Francesca Cardona: Me and Work: experiences of consulting to organisations, sharing feelings, emotions, failures and learning from them.

In this Lunchtime talk, Francesca talks about her practice as an unashamed sharer of emotions and difficult experiences, and how countering the emotional hierarchy within organisations has been woven into her practice as an organisational consultant in the Tavistock tradition.

The talk includes insights from Francesca’s work and the process of writing about it in her new book, whose topics include vulnerable leadership, organisational shame and working with succession. Her talk provokes discussion about consulting with a light touch and how this might enrich our practice with organisations. Following on from recent talks in the Lunchtime Talks’ virtual space this event was followed by small and large group discussions to explore in the context of participant’s own practice – far and wide.

Recording of the talk

Speaker’s bio

Francesca Cardona is an organisational consultant and executive coach. She works in a variety of organisational and cultural contexts, helping leaders and organisations to face issues of change, transition and the emotional dimension of organisational life. Her training and work experience across two different cultures has given her special understanding and insights into issues of cultural diversity.

Francesca is currently the Practice Tutor on the Professional Doctorate Consultation and the Organisation at the University of Essex and the Tavistock & Portman Trust and Director of the Executive Coaching Programme at Tavistock Consulting (2019-2020). She has also provided leadership training and consultancy in international contexts and she has extensive experience in international Group Relations Conferences.  She is the author of a new book: Work Matters: Consultancy to Leaders and Organisations in the Tavistock Tradition, Routledge, 2020.