Leading from where you are

Leadership is one of those ephemeral phrases that somehow we may be tempted to believe is best applied to others.  After-all, we tell ourselves, "who do I think I am?

Good Question!

Every single time we make a proactive choice we exercise leadership.  Every time we act without waiting to be invited to act, we exercise leadership.

According to the Institute of Leadership and Management there are core qualities of this thing called leadership which they define as the ability to be able to flex your style, understand yourself and others and have the ability to moderate your own behaviour.

Can you flex your style? Do you understand yourself and others?  Do you have the ability to moderate your own behaviour?  If the answer is yes to some degree or another then read on....

The core qualities outlined by the ILM are as follows:

1. Be authentic: be yourself, be real, not pretentious, comfortable in your own skin.
2  Exercise sound judgement, evaluate options, take calculated risks and listen to the advise of others
3. Engage others by understanding what is important to other people and respond accordingly
4. Reflect and think about how you behave and admit when you get it wrong
5. Encourage others to see what is possible and believe that it is achievable

Interesting.... nothing about having an MBA, or formal authority, or a title, or letters after your name, or co-authoring a book!

In that case perhaps leadership is best not reserved for the few,  perhaps its something that should be embraced by the many.  Perhaps leadership is not about being "there"   in terms of role or position but rather is something that can be exercised from here....after-all!

Building a high performance team

Building a high performing team is essential to achieve and sustain organisational success but what are the key features of high performance?

Quite simply when trust is high between managers and their teams, engagement is high and performance is maximised. So how is trust built and cultivated?

Seven guaranteed ways to build trust in your team

1. Walk your talk: employees have increased respect for managers who are congruent, lead by example and are not just full of “management speak” and the latest managerial techniques. Are you clear about your own values? How are these expressed in your actions?
   
2. Give specific work-based recognition: extensive research has shown that appreciation for a job well done is hugely motivating for employees. This appreciation needs to be specific and not a generalised “keep up the good work whoever you are and whatever you’re doing”!
   
3. Involve people in decisions that affect them: in research conducted by the CIPD, “being in on things” emerged as one of the top motivators for employees in the UK. Adopting a consultative approach means engaging in genuine dialogue and developing an interdependent rather than independent style of leadership
   
4. Keep your promises: trust is built when managers do what they say they will do
   
5. Apologise when you get it wrong: from time to time you will make mistakes: instead of blaming the next management tier, accept personal responsibility and be explicit about your own learning.
   
6. Actively listen to your staff: this means listening to understand the perspective of another rather than seeking to be understood, or defend or explain your own position
   
7. Celebrate what is good and build a strengths based culture: what is going well in your team, organisation? And how can it be made even better. What are the strengths of your team members and how can they be developed? 
   
   Trust is the currency with which we invest in those we lead.
   

Re-framing "Networking"

As someone still relatively new to the independent practitioner/consultancy world there is just one area that even as an extrovert fills me with dread.... the "Networking" event.  What after-all could be better..... you turn up at a usually reasonably plush venue, you flash your brightest smile and silently rehearse your well practiced "elevator speech" so that when your two minutes of focused attention arrives you can deliver your lines with panache, enthusiasm, and personal conviction.  Then you can socialise being mindful that everyone is selling their services however covert the interaction.

And how does this ritualistic behaviour make me feel?

Uncomfortable and ever so slightly disingenuous!  Now I realise this is probably just my problem and the rest of you have no idea what I am talking about and probably just love the opportunity to meet with strangers and turn them into life long clients with 2 minutes of inspired rhetoric and your flashiest smile but just in case there is anyone out there just a bit like me... I have an idea!

Yesterday I attended an event in which a whole cadre of professional coaches and consultants met to socialise, network and to learn together and I LOVED IT!

So what was the difference that made the difference?

My attitude.

Instead of thinking of the need to "sell my services" I thought of the thrill of meeting like minded people to share experiences, laugh, celebrate and learn from one another.

What happened?

I met like minded people, we shared our experiences, we laughed, we celebrated and we learnt.

What if, every networking event was like this I wondered?  What if I forgot about "selling" anything and just focused on connecting with people, enjoying their company, sharing my experiences and opening myself to the possibility of learning and sharing knowledge?

What if I stopped worrying about my "elevator speech" and started having a little... fun?  What if I stuck with the essence of what I do which is helping people to discover their own brilliance professionally and personally and then focused on making genuine connections with people?

Perhaps networking doesn't have to be this uncomfortable part of my professional life, perhaps it can actually be the exhilarating and hugely rewarding  experience that genuine connection with people always brings.

Perhaps when we focus a little less on ourselves and a little more on others we open ourselves to the possibility of really meeting someone.

Perhaps that is what networking is really all about.

Leading the Nike way at Christmas

This Christmas presents a golden opportunity for us all to exercise leadership within our circles of families and friends by embracing the Nike principle and applying it to appreciating our personal relationships.

What do I mean?

The Nike principle is captured in their strap line "do it now"- and the "it" I am suggesting we apply is the verbal expression of appreciation.

Why appreciate?

Have you ever wondered why we often wait until a loved one is dead before friends and family express what that person means to them?  I have.  I have asked myself the question: "what would it be like if the person (now deceased) could actually hear these wonderful words of affirmation and appreciation that people are so generously sharing?"  Now, some of you may be thinking "they can", but just in case  they can't- I have a radical suggestion: why not

Do it now?

What would it be like if we consciously took the time to verbalise what we love and admire about our friends and family members?  Too cheesy?  I thought so until a close friend of mine died unexpectedly and then more recently another close friend had a stroke.

Just what are we waiting for?

What if we took the risk of being a bit cheesy and said those things that have the potential to bring joy, satisfaction and pride to others this Christmas?

As a family we have regularly (mainly on Birthday's) played what has come to be known as the "appreciation game"- even as awkward teenagers keen to brand the "game" as "sad"- we watched with interest as the person being appreciated (despite their best efforts to look disinterested) literally glowed with pride as affirmation upon affirmation was heaped on them.

So, why not take the lead this Christmas in appreciating your friends and family, don't save it up for their funeral,

DO IT NOW!

On being a woman...

Amidst the storm caused by the refusal to admit women as Bishops, I find myself reflecting on what it means to be a woman in the twenty first century.  No doubt great gains have been made: my husband can no longer divorce me for some minor misdamenour,  it is no longer (generally) considered acceptable to be abused (inside or outside marriage) (unless your name is Grey and you have a signed contract-even then I'm not sure its legally binding), I can own and inherit property, and I have the right to vote and participate in civil life- Women have led our country (well one woman anyway), and governed our land (God bless the Queen), fought in our armed forces, and given us Harry Potter...

What more can a woman want?

To find her voice, fulfil her destiny and leave a legacy that inspires the next generation of women.

Isn't that a bit ambitious you ask?

The church of England certainly seems to think so, but it is not alone.  I find myself reflecting on this one question...

What are we so very afraid of?

Offending God?  Offending Man?  A slippery slope?..... will we be wanting to ordain pets next?

I admit I am bemused and not a little confused.  But this I do know.  As a woman I am okay.  As a woman I am made in the image of God.  As a woman I am blessed with gifts which maybe different to yours, but they are gifts nevertheless.  The only real tragedy that I can possibly imagine is that we create a world where those gifts never get to be shared, this voice never gets to be heard, this destiny is thwarted and the next generation of women inherit a lack lustre legacy which leaves us all poorer.

As a woman I choose to hope for better, to pray for better and to strive for better.

Leading from the Maze of social networking

I wonder if I am the only Generation X leadership consultant who knows that engagement with social media is the way forward, but just isn't sure whether the way is always forward?  I have been a diligent face booker for a couple of years now and in spite of the criticism that it is given by "serious" networkers (shallow, uninteresting, uninspiring, dangerous!!!!!) I have found face-book to be a great way to connect with a great many people who for some reason (known only to them) seem to find me interesting enough to read about (and even "like" on occaisions).

Yes of course as someone in the field of leadership development, I need to be cognisent of my brand and image when posting on Facebook and I need to manage my privacy settings, but generally speaking this form of social networking is FUN!  Which brings me to Linked In - what one of my colleagues calls "face-book for grown-ups" (not quite sure what that makes me).

What is so "grown up" about linked In?

Well here I am invited to parade my professional credentials like badges of honour and get connected with other professionals who are keen to expand their social networks.  There is also space for others to endorse my work and say what a generally "good egg" I am, which must be good, right?

Then, there's twitter....

This invites me to have fun (like Facebook) and parade my professionalism (like linked In) but to do so in 140 characters oh and while I'm at it be profound, interesting, signpost to other interesting things, be just personal enough so as to appear vaguely human but not too personal so as to bore everyone (no-ne actually cares that I am enjoying my coffee in Costa coffee.... I'll save that information for face-book someone is bound to "like" it there!)

And now my latest additions.....

Referral key..... now this looks interesting based on a form of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" basically lets honour and appreciate each other and refer each other to our world of contacts in the hope that this will generate new business leads.  I can't pretend to know how effective this will be, but I can report I've genuinely enjoyed writing a series of "endorsements" for people I genuinely like and value professionally.

And then there's Pinterest......Now of course, I've had a go... but I'm not entirely sure how creating dozens of pinboards that others can "like" and add to and pinch things from with impunity, really adds to my social media presence.

So how do I lead myself through the social media maze let alone lead others?  What if I indadvertedly sign up to something that proves nothing but a "scam"?  Will I still be "liked" then?  I know I can rely on my faithful face-book fans to put my misdemeanours down to experience some will actually "like" the fact that I've lost myself in the maze of social media and feel there is hope for them too!  My twitter followers will have forgotten any error in an avalanche of other tweets about the X factor and the President (both it seems are equally fascinating).  My linked In contacts may be less forgiving (I really should have known better).  My Pinterest followers will ask me for a pictorial representation of my learning and my referral key endorsers may change their minds about my competence.

Yes, the world of social media is A MAZE ING  and I have a lot to learn.  I suppose I will do what I do in my own leadership, venture one step at a time, take reasonable risks, create possibilities, don't dwell on "mistakes" and at all times keep a sense of perspective.  The maze can be confusing and yes I might get lost, but eventually I'll find the exit of one maze (even if it proves to be merely the entrance to another)!

Leadership now and then

I was recently struck by the insidious nature of what I have termed "when then" thinking . When I get promoted then I'll address my time management issues". "When I move house then I'll deal with the accumulated treasures in the loft". "When I have more time then I'll spend more time with my partner/children/staff." Or my personal favourite " when I have more confidence then I'll..."

Ever noticed that "then" never seems to arrive? Because by the time it does we have replaced another "when/then" thought pattern in its place!

Are we in fact so focused on leading ourselves and others "then" that we fail to lead effectively now? What opportunities to exercise leadership are present for us now?

What would it be like if we lived fully alive to and awake to the possibility of leading today, now, right from where we are?

Would we notice opportunities to mentor others? Would we become more creative in our use of time
  Would we embark on new social enterprises? Would we more proactively seek out like minds with whom we could synergise? Would we make the kind of contribution that we know deep down that we are capable of making?

Perhaps when we fully realise that we can make a real difference now then we will become the kind of leader we want to be. Or we could decide not to wait for a full realisation and just act now!