“I specialise in emotional intelligence development with a focus on behavioural change, leadership, and the development of soft skills, such as interpersonal skills, communication skills, dealing with conflict respectfully, developing vision, building healthy relationships, and dealing with difficult people.”
Jackey Backman oozes confidence as she speaks about what she does within the sphere of One Spirit Personal Development. She comes across as highly professional yet personally concerned with empowering people to be the best they can be.
As we chat, I become particularly interested in Jackey’s focus on the human element in the workplace, where human resources are generally considered just that: a resource.
“Organisations are usually more concerned with the technical abilities of their talent. But employers are realising that it is human beings that are running their business – and human beings are more than their technical abilities. Somebody may be tortured by trauma or low self-esteem and, as much as people may try to tuck that away and just be fully functional, when difficult situations come up, emotion (insecurity, frustration etc) will trump intellect every time. Being equipped to deal with those emotions when they arise allows both employers and employees to be way ahead of the game.”
A Maltese-Canadian, Jackey lives in Ontario but travels extensively for her work as an internationally recognised speaker, trainer and author, with regular visits to Malta in the past ten years. Now in her early 50s, and mother of two young men, she has been intrigued by the metaphysical and by the interconnectedness of human beings and its cultivation ever since she was a teenager. Today she is a licensed and certified trainer and practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming and specialises in Emotional Intelligence.
“Ninety percent of problems are emotion-centred. Personal development is really about developing emotional intelligence, which is behavioural. Your technical skills and knowledge have little to do with your personal development – they alone will never enable you to enjoy life fully or interact successfully with the other human beings. We are addressing the emotional aspect of human beings.”
In 2002, Jackey co-founded One Spirit Personal Development (One Spirit Inc.). It provides corporate and public programmes, workshops, talks, and retreats, which improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, enhance quality of life, and contribute to the realisation of dreams and aspirations.
In mid-October Jackey will also be launching EISSA – Emotional Intelligence Soft Skills Academy – aimed at corporate decision makers. It will provide soft skills development training in conflict resolution, interpersonal communication skills, sales, and customer service.
“Whether corporate or public, our programmes are all transformational. Our mission is to inspire and empower human beings to master their mind, make better decisions and connect with a deeper, more powerful part of themselves so that they can be the absolute best human being they can be! We are facilitating the possibility of people to connect and work well together, whether in a personal or business context.”
NLP, or Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a large part of the training that Jackey does. She explained that NLP relates to developing awareness and understanding about the process by which human beings experience life, and applying those tools to overcome perceived limitations in themselves and others.
“I believe freedom is everything and love is all the rest; it is not about imposing on other people, instead we find common values and beliefs – the individual finds their own way.”
Upcoming events:
Ten times bolder – 3-4 October overnight retreat about empowerment for women.
The source within – 21-22 November overnight retreat about releasing the past, realising your purpose, and finding your way.
EISSA launch and information for corporate decision makers – mid-October TBA
How to communicate with confidence, clarity and ease – 18 November
How to handle difficult behaviour – 19 November
Contact Jackey on jackey@onespiritinc.com regarding her corporate consultancy work, public events or private one-to-one sessions.
