CommunitiesThrive® supports capacity building in community and organisational leadership through governance, risk, mindfulness, and other training. Delivered in person and online, our training is convenient, engaging and effective.
Through our extensive experience with a wide range of organisations, we have identified that limitations in the access and availability of training are common barriers to leadership development and, by extension, to good governance, risk management and mindful team management.
To improve community and organisational outcomes, we are currently developing innovative governance, risk, mindfulness, and other training solutions to address these limitations. Delivered in person, by videoconference and/or by pre-recorded video, our training is convenient, engaging, and effective.
Our first offering in this section is Mindfulness Training, discussed below.
Mindfulness Training for Self-Awareness and Personal Accountability
We agree with Jennifer Porter’s comments in her recent Harvard Business Review article entitled “To Improve Your Team, First Work on Yourself” (2019). Specifically, we agree that great leadership, teamwork, and learning require:
Internal self-awareness, understanding your own feelings, beliefs, and valuesExternal self-awareness, understanding how your words and actions impact othersPersonal accountability, understanding that you are part of the problem and solutionTaking action, putting this understanding to work.
Building on Porter’s (2019) work, we believe that great leadership, teamwork and learning also require ‘big picture’ awareness, understanding the overarching client/community and organisational issues.
Based on our education in psychology and review of relevant literature, we believe that mindfulness and other related modalities are appropriate for the development of these capabilities. Mindfulness is the psychological process of purposely bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment without judgement. According to a recent randomised control-trial study (Shonin et al 2014), mindfulness training significantly increases job satisfaction and employer-rated job performance whilst decreasing work-related stress and overall psychological distress.
To improve individual, team and organisational outcomes, we therefore provide mindfulness training that encompasses: (1) ‘big picture’ awareness; (2) internal self-awareness; (3) external self-awareness; (4) personal accountability; and (5) taking action. This training is provided via a series of workshops that we can deliver in person, by videoconference and/or by pre-recorded video. Additionally, we can provide custom training modules for incorporation into other learning and organisational development activities.
| # | Aim and Common Limitations | Our Solution |
| 1 | ‘Big picture’ awareness:Understand the overarching client/community and organisational issues Commonly limited by lack of insight into overarching client/community and organisational issues | We provide a series of workshops in which we present the overarching client/community and organisational issues, and facilitate group activities to increase awareness of these issues such as: Paying attention. Caught up in day-to-day operational matters, it can be hard to stand back and attend to the bigger picture. In this activity, we slow down and take note of it. Living in the present. Our lived experience and associated biases can sometimes cloud our view of the bigger picture of the current situation. In this activity, we work to bring an open, accepting and discerning attention to it. Accepting yourself. The bigger picture is sometimes confronting to us on an individual level. In this activity, we work to treat ourselves in the way we would treat a good friend who was facing the same challenges and opportunities. This prepares participants to answer the following questions: Optionally, we can first undertake a Local Opportunities Review and Representative Surveys (for both client/community and organisation) to identify the issues comprising the ‘big picture’. |
| 2 | Internal self-awareness:Understand your own feelings, beliefs, and values Commonly limited by the belief that the behaviours of others are the result of negative intent or character | We provide a series of workshops in which we teach exercises to increase internal self-awareness such as: Body- and mind-scan meditation. We teach participants to focus their attention on their body and mind, including to: (a) sit comfortably as though at their desk, and walk comfortably as they would between meetings; (b) focus on their breathing and other sensations; (c) note the thoughts and sensations that interrupt their meditation; (d) note the assumptions underpinning their interpretation of those thoughts and sensations; (e) return to their meditation. Challenging the ABCs. Informed by cognitive behavioural (CBT) therapy, we teach participants to challenge activators and beliefs that lead to adverse consequences; that is, to challenge thought patterns such as, “I have to give a presentation” (activator) and “It’s going to be awful” (belief), that lead to anxiety, inattention and sub-optimal performance (consequence). This prepares participants to answer Porter’s (2019) questions for internal self-awareness: Optionally, we can additionally administer personality tests and hold workshops on intra-personality development and inter-personality relations. |
| 3 | External self-awareness:Understand how your words and actions impact others Commonly limited by lack of insight into how your behaviours impact others | We provide a series of workshops in which we facilitate activities to increase external self-awareness such as: AMPlifying. Informed by Pink’s (2009) work on the drivers of human motivation, we facilitate group activities that increase participants’ ability as leaders to leverage: (a) autonomy, the drive to be self-directed; (b) mastery, the drive to develop better skills; and (c) purpose, the drive to do something that has meaning. Circling and mirroring. Informed by the Circling® method and Kohut’s (1977) seminal work on mirroring, we facilitate group activities that increase participants’ ability to: (a) be open and present in their immediate context; (b) be seen and known for who they really are; and (c) identify and overcome their blind spots. This prepares participants to answer Porter’s (2019) questions for external self-awareness: |
| 4 | Personal accountability:Understand that you are part of the problem and solution Commonly limited by overestimating others’ accountability and underestimating your own | We hold a series of workshops in which, with participants seated together in a circle and first meditating, we facilitate a group discussion of collective and individual opportunities for Porter’s (2019) steps for personal accountability: |
| 5 | Take action:Put this understanding to work Commonly limited by lack of ongoing commitment to the above aims | We provide an online questionnaire for participants to complete on an ongoing basis to foster their continuous focus on the questions and steps above. Optionally, we can additionally provider ongoing refresher workshops. |
We’d love to talk to you about how we can help your community and organisation to thrive. Please Contact Us to start the conversation.
© CommunitiesThrive® 2019 | ABN 48 789 494 281
25 King Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
hello@communitiesthrive.com.au