Doing it Differently

• Engaging men   Men generally have a ready aptitude for technical subjects and are notoriously difficult to engage in valuing and developing softer “touchy-feely” skills. This has a definite evolutionary basis. I have developed a highly effective experiential approach to workshops and other presentations which engages men powerfully, showing the rewards of such attributes in all levels of professional and personal life and exciting the passion of men for ongoing personal growth.

• An experiential approach   My workshops engage participants in various emotionally challenging exercises followed by reflection on the experience. In this way, participants are encouraged to explore their past experiences and the way that they do things well or otherwise without being shamed or made wrong. This opens up the possibility of trying something new, being open to strategies for doing things differently and making changes based on a deeper understanding of why they act in the ways that they do. Effective experiential learning involves encouraging participants to take emotional “risks”, allowing themselves to move beyond their usual “comfort zone” creating a very powerful stimulus for learning and personal development. The process involves sharing with others in pairs, small groups and the whole group. An essential requirement is the creation of agreements and boundaries to facilitate open communication.

• Gender differences acknowledged   My approach recognises the way that men and women experience life in profoundly different ways based on our different evolutionary inheritances and acknowledges that some aspects of ancient biologically-based male behaviour do not work well in modern civil society. Understanding this promotes the development of much more enriching relationships between men and women in the family context and male-male and male-female relationships in corporate and community settings.

• Uncomfortable feelings are not necessarily bad   A non-pathologising approach to understanding uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, impulses and behaviours enables an understanding of their origins, an appreciation that they often can serve us (should we chose to listen to their message) and provides an empowering framework for change based on respect and deep compassion for self and others. This contrasts with the traditional psychological and psychiatric approach which tends to make all uncomfortable experiences “bad” and to be avoided and eliminated without question.

• Getting men to open up   I espouse a male-friendly framework for understanding that trust, appropriate interpersonal boundaries and free communication form the basis of all rewarding human relationships and how these three elements can be understood, learned and created. This is of particular importance where open reporting of critical incidents is an essential component of a safe, low risk workplace culture.