Meg Mateer is co-hosting the introductory webinar on the 15th of July. She interviewed Robert Stamboliev for her own podcast breakdownwakeup.com. This is reason enough to ask a couple of questions to Meg and introduce her to you all.
So, what’s your story, tell us about your work
“I work as an organizational psychologist and coach. I have a background in psychology and management consulting. As a consultant, I worked at various kinds of companies and I began to notice that the difference between teams that performed well and those that didn’t was how deeply connected the teams were. Teams that outperformed others had personal and group abilities that allowed them to, for example, work through conflicts and have clear communication. In the end, with these teams, there is a deeper connection that lies below the surface of simply collaborating. This growing observation inspired me to start my own company, Empatiko, to help cultivate the qualities in leaders and teams to develop that deep connection.
The purpose of Empatiko is to build a human connections in business and beyond. We develop coaching and personal development programs for organizations and we combine them with existing innovation processes like Lean, Agile, and other less bureaucratic methods for collaboration. Empatiko has a social mission and part of our profits go to our own developed social impact programs to make self-awareness and connection practices more accessible to the public. One of our social impact projects is Empatiko city hacks, where people invent creative ways to connect in public spaces, like getting a bunch of adult strangers to play childhood games in the Museum Square in Amsterdam.
What does voice dialogue mean to you?
“It is a compassionate comprehensive method for self and relational understanding. I use it in many areas of my life to understand myself better. For example, I have a primary self that is a bit like a pleaser – this part is really good at adapting to what other people want in order to help me feel safe in relationships. But I realized that I was also getting frustrated when I adapted so much and didn’t get anything back. Through Voice Dialogue I became aware of this dynamic. Now I can check in with my more selfish part to see what I really need, express these needs, and be more flexible. I also use Voice Dialogue as a lens from which to look at organizations and their teams. For example, I coach leaders and bring Voice Dialogue into my coaching work. Voice Dialogue also helps me to better understand organizational challenges. For example, we often talk about different primary selves versus disowned selves on an individual level, but teams, departments, and companies also have primary selves and disowned selves. A classic example: the finance department of any organization is very analytical, detail-oriented, and structured. On the other hand, the marketing department has typically very creative, and outside of the box thinking primary self. Usually, these departments have a hard time understanding each other. If they can understand each other’s values and by incorporating a bit of each other’s value-energies, they can not only work better together but can become more balanced and effective as individual departments.”
How did you get to know ITP
“I came across the books of Hal and Sidra Stone and they really resonated with me – in a few months I read all of their books! Voice Dialogue was a groundbreaking coaching tool for me. Not just for coaches and therapists but also for leaders. Right now I’m following the year-long program and we just did the module on energy. One of the most important things I learned was that I can open and close my own energy centers, doing it consciously and through my body, not just as a cognitive exercise. This awareness to choose when my energy centers are open and ready to connect and when they need to be closed and restore my own connection to myself is very helpful for me both as a coach and in many other aspects of my life. ”
Want to join the webinar on the 15th of July? Register here.
-text Chulah Berkowitz
Read this Voice Dialogue E-book for free!
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All trainings are provided by Institute for Transformational Psychology (ITP)