Personal mastery for high performance: make humans your specialty

“Humans are my specialty”, says Saffron.?

With a degree in sociology and a masters in identity and unconscious bias, Saffron Baggallay , founder, owner and CEO of the Personal Mastery Lab, knows a thing or two about what makes people tick. For over 23 years she has been designing, developing and delivering personal mastery-based leadership programs.?

Saffron has always been fascinated by people. As a child, she loved observing and figuring out what was happening for people beneath the surface. Nowadays she works with companies around the world, across banking, manufacturing, professional services and retail sectors, including the likes of KPMG, PwC, Shell and Massmart, owned by Walmart.??

Now Saffron’s set to share some of her experience with IMEX America attendees. She’s part of the USBI Global World Series Speaker Showcase in partnership with IMEX and MPI taking place Monday October 7 (Smart Monday, powered by MPI ). The Showcase comprises 15 top-level speakers from around the world who will deliver quick-fire sessions which attendees can dip into throughout the day to discover potential new speakers for their own events and gain useful knowledge and insights.?

Saffron’s session, “Personal mastery for high performance”, will outline some of the skills which leaders need in order to lead compassionately and also create high-performing teams.??

One of the keys to compassionate leadership is fostering psychological safety. “Every single human is looking for psychological safety”, says Saffron. “Without this they become self-protective and unable to create a strong enough connection to work well together.”??

“Psychological safety means different things to different people: for some it could be strong team relationships, for some it could be fundamental competency, for others it could simply be the reassurance that someone has their back.”??

So, if psychological safety means different things to different people, how can leaders figure out what it means for each of their team members? The answer, according to Saffron, lies in using the enneagram .?

“The enneagram is the most magical thing on earth, and I don’t know how people live without it - although I may be biased! It’s an ancient tool and used as a common language across the world to describe what drives humans and their behaviors. It's about understanding what triggers people, what they deem important and what they want to protect.??

“Once we understand what motivates others, we can start to have conversations that are extremely focused and very rich – and, in turn, this fuels a powerful and productive working relationship. In fact, it’s the cornerstone of success and a high-performing team.”?

Leaders can only make an impact if they have a fundamental understanding of their team. It all boils down to an awareness of human behavior (and humans are Saffron’s specialty after all!). Saffron sums up: “If you can’t understand people, you can’t lead them. Alongside a business strategy it's imperative there’s a human strategy. Your business’ route to success, however you get there, is driven by the team.”?

Want to find out more? Meet Saffron Baggallay at the USBI Global World Series Speaker Showcase in partnership with IMEX and MPI taking place on Smart Monday, powered by MPI ?