In 20 years of coaching teams, execs and as a UKCP psychotherapist, I've learned a thing or two about what makes people feel happy, fulfilled and effective.
A catalyst for humanistic change
We have been hosting powerful team experiences for 20 years. These events are designed to open hearts and minds so that people can get out of their own way when striving to work better 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, including half of the UK's Train Operating Companies, the Scottish Police Service, NHS, BBC, Hewlett Packard, Visa Europe and Maersk.
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, 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.
Contact usAbout John Dickson
Co-founder of DanceHammer and creator of the Temenos Well-being and Leadership Mastery programmes.
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 how 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 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 other teachers in field of leadership, teams and high performance culture.
I am also a UKCP qualified psychotherapist with an MA in Mindfulness Based Psychotherapy.
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 so might 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 then merely 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
Take a look at some of our testimonials
A 10 year resource to a global director
Transforming the SLT of a Fortune 500 IT directorate
A global director's coaching journey
A specialist resource for HR directors
Running an in-company leadership programme
