The director of an organization suffering from a lot of staff dissension and low morale uses guided imagery to start meetings with some remarkable results for work productivity and a return to coherent group effort.. I have been involved in community activism in my region for many years, and function as the executive director for an organization that works for environmental change. We have been moderately effective and have established a good track record over the past decade.

However, over the past few months, there had been considerable dissension and ill will within my organization, mostly due to a very difficult individual pushing her weight around, and some poor decisions that we had made. The resulting failures and poor morale took their toll. The difficult person left, but the damage to our process had been done. We couldn’t get our act together. Our meetings were falling apart.

I had been to a couple of BR’s workshops, and had heard her joke that if the U.N. did a little guided imagery before going into session, the results might be more positive. I took a risk and brought in a boom box, played some music, and led the meeting off with a guided imagery exercise. It’s in Your Sixth Sense - finding an answer as a gift. It’s heart opening and expands the spirit. It has always been my favorite imagery.

The group felt self-conscious at first, but they got into it, and it changed the entire tone of the subsequent meeting. We were able to cut through the irritation and sense of failure. For the first time in a long time, we worked together, and got a lot done. We made some important decisions and got off the dime. So I wanted to write and let BR know that she was on to something with that U.N. comment. And imagery is a lot less expensive than a high-priced consultant, which we couldn’t afford in any case.

Jim P.