Be the leader you wished you had
At The New Quo, we create inspiring and transformational learning experiences that unleashes a new status quo on leadership and behavior change through trainings, facilitated conversations, online courses, and coaching. We understand the journey of leadership goes beyond mere titles, status, or appearances. It's about seeing our differences as strengths and leveraging the wisdom within our personal and cultural stories as a guide to lead with authenticity and trust. Every person has the ability to lead and inspire others to action through the unique wisdom of their stories.
We use a distinct methodology, narrative intelligence, to help individuals build a unique practice of leadership based on the values and insights within their personal and cultural stories. This approach incorporates inclusion and equity strategies, storytelling techniques, story rituals, and neuroscience to assist leaders in setting groundbreaking goals and cultivating conscious communication habits, fostering deeper trust and innovation in their relationships.
Hey! I’m Christina Blacken, Founder of The New Quo
Reclaiming the wisdom and purpose within my life story became my secret weapon, like finding a cheat code for connecting with and motivating others toward change.
Early in my career, I stumbled upon the crusty relics of leadership practices we all know too well: where titles trump talent, competition overshadows collaboration, conformity stifles creativity, and fear dictates communication and decision-making.
Seeing colleagues don masks to fit in and organizations running on fear and scarcity, I realized people were about as disconnected from their potential and purpose as I am from being lactose tolerant. I knew there had to be a better way to success and fulfillment, and that change needed to start from within.
Every time I began to apply neuroscience, inclusion and equity strategies, and behavioral research to revamp my own narratives and beliefs, and shared those stories with others, my career catapulted into growth and change. From forming deeper connections with collaborators to winning projects and inspiring thousands to adopt new socially impactful ideas, I tapped into my leadership potential by rewriting the stories I believed and told about my power and leadership.
As a performer and storyteller, my trainings, public speaking, and workshops don't just inspire participants - they leave them with actionable insights that change their beliefs, perspectives, and work going forward. I’ve helped 12,000 leaders across 9 industries discover the power in their stories. Your story is your leadership power, and I’m here to show you how.
The New Quo Model of Transformational Leadership
The Narrative intelligence program
The Inclusive Leadership Narrative Intelligence Program is a 3 pronged continuous education program to help individuals tap into their narrative intelligence, a.k.a. the power of story, to develop deeper trust and connections with the people they want to inspire towards action. The result of this program is stopping the biased habits and stereotyped stories that lead to a culture of autopilot, to support a culture of curiosity that leads to genuine inclusion, collaboration, and innovation. This program will demonstrate your organization’s continued commitment to the development of its culture and employees across all backgrounds, and deepens participants trust, belonging, equity, and innovation in their relationships in and out of the workplace. Each program is tailored to your organization’s needs and can include the following elements below.
Inclusive Communication and Culture Begins with Narrative Intelligence
(2 hour foundational DEI and Leadership workshop)
Birds of a feather flock together isn’t just an overused phrase — it also aptly highlights a truth — we all have a tendency to love, connect with, and empower people who look and act like ourselves. Although seeking sameness has its validity in terms of comfort and security, this habit is the match to the fire of unconscious bias that leads to low psychological safety on teams, low morale, low performance, and low innovation. This training will help participants to use the power of narrative to shift their beliefs about leadership, overcome habits of bias, and improve their cultural competence, giving them best practices for more inclusive decision making and communication. Participants will learn:
+ How affinity bias is driven through narrative, and examine their own dominant narratives around leadership.
+ The ways affinity bias leads to unforeseen cultural barriers to inclusion and innovation.
+ Writing exercises, repeatable frameworks, and best practices for overcoming bias and communicating in ways that build engaged culture driven by curiosity and creativity.
+ Inclusive practices in four key areas of management and work including relationship building, meetings and communication, performance evaluation, and talent development.
New Quo Leaders Continued Education (online course content)
In addition to the foundational workshop, participants can get access to The New Quo Leaders Continued education courses that address a variety of topics from inclusive management to leadership storytelling. These are interactive online learning experiences that include powerful, punchy, entertaining videos and writing exercises, hosted on The New Quo micro learning website and can be accessed by mobile, laptop, desktop devices. These online courses provide powerful recall and habit change, and are easy to incorporate into a busy schedule.
Story, Identity, and Leadership (small group facilitated discussions)
Genuine inclusion requires trust, empathy, and acceptance. Reciprocal and safe self-disclosure through story discussions are a powerful and memorable way for people to build those bonds. 65% of all daily communication is through stories, and our personal stories make up deep parts of our identities. These small group discussions are built on the science of story as one of the most powerful tools for connection and empathy, allowing participants to better understand each other’s backgrounds through the lens of their personal experiences and career goals.
Equity Strategy Sessions (consulting and coaching)
For continued support I provide a coaching program of strategy sessions to collaborate closely with key organizational team leaders on establishing an equity framework that integrates core company values with specific, measurable, and attainable Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging goals. These sessions provide strategy, resources, and support for organizational goal setting and action with a simple collaboration process.
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