Kelle Sparta Corporate Shaman

Eastern Medicine Meets
Western Business To Create Exceptional Results

The Soul of Business

Every business has a soul, a spirit, an energy of its own that it uses to bring itself into the world. It is this energy that powers the business, motivates the employees and inspires its customers. The soul of a business is initially created through the founder’s vision. Then it is powered through the shared values and efforts of the employees of the company. It is shaped by the brand image and marketing; and finally it is cemented by the customer’s experience.

Every aspect of your business colors the energy of the business.

• Employee attitude, morale, and health
• Management’s attitude, morale, and health
• Brand image
• Marketing
• Sales process
• Internal politics
• Customer service experience design
• Compensation plans
• Corporate values and vision
• Work environment
• And more…

The Role of the Shaman

For millennia in tribal traditions around the world, the role of the shaman has been to look after the soul of the tribe and all of the people within it. The shaman’s job is to keep the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of the tribe intact. They are the people who watch the patterns, the subtle underpinnings of the tribal unit that indicate where troubles may lurk or where opportunities may lie. They are the ones who notice when a member of the tribe is out of sorts and needing some support. And they are the ones to look at the bigger picture to make sure that what seems expedient in the moment actually serves the greater tribal good in the long run.

The Corporate Shaman

A business is a tribe just like any village. And keeping that tribe functioning at peak performance is more critical than any other function within the company because if the internal performance is dysfunctional, it shows up in the bottom line profits more quickly than you can imagine. As a Corporate Shaman, my job is to look after the well being of the corporate tribe and soul. How this manifests is different for each company since the spirit of each business is unique. Here are some examples of the types of things that a Corporate Shaman does for your business:

Working With The Tribe (Employees)

• Defusing and resolving challenging interpersonal politics within or between departments and people
• Identifying the underlying patterns that are hindering progress within the organization
• Monitoring employees to discover issues before they become problems
• Running programs to improve employee attitude, morale and motivation
• Creating team building exercises to improve departmental and interdepartmental productivity
• Designing stress-reliever exercises to reduce turnover and absenteeism
• Providing a friendly, confidential ear to all of the members of the corporate tribe from the janitor to the CEO.

Working With The Soul of the Business

• Bringing the brand image of the company into alignment with the values, vision, and customer experience of the company
• Surveying customers to determine whether current marketing reflects customer values
• Assist management in crafting an internal mission and staying true to that mission
• Identifying where processes and procedures are bogged down and helping to improve those flows
• Identifying opportunities to bring the corporate values into the community through public relations programs and socially conscious business practices.
• Re-visioning existing product and service lines and brand positioning to identify new potential target markets and marketing verticals.

The Role That Only The Corporate Shaman Can Play

Because of a Corporate Shaman’s unique position outside of the hierarchical structure, talking with me is usually neutral and non-threatening. Employees and managers will often confide in me long before they will tell their superiors about issues that could significantly impact the company. Serving as the corporate conscience, the voice of wisdom, experience, and reason and offering gentle direction and advice, I can help to smooth the way, ease the tension, and ensure that what needs to be known is shepherded to the right ears.

My Unique Skills

Having spent many years moving and coming into new communities, I’ve developed the ability to walk into a new group situation and within a short period of time, it feels like I’ve been there forever. I am easy to talk to and inspire confidence and trust. My non-judgmental approach to my interpersonal interactions makes me an easy choice for confidante.

Broad-Based Background In Business

Having run multiple businesses and being involved in many more, I have a broad-based business background with knowledge bases in all aspects of the corporate structure. This allows me to understand how the larger picture fits together and to be able to offer suggestions for cross-departmental optimizations. It also allows me to speak from a level of understanding to employees and managers about issues associated with their departments and positions. For more information about my background, see my resume.

Confidential Source of Support

As a contractor of the company, I sign a confidentiality agreement that allows me to speak to your employees about sensitive subjects. Unlike other coaches and counselors that your team may choose to employ on their own, I am under agreement to keep your trade secrets confidential.

How You Work With a Corporate Shaman

A Corporate Shaman doesn’t have to be present all the time to be effective. She merely needs to establish a relationship with the employees and managers and stay top-of-mind enough to be the person who comes to mind when they need guidance and support.

Establishing the Relationship

Typically, this entails establishing a relationship through one or more events and then having initial sessions with each person in the corporate tribe. Once this initial role has been established, then it’s a matter of being present and available and having a quiet, private space to meet with people.

On-Site Visits

Depending on the size of your company, I may need to be present at your site 1-3 times per week for anywhere from 4-8 hours a day.

Email Access

I will be available via email during the times that I am not on-site and employees and managers may schedule time with me for my next visit via email as well. A part of each on-site visit will be spent on the floor – surveying the work environment and making myself visible and available to those who don’t schedule appointments.

Visioning and Reflection

As part of my role as shaman, I am responsible for speaking to the spirit world about your business. I will spend time periodically doing shamanic journeys to get guidance from the spirit world for you. These journeys may, at your option, include members of specific teams, departments or management as well.

Management Focus Sessions

To be successful, all businesses require management to spend part of their time working on the business rather than in the business. As part of the work I do with the company, I will facilitate a focus session for managers to periodically (according to your schedule) take a day to work on their division rather than in it. These sessions will be part practical planning, goal setting, and problem solving as well as time to work on inter-departmental issues. And, because businesses that don’t innovate die, the other part of the sessions will be creative visioning to keep your managers’ innovation muscles in shape.

 

For More Information About Having
Your Own Corporate Shaman

Call Kelle Sparta at 508-243-6257