Deputy Chairman & Managing Director, Mr JMS Brito, Main Board Directors, Managing Directors and over 350 members of staff were present at this event.
The guest speaker, Michel Nugawela, is a brand development consultant who specializes in brand strategy and brand identity development with related specialization in change strategies across newly rebranded or repositioned organizations.
Mr Nugawela introduced the audience to Leadership Archetyping, a disruptive Jungian psychological approach to individuation and leadership, based on 12 archetypal dimensions of leadership that are able to significantly enhance and transform executive and team performance by connecting cognitive functions with the unconscious mind.
The 12 archetypes – Innocent, Orphan, Warrior, Caregiver, Explorer, Lover, Destroyer, Creator, Ruler, Magician, Sage and Jester – reflect the various roles that leaders can play in organizations and put a human face to the attitudes, interactions, and recurring patterns of behaviour that influence their effectiveness.
Similarly, a lack of alignment between a leader’s archetype and the organization in which he or she operates is a main cause of team and organizational dysfunctionality and executive failure.
“The Warrior is the fundamental archetype for leadership,” said Mr Nugawela.
“The basic requirements of the Warrior leader in its positive pole are mental toughness, professional competence, emotional control, realistic decision-making and motivating others to the highest levels of achievement.
But leaders who lack consciousness of the fullest potential of the Warrior archetype can also slide into its negative pole and see their role as a “win at any cost” version of leadership.
There is also a very real problem when leaders overextend their stay in the Warrior.
They then unconsciously suppress other archetypes that are just as critical to the leadership role.”
At the Staff Convention, Mr JMS Brito unveiled the “Spensonian” employee brand and Ms Stasshani Jayawardena presented a token of appreciation to Mr Shan Perera, Assistant Sales Manager of Aitken Spence Aviation, who developed the name.
Mr JMS Brito also launched the Diamond Awards, a series of accolades to recognize and reward creativity and innovative performance across the group, and recognized Mr Nalin Jayasundera, Managing Director of Aitken Spence Travels, for conceptualizing the rewards initiative.
Mr JMS Brito further recognized four outstanding Spensonians for their long-standing contribution to the group, including Mr Susith Jayawickrama, Managing Director, Aitken Spence Hotel Managements; Mr Anil Hapugoda, Assistant Vice President, Aitken Spence Travels; Ms Priyantha Perera, Manager Clerical and Subordinate Staff Payroll, Aitken Spence Corporate Finance; and Mr Siripala Konara, Manager HR and Administration, Aitken Spence Shipping.
Finally, two subsidiaries of Aitken Spence were acknowledged for their certifications: Aitken Spence Garments secured ISO 9001:2008 QMSC awarded by SGS Lanka, the Platinum Certificate of Compliance by the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production, and Compliance Plus by the Employer’s Federation of Ceylon for meeting and surpassing established standards.
Aitken Spence Cargo, Ace Cargo and Ace Aviation Services also secured Environmental Management Systems re-certification to the International Standard ISO 14001:2004.
