‘Linking Leadership with Nature’ – (How to sustain your organisational and personal icecaps)

Guest Speaker: Alison Smith

Executive Summary and Background

With COP26 on the horizon, and uncertainty and change being a constant companion, this month’s speaker Alison Smith is using the flourishing and sustainability of our planet’s icecaps as a metaphor for our own personal leadership and organisational flourishing and wellbeing.

Alison writes “If we use nature as our coach and teacher then the story of the universe becomes the story of our solar system, which becomes the story of our planet, of humanity, of you and I, and of our flourishing and wellbeing. The story starts with Integrity and concludes with Sustainability and, just like our planet, requires you individually, or organisationally, to retain your ICECAPS.

Workshop Content and Process

The ICECAPS process Alison developed looks at what nature can teach us about our lives.
As you’d expect from nature – it’s simple – you just must ensure that, just like our planet, you retain your ICECAPS (although clearly the world’s icecaps are at risk). This interactive workshop explores:
• Integrity – authenticity and being true to yourself
• Creation – bringing the right resources together to achieve a vision
• Evolution – understanding and flowing with the patterns of growth in the environment
• Collaboration – working with others across the whole system in which you operate
• Action – taking positive action towards the goal 
• Perspective – understanding where you are in relation to the goal and changing course.
• Sustainability – ensuring all actions allow for sustainability of the whole system 

When problems and challenges arise the question to be answered is at which point of the ICECAPS checklist disconnection has taken place. Appropriate action can then be identified to reconnect and assure sustained success.

Workshop Output

This will be an engaging and optimistic session, if a little unconventional, and will help you understand where a possible disconnection has taken place. Enabling you to then identify a personal and organisational action plan for your own long- term sustainability and wellbeing.

Note: Whilst not directly related, speaker and change management expert John Kotter’s book Our Iceberg is Melting may also provide some insight as it explores changing and succeeding under any conditions – it also uses the power of metaphor to convey its key insights.

About Alison Smith BA MCIPS ACCP – Keynote Speaker and Facilitator.

Alison has worked in procurement management for major corporates and more latterly as a management consultant for over 35 years. 20 years ago, she added coaching and behavioural skills into the mix and now offers a range of training, coaching and facilitation helping clients to start seeing situations they’re grappling with from a wider perspective.
An extract from a poem she’s written ‘From not knowing to knowing what to do’ perhaps summarise her approach best:

“The answer for me was the unconventional
Not just because I feel at home there
Because it is our conventional eyes that are seeing the lack of options
Unconventional looking gives permission to act ‘as if’ there’s other ways to view the situation
To believe there’s a solution, or even multiple solutions, out there.”

It’s this unconventional looking that Alison will be inviting us to join her in as we explore how to best move forward.

Her book Can’t see the wood for the trees – landscaping your life to get back on track and Podcast Landscaping Your Life with Alison Smith shares the range of unconventional tools in her LANDSCAPE coaching and problem-solving toolkit – helping you to see situations you’re grappling with from alternate perspectives and to uncover options

Testimonials

 “Alison has a unique talent for opening the doors to personal enlightenment through a combination of unconventional metaphors under pinned by emergent clear realities. The feedback from SIBL events, and her own coaching-based programmes, is invariably about the “positive results” that emerge from the most unexpected and imaginative place. Delivered through an entertaining and enjoyable experience.” Drew Pryde, Chairman SIBL CIC

“I recently attended an event at which Alison was not only keynote speaker but also ran a coaching session. She brought along her fun and enthusiastic personality wrapped up in a blanket of knowledge. She is thought provoking, encouraging and challenges the (your) norm to create maximise development and learning. I found her style of delivery and coaching to be highly engaging and took away practical and motivating outcomes and learnings. I would recommend Alison as a coach and as a speaker – she is Talented!” SIBL member

1. a) Access codes for this Zoom on-line event will be issued within 48 hours of the start time.  
2. b) To reserve your place contact Beth Kingsley-Rowe 01383 223353 or beth@sibl.org.uk