The Maasai MasterClass Live – November 2008
Jim Beaty: HR professional (most recently UK HR director at Kraft Foods)
Andrew McKichan: Manager, Senior Management Development, BMW AG, Munich
Ruth Newton-Jones, Ex-Managing Director, LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics.
Stephanie Jeffs: Head of Leadership Development for the UK, Ernst & Young LLP
Eric Anderson: Managing Partner, Smartpoint Advisory Services
Final reflections from the participants on their experience:
"This is not just a leadership programme, but more of an insight into excellent organisational communication, engagement and effectiveness. My main reflection is that one size does not fit all. It is important to understand the context and how the values of a culture or organisation explains its behaviours, to fully appreciate why certain things work in certain societies" Jim Beaty
"The reflection sessions, as well as the overall time spent with the group, were indeed challenging and run in a relaxed and open manner. Some of the best conversations were had around the campfire at night, with a G&T in hand, watching the sun setting over the Kenyan bush."Andrew McKichan
"The only expectation I had was to come back from the trip a different person and I did!! The experiences we had over the week could not fail to have a huge impact. The way the Massai live is so fundamentally different to the way we live in the West. It was so refreshing and challenging to learn so much in such a short period of time and a real privilege to be able to do so in this open, friendly environment."Ruth Newton-Jones
"I'd been waiting to be part of this experience for a long time. My expectations were to explore another culture and immerse myself into the ways of a tribe and from this, to consider another perspective on leadership - and how environment, community and attitude impact that leadership. We spent time with the tribal elders and asked them questions on leadership. We gained some wonderful insights, for example talking with the local school teacher, Jennifer, was a unique insight into the life of a woman playing a non traditional role in the community."Stephanie Jeffs
"ChangeMaker provided me with this unique exposure to the Maasai's extraordinary way of life and a really successful and long term sustainable organisational and business model (to identify just a couple of aspects of the overall experience). This was a fabulous way to "massively shift" my focus and thinking about how business works and how people can engage with each other to create something successful, and also take care of their own."Eric Anderson
On the Territory Mapping© process:
"Territory Mapping highlights how we think about the environment in which we live and exposes the blind spots we sometimes have in our everyday lives".Jim Beaty
"I could imagine in a business setting that by comparing individual maps, differing perspectives would be surfaced and challenged. It certainly helped that we were able to do the exercise within the overall context of the Maasai and Kenya."Andrew McKichan
"Most companies would have books of strategy documents to say what a territory map can say in 1 page…A territory map should be the first page in any company plan."Ruth Newton-Jones
"It was a simple and effective way to get individuals to open up in a non threatening way - particularly impactful for people in organisations where an understanding of each other at a human level would help make some real shifts. That's probably most organisations that I know."Stephanie Jeffs
"Territory Mapping provides a very real set of visual anchor points to, say, one’s company career, important milestones and key people, in a way that endless PowerPoint’s delivered in conference rooms - that set out to describe more or less the same metrics - simply fail to do." Eric Anderson
