Archetypes and accolades at Aitken Spence’s second staff convention

Michel Nugawela presenting Leadership Archetyping

Outstanding contribution - Aitken Spence Hotels Managing Director Susith Jayawickrama

Director Dr. Rohan Fernando, Deputy Chairman J.M.S. Brito, Michel Nugawela, Director Stasshani Jayawardena

The second Aitken Spence Staff Convention was held on 24 July at Aitken Spence Towers. Deputy Chairman and Managing Director J.M.S. 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 specialises in brand strategy and brand identity development with related specialisation in change strategies across newly rebranded or repositioned organisations. 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 organisations 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 organisation in which he or she operates is a main cause of team and organisational dysfunctionality and executive failure.

“The Warrior is the fundamental archetype for leadership,” said 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, Brito unveiled the ‘Spensonian’ employee brand and Stasshani Jayawardena presented a token of appreciation to Aitken Spence Aviation Assistant Sales Manager Shan Perera, who developed the name. Brito also launched the Diamond Awards, a series of accolades to recognise and reward creativity and innovative performance across the group, and recognised Aitken Spence Travels Managing Director Nalin Jayasundera, for conceptualising the rewards initiative.

Brito further recognised four outstanding Spensonians for their long-standing contribution to the group, including Aitken Spence Hotel Managements Managing Director Susith Jayawickrama, Aitken Spence Travels Assistant Vice President Anil Hapugoda, Aitken Spence Corporate Finance Manager Clerical and Subordinate Staff Payroll Priyantha Perera and Aitken Spence Shipping Manager HR and Administration Siripala Konara.

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.