Roeselien Wekker

Topics

1. 1. Warriors for Change - What does this time ask of you?

   A highly interactive lecture (with music) about change-makers, equality, and our own role in this time.

   We are all born in a certain time. This is ours. A time where a lot is shifting in how we live together, work, and lead. In what we consider normal, who gets space, and which stories and perspectives matter. What does this time ask of us?

   Change often begins with people who see something sooner than others. They recognize patterns that are still taken for granted by the rest. They ask questions for which the environment has no answers yet and bring in a perspective for which there might only be space years later.

   They seem too early. And perhaps that’s why they are just in time.

   Roeselien Wekker calls them Warriors for Change. People who fight for something. For equality. For freedom. For human dignity. For a different way of looking. For a world where next generations can also take their place. Change is never disconnected from what came before.

   What world have our ancestors passed on to us? What struggles have they faced so that we can stand where we are today? And if they could look at us: what would we want to show them about what we have done with our time? What would they be proud of? And where are we repeating history?

   Roeselien brings those big questions close. She sees organizations as mini-societies. What happens in society also reflects internally. In leadership, power, collaboration, exclusion, adaptation, and in the space we give each other for another perspective. With music, personal stories, questions, and lots of interaction, Roeselien zooms out with the audience. From the organization to society. From today to the generations after us. And then back to yourself.

   We look at history and simultaneously create it ourselves. What does this time ask of you?

   Warriors for Change continues to work after the music stops and Roeselien leaves the stage. The questions travel home, to work, and to the next meeting where you suddenly see differently who speaks, who remains silent, who leads, and what role you take yourself. We were born in this time for a reason. The question is what we do with it.

2. 2. A plea for discomfort - What role do you play when things get tense?

   We are the culture. In what we say and what we swallow. In what we do and don’t do. In who we address and who we protect. Where and whom we laugh with and which conversations we postpone.

   An organizational culture is created every day between people. And that’s exactly where a large part of the success or failure of an organization lies. You can have the best strategy, values, vision, and ambitions, but ultimately, it’s the people who make them real.

   It gets interesting as soon as discomfort arises. Because then it becomes apparent who we really are in a conversation.

   The harmony seeker tries to keep the atmosphere pleasant. The bridge builder brings different perspectives together. The passive consenter sees what’s happening and leaves the speaking to someone else. The cognitive avoider steers the conversation into intellectual territory. The problem shifter moves it to a place that feels more comfortable. Each role impacts the conversation. And with it, the culture.

   In this lecture, Roeselien Wekker uses the behavioral roles from her book to explore with the audience: what do you do when things get tense? What do you say? What do you leave unsaid? When do you speak up? When do you choose harmony? And what happens when someone introduces a reality that differs from yours?

   Roeselien makes clear how big words like social safety, inclusion, leadership, and organizational culture ultimately become visible in small moments between people. That’s why she advocates for discomfort. Discomfort can exactly be the place where development begins. Where another perspective comes in. Where something is said that was previously left out of the conversation. Where leadership becomes visible.

   With personal stories, sharp observations, and highly relatable examples, Roeselien holds a mirror up to the audience. The focus repeatedly returns to who you are: what role do I play in the culture I am part of every day?

   Your people are your culture. And your culture ultimately helps determine whether people contribute, drop out, innovate, become ill, or leave. A plea for discomfort shows why discomfort and progress are much closer than we often think.

3. 3. Soul Stories — A journey through yourself | An interactive workshop with music, stories, and connection.

   Everyone has a story. These stories have shaped you. The question is: which choices were truly yours? And how much of who you are today has been built around you over the course of your life?

   Soul Stories is a journey that begins with yourself.

   The workshop originated from the retreats that Roeselien organized for three years in the desert and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and which she still leads on request for teams. There, she discovered how much can change in the encounter with another when people first take the time to look at themselves more closely.

   Therefore, Soul Stories is not another training on collaboration, communication, or leadership but a journey through yourself.

   With music, stories, questions, and encounters, Roeselien guides participants through different moments in their lives. Music plays a special role in this. A song can take you back in seconds to a time, a person, a desire, or a version of yourself that has somehow faded out of view.

   Layer by layer, you peel yourself like an onion.
   What do you want to take with you and what can have a different place?
   Then we build it back up again.

   From thinking to feeling.
   From listening to remembering.
   From someone else’s story to your own story.

   Soul Stories goes deep while remaining accessible. Anyone can join because you determine what it means for you. Listening to each other, sharing together, genuine encounters from a different place than during a regular workday. Precisely because the focus goes inward first, something can then shift in the connection with another.

   For organizations, Soul Stories is available as an interactive workshop of 1.5 to a maximum of 3 hours during team days, leadership days, and meetings around connection and team building.

   Soul Stories provides a team with a different environment, even when the workshop simply takes place within the walls of their own organization.