We were looking to create an intervention that would provide our senior female leaders, with a safe and supportive space to explore their impact and how this hinders or helps them to build meaningful relationships and to increase their personal performance within the workplace. Like many organisations, we were committed to increasing the gender balance in senior positions across the organisation. It is important to us to support our female professionals to explore their own levels of confidence, to understand their power and presence and how to utilise this to have a more positive impact and to mobilise others to action.
I’d had the opportunity to experience Eunice’s approach personally a few years ago and was struck by how much learning there had been for me inside the experience. Understanding the triggers in my everyday encounters and how I can (with practice) choose to respond to these in a more conscious way, one that connects with my personal purpose, has been invaluable. Also understanding how I automatically respond when in learning mode and out of my comfort zone was hugely powerful – giving me permission to relax and learn more. The techniques require practice and conscious effort – and this for me is ongoing – but a few small ongoing changes have helped to reinforce this practice.
We co-created a programme that took participants away from the everyday work environment, slowed down the usual busy pace for them and gave them time to work deeply using a number of exercises designed to work with the whole person through mind, body and emotion. This structure enabled them to explore habitual patterns of behaviour that may limit their capacity to operate at their full potential.
What was truly amazing to witness was the deep level of trust that developed within the groups and the forming of supportive networks. Many began the programme sceptical and perhaps a little impatient, but soon appreciated the value of having an environment where people felt they could be open, honest, self-aware, reflective, have trust in one another and learn from each other by sharing their own experiences. The participants have become more conscious of their triggers and how to manage their own internal systems to show up more powerfully, even under stressful situations.
Caroline Taylor Former Director of Talent and Performance
Financial Institution, London City
