Tools

Our interventions are based on a set of models and tools that we have found to be powerful, practical and ethical. Some of the models and tools that we use are described below.

Hay Group Leadership Styles

The Hay Group leadership styles are based on joint research with Danial Goleman, who popularised the notion of emotional intelligence. The reason we use the Hay Group model is that the 6 leadership styles map nicely to other common leadership models (see HERE for details) and that the supporting research identified which styles produce a long-term positive impact on people in the workplace. The styles are also easy to grasp and the model inherently promotes the notion of flexibility in leadership over honing what you are already good at.

DiSC

The DiSC model has been around for a long time and has proven its usefulness in categorising leadership behaviours. It also maps nicely onto other common leadership models (see HERE for details). We prefer to use a 360-degree version of the DiSC tool, so that the person can compare self-assessment with feedback from others. All our facilitators are accredited in DiSC.

Human Synergistics LSI

The Human Synergistics LSI tool was developed in the late seventies and is still immensely popular today. As a 360-degree feedback tools with 12 distinct behaviours it provides an in-depth assessment of a leader's behaviour and the impact the leader is having on the people around her.  

Ken Wilber's AQAL

AQAL stands for 'all quadrants, all levels' and this is the heart of Ken Wilber's approach. The four quadrants of interest to us are individual (I), culture (We), material (It) and systems and processes (Its). In each quadrant we find a hierarchy of developmental lines and stages. For example, Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Erickson's levels of cognitive development fit into the 'I' quadrant which covers individual development.

The power of Wilber's integral approach lies in the need to consider all quadrants when we look at change management within an organisation. This means that we need to look at the material environment and the systems and processes when we are assessing the culture and trying to change it. Too often we find scenarios where businesses attempt to change individuals without addressing the other quadrants or companies which decree new values without looking at the current culture, decision making and processes.

One of the most useful models of individual and group values evolution today is Spiral Dynamics. It is a theory of human development that looks at individual and collective value systems and is a predictor of individual motivation and collective systems. Spiral Dynamics has been proven by extensive quantitative research. The original concept was developed by Clare Graves and later expanded and adapted by Don Beck and Chris Cowan. In their view the psychology of the human being is 'an unfolding, emergent, oscillating spiralling process marked by the progressive subordination of older, lower-order behaviour systems to newer higher-order systems as man's existential problems change'. Spiral Dynamics has recently been expanded into Wilber's AQAL approach by Don Beck and is now called Spiral Dynamics Integral.

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a model of human communication that focuses on tools and techniques for personal change and development. It also contains a powerful breakdown of communication structures, behaviours and language. Described by the original authors, John Grinder and Richard Bandler, as 'the structure of magic' it has been used in therapy, business and personal growth. NLP has created valuable models of rapport, body language, anchoring and managed to relate behavioural strategies to the internal representations we make in our head. All of our facilitators are Master Practitioners of NLP and are also trained in hypnosis and time line therapy.

For our 2-on-1 coaching we combine a broad range of tools from NLP and cognitive-behavioural therapy with a behavioural coaching process. In our coaching, we will focus on giving the client more choices and on the client's ability to implement these new choices. Our coaching is very action oriented, we want clients to be able to create a new future quickly. We have the necessary training to explain why a client is currently behaving the way they do, but our focus is on making changes and giving the client the tools to be successful in maintaining those changes.