January to July 2026 Reflection (Learning, Adapting and Growing in difficult times and tough contextual realities)

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 Six Months In: January to July 2026 Reflection (Learning, Adapting and Growing in difficult times and tough contextual challenges)

A photo I took at the Liebeeck river close to where I live in Cape Town


In this quiet beginning of July - I'm taking a moment to breathe and look back at the work that's filled my year so far.

Strategy weeks. Leadership sessions. Courageous Honest Conversations, Team Cohesion and Development, Roles and Responsibilities Alignment workshops. Travel to interesting places and beautiful venues. In-person and Online engagements. Working alone and in partnership. Deep conversations, and moments of real connection with organisations and people doing important work.

Who I've worked with

From Natural Science and Agricultural to Research and Heritage institutions to Universities, from International Feminist Organisations to Investigative Journalism organisations - it's been a season of growth, learning, and meaningful partnership.

What the work actually is

Design, facilitation, reporting, and documentation across a range of Organisational Development offerings.

I'm grateful for the trust, the relationships, and the chance to do work that aligns with my values - humanising organisations, with equity and equality at their centre; creating more conscious learning within organisations; and enabling better, more aligned teamwork where every staff member feels they belong and contribute meaningfully. It's also about helping teams connect more intentionally with their organisation's values, purpose, and goals.

Leadership coaching and mentoring forms part of this offering too. An Emerging Leaders programme I facilitate with a colleague - four modules over two years - has brought together a cohort of passionate individuals who will go on to lead in their institutional spaces. Some already are.

I've also valued the chance to co-facilitate alongside colleagues who bring different skills to the table, while sharing certain elements of common practice. With our different strengths and common aligned practice and approach offers clients a richer experience when the work is more complex and demands 2 or 3 facilitators (particularly with larger groups).

What organisations gain from this work

  • Becoming a more conscious learning organisation

  • Surfacing challenges and concerns in safe, contained spaces

  • Understanding their organisation better - making sense of where they are, and what needs to shift or transform

  • Reports on organisational review and assessment, including clear recommendations

  • Renewal of organisational vision, mission, and goals

  • Clearer purpose, practice, and processes

  • Better team cohesion and alignment

  • Roles and Responsibilities Alignment - including a visual chart of responsibilities

  • A clear, shared set of organisational values

  • Strategic plans with defined timelines and objectives

  • Appreciative Inquiry and Team Connectivity exercises - including Exploration of Team Temperaments (strengths and weaknesses) 

  • Working with difficult issues and conflict - how to have difficult conversations and give feedback 

  • Funding strategy developed collaboratively with leadership teams

  • Strengthened leadership roles and capacities

  • Leadership competencies developed, capacities deepened

  • Reflection on intersectionality, rank, and power - and how bias shows up in teams

  • Creation of enabling conditions for honest, courageous conversations - psychological safety and a real learning zone for teams

  • Refreshed, committed teams

Six months in, what stays with me most is the trust organisations place in this work we do collaboratively - opening up their internal spaces, their uncertainties and vulnerabilities, their hopes and fears - and the privilege of walking alongside leaders, teams and organisations accompanying them as they figure out what needs to shift. Each journey with an organisation is carefully tailored to and designed with the organisational team or leadership reference group. 

If any of this speaks to something your organisation is navigating, you may reach out to me for an exploration chat. 

Desiree Paulsen | Organisational Development Practitioner, Transformation Facilitator

Associate of Tamarind Tree Associates desiree@tamarindtreeassociates.co.za

website: www.tamarindtreeassociates.co.za

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