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Alpha Presencesm is the state of comfort
and confidence while in a relationship that invites
trust and engagement.
When we are in the state of Alpha
Presencesm we are so
filled with confidence that no matter what twists
or turns a conversation takes, we are able to be
there with the other person as our primary focus.
This is what we mean by - “the
power of absolute engagement.”
sm reflects
three elements that create the power of absolute
engagement.
- – The
ability to focus on the other person fully, bypassing
our internal filters and prejudices.
- – Our
energy and passion congruent with our body,
voice and content.
- – The
belief that we have the right to exercise leadership.
We have all experienced moments like
this in our lives. Now, Alpha Presencesm training
is dedicated to finding those moments in your life
and teaching you to expand them at will.
Our power to influence and inspire comes primarily
through our personal presence and the quality of
our personal and professional relationships.
Executives report that at critical
times, performance anxiety, urgency to act, self-consciousness
and fear of failure impedes their ability to be fully
present. It is exactly in these critical moments
that they should be building successful relationships
rather than just putting out fires. Alpha Presencesm training creates a new level of leadership skill
that translates into effective organization building.
Relationships are the energy
of organizations. The energy level of teams working
in corporations, on projects or in start-ups is
only as great as the quality of the relationships
in the teams. To increase organizational energy,
improve the relationship volume. Think of each
person on a team as a ball of energy. Their energy
is self-contained and can be released only through
a “relationship pipe” connected
to other people on the team. The smaller the pipe,
the less energy it can exchange. The larger the pipe,
the greater the exchange of energy and the greater
the amount of energy available to the organization.
In a competitive business world, this can make a
critical difference.
Changing how we behave in relationships
means changing how we respond in personal situations.
Although Alpha Presencesm teaches what to do in the
abstract, it must be practiced real-time in relationships.
In our single-topic webinars, teleseminars and self-guided
products, we set the stage by framing a particular
issue. Then, we assign homework so the client is
able to practice real-time experiments while in relationship
with others.
In our face-to-face workshops,
trainers model and practice with our clients a
precise process that, although radical and personal,
is also a positive and self-reinforcing experience.
This process allows significant shifts in perspective.
Our long term follow through program allows clients
to exercise their “presence muscle” until
it becomes their default mode of relating.
We isolate the positive behaviors that create personal
presence and invite our clients to experience these
in a series of safe and controlled incremental
exercises. The order, length and context of each
of these exercises vary with the type of meeting,
group, time and agreed outcome.
We deliver intellectual concepts with stories and
by modeling personal presence. This sets the context
for the highly personal exercises that follow.
We frame these as a personal adventure, an experiment
with no wrong outcome. Clients are willing to quickly
explore new experiences as they feel confident
in our new relationship.
We use guided imagery to create in our clients
a state of awareness of their normal behaviors
without judgment or effort. Our goal is to create
an “impartial
observer” or “witness” for each
of our participants. The next step is to allow their “observer” to
notice internal and external events without effort
or trying. Once they are in a state of ease, we ask
clients to imagine several people in their minds
and, one by one, we allow them to establish rapport
without effort. Each guided imagery exercise closes
with a time for issues and comments to surface.
Once the stage is set and our clients are
able to imagine a relationship with no
judgment or effort, we break into pairs
or the client works with a trainer. After
some discussion and explanation, the pairs
face each other. With a stopwatch, we time fifteen
seconds while they maintain eye contact with each
other with no feedback, facial expression or words. This process breaks normal relationship
habits because it overwhelms the brain with stimulation.
Because most people have never experienced this
much unpressured eye contact, their normal train
of thought has a “train
wreck.” This allows the client to create a
new set of behaviors, experiences and expectations
while in relationship because the old model is temporarily
overwhelmed.
We discuss the experience, giving everyone time
to talk about what they noticed. The reports typically
range from ecstasy to agony.
This process is repeated with
increasing time limits, and always without words.
Typically, everyone in the group soon becomes comfortable
and reports pleasant sensations similar to reports
of people who meditate. Once the pleasure of relationship
without the typical baggage is experienced, the “presence muscle” becomes
a self-exercising positive spiral. Most “Presentation
Training” workshops try to teach the “pause” as
a technique. We give the pause the power it deserves
by building comfort as the first step.
Incrementally, more behaviors
are added such as release of social effort, tolerance
for focus, speaking, and positive regard. All the
additional, incremental steps are built on the
premise that the emerging relationship drives the
participant’s behavior
while leaving their agenda preserved and available.
Each participant then takes a series of turns in
front of the entire group or with the trainer.
The first short turn is simply maintaining eye
contact with a partner. Then, several extended
turns add eye contact with the larger group,
speaking to the group, and content development. By this time, most participants
are speaking with a new voice that isn’t
rehearsed but is genuine and unique. In many cases,
a speech evolves out of the relationship with the
audience that is as powerful as any rehearsed speech
by a professional speaker.
Vocal training, body posture and energy
development can also be built on the Alpha Presencesm foundation in advanced work.
The effectiveness of the new behavior is accelerated
by ongoing group practice. Alpha Peer Groups are
created with guidelines and rules that allow the
participants to safely practice the discrete behaviors.
Depending on the desired outcome of the seminar
or in subsequent seminars, Alpha Presencesm applications
for developing advanced skills in leadership,
sales, negotiations, public speaking and team
building can be introduced using the Alpha Presencesm foundation
that has been created.
Richard Friesen, CEO
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