Background

Many leaders need to develop their personal presence and impact, self-confidence and self-belief, emotional intelligence and awareness. Some have career-limiting difficulties in developing effective working relationships. Others find themselves elevated into senior positions as a result of their academic or technical excellence and may be lacking in the ability to engage, empower, persuade and inspire others.

Meanwhile, organisations are operating against a backdrop of difficult economic and trading conditions, in which charismatic leadership is an increasingly important skill.

We provide a unique way to quickly develop leadership capability. Unlike more traditional organisational development solutions, we take an ‘inside-out’ approach.

What we did

An Audience with Charisma open seminars ran between November 2008 to November 2012 at The Globe Theatre in London, and at The Hotel Du Vin in Harrogate and Brighton.

Over 350 people attended, including senior leaders, managers, HR and learning & development professionals, high potentials and project leaders from a diverse range of business sectors and industries.

Process

Before the event: We made attendees aware that the workshop was likely to be very different from anything they would have experienced before. We explained that our techniques work with both the conscious and unconscious mind, and that the programme was therefore likely to flush up self-limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviours.

At the event: Our charisma coaches started by sharing a powerful personal story, so setting the tone of openness and honesty. We created a place where attendees felt safe and supported, and gently challenged them to see their world in very different way.

Over the next two days, they worked in pairs and small groups through a series of interactive exercises to target the five key component parts that impact on charismatic presence:

• Self-esteem
• Sensory awareness
• Compelling Vision
• Driving Force
• Energy

Results

For many attendees, our workshops represented an emotional and often life-changing journey of self-discovery. By the end of the open programme, they had escaped their comfort zones to recognise, acknowledge and remove their own barriers to success.

They returned to their respective organisations armed with a powerful personal vision statement or mantra that was anchored into their unconscious beliefs and value system, and designed to sustain long-term change.

Quantitative Feedback

Average results from 86 attendees collected four weeks after the 2012 open programmes at the Globe and Brighton:

Key Performance Indicators

• Self-confidence / self-belief +35%
• How respected and valued you feel +27 %
• Handling difficult people +27%
• Positive emotional reaction to change +19%
• Ability to connect and engage others +23%
• Success with influencing others +17%

Emotions experienced at work

• Optimistic +23%
• Content +20%
• Frustrated -29%
• Worried -25%
• Insecure -21%
• Vulnerable -17%

Charismatic Profile

Change in score expressed as a percentage +15%

Qualitative Feedback

“WOW! Completely different, fun, challenging, thought provoking, pushes you to engage in new experiences and leaves you to deeply reflect on how you interact with and impact upon others.”
Martin King,
Head of Relationship Management
RBS

“AMAZING! A personal journey that created huge volumes of energy, inspiration and deep self- awareness.”
Tara Mullen,
Contact Centre Director, Affinion International

“Highly provocative and thought-compelling…. will challenge you, inspire you and ultimately it will expand your mind. Whether the significant impact is in your career, your personal relationships, or your everyday life (or indeed all three) you will sense a profound difference.”
Rob Pardon,
Training and Development
Initial Washroom Solutions (part of Rentokil Initial Group)

“Brilliant! A life event’ – has given me gifts for life, career, family, everything.”
Lorraine Jackson,
Head of Strategic Policy
Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner

“A creative and thought-provoking approach to helping people unlock their charisma…a truly refreshing and enjoyable experience for anyone wanting to increase their impact and presence.”
Kim Stanbrook, Organisational Development 
BT Group

This is just a small sample of the post-course comments.