DanceHammer Coaching Leaders Corporate vitality Blog About Us Contact

Dancehammer

What lies beyond your comfort zone?

Sign Up

In 30 years of coaching teams, execs and as a UKCP psychotherapist, I've learned something about what makes people feel happy, fulfilled and effective.

A catalyst for humanistic change

We have been hosting powerful team experiences for almost 30 years. These events are designed to open hearts and minds so that people can get out of their own way when striving to achieve more together.

To host such transformative journeys we always bring our whole selves to the party. Meeting people and their realities just as they are, with sensitivity and a relentless curiosity to understand all points of view. Our carefully tailored processes do much of the heavy lifting, creating safety and space to unpack the issues that are blocking breakthrough and progress.

Over many years, we have witnessed the power of sitting in circles with people - no tables, no where to hide, no hierarchy in the room. Just a community with a vested interest in making things better.

We learned to hold these deeply human spaces in a particular way that fosters genuine connection, borne from deeper levels of listening and a fresh awareness of how things really are. From there a new collective vision and intention emerges around what is truly wanted. Our processes then provide effective practices for manifesting the team's desired reality.

Our methods have supported countless leaders and teams, within both national and global companies such as Rio Tinto, Hapag Lloyd, Visa Europe,  Maersk, Scottish Police Service, BBC, Hewlett Packard and half of the UK's Train Operating Companies.

As these new approaches to leadership and teamwork embed themselves, they begin to cascade naturally down the organisation by example and through committed practice.

Organisational culture then changes organically, as an embedded by-product of a shift in awareness, mindset and values, one person and one team at a time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our take on leadership

Leaders are grown, forged in the crucible of their own experiences. The difference they make and the human legacy that they leave behind, positive or negative, is largely determined by how well they learn and apply their experiences in life.

Leadership is the relationship one has to others and the challenges being faced. It is about 'holding the space' in which others contribute, learn and grow. Consciously creating the vibe in which communities engage authentically - with each other, their purpose and the issues at hand. Leaders help us to see clearly and to think honestly about the context and how we contribute to the end state.

If teams are the building blocks of cultures, leaders are the architects and builders who shape those blocks.  Helping them to lock together in ways that create organisations that are solid, good and true.

Organisations that are fit for the social purpose and contribution for which they were originally envisioned. Organisations to which people want to belong, because they feel cared for and that encourage them to live their full potential.

Contact us

About John Dickson

Co-founder of DanceHammer and host of development journeys that transform senior leaders and their teams.

Since 1998 I have been hosting team circles, inquiring into who we are and who we want to be, together. These are always courageous, heart opening conversations that change perceptions and inter-personal relationships.

Then, a tribe is born. As the team adopts the skills of caring, connecting and working together, it  starts working effectively and contributing even more to the wider organisation.

My own development

I was introduced to this way of working by Native American teachers of the Ehama Institute in New Mexico. They taught me to guide circles of people into remembering who they are at their essence. Once people recognise that they've been stuck in their silos and personal agendas they can choose to belong to a bigger, more purposeful whole.

Tai Chi, iChing, Mindfulness, Buddhist and contemporary psychology have all resourced to me in how I host these group spaces and my journey-approach to working with individuals.

My grounding in business came from first class development and experience gained in various roles at Kodak, MemorexTelex and BT. These experiences were honed and channeled at the Cranfield School of Management where I gained my MBA and stayed on to become a visiting tutor for the best part of 20 years. It has been a rewarding relationship that has deepened my learning as I co-led programmes with a broad range of academics and teachers in field of leadership, teams and high performance culture.

I am a UKCP qualified psychotherapist with an MA in Mindfulness Based Psychotherapy. This enables me to take clients on a deeper journeys of self awareness, growth and presence.

Integrating all of these perspectives made it clear to me that Self, Role, leadership performance and team effectiveness all co-arise. Building upon each other in a way that is highly enmeshed.

To evolve one area, requires us to address them all.
Failing to, may explain why the majority of culture interventions fail.

I therefore always bring a holistic mindset to my work. An approach which is strengthened by being trained in Systemic Constellations and Systems Thinking.

My practices of meditation and mindfulness further contribute to this holistic principle, providing the mental space with which to be with the whole, whilst working with the parts. Enabling them to re-constellate themselves so as to better fit and align with the identity and purpose of the whole. When this happens, there is a release of joy and energy. This is what resources the transformation.

Ever-higher levels of excellence and achievement are byproducts of this overall journey of human growth.

Visit John's LinkedIn page for more information.

About Joey Walters

Co-founder of DanceHammer and creator of experiential feminine leadership training journeys.

Joey has over two decades of experience in transformative learning, trauma recovery, and group transformation, grounded in her extensive study of Earth Wisdom teachings, somatic healing, and systemic constellations.

A co-founding director of Dancehammer, Joey serves a diverse clientele, but holds significant acclaim for her work with senior women leaders, influencing cultural change in organisations, including a global law firm. Her portfolio for leadership programmes and executive coaching, includes reputable clients such as Weleda UK, the Scottish Government, BBC Scotland, NHS, the Scottish Police Service, Royal Bank of Scotland, and an award-winning PR agency.

As an extension of her work in Dancehammer, her passion for women’s development led her to found Rising Connected, an evolutionary learning community for women leaders, coaches, and entrepreneurs. She offers immersive, trauma-informed leadership programmes, retreats and trainings for facilitators in the art of transformational group dynamics that evoke individual and collective healing.

Joey is known for her highly intuitive, somatic and systemic approach and for creating safe, transformational spaces that evoke authentic connection, individual and collective healing, and the cultivation of embodied wellbeing.

Visit www.risingconnected.com

About Natalie Banks

Partnering with leaders to shape culture, capability and lasting impact.

Natalie is a Transformation and Organisational Design specialist with over 25 years’ experience leading change across global businesses and sectors. She has a strong reputation for shaping and delivering large-scale transformation, aligning operating models and strategies - and then building the leadership and cultural capabilities organisations need to thrive.

Her approach to transformational change is to focus on the whole system, as a practitioner of MBTI, FIRO B, IEQ9, Human Systems Dynamics and Human Synergistics. She focuses on culture, leadership, team and individual development as fundamental levers of lasting change.

She is a highly organised and strong communicator, who places great value on partnering with stakeholders with the tenacity and reputation for “making it happen”.

She has worked with major global organisations including Pearson, A.P. Moller Maersk, Costa Express, Travelport, Three, and Visa Europe. Her track record includes designing and implementing organisational models, building high-performing teams, and guiding leaders through complex change journeys.

Take a look at some of our testimonials