work on the fears that determine our behaviours, my own and other's people
- Less afraid, more willing to take risks but still tentative
o I just put in practice the strategies I learned here
- Less anxious/ what I do not know
- I am a change agent, committed, cheerful and growing again
- Standing up on solid footing
- I am evolving the person I want to be
Leadership is Rigor and Strategy
- Identifying our values
- Feeling stronger, on solid footing
- Confident, more determined, grounded
Leadership is a Journey
- This resonates with me
- I was exposed to different contents and links / maturity and today
- Experiencing serenity and oneness
o relaxed and recharged
- I gained control instead of loosing it
- The guided imagery
o I received a present to build the future
o My feet developed roots towards the future
o Solid footing; Strength and fullness
o Giggling and laughter
o Just "be"
o Making a contribution
- vast experience and credibility
- fascinating, stories from experience of people who actually changed
- it resonated that everyone has the potential to change
- amazing, you are also saying remember the whole woman
o you reminded us of our womanhood
- previous leadership courses
o I don't remember anything except INTP study, the Myers Briggs test
- Best admiration.
- The very way you are open with us and the trust level that set the tone for everything that followed
- A lot was very knew, never bored ever; A different twist to it
- You are exploding some paradigms instead of perpetuating the old paradigms
- Very applicable and useful approach
o All the women, and then the men
o I want the Mentors to do this seminar
o Our bosses
" Dear X,
This is a note to thank you for your agreement to have the X offer a
course such as the one listed above. I participated in it last week, and
consider it to have been one of the best uses of my time, especially in
terms of training. Therefore, thank you, and X most sincerely for the foresight
and the courage - since the content and presentation is clearly innovative
- at least based on my own previous experience with leadership courses.
I found the three day workshop to be extremely helpful, and taught in a
manner that led one to admire the teacher as much as the material she very
effectively conveyed. The perspectives imparted were simultaneously eye
opening and very practical. In addition, if the leadership trainers do
not themselves show themselves to be endowed with those qualities, one is
left with a few doubts at the end of it all. If memory serves, it may
have been George Bernard Shaw who said that example is not one way to lead
people, it is the only way. Therefore, the next part of the course -
i.e. the individual coaching coming from an individual such as Ms. Amar,
who clearly knows how to personalize the situations sufficiently to make
her advice effective and tailored to each of us in our own settings, will
be most welcome. I greatly look forward to it.
Finally, may I also thank X who took care of all the little things - which we all know are the big things, and without which the big things cannot be."
"I wish to endorse the comments by X and others about the uniqueness of the course. I felt the course worked well because it was clearly very thoughtfully put together and well tailored to those of us who attended it. It is extremely encouraging to find such an "out-of-the-box" leadership course being offered and it is my hope that others will be given a similar opportunity to experience it. Thanks to all of you for this bold step."
" I also would like to add my thanks to you for having the course piloted. I think X has covered the reasons for why the course was useful. In addition to its valuable content, the course seems to fill a gap nicely for women, encouraging leadership practices at all levels."
".having an opportunity again to voice my appreciation to all of you for sharing this most enlightening experience. Your email was like a touchstone, bringing back a sense of serenity."
March 2007
- Process
o Interesting to spend time away from traffic thinking where we are and where we want to go
o My process started long ago.; You have reignited the candle
o A mix of coaching, explaining, mentoring, attention, expressing
o We covered a lot of material
o Very warm and very well executed
o Very coherent, one part rolled into the next part nicely
o Process was actually tremendous, it did not seem to be lacking any interaction
o You are very observant to people's brief and important statements
o You are able to drill, get the most of the situation without us even knowing it
o A distinct way to analyze
o You were able to understand what it meant to me, it helped solve the problem
o Communication is such a valuable tool in this process
o The use of the right words, we had a picture in all of them: impact of the words and images in us
o A new vocabulary, a new leadership challenge
o Time went so fast ; I can't believe it is over
o It was worth flying over oceans and mountains
- Concepts-Contents
o Readily translated into life
o Dealing with the "Hall of mirrors" concept is very understandable and has such an impact
§ You explained how you could walk in the "hall of mirrors" as a more confident and stronger person
§ A crossing of the desert in the hall of mirrors, a picture one can see growing
§ I will leave them in the desert and come to the palm trees
o The "Fears in us"
§ I can be strong, conquer my fears
§ I don't have to fear anything in myself
§ No longer afraid to empathize
§ In the hall of mirrors the child is no longer scared
o Very illustrative: the "Cursor" as an excellent model for determining "Emotional Health"
o "The Tsimsoum" parabole : I like that there is plenty of space for bringing team, people together and that you don't have to be territorial
o "Who talks in me?" I would never have figured that out
o You provided that recognition process through capability, disclosure and sharing in a non threatening and beautiful way, which makes impact on us
o It is not just on professional capabilities but on bringing out the beauty in all of us; and in how we can nurture that beauty and "soul" in others
o Very important: the focus on the qualities which one never does, very insightful/our potential
§ interesting, I am more aware
o The "Power vs Leadership", Management by Values Paradigm
§ A big difference
§ No more battles of position, confrontation and wrong battles, instead of developing a more feminine leadership and find my inner territory
§ I will be no longer territorial, there is space for lots of people
§ "Contributive leadership" is the real goal, my real goal; now it is
§ This value leadership is very much part of me, I can develop it in others
§ Awareness that a leader should strive to go beyond that recognition
§ It leaves me feel I can do so much more with empathy
§ I am standing tall giving myself and the team the recognition; ready for another assignment
§ I am renewed to give
§ Very deep impact on me this whole renewed Leadership
o I was on the checklist mode, just doing things, today I see I am on a broader vision and values mode
§ It is exciting to see this bigger and broader role, more contributive
§ A much bigger vision than it was perceived to be, than there was originally
§ We have turned it around to be a resource for staff and to impact on the whole organisation
§ Very wonderful vision: the pillars that will take us far
§ Very valuable not to use the checklist way but to evoke how it will change the culture; it is a vision change
§ Proving tools; a larger picture to roll down and back up
§ I am going to use the new found visibility
§ You really dwelled into my inner passion
§ The greatness of me as a woman and a person
§ That we are different, in a positive contribution, and should be recognised as a positive contribution
§ A lesson of confidence and appreciation of who you are, and you own it
§ I am who I am and this is perfect
§ Impactful, you own your self-recognition
§ Becoming also a mommy that gives guidance
o Balance of life-Approach
§ Most meaningful impact on self, family and work balances
§ A mind, body and soul approach
§ You made, I made the most of the occasion
o Serenity
o I can't help thinking why I feel so good in this setting
o One needs to take distance and you provided the ambience to allow that to happen; you say "whatever you say is ok, whatever you feel is ok"
o There is a serenity that does develop