vital people vital enterprise -
Joyce Bleby
Founding Director, Centre for Leadership of Organisational Culture
“Organisations which move early to invest in their cultural potential will be able to advance into their business potentials with new power sooner. This will appear mysterious to those who will still be operating from their functional mindset in an attempt to generate the proverbial "blood from a turnip". They will eventually catch on and the distinguishing character and power of the strong culture organisation will become more commonplace. The experienced leaders, however, will be further down the track, evolving the new faces of business to come.”
General Manager QLD, Vodafone
“The current ‘bias for action’ in business often makes people feel guilty about taking time to have deep conversations. In my experience committed action comes from clear thinking and peoples emotional energy. I have often found it useful to create forums for informal conversations, drawing on external facilitation like Thorin’s. The stimulation always refreshes thinking and relationships in my teams and I do this at all levels from the frontline to senior leadership. Aside from the ‘soft’ benefits, the investment simply makes for better business results.”
Operations Manager, Diageo
“I wanted to improve cohesion and the morale in my team. We didn’t start with a rigid format for the two day workshop. On the first morning Thorin led an agenda forming session. I contributed my views along with everyone else, so I got to be one of the team. We used a sorting process to prioritise the topics which gave us a clear direction for the rest of the workshop. I like that Thorin often takes on a challenging position to really test our thinking and my team were very engaged because the issues in play were important to everyone. Finally, being an Operations Manager I like concrete action! Thorin’s background and approach means we stay practical and actions that are developed are owned by the team. There is no doubt the investment improved our teamwork and relationships which gives us a solid base for achieving our goals this year.”
Dr. Max Schupbach
President, Maxfxx
“I can recommend Thorin highly as an astute and highly capable consultant and facilitator. In the course of our collaboration, I really appreciate the thoughts and work and insight that went into his contributions and feedback. It showed the accuracy of his work and down to earth professionalism that I saw. Any company using Thorin is making a great choice.”
Managing and Creative Director, Fabmosphere
“In the past I have struggled with effective communication across my team. In the last 12 months I have worked closely with Thorin, inviting him to open discussion and coach the crew and management personnel. I have found a shift in thinking on the floor and in the office. Everyone is more aware of each other and we all now know who enjoys what, which allows Fabmosphere as a whole, to be the best at what we are best at! To describe the process I would relate it to gardening. If the soil or the thoughts around the plant or person are not kept fresh then the person will lose direction and fade. A strong gardener can come in and weed and nourish and prune and focus. Then you have a team who are more united and can see the fruits of their labour.”
Consultant, Rogen
“I just wanted to share with you a great experience I had using the I Ching. There was a situation at work that I was unsure how to best handle. Rather than take the first course of action, I waited and consulted the I Ching. The counsel really spoke to me, it was quite incredible. Every single word meant something with regards the situation. I was better able to rationalise the problem and think through a course of action. The outcome is not yet determined however my approach to resolving the issue has been significantly more positive. So, many thanks, your coaching has been really valuable.”