A little context
Ever since our post office closed in our little village in New Zealand when I was a teenager, I got curious about the connection between land and transport. I saw how the elderly struggled with now having to go on the bus to do their banking in the bigger market town. And after attaining a Masters in Regional and Resource Planning, and postgraduate certificate in City Policy (Sustainability) I got to specialize in the field with the Auckland Regional Council. Indeed I hold the question: how do we live in harmony with the land and move around in a way that serves life?
And as a leadership coach, I have appreciated being able to work with leaders immersed in the automotive industry. Exploring multi modal transport with Common Purpose, executive coaching in Daimler Chrysler, supporting Honda dealerships in Northern Ireland around high performing environments (both when working with what was then Lane4), and co-facilitating 7 month leadership programmes for Nissan European executives, with Impact International.
The invitation
The industry is one of power, control and movement – struggling to let go of the traditional ways and get traction for a sustainable future. Driving real change, requires the stillness to stop and reflect. To step into the unknown, to release and allow new visions of being and doing. In this context, I have invited leaders to:
- see the system and themselves with more clarity and choice
- take a holistic view of performance
- empower through coaching
- experience how their own wellbeing is integral to that of others including the planet
Along the way, I have also prompted reflection through the leadership blog and earthconversepodcast. Examples include:
- Offering an insight into the transformational effect of solitude for leaders
- Responding to the VW scandal
- Interviewing Emma Taylor about her human relations journey working in the automobile industry. Where she talks of the beauty and artfulness of Japanese manufacturing, and the “niggle that became a question” for her in the industry.
- Posing questions for the oil and associated industries, evoked by an Outrage and Optimism podcast
Future visions
I see myself as a futures facilitator in the now. Helping leaders visualize the futures they want to co-create, from a place of groundedness. For me, I visualize the automotive industry transforming, through leaders who step up to acknowledge the pain it has created. And where it alchemises in service of life, prioritising compassion, creativity and collaboration, honouring the cycles and interconnectivity of all.
Where it asks the likes of (spring boarding off Thich Nhat Hanh), what would it be like if we moved as if we were kissing the earth?..
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Like many freelance consultants, the majority of my corporate leadership work has been as an associate or collaborator with a ´bigger entity´. Respecting that the case studies and client relationship belongs with them, it is also important for me (and my potential clients) to understand the contribution I have made and can make in service of #peopleandplanet. Hence this piece. Looking forward to our conversation.