New Leaf Next Stage Organisation

New Leaf Life Design is a successful training, counselling and coaching company set up over 25 years ago by long – standing Fellow Becky Wright. Seeking the next evolution of the business, Becky and her team of associates recently looked at the word ‘Innovation’ and considered how they could use the free thinking it takes to be innovative and allow it into the heart of the of what they do. So successful have they been at changing organisational culture that they have been recognised as leaders in their field, winning an award for Innovation in Business at the Sedgemoor Excellence in Business Awards 2019.

Here in the video Becky shares invaluable insights from her journey.

The turning point for New Leaf was when Becky started exploring how she could change the leadership of the company, making it more inclusive and collaborative. She saw it as a real opportunity to increase the strength and scope of the organisation, creating a sustainable business that could have personal and social impact whilst helping to grow the local economy. She was aware of the Fellowship’s Reinventing Work network in the South West so she opened dialogue with network lead Nick Parker. The network seeks to make work more enjoyable, productive and ultimately more profitable through the use of ‘next stage’ organisational principles, as articulated by Frederic Laloux in his book Reinventing Organisations; those principles being wholeness, evolutionary purpose and organisational self-management.  Becky saw immediately how the ‘next stage’ principles could enable the team’s vision to be achieved. The challenge was how. She needed a model, a template, a structure, or at least she thought she did. Nick listened to her requests and gently pushed back every time, encouraging her to look and listen and sense and respond whilst always keeping the ‘next stage’ principles in mind. It took over a year but then Becky and the team noticed a new way of thinking emerging, a new way of being began to evolve. So began the change.

Becky explains,

“This was a truly exciting, but sometimes scary journey to make. We have achieved a self-managing structure so we don’t have a hierarchy in the conventional sense, but a far more fluid system. There is still a sense of leadership but the process of emergence has changed the way that is needed now.

This allows the people, who make up the heart of the company, to be themselves and work towards a shared purpose beyond that of competition. Once you begin to think about how you can do things differently, your perception changes. Yes, there is still ambition but it is not the destructive driver it can be, instead it is replaced by cared for and shared challenges

Since adopting this approach, we are engaging with more and more businesses who value the way we work. Our work is bringing greater satisfaction to the team and we are enjoying the new found freedom that comes with losing the shackles of traditional management and embracing the fresh and free thinking that has become our new driver.”

More about her organisation here www.newleaf.uk.com

The RSA supported Nick Parker to initiate the South West Reinventing Work network and test the concept of making the South West of England a crucible for the ‘next stage’ way of organisational being.

Rural based training, counselling and coaching company, New Leaf Life Design, looked at the word ‘Innovation’ and considered how they could use the free thinking it takes to be innovative and to allow it into the heart of the business. So successful have they been in doing this that they have been recognised as leaders in this field, winning an award for Innovation in Business at the Sedgemoor Excellence in Business Awards 2019.

Becky Wright Founder and MBACP Member said:

“It was such an honour to be presented with this award by Lord Triesman from Gravity. We have been close to winning awards for our work before but this time we knew we had something special to shout about.”

And it appears the judges agreed.

The turning point for New Leaf was when Becky started exploring how she could change the leadership of the company, making it more inclusive and collaborative. Becky saw it as a real opportunity to increase the strength and scope of the organisation, creating a sustainable business that could have a genuine impact that hit further than the economy.

“This was a truly exciting, but sometimes scary journey to make. We have achieved a self-managing structure so we don’t have a hierarchy in the conventional sense, but a far more fluid system. There is still a sense of leadership but the process of emergence has changed the way that is needed now.

“This allows the people, who make up the heart of the company, to be themselves and work towards a shared purpose beyond that of competition. Once you begin to think about how you can do things differently, your perception changes. Yes, there is still ambition but it is not the destructive driver it can be, instead it is replaced by cared for and shared challenges”, explains Becky.

New Leaf Life Designs founder and coach firmly believes it is going to be the best yet:

“Since adopting this approach, we are engaging with more and more businesses who value the way we work. Our work is bringing greater satisfaction to the team and we are enjoying the new found freedom that comes with losing the shackles of traditional management and embracing the fresh and free thinking that has become our new driver.”

Becky Wright New Leaf receiving Innovation Award from Lord Triesman from Gravity Project

The research entitled, How Trust Help an Organisation of Associates Function as a Next Stage Organisation was carried out by Quimin Lin from Leeds University some quotes from the research concluded "the trust between the organisation and associates is able to gain the trust and loyalty from the clients. More precisely, the trust between the organisation and associates offers the available access to display the wholeness." We hope to publish the whole piece of research and reflections in another article later this year.

Written by Nick Parker featured in the RSA  https://www.nicholasparker.co.uk/