What participants are saying
“There are different types of leadership programmes. There are those that teach how best to navigate the current systems, then there are those which seek to help transform those systems. Wisdom in Nature is definitely the latter.
Through Muzammal and Shumaisa’s expert synthesis of deep democratic theory, the use of nature and the Islamic tradition, the result was a sense of leaving the residential with more possibilities to explore.
I sensed what I learned could be applied in a range of different situations – political, organisational, personal – but each time toward the longer-term goal of a more socially just society.
I wish to thank them both for an enjoyable but also highly thought-provoking time.”
Martyn Rush, DPhil Candidate, Oxford
"I really benefited from the unique approach towards conflict resolution that was outlined in the Wisdom in Nature course.
Shumaisa and Muzammal encouraged us to embrace and discuss tensions that usually went unspoken, and this state of vulnerability brought out the most interesting discussions and fulfilling resolutions.”
Hibba M
Reflections from a participant on Inclusive Leadership Retreat for Muslims - facilitated by Wisdom in Nature: ‘Widening options for handling disagreements’ through insight provoking participant interactions’
Reflections from participant on Inclusive Leadership Retreat for Muslims - facilitated by Wisdom in Nature: ‘Appreciating intuitive tools in group situations”
The Essential Need for Skilled Facilitators and Leaders
How a team or group works, can be as important as what it does.
And how a team works can be radically improved through effective training in facilitation and inclusive leadership. This is an area we specialise in, and have been practising for years.
In a team or organisation, as members become more aware and skilled as facilitators, the team becomes more welcoming and effective. Creativity comes through with greater ease. Decision-making is inclusive. We bring out the best in everyone. Meaningful goals are identified that are owned by everyone. People feel they truly belong.
It becomes clear that this awareness, and these skills, are at the core of creating conscious communities. Conscious communities are alive to needs within the diverse community, and the needs of the time - whether at a time of stability, or a time of crisis.
We thus view the development of facilitation awareness and skills - of leading inclusively - as essential for any organisation striving to be an agent of transformation. We need these skills to co-create the sustainable, regenerative and resilient culture we need and know is possible.
This training is relevant to organisations and can also complement any land-based and eco-community type project.
Would you like to be a part of this healing journey?
Approaches we draw on
Over the years, we’ve seen all kinds of facilitation and leadership approaches. Good facilitation empowers, whereas poor facilitation can leave people feeling unheard, frustrated, and piles up problems for the future.
Within our organisation, we value inclusive, empowering forms of facilitation. Our experience is broad and deep - drawing on methods, such as consensus and sociocracy. However, beyond any single method is ‘awareness’, by being aware of our self we become more receptive to subtler signals in a group.
We also work with awareness of rank and power, and are practised in recognising and processing moments of tension (hotspots).
Our approach take into account the diversity of roles, experiences, and histories, including both marginalised and mainstream voices. This work is informed by a range of rich sources, including Process Work/Deep Democracy, Social Permaculture, and Movements for Social Change.
Our trainings have a strong experiential component - as well as sharing important theory and our own learnings, participants also get to discover their own answers and gain a deeper bodily understanding through engaging exercises. This supports them to embody and more meaningfully apply their learnings in their organisations and their life.
Bespoke Trainings for Organisations
We design transformative training specific to the needs of your team. We cater for Muslims and people who hold other faiths and beliefs.
Here are the steps:
You contact WiN to get the ball rolling
We arrange a conversation to better understand your needs: we will ask questions, get clarity about your situation, including the nature of the expected participants - we can describe potential offerings, and will answer any queries you may have.
It may be helpful to have a further follow-up conversation before both parties can make a decision as to whether to go ahead for us to deliver training for your team or organisation.If it feels right, we can move forwards and begin to collaborate around practicalities. WiN designs a training specific to your needs taking into account the context e.g. location, number and nature of participants, desired outcomes, time-frame etc.
WiN delivers the training to your team or members. We also adapt and tweak the training according to how the group process evolves, enabling the training to be finely tuned to the group.
After the training we follow-up for feedback (this is always helpful) and any agreed post-event coordination.
There are no charges for the initial two steps above.
Training Options
What we offer
Improve Your Meetings ~ Core Facilitation Skills Training
Minimum half-day training; Maximum 2 days.
Wisdom In Nature offers training that enables your team or organisation to be more confident and skilled in holding effective, inclusive meetings that benefit everyone.
Participants will:
develop a basic understanding of facilitators awareness with an opportunity for practise
learn and practise simple, yet potent facilitation tools enabling you to hold a welcoming, inclusive meeting
learn tools that encourage everyone to listen better and deeper, supporting more fruitful conversations, and overcoming sticking points
gain feedback from trainers and other participants
feel more confident in facilitating inclusive meetings for their team or organisation
Get Skilled in Consensus Decision Making
(Minimum 6-hour training - with breaks!)
Consensus decision making can be a powerful way of uncovering and synthesising the best qualities within a range of ideas or proposals, to then reach a decision that is much more inclusive and powerful than any one idea by itself.
An authentic consensus decision making process leads to a decision owned by the whole team or group. A decision that is owned by the whole group (rather than one or two loud voices) will draw out much more enthusiasm, energy and commitment. Things are much more likely to get done and in a more joyful way.
We can train your team in consensus decision making.
In a typical training we would cover:
When to use consensus decision making
When not to use consensus!
The basic ingredients for a consensus process (e.g. who needs to be there, how much time, medium of communication, a consensus attitude)
Steps involved in consensus decision making
Inspiring team creativity to pull out ideas and concerns
Tools for prioritising ideas and concerns
Synthesising proposals based on priorities
Testing proposals for consensus
Confirming the agreed decision and taking action
Role playing for hands on practise, with feedback - the team would get a chance to try out parts of the process through simulated scenarios
While it’s true that consensus can take longer than other forms of decision making, consensus can ultimately save time in the long run, as the decision reached takes into account everyone’s concerns.
Being able to use consensus at the right moment can strengthen your team markedly.
Inclusive Leadership Training
(Nature-based training, where possible)
Minimum 2-days; Maximum 5 days.
Summary
This transformative, life-changing training is a powerful blend, through which participants move out of their comfort zone, gain greater awareness of themselves and become more skilled in leading inclusively. They become better able to embrace diversity, and benefit from practising a range of tools, including in simulated situations with feedback.
Participants will also gain an understanding of the relationship between patterns in teams and those in nature, enabling them to see their organisations as living systems, and be better equipped to work meaningfully with uncertainty.
By the end of the course participants will be more confident in facilitating and processing conflict, and will be better able to catalyse positive, profound change in their organisations and communities.
As the leadership ‘role’ has fluidity, and in reality cannot be the entire responsibility of only one named individual, this training will also be of considerable benefit to individuals who are not typically in a formal leadership role. It will empower everyone to participate in holding a more inclusive space for themselves and others.
Typical Training Objectives
Group Awareness: Gain a basic vocabulary to help develop awareness around group dynamics and group processes. Apply that awareness to situations during the course itself.
Self Aware Leadership: Become more aware of your own inner processes and bodily experiences within a group situation. Explore how this could be an ally to help move a group forward, as well as for your own spiritual growth.
Meaningful organisations: Appreciate the relationship between the essence and the goals of an organisation. How can an organisation embody greater meaning in it’s work and through its goals and objectives?
Working with diversity and difference: Develop the capacity to use the diversity within a group as a doorway to tap into more of its wisdom. By supporting the different parts of a group to speak to each other and be heard, differences can be processed, creativity and insights are unlocked, and the way forward can become more inclusive and meaningful.
Decision Making: Understand and explore the differences between, and relative value of, consent-based decision making, consensus based decision making, and more top down decision making approaches.
Rank and power. Develop awareness of rank and power dynamics in teams, including awareness of your own rank. Understand the role these dynamics play, and the value of bringing them openly into awareness for more fruitful dialogue.
Typical Activities:
Participative learning in large and small groups.
Simulated exercises: An opportunity for some participants to practise in a simulated set up and to receive feedback from course leaders and other participants. A chance to take risks in a safe and supportive environment.
Nature based activities: As a means of cultivating reflective leadership qualities and gaining an understanding of the relationship between patterns and cycles in nature and those in groups. What can nature (ayat, signs of the Divine) teach us about leading, and about our organisation? This will support participants to learn from nature's wisdom.
Holistic balance: A balance between more active sessions and more reflective sessions, with moments of stillness and silence for integration and cultivating presence
Need External Facilitation? Hire Us!
If your group is stuck in conflict, it can sometimes help to invite an external facilitator who is not directly involved with that conflict. If you are interested in inviting us for this purpose, please contact us to discuss further.
Our aim is to ensure all voices in a group are heard and integrated, supporting a group to more fully process conflict (rather than to suppress or avoid it). You consequently get to move forward in a meaningful way, that will help heal relationships and enhance the effectiveness of your group.
Alternatively, you may want to develop a new project or community initiative for instance, and simply want the presence of someone outside of the action, to facilitate and support you through this. We can help you discover your own answers and enable you to make inclusive decisions as a team.
Feel free to enquire if we could play a role here, and we can explore together whether our input could help serve your team.