About us

Agapé Workplace Initiative is a non-profit organisation with roots in the Christian tradition of Shaftesbury and Wilberforce. (The statue in commemoration of Shaftesbury in Piccadilly Circus was intended to be Agapé and not Eros.) Whereas Shaftesbury and Wilberforce worked to bring freedom to children and slaves, we work to bring freedom through forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the debt to right a wrong that someone owes us. Its effects can be seen in Northern Ireland and South Africa, and we are trying to translate these principles to the workplace.

Relationships Course

Relationships are crucial to business, and Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is often used to cultivate them; but as emotional management, EQ can be used to benefit others or manipulate them. Against this, The Relationships Course:

• Assumes that better relationships are other-centred;
• Agrees with recent research showing businesses with better relationships are more able to retain staff, thereby saving money;
• Makes EQ other-centred by turning the virtue of cancelling debt into the goal of EQ;
• Emphasises the personal freedom and self-worth that flow from this;
• Seeks to improve the quality of workplace relationships.

The course costs £3950 for two facilitators to teach twelve participants, and includes three sessions of one-on-one coaching per participant. The coaching consists of fifteen-minute sessions at the beginning and middle of the course, and one of thirty minutes at the end. Further coaching is available on request. The course itself is divided into eight forty-five-minute seminars, which can be run over two half days or eight separate sessions:

1. Introduction - not making someone pay cancels the debt they owe us
2. Cancelling debt - introducing what cancelling debt is not
3. Self-Awareness - cancelling debt is not forgetting, does not deny feeling, and is not instantaneous
4. Listening - those who have empathy are more likely to cancel debt
5. Asserting - cancelling debt does not deny justice
6. Wising up - cancelling debt is not reconciliation
7. Humility - cancelling debt brings personal freedom
8. Story - our wider story affects our ability to cancel debt

Click here to download a course summary. (PDF 70k)

“Everybody benefitted greatly from the sessions. We agreed that an understanding of principles which were fundamental to successfully working with colleagues was good for the individual and company.” Anthony Elliott, former Director of Group Risk, Abbey National

“This course addresses the core issue of why business relationships very often fail. If individuals apply these principles then staff turnover would fall and I am convinced the company would work more efficiently.” Richard Irwin, Product Development Manager, Schroders

Staff

Jon Horne

Jon is Director of AWI (London), and has two degrees in Theology and a background in publishing and marketing. He is also responsible for re-formatting much of AWI's new material.

Phil Jackman

Phil is Director of AWI (Birmingham), and has degrees in Maths and Theology. Formerly the Communications Director of Agapé UK, he has a long track record in writing, teaching and training for adults.

Ivor Anderson

Formerly CEO of First Personnel, Ivor Anderson is an AWI Associate and Thomas International consultant, with many years experience of profiling and team building.