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Empowering women in leadership through awareness and connection
I am always inspired to see awareness turn into action, especially in the hospitality sector, to which I have been deeply attached through almost five years of managerial experience in the field of human resources management.
On Monday, I had a great reason to visit Dubrovnik. At the invitation of the Director of Human Resources at Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik, Zorica Duić, I held a workshop as part of the F&B Inclusion program. The program is dedicated to empowering women in leadership in the food and beverage sector.
Through the Gestalt approach, we explored how awareness of self, others and the situation (SOS model), together with understanding inner saboteurs (Positive Intelligence), can help women lead with more presence, clarity and balance.
What touches me again and again is the openness and courage of women who keep systems in action every day: when they connect through awareness and support, the space for change becomes real.
Thank you to the Hilton HR team, Zorica Duić and Anita Novak, and the entire F&B team, for the trust and space for such dialogue and development.
It is precisely such encounters that build a culture of inclusion and meaningful leadership.
Applying the principles of Gestalt therapy in coaching
The purpose of this article is to provide a concise overview of the application of some of the most significant principles of Gestalt therapy in coaching, a relatively new and insufficiently recognized method of professional development in Croatia. The first part of the article describes the definitions of coaching, its goals and the profile of experts who deal with this field. In coaching, the emphasis is on the development of the client’s professional self (e.g. on the development of business skills, on preparation for a new role, etc.), so it is necessary that the coach in the work process, in addition to the client, also focuses on the client’s organization. Successful coaching requires a range of psychological, therapeutic, consulting and business knowledge and skills. In the second part of the article, it is described how classic terms from Gestalt therapy, such as field, figure and background, awareness, paradox of change, presence and contact, contribute to understanding the coaching process and how a coaching expert, educated in the field of Gestalt therapy (Gestalt coach), supports the change and development of the client. Gestalt and coaching, above all, share a view of the client as a healthy, complete person, who, with adequate support from the environment, is capable of responding creatively to the demands of the situation. The prerequisite for change is the client’s awareness of the situation they are in and their acceptance of it as it is, which leads to the release of energy and readiness for new choices. Gestalt coaching work is process-based and based on dialogue, which the coach encourages through various techniques such as questioning, sharing observations, experimentation, and, above all, through his or her constant, authentic presence.
Your partner in development
Gestalt Coaching was the topic of the last module of the second generation of the Gestalt Practitioner in Organizations (GPO) program, which we held in early April.
It has been practiced in organizational settings for several decades, and it represents the use of the principles and premises of Gestalt therapy in coaching as a method of professional development.
In addition to discussing the concept and principles of coaching, we practiced presence, the phenomenological approach, and the use of creative techniques.
In practice, we often do not distinguish between observations and our fantasies, ideas. We consider our fantasies about what is happening with another person and in our environment to be truths. The phenomenological approach that advocates observing the obvious, blocking our own assumptions, and active curiosity is embedded in Gestalt Coaching.
A true encounter can begin at the point where we begin to distinguish our experience from the experience of another person.
In this photo are our brave participants Sanja Petek Mujačić and Isa Zivanovic, who demonstrated one such encounter.
As always, it was particularly inspiring to lead this module with Angelika B., we will continue in May!
#gestalt #coaching #organizationaldevelopment