WHO ARE WE AND WHY ARE WE HERE: THE MYSTERY OF IDENTITY IN ORGS.
Date/Time
5/2/2014 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM Eastern
Event Description
What is the one thing that binds people together in organizations? What gives them their greatest ability to achieve? The answer is simple to name, and can be quite complex to define: Identity. In this session, we will discuss what forms this common identity. Is it the work we do? The money that we exchange? The location that we work in? Is it our passion? The feelings that we share? Our style—or something else that we cannot put words to? How do we blend our own identity with that of the organization? Presenters: Beth Shapiro and Fernando Lopez
Location
Non-Profit Center 89 South Street Boston, MA 02111
How do we blend our own identity with that of the organization? At first we may feel excited to be part of something interesting and useful. Then we start to see the flaws and difficulties around us, and we notice that perhaps we don’t really belong, or aren’t sure we want to. A bit later, as we invest more of ourselves and our energy, we begin to feel that the organization’s identity has real value to us, and belonging becomes even more important. Then we encounter some kind of crisis—uncertainty about whether and why we are valued, a negative outcome of the work we or the organization has done, or other challenging experiences—and we switch back to feeling that perhaps we don’t belong after all.
The question of group identity is core to the human experience. And the question of organizational identity is core to both individual and team effectiveness.
Join us on May 2 as Beth and Fernando help us explore ideas about what forms an organization’s identity and what happens when that identity starts to shift or change. Using tools from Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC), Beth and Fernando will provide practical guidance that enables you as a practitioner to help your clients or employer address this very important—and often misunderstood—aspect of organizational life.
Takeaways
Several tools you can put to immediate use with teams and organizations
A helpful framework for understanding the ways in which identity is formed and influenced
An overview of the organizational and relationship systems coaching model
Presenters Beth Shapiro is the founder of Sustainable Success and TeamSpirit, Inc. Beth coaches and consults on teaming, workforce engagement, leadership development, and human sustainability. She also designs and delivers powerful, custom experiential trainings aimed at increasing mission effectiveness. Beth is a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School and has served on the faculty of CRRGlobal and the Coaches Training Institute. Recent clients include the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, University of California at San Francisco, Greenpeace, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Fernando Lopez is principal of Bridgespace Consulting, Inc., a Toronto-based company that provides team and partnership coaching for clients including Microsoft and BMO Financial Group, as well as small entrepreneurial organizations. He is a graduate of the Wharton School, and serves on the faculty of both CRR Global and the Coaches Training Institute. Fernando has lived in New York City, Maui, Mexico, Munich, Toronto, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Chile. He speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and German.
