Future Fit Leadership for Women

HEATHER: Lynn McCracken, Pamela Twigg and I have immersed ourselves in the embodiment of Archetypes at Work™…we have lived the methods, the exercises, partnerships, and explorations internally and from within our international cohort. The three of us experienced a natural connection through the training necessary to become Guild Members. Lynn and I are in Dallas and Pamela is in Maryland. We met on zoom for four months and call our collaboration “Future Fit Leadership for Women.”

Successful First Gig

LYNN: As brand-new Guild Members, we booked our first gig together. Laurence Hillman described his vision for “The Guild” as a group of talented like-minded coaches who had been trained in the Archetypes at Work™ method that could collaborate with one another like a jazz band. This appealed to me as a singer-songwriter who loves to invite my talented friends onstage with me to create a moment together that will never happen again. It can be a magical experience, like alchemy. It can also be a disaster, but either way, it is worth the risk because you learn about yourself and the other musicians and there is always room for improvement.

When I book a gig as a musician, the first concern is making sure that there are people there to watch, you have to market and let people know so they can show up. I have struggled with stage fright, and I have had to work hard to get over myself and realize that the audience isn’t looking for a perfect performance. If they are engaged and in the moment with us, it doesn’t really matter if we hit all the notes or if we miss a chord here or there, it is about connection not “performance.”

That being said, our first gig was a success…all of the seats were full, the audience was engaged, and they even stayed afterwards for our optional reception. Our first gig wasn’t perfect, the three of us debriefed afterwards about what we could do better the next time. I can’t wait until the next gig as we know one another’s gifts and talents better and how to play off one another bringing out the best in each other to make the workshop the best they’ve ever experienced.

In “The Guild” we are all passionate about sharing this powerful method that helps people embody their gifts, it is exciting to see how we took Laurence’s idea of the jazz band and made it come to life in a unique way to encourage women in leadership to become “Future Fit” leaders.

…when I collaborate with others…
it can be a magical experience like alchemy…

Building Community and Friendships

PAMELA: There are those jazz bands that come together and find out that they ‘click,’ with a creative connection. There’s an additional element of trust which can easily translate onstage into more creativity, spontaneity, and a joie de vivre that naturally spreads to the audience.

Imagine what this collaboration feels like. I flew out to Texas, stayed with Heather and we presented in Lynn’s conference room. We have built lasting friendships, a partnership of belonging and a new energy for further collaboration as a result of presenting our pilot “Future Fit Leadership Workshop for Women” in April.

When the three of us met online to brainstorm about the possibility of doing a workshop together, I don’t think it was on the top of our minds that we were strengthening the Guild and our own community. What drew us together was the realization that this incredibly exciting and motivating methodology could be successfully applied to so many different situations. Supporting women in leadership was a topic we all share.

What we got was so much more in return. Lynn, Heather, and I have built a deeper appreciation of each other’s archetypal gifts and shadows. We have had sensitive conversations as to how each of us expresses these gifts and shadows differently. Without defensiveness and with willingness, that mutual knowledge and support guarantees that we are developing individually and as a jazz band to be even better. We have learned that our three styles are different and astonishingly complementary.

We also realized that we have a strong community in the Guild and with our teachers. The Archetypes at Work™ presenters were all so generous and helpful in providing us with training materials and consultations. Thanks to the program, we have found a Guild tribe in six nations.

The three of us continue to meet weekly and are planning follow-ups to our pilot workshop. We will launch our first online series in September. We continue to explore the possibility of bringing the Future Fit Workshops to other places in the US because of their potential and the enthusiastic feedback from our participants. What’s even better is, we find ourselves providing support, empathy, and guidance to each in other areas of our lives outside of our weekly meetings. We have come to depend on each other in such a natural and genuine way. It’s true friendship thanks to our ‘Future Fit Jazz Band’ and Archetypes at Work TM . I know I speak for all three of us when I say that we are truly grateful.

…lasting friendships, a community of belonging
and a new energy for further collaboration…

HEATHER: We wrote our ‘charts,’ we built our ‘play list’ and, when we delivered the workshop, we shared the archetypes, we facilitated customization, and we improvised stories.

It worked.

We created binders including introductory materials for the five realms and the ten archetypes. Those who just did the self-assessment in class benefited as much as those who had done the full-length Archetypal Preferences TM Report (APR) in advance. Using the colorful slides and handouts available to Guild Members, each person personalized the archetypes with the “too much” and “too little”. Then, we made sure that the women each chose an archetype and decided how to apply its gifts to the blocks or stressors written on a flip chart at the beginning of the workshop.

We’ve learned that there’s so much more we will facilitate in the series of six courses we are starting online in the Fall. Archetypes at Work TM is remarkable in spanning time, ages, and cultures. We have learned to trust that these five realms and ten archetypes offer endless opportunities for human development, expansion, and improvisation. We are excited that we get to share this remarkable perspective with women who carry leadership responsibilities. With the female or Yin dimensions guiding us into a better future, we are devoted to doing our part in making the world a better place.

Heather Carlile - heathercarlile.com

Lynn McCracken - intunewellnesscenter.com

Pamela Twigg - pamelatwiggcoaching.com