Brave Conversations
Workshops that build Psychologically Safe Cultures
Delivered as interactive half-day workshops, our Brave Conversations programs empower your teams to become agents of change by actively seeing and challenging systems that perpetuate inequality.
During these online or face-to-face programs, we upskill attendees with knowledge and tools so they can embrace differences better and deeply engage in complex discussions by focusing on their common humanity. This creates a strong sense of connection and community leading to a psychologically safe workplace and increased performance for all.
Men After #MeToo
Since #MeToo, masculinity has become synonymous with toxicity. There are a lot of men who don’t really know who they are, or how to connect with people in healthy ways.
In this workshop, we explore key issues of gender in an open, inclusive and respectful manner to explore how to be a good bloke in a world after #MeToo.
I’m Not Racist, But…
Most of us already know that overt racism is a bad thing, but sometimes that’s just not enough.
This workshop helps you go beyond simply ‘not being racist’ and empowers you to actively see and challenge systems that perpetuate and uphold racial inequities.
You Can’t Say That!
Many people think they are not allowed to disagree anymore, for fear of being “Cancelled”. In this workshop, we show you how to create a psychologically safe space that understands privilege and power, so you can have genuine dialogue without shutting down disagreement, whilst still being empathetic and respectful.
Cultural Humility Training
Using a distinctly anthropological approach, we help you to have transformative conversations about culture in a way that it accounts for power and privilege, whilst building cultural, psychological and emotional safety in your workplace. In this workshop, we give you practical tools to “see” culture operating in our everyday lives.
Being Human
We all know what we are supposed to do to maintain well-being and remain resilient in the face of life’s challenges and changes. We are saturated by people telling us what we “should” do. But, what we really need is greater human connection. In this workshop we create a culture of greater connection, not just in the workplace, but in your lives.
Rituals for Change
Throughout history humans have used rituals to deal with life’s challenges, to nudge cultures to remain aligned to their values, and to mark special moments. In this workshop we learn how to use rituals to have brave conversations and be agents of change in your workplace or community.
Diversity 101
In this workshop, we introduce you to the foundational concepts for understanding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Belonging. You will learn about how gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, disability, unconscious biases, micro-aggressions, allyship and cultural humility affects the way we interact with each other. You'll get tools to deal with it in a respectful and empathetic way.
The Brave Conversations Framework
A tool for facilitating difficult or sensitive conversations in a structured and supportive way, Brave Conversations is built on a framework that can be used across a variety of contexts, including sensitive topics like race, gender and mental health.
Creating a safe and supportive space for people to share their perspectives and experiences, while also helping to manage strong emotions and prevent conflicts from escalating forms the foundation of the experience. With a strong focus on empathy, Brave Conversations encourages participants to try and understand the other person's perspective, even if they don’t agree with it, helping to create a sense of mutual respect, which can in turn help to manage difficult emotions and opinions.
Brave Conversations sees the translation of academia into an everyday practice, leading to an increase in understanding and empathy among participants, as well as leads to more productive and effective communication.
The framework explores four perspectives on these challenging topics, recognising that different people approach these topics from various contexts and experiences;
Head: Participants explore facts, data, and statistics about the issue at hand.
Heart: Participants explore their experiences and feelings about the issue.
Gut: Participants discuss the ethical or moral implications of the issue.
Hands: Participants develop action plans and make commitments to take specific steps to address the issue.
How It Works
With its roots in Anthropology, Brave Conversations provides the tools for people to access creative solutions to complex problems. Bringing a human-centric approach to everything we do, we equip organisations with the skills, knowledge and confidence to talk about the things that matter and drive positive change.
Whether your goal is to create more innovative solutions for customers or create a more equitable culture within your company, learning to work with difference and conflict is a necessary skill set to build.
Brave Conversations is based around four core themes; race, gender, mental health and using rituals to create meaningful change.
Testimonials
“Monty is a passionate and inspirational facilitator who has a natural and warm ability to engage his audience. Drawing on the value of human story, Monty is able to build connections between participants in a very short time. He has a gift of being able to foster positive relationships in what I can only describe as a truly transformative experience!”
Julie, Senior Manager