Unlocking the Distinctive Capacity of Women Leaders

THE CLIENT

This is a case study for a program facilitated by the Passion Maps organisation (PMO) for the most senior women leaders of a global professional services firm.

THE GENESIS

The sponsor of the project had been asked this question by a respected male colleague:

"How can our most senior women leaders become a distinctive asset of our firm?"

She took leadership on answering this question and recommended holding a retreat for 10 senior women in the organisation.

PMO was chosen to lead the retreat. The company had already led a number of successful retreats for senior male leaders of the organisation (and their spouses). PMO had assembled a powerful group of master coaches from several countries, all of whom had worked at the most senior levels of business organisations.

The Passion Mapping? process (PM) would enable the whole group of 20 women from 7 countries to come together powerfully and generate a shared sense of collective identity.

THE FACILITATION TEAM

Peter Wallman was engaged to lead the program. In turn and he brought together 9 other master coaches, from 3 countries to make up the facilitation team. Each PM Coach would work exclusively with one woman for the Passion Mapping? components of the retreat.

The most senior members of the team would facilitate the collective Passion Map?.

THE CHALLENGE

The first challenge was to scope the design for the program, the purpose of which was to discover and manifest the distinctive shared qualities and passions of the women, both individually and collectively. The women would develop a deeper sense of themselves. They would become clear about their life and work aspirations as senior women leaders. Collectively they would come to understand who they were together as a team and what they could achieve to support other women both within the firm and their clients.

INITIAL DESIGN

The initial stage was to facilitate a retreat with 10 North American women.

Passion Mapping? was to be the central process for a holistic retreat program addressing mind, body, spirit, heart and integration. The body focus would involve physical and spa activities, mind focus would be educational talks on women’s health and personal development. Passion Mapping?, as the central process, both individually and collectively, would provide the heart, spirit and wholeness dimensions. Experience over years and many retreats has been that holistic programs always enable the best outcomes.

A comprehensive interview process would provide the contextual information as to what mattered to the women and how the PM facilitators would be of the most service.

The retreat would begin with every woman being coached to find the essence of each of their passions and to bring them together in the form of a Passion Map?. In doing so, they would have a direct experience of their very own human essence, the source of their passions and creativity. From this coherent place in themselves, they would generate their highest purpose statement and a clear vision for their lives and their work. The final step would be to generate 3 initiatives which would enable them to live from the integrity of their passions.

Having mobilised these inner resources, the group would come together to generate their unique collective energetic pattern of their passions or collective Passion Map?.

THE PROCESS

STAGE 1 - INTERVIEWS

All the women were interviewed by representatives from the client organisation and PMO. This identified the current issues of importance to the group. The sponsor and the facilitation team came to understand the nature of the group. The questions covered how the women would characterise their group, their roles and activities in the organisation and their aspirations for their group. The answers guided the design and development of the retreat, especially in regard to the intellectual component.

STAGE 2 - WOMEN’S RETREAT

10 women and 10 PM coaches met in a beautiful retreat centre in southern United States, chosen for being in a beautiful place and best enabling a holistic approach.

To prepare themselves for the retreat the PM facilitator team created their own shared intention to best serve for the group of women They formed into a potent and coherent group using the same processes that would be experienced by their clients. The 10 coaches also created their own Team Passion Map?.

In the retreat, all 10 women undertook their own individual personal Passion Mapping? programs over three days guided by their PM coaches.

The women next shared their own Passion Mapping experience with the group. This was an empowering, bonding and clarifying experience as the women came to understand each other at a much deeper level. Some had never met before; some knew each other well. Vulnerability and trust was established that allowed conversations to come from the heart.

The women then created their collective Passion Map?, by sharing and harmonised the energy and passions of each woman in the group.

The Passion Mapping process had established an empowered, deeply connected group of 10 influential women. They were directing and harmonising their own passions toward their shared intention of supporting other women.

During the retreat a great level of trust and intimacy arose and together the women created a lasting vision and set of actions that had sustained impact.

THAT EVENING

The program sponsor concluded:

 “What was critical to the greater success of the retreat was the unscheduled time at dinner where the women could discuss, debate and dream. This was in addition to what I perceive as the magic of the Passion Mapping exercise which is the articulation of your sense of self and your aspiration for who you are unencumbered by facts or feedback. A rare opportunity in life.”

10 significant and enduring initiatives were made most of which have been fully implemented.

1.     A catchy name for the group which signified to them that they would work in their women’s way, within the culture and rituals of the organisation.

2.     A leadership program particularly resonant with women.

3.     A networking program for women in senior positions of major corporations

4.     A movement to support other women to key roles in the organisation.

5.     An initiative to bring awareness of the importance of health generally in the organisation

6.     A annual set of awards for men who had most supported women in the previous year. This potent and enduring initiative would appeal to men's greater competitiveness.

Overall these were extraordinary outcomes for the women. One of the learnings was that when powerful women come together from their feminine essence, they have their own women’s way of creating a future path for themselves and for their contribution to the world. This can be quite different from the way that a similar group of men would have done.

One of the PMO team facilitators observed:

 “Following the Team Passion Mapping the women were inspired and the conversation was incredible. They were connecting on a level that is rarely seen and/or experienced. It was a clear indication of how they had transformed individually and collectively.”

STAGE 3 - EXPANSION

Women from different parts of the world heard about the remarkable outcomes achieved by their North American colleagues and wanted to become part of the program.

Two more stages were then planned.

Executive Passion Mapping were facilitated for 10 senior women leaders internationally. Individual programs were facilitated for the senior women in their home countries, including United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Japan, and the United States.

This group was very diverse. The common denominator was that they were all senior women leaders working for the same global organisation.

STAGE 4 WHOLE GROUP

All 20 senior women and 3 PMO coaches came to London for one day workshop in which they shared their Passion Mapping experiences.

The same group processes experienced with the initial 10 women were again facilitated for the larger group of 20.

The larger group as well reported that the particular PM process of sharing enabled them to get to know all the other women at a deeper level.

They then created their shared intention, chose and harmonised their individual passion elements which would most support the group. These passion elements magically came together to form their collective Passion Map with its even more potent image than the first.

The group had evolved into a powerful global team rather than, as previously, colleagues around the world who happened to be women.

And there was disappointment that no informal time was scheduled for considering new actions.

The main outcome of the workshop was the development of a powerful collective identity for the group.

CONCLUSIONS

1.     Most participants were surprised at how powerful they felt as a group of women coming together in their feminine essence, rather than from their understanding of how they fitted into a traditional male dominated culture.

2.     They reported how powerful they felt when they saw themselves as connected and not isolated. It was clear to the women that they needed greater mentoring by other women and that they should help each other more instead of seeing other women as competitors.

3.     Most importantly these senior women felt strongly motivated to support and advise men on how they, as men, can be more effective in managing and leading women. They can take the initiative to create the actions and establish the conditions for women to contribute more powerfully to their organisations.

4.     As PM facilitators, we learned that it is possible for women to empower each other both individually and collectively in a safe and systematic way, beyond what they have ever imagined.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS

? PASSION MAPS

Executive Passion Maps? are an enhanced version of Personal Passion Maps specifically designed for business executives.

Both enable people from all walks of life to connect with their inner knowing and intuition in a deeply personal and experiential manner. Personal Passion Maps? have proven their effectiveness as key components of coaching, facilitating, leadership, strategy and career development.

? PERSONAL DEPTH

Passion Mapping has been described as the best process in the world to connect people to their essence with grace and ease, both individually and in a group context.

A program like this can be facilitated without Passion Maps, but is very unlikely to channel the magic, power and creativity of a group of women, as was the case with this extraordinary group of women.

? UNIVERSALITY

One of the remarkable features of Passion Mapping? is that, as the PM process focusses on passion as life force energy; it works for anyone, or any number of people regardless of individual differences such as gender, age, religion, culture, geography, sexual orientation, personal beliefs, habits, even values.

? MENS AND WOMENS PASSION MAPS

are generally different. For example, there is no male energetic equivalent to maternal love or maternal instinct. The energy for relationship is generally much stronger for women in their Passion Maps?; the energy for action is more prevalent in men’s Passion Maps.

? HARMONIOUS FACILITATION TEAMS

An important advantage is that prior to working together, the facilitation team creates its own collective Passion Map? that holds the harmonised energies of the team. They use the same process as their clients. They can then they can coach individuals and groups from the same coherent energetic space even when they are working 1 on 1 with a client.

PM Facilitation teams have often been asked:

“You are the most coherent team we have ever known – tell us how many years have you worked together?”

To which they are able to say, “Actually, only one day! Some of our coaches did not know each other until yesterday.”

? PROCESS UPDATE

Since this women’s program in this case study was carried out, the PMO has developed a more streamlined process for facilitating Personal Passion Maps?. Optimally 8 individuals may complete their programs with one PM facilitator over a day and a half or alternatively three half days. This reduces the time and cost by half.

The PMO has introduced new ways for individuals to sustain connection with the personal expanded state reached when Passion Maps? are completed, in both their business and private lives

A FINAL COMMENT

“The women’s program was a wonderful success. It was a privilege to work with the sassy, motivated and intelligent women from around the world. I am sure the firm gained a great deal from the strength of this well networked group.”

Passion Maps team member

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