The brief

To design an utterly unique two day annual conference in Estonia. To stimulate understanding of why ‘authentic leadership and presence’ are fundamental to the business’ development in a challenging and changing global environment.

The Wizards

The two day experiential programme was delivered by Wizards Ruby Wax and Simon Strong.

Ruby combines her television experience with formal training in Psychotherapy and Neuroscience.

Simon harnesses the talent of individuals by working with the primal laws of human nature, facilitated through techniques from improvisational theatre.

Day One - Behavioural Coaching for 100 leaders

Ruby and Simon ran a workshop for 100 leaders where they learnt techniques to enable them to create stronger relationships with colleagues in order to be more effective leaders.

Day Two - Unearthing the loves and fears of 550 staff

The 100 leaders were joined by 450 members of staff for the second day. The Wizards were comperes for the day, running warm-ups, making announcements and even hosting a spoof game show, quizzing the leaders on their knowledge of the company (and ability to dance traditional Estonian folk dances).

In the afternoon the leaders were interviewed “On The Couch With Ruby Wax”. The Skype leadership team were grilled by the ever inquisitive Ruby, revealing to the company their extraordinary and previously unknown personal histories (including human rights law, kidnap, sinking into quicksand, the mysterious case of the missing cat and preferred methods of dying). The candid interviews helped to build a much richer picture of the personalities and motivation of the Skype leaders. By revealing more of the ‘whole’ person, the individual leaders become ‘real’ people, setting up the possibility for open and honest relationships that are robust enough to manage the complex realities of modern business.

Result

“I chose the Wizards because their values matched ours: innovative, different and disruptive.

The Wizards had to work with a lot of culture variations and they managed it extremely well. Our objectives changed and I appreciated that the Wizards flexed with us.

People found them informal and direct, they enjoyed it.

What the activity did was bring a level of authenticity into the actions we have. It encouraged us as leaders and people to remove our masks and it helped us create a new language. Importantly it also gave people a voice in a safe environment.”

Annemie Rensburg
Global Human Resource Director
Skype