Big Waves

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Toronto, ON
Big Waves

Leadership development, conflict transformation, organizational change, systems thinking and doing.

To create a more socially, economically and environmentally just world, we must act on the personal, organizational and social level. Big Waves supports organizations and changemakers to build capacity, skills and imagination to enact their vision for the future.

11/22/2022

I've been doing course prep all week, and I am VERY excited about Generative Conflict: Leadership Skills for Healthy Workplaces!
It's going to be a mishmash of all the things I love: getting nerdy about conflict, hands-on skills building, learning from each other's experience, learning from our bodies, and thinking about lots of complex topics related to creating healthy and inclusive workplaces.

We're going to explore the following questions:
✔️ How can conflict be generative and not destructive?
✔️ How do we build a container that supports relationships?
✔️ How do we work with our fight/flight/freeze conflict habits?
✔️ What kinds of communication skills help leaders move through conflict?
✔️ How do we navigate power dynamics?
✔️ How could we move toward caring and inclusive workplace cultures?
Check it out on my website or message me for more information.

https://bigwaves.ca/generative-conflict/

05/03/2022

💕 Posted • 📣 FreeFrom is launching a cash assistance fund for survivors who need help in covering the costs to safely get an abortion. Donate at the link in our bio.

We cannot talk about economic safety and physical safety for survivors without reproductive justice. Survivors must have access to healthcare services and full control over their own bodies.

This will be a nationwide fund that any survivor of gender-based violence can apply to in order to cover the full costs associated with getting an abortion out of state, such as transportation, lodging, etc.

The first step is to raise money and we need your help.

Can you invest in this fund and share it with anyone else you think might be interested in doing the same? Anything you can give will go directly to survivors. FreeFrom does not keep a fee, and your donation is 100% tax deductible.

Thank you for your commitment to survivors’ safety. We are so grateful to be in community with you.

The FreeFrom team

—

[Image description: Screenshot of FreeFrom’s fundraiser on GoFundMe.com. The GoFundMe logo is green at the top. Below is a graphic that says “National Abortion Access Fund for Survivors” in large text. In smaller text, it also says “Support survivors of gender-based violence in covering the costs to access safe abortions. Donate here: bit.ly/SurvivorAbortionAccessFund” Surrounding the text are icons including brown hands, flowers, and leaves.]

04/27/2022

Don’t forget to sign up for this FREE webinar next Thursday May 5th! Link in bio

Posted • FREE WEBINAR: Join Big Waves for a free, one-hour webinar to deepen your understanding of workplace conflict and how to prevent it!

You might be interested in this webinar if you:
- Have a hunch your workplace could be more effective at dealing with conflict
- Are concerned about the quality of relationships in your workplace
- Feel frustrated and confused by how toxic or hostile interactions feel at work

This webinar will be most helpful for people in a formal leadership or change-maker role in their workplace, but anyone with an interest in conflict is welcome!

By the end of this webinar you will:
- Understand the phases of conflict, and some of the ways you can intervene
- Understand some of the costs of letting conflict escalate and the benefits of early intervention
- Explore a case study
- Feel less alone in the chaos!

MAKE SURE TO REGISTER IN EVENTBRITE TO GET THE ZOOM LINK! Link in bio or ⤵️

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-case-for-healthy-conflict-cultures-tickets-292770403157

03/21/2022

I'm developing some principles of generative conflict for my upcoming course, and I was thinking that one important conflict skill is being able to be a "deep sea diver."

Lots of people would say to try to practice non-judgment or to not assume, but I think that is close to impossible. Our brains are wired to judge and assume, and that is especially true when we disagree with someone. But curiosity can be an antidote, and it is something we can develop.

People and relationships are extraordinarily complex. Curiosity helps us deepen our understanding of that complexity. We can’t transform what we don’t understand.

Like the ocean, a conflict looks one way on the surface, and we tend to make judgments and assumptions based on that appearance. But if you take a peek under the surface, there is a whole lot of surprising things going on. It's worth taking a trip under the water.

For more on curiosity and other principles of generative conflict, check out my course starting in May! https://bigwaves.ca/courses/generative-conflict/
Or check out the link in bio!

[ID: Image of jellyfish floating on a teal background. Words over the image say: "Generative Conflict Principle #4: We strive to be curious and ask before assuming. What stories are we telling ourselves? What's under the surface?"]

03/17/2022

The things my girlfriend does to the dog when I’m not looking 🤷🏻😂

Posted •

03/16/2022

I've been doing course prep all week, and I am VERY excited about Generative Conflict: Leadership Skills for Healthy Workplaces!

It's going to be a mishmash of all the things I love: getting nerdy about conflict, hands-on skills building, learning from each other's experience, learning from our bodies, and thinking about lots of complex topics related to creating healthy and inclusive workplaces.

We're going to explore the following questions:
🔥How can conflict be generative and not destructive?
🍵How do we build a container that supports relationships?
🧠How do we work with our fight/flight/freeze conflict habits?
🗣What kinds of communication skills help leaders move through conflict?
⚡️How do we navigate power dynamics?
🌈How could we move toward caring and generative workplace cultures?

Check it out in the link in bio or message me for more information. There's an early bird rate until April 15th!

[ID: purple flame on black background with a small circular headshot of a person smiling in a blue white and red sweater. The blue Big Waves logo is next to her head. Words say “Generative Conflict: Leadership Skills for Healthy Workplaces Tuesdays May 17 to June 21, 2022, 1:00-3:30 pm EST]

03/14/2022

I'm excited to announce the launch of two new courses starting in May for organizational leaders and change makers!

Over the last couple of years, in conversations with clients, collaborators and friends, the topic keeps coming back to the difficulty of maintaining relationships and supporting meaningful dialogue in the workplace. There are so many topics that feel too explosive. It doesn't have to be this way. It is possible to find a way to deeper understanding and healthier relationships.

Generative Conflict: Leadership Skills for Healthy Workplaces (Online).
- Develop your personal awareness of your conflict habits and create more choices for yourself through embodied practice
- Deepen your leadership capacity to support open and respectful dialogue on your team
- Build your toolbox of conflict transformation skills such as curious listening, clear communication, and perspective taking
- Strategize about how to create conditions for healthy conflict in your workplace

CoResolve: Introduction to Deep Democracy (In Halifax).
- Learn a practical five-step method of group facilitation for surfacing different perspectives and making lasting decisions that people feel good about
- Tap into what's going on under the surface of a conversation, and access the wisdom of a group
- Recognize and overcome resistance to decision making
- Hear all perspectives and draw out diverse opinions
- Developed by psychologists Myrna & Greg Lewis and inspired by Arnold Mindell's Process Orientated Psychology, and taught all over the world.

Check out the courses on my page at link in bio or send me a message for more information. More information about each course coming soon!

[ID pink and blue sky with clouds on the background with the words Launching new courses! Generative Conflict: Leadership Skills for Healthy Workplaces. CoResolve: Introduction to Deep Democracy

03/06/2022

Nothing teaches change and continuity like the ocean. Every time I visit this beach it is different, transformed by tides and surf. Some days it’s long expanse of sand and others it’s rocks and tide pools. After a storm it is covered with kelp and then it is slowly pulled back to break apart in the salty waves. And yet the ocean itself is unperturbed. What are the patterns of change and continuity in your life? What are the things that help you keep continuity in the face of unpredictability?

02/23/2022

Another lovely coaching testimonial! Thank you!!

“I first reached out to Brook to learn how to better deal with conflicts in my workplace. Whenever there was a conflict, my thoughts, feelings and body would freeze. Within a few sessions, I had mastered the art of leaning into the conversation and staying present to be able to speak my truth. I am so grateful for Brook being present, grounded, and curious, and able to hold space for all of my emotions. Unlike other modalities, doing this somatic work with Brook has allowed me to unearth the subconscious beliefs and create new supportive beliefs that are my go-to now. I am now able to show up in my full power, calm, grounded, and able to speak up and out when the need arises. Thank you for being you and the work that you do Brook!” - Fiona, Coaching Client

For more information about Embodied Leadership Coaching Packages see link in bio

[ID: words above on a background of a purple watermark with a white illustration of a wave. The words BIG WAVES in blue in the left corner.]

02/16/2022

Embodied Leadership Coaching Package!

This six-session one-on-one coaching package is for established or emerging leaders or change makers who want to bring their embodied experiences and actions into alignment with their values and goals.

I use somatic practices, systems awareness, creativity and play, narrative methods, and other coaching techniques. Together, we will dive into a particular leadership struggle or dilemma that is leading you to feel stuck, out of touch with your life energy, or out of sync with your leadership values.

In six sessions over three months, we will:

🧭 Map your inner journey (one session): Get to know each other. Uncover the goal you are wanting to achieve, and how you will know we have been successful.
💖 Build your resources (one session): Learn about your nervous system’s adaptive responses. Deepen and discover your unique personal resources.
🌱 Shift a habit pattern (three sessions*): This is the core of the work. With support and lots of curiosity, get to know a pattern that is no longer serving you, and witness as it shifts and changes.
🌄 Sense what’s next on the journey (one session): Integrate new experiences and learning. Plan for new actions. Create your personal vision of what’s next on the journey.

*Three sessions are often enough to shift habitual patterns in one targeted area of leadership, but sometimes more is needed. There is always the option to extend the package on an as-needed basis.

Contact Big Waves to schedule a complimentary 20 minute discovery meeting.

More information on my website at https://bigwaves.ca/offerings/leadership/ or contact me directly! Link in bio

Image description in comments

02/11/2022

Here's Part 2 of my blog, Preventing Workplace Conflict!

The most effective route to a conflict-resilient organization is to create a healthy workplace in which people feel comfortable and empowered to raise concerns, share ideas, and talk about difficult issues.
While creating a preventative culture is a change process that happens over time, here are some concrete things to consider to move your workplace in that direction.

Link to full blog in bio!

[ID: All three images have a background of a group of people giving each other high fives over a table covered in papers, computers, and other work items. There is a window behind them. First image says: Preventing Workplace Conflict Part 2. Second image says “What are the specific reasons people in your workplace don’t come forward about a problem? Start asking questions about what might be happening under the surface.” Third image says “Read the full blog post at bigwaves.ca”]

02/02/2022

What if the solution’s been inside you all along?

Big Waves can support you to reconnect with your wise body. Guide yourself, from the inside out, to your destinations.

Big Waves is launching an Embodied Leadership Coaching Package!

For established or emerging leaders or change makers who want to bring their embodied experiences and actions into alignment with their values.

This six-session offering combines somatic practices with systems awareness, creativity and play, and other coaching techniques. Together, we will dive into a particular leadership struggle or dilemma that is leading you to feel stuck, out of touch with your life energy, or out of sync with your leadership values.

Some examples of why you might choose Embodied Leadership Coaching include:

🌱Embody your values of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion
🌱Approach interpersonal conflict or challenging relationships feeling resourced and curious
🌱Feel more alignment between your purpose, vision and actions
🌱Step into your power in ways that are aligned with your values
🌱Embody healthy, safe and inspiring organizational and group cultures
🌱Decrease the power of personal triggers and limiting beliefs that get in the way of leadership

More information on my website at https://bigwaves.ca/offerings/leadership/ or contact me directly! Link to webpage in bio

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Toronto, ON
M4K1N2

Website

http://bigwaves.ca/

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