Amazon Power

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front. Silent actually. But John Grant,  a loquacious blogger, has got me going.

John interviewed me for his blog http://www.brandtarot.com/blog/?p=681 and already his piece on me has slid into the March archive - that’s how prolific  he is. John is better known, and highly regarded, in advertising and marketing circles and author of The New Marketing Manifesto which was selected as one of the top 10 business books of 1999 and of  After Image (Profile) named by Wikipedia in a list of the most popular business books in the world.

I worked with John some time back whilst he was still at St Luke’s Advertising (of which he wasa co-founder) - and he had the courage and imagination to let me loose on a marketing team of a big drinks company and free rein to create something that would be valuable to the process of new product development.

The piece of work that emerged stands out in both John’s and my mind as a high point in both our working experiences. Working with John and the St Luke’s team was fantastic and in one of the most exciting working environments I have yet experienced. The place was humming with creativity and possibility, and the open atmosphere that John helped to foster made my job so easy. The process was not only satsifying to me in creative terms, it also produced exceptional results and the marketing team was positively humming. And on top of that it was fun.

Over to John’s interview:

Interview with Claire Schrader (on ‘workshops’)

John Grant

From time to time all planners and consultants get asked to do ‘workshops’. I wonder how many have considered the origins of the workshop format in drama (eg improvisation) and dramatherapy? About 10 years ago Claire helped me with an innovation workshop for a team in a big drinks company to explore customer types, occasions and needs. And I can safely say it is still one of the most productive and mind expanding sessions I ever took part in (the one I did with the resident Big Brother psychiatrist in Oslo was a runner up, certainly winner of the best use of ’snow play’ category!!!) Given the aim of these ‘awaydays’ is to break free from normal business thinking I can heartily recommend exploring this. If anyone wants to follow up with Clare she’s at www.makingmoves.net/biz and www.makingmoves.net/bizAnyway we caught up recently and I took the opportunity to snag an interview for readers of this blog

Q1. what’s your background?

Ten years as a performer and playwright during which I discovered how to unlock my creativity through Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone methods of improvisation. Worked for an Amercian barter company for a while then discovered dramatherapy which brought together two main interests for me - theatre and personal development. Set up Making Moves, and over ten years
(my life seems to go in ten’s) developed my own style of transformational theatre programmes and workshops using archetypes and myths as a catalyst for change.

Q2. how did you get into this?

A light bulb went off about a year ago when I realized that I had come to the end of a phase and had done everything I wanted to do in terms of exploring and healing people’s psyche’s. I wanted to take my work out into a bigger arena, from the inner into the outer, and funny enough the project I’d done with John all those years ago had always excited me. I went to the Women’s International Networking Global Leadership Forum where I ran a workshop around the Amazon archetype, the warrior women of Greek myth. It
went down a storm and seeded the whole idea for Amazon Power enabling women to reclaim and express their feminine power. I work with the context that the Amazons expressed a balance of masculine and feminine which is needed for women to flourish in the business culture. I got very excited about feminine leadership and its implications not only for women in business, but
for taking forward environmental concerns, and for enabling men and women to work together more effectively and harmoniously.

Q3. what are the aspects of your work you are most passionate about?

I suppose I am most passionate about passion, about waking people up to their passion and what lies untapped within them. When people truly operate from that place they are unstoppable and it’s fabulous what they can achieve. And when they express it through creativity and they find that “jewel” - be it an idea for a new product or project, or an awareness that’s going to transform a difficult situation, or in taking their organization to a whole new level or for women in claiming their feminine power expressing more of who they truly are - then that is really inspiring to me. It’s like watching a space ship take off.

Q4. can you describe a bit how you tend to work with groups, what you
actually do exactly?

What is most important is creating an environment in which people’s creativity can flow and magic can happen. So my first job is to establish a light hearted, informal atmosphere usually through a series of warm-up exercises that’ll get the group out of their heads and will open up creative potential. I work differently with every group so it varies hugely what I will do. But classically I will choose a myth, archetype or story that parallels the issues/challenges that the group is facing and we enact it in stages, with time to reflect on the discoveries and the application to the business. The myth provides a structure of beginning, middle and end and enables the issue/challenge to be worked through and resolved. As lots of people are freaked out at the idea of drama, so I like make the process so seamless and easy that they hardly notice they’re doing drama until suddenly they are. The process produces a huge amount of ideas and stimulation so it’s important to record them but not jump the gun - or the process can go into left brain and I want to keep people in right-brain so that they remain creatively receptive and not block anything out.

In many ways I don’t do very much. I set up a space where people have a free rein to be creative and make discoveries, and provide a structure in which they can reflect on those. I hold it together, observe and feel what’s going on underneath the surface and believe me that can be exhausting!

Q5. can you expand a bit upon archetypes, what they are and also how
you work with them?

Archetypes are blueprints, models or patterns that have been repeated throughout history and are as vital today as they were in ancient times. The fact that these patterns have been repeated so many times adds to their power and impact. Archetypes are operating all the time whether we like it or not. An example would be Aphrodite or Venus, the goddess of love. We see her everywhere as the beautiful, sensual woman in adverts, in divas and on film. She is compelling, desirable and sells product like wild fire - we all want a piece of her. Another example which is being enacted today by George Bush is the warrior who believes he has Right or God on his side, standing out against what the whole world is telling him. In the movies he always wins but both history and many myths show, this is not always so. So whilst archetypes can be very positive, their “shadow” aspects can be destructive,
and if a shadow archetype has you into its grip as it has I sense with George Bush, then you’re going to create havoc.

Archetypes can be expressed in a multitude of different ways and myth provides many different scenarios though which the archetype is expressed. There are those who have categorized archetypes into different types and this helps to get a handle on them but actually there are hundreds of different archetypes, and we see them constantly been played out in films, politics, the media and of course also in our own lives.

I would create a workshop giving planners and creatives an opportunity to explore these different stories as a stimulus for creating new ideas or uncovering a powerful emotional hook, or for gaining greater understanding of the way in which an archetype is being expressed within their organization.

The Golden Fleece is my favourite at the moment for organizations that are bullishly focused on being NO 1 in their industry (when they’re No 3 or 4) and ignoring the creative opportunities for growth that are much more in line with their values. The Golden Fleece is a huge archetype and we all have our Golden Fleece. Jason quests after the Golden Fleece because he believes it will bring him power and prestige and he is blind to the compromises and strategies that he must use to win it that actually take him far away from achieving his goal. He wins the battle but loses the war. Working with this story can enable the organization to see where they are
sabotaging themselves and find out what is their true Golden Fleece and start creating a strategy and direction that is really going to take their organization and brands forward.

Q6. how is working with companies adifferent from your other (personal
development) work?

In some ways there’s no real difference since many of the issues that individuals struggle with happen in companies - just on a larger scale. Indeed sometimes there is more madness within companies than outside them!

The difference lies in the intention and the language used. For instance individuals come to me because they want to be more creative and companies because they want to create exciting products or to develop their people.

It is of course very different in the respect that I am working with very different people - people in business are not hampered in the way some of my clients are, and as a result they can really fly with the material once they get a grasp of it. The hard work is getting them out of their heads enough to see the point and be open to what can emerge.

I enjoy the collaborative aspects of working with planners and consultants and I haven’t done much of that in my personal development work. It’s great to work with someone who can see the potential of this approach and can fly with it and afterwards help the client implement the ideas that surface.

Q7. are there key issues - eg creative breakthrough, integrating
values, thinking about audiences, building teams…?
(ie where your approach is especially valuable or relevant)

My approach can be powerful within all these areas, but I would say I can help most when the talking process has got stuck, or when planners/marketers want to spring board some new ideas. The beauty of working through creativity is that it by passes words and finds a truth or a resolution that is often very simple. People don’t have to agree. It can also save a lot of head banging and brain strain!

It can really help in team building because as well as enabling a team to bond, it can also work through conflicts and stuckness - funnily enough without a huge drama! Because we’re working with symbols and metaphor it doesn’t get personal and I’ve seen people who have major disagreements with each other come to respect each other’s differences and the agro just falls away.

Q8. what would be your absolute dream (business, marketing or
planning) project?

My absolute dream at the moment would be to work with jazzy companies like Virgin, Innocent or Orange and ad agencies like St Luke’s just because of working with that level of openness and imagination is so rewarding, and you know they’re going to make use of the ideas and creativity that emerge.

I would also love to be working with women’s archetypes, either on women’s product range or on empowering women who are operating at half their potential (and that goes for a lot of women).

I enjoy a creative challenge. And the Golden Fleece really speaks to me at the moment, so would love to work at the top level with a company who are losing their way or are struggling with their identity or just making their employees’ lives a misery.

I like variety and so would love to be approached by planners and marketers with a project and see in what way I can contribute. It is very satisfying to me when I find a myth that is absolutely right for a project and where that can lead.

Q9. lots of planners think about going into coaching and similar as a
second career, any advice for them?

There are powerful tools in dramatherapy and fantastic applications in business but as yet it’s a very new field. Most of the dramatherapy trainings are geared up towards working with people with mental health, learning difficulties etc so I think planners would find that a bit frustrating. But would be very happy to offer a workshop to planners interested in using these techniques.

Q10. what books, resources, courses etc, could people consult if they
wanted to know more?

Carol Pearson books are fantastic. Awakening the Heroes Within is almost my bible. Below are a list of her books, which I have by no means read all of. I have been told that her Brands book isn’t as good as the Hero book, but certainly she is the authority on working with archetypes. I also like The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell, which are interview’s with him about his
work just before he died, and is much more readable than his books, of which he wrote many. Joseph Campbell really started all this and was the first person to really apply the relevance of mythology to contemporary life. The film industry in particular took up his ideas. “Star Wars” is a classic. I also really like Robert H Johnson’s books in which he focuses on a myth or archetype - very short but potent. Most of these books are not angled towards business but of definite interest and relevance to business.

Carol Pearson:
http://www.herowithin.com/models.html

The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By (HarperSanFrancisco, 1986, 1989, 1998); Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes T hat Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform our World (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991); Magic At Work: Camelot, Creative Leadership and Everyday Miracles (DoubleDay, 1995); The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through The Power of Archetypes, co-authored by Margaret Mark (McGraw- Hill, 2001); Mapping the Organization Psyche: A Jungian Theory of Organizational Dynamics and Change, co-authored by John Corlett (CAPT: Center for Applications of Psychological Type, 2003); and the Pearson-Marr Archtype Indicator (PMAI), developed with Hugh Marr; and Organizational and Team Culture Indicator (OTCI) (both published by CAPT, 2003).

The Amazons were portrayed as beautiful, warrior women who could equal their male combatants in battle. They were honourable, courageous, brave and fearless who also had many womanly qualities. They raised children, would go to extraordinary lengths to bring an injured comrade to safety, risked their lives for helping others, they were passionate about what was important to them and found a distinctively feminine way to survive in a male world.

Professional women at the beginning of the 21st Century share much with the Amazon, they have fought many battles and excelled in fields that were once exclusively male and at the same time juggled career and family life, taken risks and gathered together in powerful networks to support one another.

In the last few years women have been pioneering new ways to empower themselves, specifically in the form of developing a distinctive feminine style of leadership. Thoroughly researched books like Helen Fisher’s The First Sex points to a future in which feminine skills and leadership are going to be increasingly needed to keep apace with the unprecedented change and radical shifts that business is likely to see in the coming decades. In which case women will be called upon to claim more of their Amazon nature as they lead the way forward, summoning all their feminine resources and wisdom, to become shining, inspiring examples of courageous, principle-centred leadership for the greater good of their organisations and humanity at large.

As it becomes apparent that the masculine structures are failing, control and command models of leadership becoming outmoded, there is need for another way - a feminine way and already there are promising signs that the world is waking up. Let’s not hold our breath, but whatever the future may hold as women integrate more of their authentic feminine power they will become better leaders, win competitive edge for their organisations, and as a collective have meaningful impact on the lives of thousands, even millions of people.

Who were the Amazons?

Stories about Amazons were popularised by the Ancient Greeks, and from there spread all over the world. There seems to be evidence there was some historical basis for their existence and they most likely to be tribal bands of women who defended their people against the invasions of the Indo Europeans. 

Much too my surprise the Amazon connection with South America is slim, the Ancient Greeks placed  their orgins in a region of Northern Turkey, although some stories name the steppes of Southern Russia or the kingdom of Thrace (Northern Albania). Indeed the South American connection comes as a result of Spanish adventurer in the 1600’s who is alleged to have named the Amazon river as the result of  an encounter with a band of warrior women along its banks  - which indicates the place that the Amazon held in popular culture.

Whether the Amazons were real or not, they captured the imagination of many cultures over thousands of years, which is how their stories come to be with us today. This makes them a powerful archetypal force, which still has relevance to us in out technological driven society. (An archetype explained in simplest terms is a character type or model that has recurred through history and often too across a broad range of cultures, and thus links us to our ancestors and eternal truths about the nature of humanity. In essence it is something that is bigger than ourselves and calls us therefore to live in a bigger way.)

The archetype of the Amazon means something  different to us today, than what it meant to the ancient Greeks. Each epoch will interpret the archetype in its own way which means that the archetype has a flexibility to flow with the themes and ideas of each generation and yet retain something of its essential nature. Certainly the Amazon inspired the early feminists in the sixties who initiated the huge shift that broke the structures that had kept women dis-empowered for millennia. But these early feminists focussed on the aspect of the Amazon as women who  successfully lived without men in a matriarchal society and excluded men in a very extreme way.  Grateful as we are for their struggles, the stereotype of these early feminists, is as angry, bra-burning, wounded man-haters who conducted themselves more like the gender they were endeavouring to transcend. The masculine way became once again the expression of power. 

For those who participated in the mini tele-summit, this issue was prominent. Kristin Engwig (Director of the WIN conference) spoke of the anger she has experienced from women who have won success and positions of power by following masculine models, only to discover now there are new rules. Refreshingly one woman on the call who had risen to a high position through playing by the old rules, was inspired by the discussion since that meant that she could operate in a more authentic and congruent way within her company, and was in a position now that she could influence others.

As someone who has used metaphors as a way of enabling experiential learning, the Amazon archetype is potent because she bridges two aspects of female power and its relevance to reality that women in business face - the polarities of masculine and feminine. My emphasis is on the feminine qualities of the Amazon alongside the recognition that the masculine has an important part to play.  It is about embracing both and forging a new way of being that is essentially feminine but with a masculine edge. In my experience when women are operating from this place they feel happier and are able to make use of  feminine attributes, that otherwise would stay hidden. As a result they are hugely more effective and are able to contribute more to their organisations, families and communities.

Dare to be Feminine

Both Kristin and Anne Stevens spoke of the courage it take to “dare to be feminine”. It takes great courage because it requires an exposure of vulnerability, and vulnerability like femininity has an association with weakness. But the willingness to take that risk often plays dividends as women are able to draw on a magical power that is innately theirs. It was this power that in earliest times caused women to be both revered and feared. It was feared because it was not understood and because women had access to knowledge that could not be ascertained by rational means. Now we live in happier times where we are relatively free of such persecution in which womens’ assets can contribute considerably to wealth and productivity, so along with Kristin and Anne I invite you to Dare To Be Feminine!

If you are drawn by this post you may want to consider taking part in my NEW YEAR offer of two Amazon Power tele sessions for the price of one.  Email me for details on claire@makingmoves.net

The dust has settled on the WIN conference, my first WIN, set in the spectacular city of Rome where I ran a workshop offering a taste of ”Amazon Power”. See www.winconference.net for more information about WIN forums.

WIN short for Women’s International Networking is a gloriously female environment. The brainchild of Kristin Engwig, who defines herself as a social entrepreneur, beautiful with a kind of beauty that is unassuming, magical, and heart-felt. Kristin for me was the embodiment of a powerful, feminine leader who effortlessly created an eminently safe and inclusive environment in which the female spirit could flourish. A safe haven for women in male dominated companies such as IBM, HP, Proctor and Gamble, along with women from many other walks of life - entrepreneurs, coaches, and even quite a few creatives like myself.

The conference for me started long before. In the plane. I had made contact the night before with Eva, a coach, who thought she might be on the same flight as me. Describing herself as overweight and fifty-ish, I scanned the women waiting to board the flight. Now who I might approach? What is overweight for one woman is probably skinny for another. Eva did what any WIN woman would do, she broadcasted her presence over the plane tannoy. Almost immediately we became firm friends, pledging loyalty to each others workshops. 

The conference opened with music, an aria from a Puccini opera which brought the spirit of WIN in full focus and music abounded throughout. There were plenty of opportunities to celebrate feminine essence, and at my workshop in which I had brought an array of colourful fabrics by which my participants could personify their amazon, I was surprised by the alacrity with which the WIN women entered into the spirit of this. I spent more time than I had expected taking photographs of the various groups with their cameras. What is certain is that WIN women know how to have fun, as you will see in the photo above.

What moved me most was the way in which the two worlds of business and humane were brought under one roof. Our very attractive delegate bags were made in Vietnam. WIN did it very best to support third world interdependence. I was struck by the contribution of a Filipino wrap designer who was supporting women weavers who converted banana tree bark through a laborious process into woven fabrics, which could then be styled into a western fashion garments. Dita Sandicio Ong attended my workshop and gave me one of her wraps as a contribution to women attending my programmes. It was a gorgeously celebratory garment which when on resembled butterfly wings, and certainly would create a dramatic impact for any woman walking onto a plenary platform.

I was inspired too by the passionate speech of a young Indian woman, Rama Mani who was on her way to Sri Lanka on a peace making mission. Coming from the Tamil Nadu, how was she to win the trust of Sri Lankans who regarded all Tamils as their enemy? I had no doubt that her warm, inspiring presence and her vocational zeal would quickly win her supporters.

What characterises WIN women is an openness and a genuine desire to help, as evidenced in Anne Stevens generous contribution of her time to the Amazon Power mini tele-summit, fresh from her role at IBM as Director of Professional Development. Such generosity is the footprint of Kristin Engwig who is also speaking on the mini tele-summit.

I met many extraordinary women, and continue to meet more, as being at WIN gives a common language through which we can dialogue. Three days is not enough. I hope to keep the flame of WIN alive by taking another hour in the mini tele-summit. I hope you can join Kristin, Anne and I. All women welcome.

Amazon Power :

European Mini Tele-Summit

Speakers : Kristin Engvig (Director of Women’s International Networking Global Forum) and Anne Stevens (European Director of Professional Development, IBM Global Business Services)

How can we be as women authentically ourselves and powerful in our vulnerability?

Free conference call continuing the conversation of WIN in addressing the importance of developing a more globally accepting, understanding, feminine style leader able to implement the solutions that will bring about deep change in our world.  Claire Schrader, workshop leader of the Amazon Power workshop at WIN 2006, will be posing the questions to Anne Stevens and Kristin Engvig around how can we bring the best of what it is to be a woman in our professional and personal lives, with an opportunity for Mini Tele-Summit participants to contribute to the discussion.

December 11^th

10-11am (UK) 11am-12pm (Europe)

This sixty minute mini tele-summit will be exploring:

• What is femininity?

• Research indicates that when women lead from the feminine they make more potent business decisions. But what does it in reality mean to be an authentic, feminine leader? How can we be successful in our careers without sacrificing our feminine essence?

• How can we deal with and make our emotions work for us?

Kristin Engvig is a Norwegian social entrepreneur living in Switzerland. She founded W.I.N. in Milan in 1998 and is known for her innovative thinking and encouraging women to live creatively and shape their own future. She created the W.I.N. concept and designs the visionary programmes of all W.I.N. Forums. Her wide ranging career includes working in banking, PR, as an international consultant on inter-cultural management issues, marketing and communication studies. In 2006 she became finalist for the European Women of Achievement Award.

Anne Stevens was until very recently European Director of Professional Development, IBM Global Business Services. She has also played a major role as Co-chair of the Womens Leadership Council or IBM in Europe and been heavily involved in other Women’s groups such as WIN (Women’s International Networking), International Women of Excellence (IWE), European Women of Achievement (EWA) and European Professional Women’s Network (EPWN). She has an extensive background in the IT Services industry with a specific focus on people and culture, multi-national organisations, organisational change and transformation. Her particular passion, however, has always been the progression and advancement of women both in and outside of the workplace.

Welcome to movesblog. I have spent weeks reading and researching about blogs, telling my friends about them, most of whom have even less idea of what they are than I do - trying to get my mind around how they work. Since I mainly preach to my clients that the mind is not the most reliable source of knowledge, there’s only one thing for it to step into the unknown and experiences something new.

So here we go….

Claire

PS Haven’t got a feed yet this will come soon!