Filed under: Ecomotion update | Tags: entrepreneur, green, leadership, shakespeare, sustainable, young
At Ecomotion we pride ourselves on being (or at least accept and make the best of the fact that we are) a little rough around the edges – a little ad hoc, if you will. So when we arranged to run a leadership workshop for some Bright Young Green Things, it was never going to be a to-the-minute, to- the-tiniest-detail affair. Some of the best creativity, we find, comes with time-pressured necessity.
But the fact was, this was an Olivier Mythodrama workshop www.oliviermythodrama.com
led by Richard Olivier himself. Would we be able to get the balance right between professionalism and young gun-ho?
I have been to two of Richard’s incredible workshops before – one at a conference in Findhorn Eco-village (with a veritable army of helpers milling around making sure things go smoothly), and one more corporate-tailored event in with ushers, trays of pythagorian sandwiches and white linen table cloths in polished-floored ballrooms. Oh, and laminated nametags.
All very nice but not very Ecomotion. This is where the BASH boys come in with their Shoreditch studio and unisex toilets with graffiti’d doors – no linen, no floorboards, but as carbon neutral a building as they come and with heart, art and soul oozing through the cracks in the walls.
The real point here is that no matter the stage, no matter the sandwiches (or lack of – sorry guys!), all Richard really needs is the oracle of himself and an audience with which to engage.
We are first introduced to the Olivier Mythodrama concept – a method developed along the three strands of leadership, personal development, and storytelling. Richard’s background in theatre directing and his experience with Shakespeare mean that each workshop holds a particular moral message and is focused around a specific Shakespearean text. For us – Transformational Leadership using The Tempest: www.oliviermythodrama.com/transformationalleadership.asp
Richard’s passion and open-heartedness is instantly engaging and all-consuming. He is a paragon of reference, wisdom and poetry. Every point is backed by a quotation, anecdote or experience that allows a theory to take form, paint a picture, and therefore be taken into your head.
Each act of the play dissipates mini moral messages that are always relevant and tailored to the audience at hand. Richard is sensitive to his crowd – tears of passion are not out of place at Findhorn, but may not be best placed for the blue suits in the City. Similarly, when talking to a group of predominantly under 30’s, there will be quotes that float and others that wont, Richard’s not only float, but stick.
I was particularly struck by his message about the importance of engaging with politics. Entrepreneurs and visionaries like to do things differently and shun common protocol. But, we are reminded, everybody is involved with politics and choosing to be apolitical is a not altogether helpful stance. If you disagree with the politics and choose to remove yourself from it, then all you are doing is allowing those who agree to remain engaged with it and hold the sway.
We then proceeded to identify and explore our respective leadership elements. My business partner, Rosalie, and I often marvel at our polar opposite approaches and attitudes to the world. Richard teaches us all that a well-rounded organisation needs a palette of personalities to work on all levels. We may not always agree on the transportation method, but we are travelling towards the same end goal so must learn to work together.
Richard and his incredible team at OM have created a format of workshop and a method that is accessible, digestible, and inspiring. It was a day filled with questions, challenges, knowledge and even a Blue Peter style exercise involving balloons, pipe cleaners and sticky-back plastic. A massive thank you to everybody that made this day the success that it was.
Miranda
