A Conversation with Nadja Taranczewski on the 13th of March 2020

Introduction: Nadjeschda (Nadja) Taranczewski has a Master of Psychology accreditation, is a Master Certified Coach and works as a coach, author and keynote speaker. Nadja is the author of the book Conscious You: Become the hero of your own story and she is currently working on her second book the Conscious Tribe Playbook.

Podcast episode summary: This episode talks about Nadja's focus in the world to support leaders reinvent their organisations to become conscious tribes. 4 meta competencies infuse her work: Self Reflection, Self -Compassion, Ownership and Deep Dialogue. The conversation on the Game of Teams Podcast spoke predominantly to two of those competencies Self Reflection and Deep Dialogue. Nadja also described her blended learning program, a six-month program that cuts across boundaries and allows for individual and organisation learning simultaneously.

Points made through the episode:

• Nadja is fiercely independent and her strong value for freedom has informed how she navigates life and with whom she chooses to connect for meaningful relations. She transports this degree of clarity into her work helping clients become self-aware and conscious of the choices they are making
• Asking questions, reflecting back and listening are the tools to develop deep connection
• Nadja wants to ignite the "flame" buried deep in every individual to become the Heroes of our own narratives.
• She believes the principles of deep dialogue and listening to each other can fuel the flames of potential we have in each of us
• Any place where 2 or more people come together is complex. Relationships are messy and armed with our vulnerabilities we can fight proxy wars that mask what is truly going on for us inside. We need rituals and practices to stop hiding.
• Nadja helps teams by employing four "Meta-Competencies" Self-Reflection, Self-Compassion, Ownership and Deep Dialogue
• Nadja helps teams talk about what matters from a place of compassion, deep listening and co-creation principles
• In a world that can suffer ADD where we are impatient for results Nadja shares that it is important for us to reframe the work. Self-Reflection work takes time. Changing the structure of a team's operating model or culture takes time. It is not a quick fix.
• Nadja and her company CU offer six -month programs of blended learning to afford individual development and organisational culture change simultaneously
• Deep Dialogue is supported by a principle of buddying, often across functions. Doing so affords immediate psychological safety and an opportunity to learn widely
• The same buddying system can be employed on teams where deep dialogue can support real understanding and removes the need to fix or provide solutions but instead allow team member really to see and hear each other. It is a transformative practice
• Nadja describes deep dialogue as a space where time slows down, where it is not about a destination but a conversation for understanding. She offers scripts to people to help with the practice but largely the advice is not to discuss, not to interrupt but to chew over a question for example and allow 3 mins each side to simply be received by another
• Source Energy: Nadja explains the origin and writer of this concept Peter Kreunig which explodes the myth that purpose is co-created.
• Principle of energy means there is someone who had the original spark for an idea or project and took the first risk. He/she is infused with the import or purpose and values of that same idea. Nadja describes her process in getting at collective buy in and shared understanding for the source energy.
• Leadership according to Nadja has a lot more to do with the willingness and capacity of a leader to do deep inner work more than what used to be regarded as leadership with a focus on technical work.
• Nadja describes her first book Conscious U: Become the here of your own story -How to have a self -authored life, which often entails rewriting an old narrative.
• Her new book that is soon to be released is called the Conscious Tribe Playbook. That book will share ideas about how to reinvent organisations to become a thriving community where people invest their inner work, understand the big picture, invest in deep relations and cultivate conscious rituals.
• Conscious U offers a blended learning coaching program which makes cultural transformation scalable by promoting employee engagement and conscious development across all levels of the organisation
• Covid 19 despite the obvious emotional field of fear, uncertainty and in some cases panic, offers the chance for all of us to adapt to a more digital knowing and appreciation that can allow for greater productivity over time and still allows for connection.

Resources: the following include the resources we alluded to over the course of our conversation

1. conscious-u.com
2. CU*I a blended learning program for organisations
3. Conscious You: Become the Hero of your own Story by Nadjeschda Taranczewski
4. Chapter 4, The Transformation Map:

https://www.conscious-u.com/podcast/CU_Become-the-Hero_C4_The-Transformation-Map.pdf

1. Two free resources: https://www.conscious-u.com/1377-2/