leadership workshop - 9-10.05.2016 Budapest

 

Martin T. Ringer - Gabor T. Szabo

 

Engaging with power: Becoming

a ‘containing’ leader

How the inner world of leaders creates reality in the group

 

 

 

After last year’s successful workshop, the "Engaging with power: becoming a ‘containing’ leader" workshop will be presented by Martin T. Ringer and Gabor T Szabo. Martin and Gabor have both consulted for decades to organizations and both are experienced at working with leadership and its challenges.

 

Since the very beginning of the organization of this conference we had the intention of providing a training program both for Hungarian experts from the field of organizational development and for executives or designated people of for- and non-profit companies, which could offer a world-class learning experience for those who want to improve their leadership skills. 

This time the workshop is organized as a post-conference workshop in a different, easy to access location.  The conference officially ends on Sunday afternoon, and the workshop starts on the next morning.

 

 

Goal of the workshop

 

To enable participants to recognize a double-bind of expectations of how to be a good leader and find a way to take these into account. We also explore how the assumptions, beliefs and unconscious values of a leader influence the operation of the organization.

 

 

Workshop synopsis

 

This workshop will enable participants to explore the question of how they can be both powerful in leadership, management or executive roles and still successfully engage with others in their organization (‘above, beside and below’ them).

We will address the tensions that occur when on one hand leaders are expected to be clear, firm, strong and decisive whilst on the other hand they are expected to engage with others, motivate their employees and promote employee innovation and autonomy. In conventional terms these are paradoxical and contradictory demands on leaders. However, when considered from the framework of ‘containment’ the leader can be powerful in setting direction and maintaining limits (including saying ‘no’) thereby providing a safe container for employees, within which they are able to explore, innovate and find their own solutions to problems.

However this is a complex task and calls on leaders to be self-aware and able to navigate the complex psychological, emotional and cognitive tasks that are involved in building and maintaining highly functional organizational containers. Hence the second major theme of the workshop is exploration of participants’ internal worlds involving their personal relationship with power and control as well as the way in which they engage with others.

 

This workshop will be facilitated by Martin Ringer and Timur Gábor Szabó, who recently started collaborating on their passion for postmodern leadership.

 

 

Examples of program elements include

 

• Introducing the purpose of the workshop and refining the workshop based on participants’ needs

 

• Information sessions on the theory of double-binds of seemingly conflicted demands and how the two main modes of operation of the conscious and unconscious mind can create challenges in leadership.

 

• Practice sessions where participants will be able to take a closer look at their real communication through a video feedback’s micro analysis and realize the gap between wanted and genuine presence among people.

• Whole-group conversations to help integrate and make sense of the ideas presented in the workshop

 

• Small group sessions where participants talk about applying their new knowledge to their work places.

 

The presenters will be at the venue for a time following the workshop and are willing to discuss means by which follow up for the workshop may be arranged by email and/or Skype.