Vision Statement

Your   vision;

1. Articulates your dreams and hopes for your business.
2. Reminds you of what you are trying to build.
3. Captures your passion.
4. Defines your purpose and values.
5. Should be your inspiration.
6. Determines your priorities.
7. Is a long-term view.
8. Defines the way the  organization will look in the future.
9. Sets the direction for your business planning
10. Influences decision making and the way you allocate resources.
11. Is for you and the other members of your organization.

Your vision is not

1. A map to tell you how you’re going to get to the promised land
2. For just for one year or two
3. For your customers or clients although it can be shared with them
4. Owned by you alone.

Visions only work if you share them with others – spread the Power, spread the Purpose, spread the Passion.

Formal Definition – A vision statement is an aspirational description of what an organization would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. It is intended to serve as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action. See also mission statement. Courtesy ofhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/

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• Leading Change – do you have a great vision? (wisewolftalking.com)

I am Wendy Mason. I work as a Personal Development Coach, Consultant and Writer.I have worked with many different kinds of people going through all kinds personal and career change, particularly those

• looking for promotion or newly promoted,
• moving between Public and Private Sectors
• moving into retirement.

I am very good at helping you sort out what you want, overcome obstacles and handle change and I would like to work with you! I offer face to face, telephone and on-line coaching by email or Skype Email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439 to find out more or go to wendy-mason.com  

  

Becoming a leader – people you dislike

Before I trained as nurse, I worked for a while with children – boys seven to eleven – and I loved it.  They were a great bunch, full of energy and fun.  Most were very easy to work with but others were much more challenging. One day an older, wiser colleague took me to one-side to talk about the ones it was difficult to love.

The message was basically admit your feelings to yourself and then deal with them – find something good in the child and make sure that child never knows you think of them differently.  Easy to say but not always easy to do – it gets easier with practice and if you think of the child’s needs, rather than your own.

I find the same thing holds good in teams.  The reality is you may not like all people you lead.  If everyone in the team is a team player it is much easier to handle.  You’ll be working together towards a common goal and liking or not liking shouldn’t matter, if you stay focussed on the vision.

Working in a team, you learn a lot from, and about, your co-workers. Who exhibits the best leadership and how? Who drives everyone crazy and why? Who is a strong team player, who is a weak team member or, perhaps, who is not a team player at all

Of course, teamwork always works best when everyone is a team player. There is no “I” in team; this means that the team works collectively toward a common goal. If one team member is working for themselves alone, you won’t have a team. One person who is not a team player can spoil the experience and the results for everyone else.

If you are the team leader, you set the tone and are responsible for keeping the team intact.  And here is this person, who makes you want to work around them and avoid them at all costs.

Well, the first thing to do is to follow the advice I was given.  Admit to yourself you have a problem and, as leader, it is your for you to deal with.  Don’t leave it until others feel awkward and start to complain.

Now, this is where we veer away from the rest of the advice I was given.  You can’t keep quiet and just treat them all the same.  You do need to intervene and talk to the person who isn’t engaged.

Talk to them and tell them what you see, as quietly and objectively as you can; it really helps if you come prepared with examples.  Tell them about the effect on the rest of the team and on the work.

Then, give them an opportunity to tell you how they feel about the situation

See if there is a way you can work together to make a change.  If they are in the wrong role,  can they be moved? If they have the wrong skill set, can training be arranged?

What ways can you find to make them feel part of the team and draw them in?

Whatever your feelings, you must give them a chance to put things right. Remember that child?  Here again, you need to think of the other’s needs and needs of the team, rather than your own.

I would welcome your own thoughts and your experiences of leading and managing teams.  How did you handle team members you didn’t  like?  Are you honest enough to share your experience with us?  

I am Wendy Mason. I work as a Personal Development Coach, Consultant and Writer.I have worked with many different kinds of people going through all kinds of personal and career change, particularly those

• looking for promotion or newly promoted,
• moving between Public and Private Sectors
• moving into retirement.

I am very good at helping you sort out what you want, overcome obstacles and handle change and I would like to work with you! I offer face to face, telephone and on-line coaching by email or Skype

Email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439 to find out more. 

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• Be a Team Player! (intelligentofficemi.wordpress.com)

Becoming a Leader Today – Can you have friends in the team?

It is remarkable that most of our metaphors for leadership seem to come from the battlefield.  Well I suppose, when you think about it, it isn’t that surprising.  After all, that is where it all started with leading the tribe and then leading the army!

Doesn’t it sound confrontational?

So what about modern leadership with its concept of servant leadership and leadership as a dialogue?  Thinking about that led me into thinking about leadership and friendship more generally (no pun intended).

Many moons ago when I started to manage people – in those days you heard little of leadership in the workplace – you were warned not to try to be friends with the people you managed.  Even at quite junior levels in the Civil Service, you were expected to forego the friendships you had already, if they were with members of the team you were to manage, on promotion.

Certainly, personal friendship can make both managing and leading more difficult.

As for closer personal relationships well that can be a minefield.  But, remember, in many small businesses, husband and wife teams work together successfully alongside other family members.

I have found myself managing and being managed by friends.  Also, I have been in teams led by friends and have had friends in teams that I have led. Honestly, I can’t remember it causing much of a problem for me and for my friends; apart from the loss of the odd lunch where we would have shared confidences.  But, in truth, I can see the potential for others to feel threatened by the relationship we had.

I looked up various dictionary definitions of friendship – one had a statement about “mutual trust and support”. Now, therein, may be a potential problem.

I wonder if relationships can be truly mutually supportive, when one party is in a position of power over the other.  Surely, even when the leader is fully committed to servant leadership, there is something of an in balance of power between the leader and the led – the degree depending on the circumstances.

In my own experience, the friendship survived the leadership experience but sometimes it did take maturity and judgment.

I suspect friendship works much better when goodwill exists between the leader and all members of the team.  In those circumstances, trust and support are part of the culture and all feel its benefits.

But, if you do find yourself with personal friends in teams you lead, I would recommend an early discussion with the friends about the ground rules.  I believe you need to be completely honest about how you intend to play it.

I believe, as well, that it is better to let other people in the team know from you that you are friends.  If you don’t tell them, you can guarantee they will find out at some point later and feel betrayed.

In any case you will need to reassure all that there will be no favouritism and, my word, you will need to make sure you don’t show it.

I hope you are blessed understanding friends and an even more understanding team!

Have you ‘led’ friends or been ‘led’ by them?  Please send me your comments on your experience.
I am Wendy Mason and I work as a personal and business coach, consultant and blogger.  I have worked with many different kinds of people going through personal  and career change. If you would like my help, please email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439.  I will be very pleased to hear from you. I offer half an hour’s free telephone coaching to readers of this blog who quote WW1 – email me to arrange.

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• Becoming a Leader Today – Manifesto for a Servant Leader(wisewolftalking.com) 
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• Becoming A Leader Today - What to give up! (wisewolftalking.com)

Becoming A Leader Today – What to give up!

 

Whether you are new to leadership, or an established leader taking time out to reflect, it is worth considering your leadership style.  A summer break provides a great opportunity to contemplate lessons learned and the opportunities ahead.

What kind of leader would you like to be? Here are some thoughts on changes you might make and some things you might like to consider giving up!

1. Give up talking down! Has your approach always been focused top-down with instructions flowing from the “top floor” to the rest of the organization?  Now is the time to go for a more collaborative approach!  Have you got the confidence to build discussion into your decision making process?  Try it and see whether you get more or less engagement from your team. Of course if it doesn’t work you can always revert, but I bet you won’t want to.
2. Give up revolution and go for evolution.  If you want to change the team, try focusing on their strengths and build on them. You have a much better chance of getting the results you want if you start small and build on your successes rather than setting out to ‘rock everyone’s world.’
3. Give up coercion and start changing from within. Stephen Covey states in his change theory that ‘change occurs on a broken front.’  Not everyone on your team will be where you are and some may not want to change at all. Start with those who are likely to come on board most easily and get them to change. Then help the change seep out to those who are less enthusiastic.  This is likely to be much more effective than forcing people to do something and then hitting a wall.
4. Give up hypocrisy.  Model in yourself how you want people to be. If you expect people to make positive changes, they need to see it in you.  Set yourself as the example and be visible doing what you’ve asked others to do. You’d be surprised how good the human race is at imitation!
5. Give up taking things for granted!  Make sure that as the ‘right’ things start happening, you recognize the efforts of those who have made it happen.  You’ll find that those who want recognition will work harder for more of it, and push others as well.

There are  other changes you may want to make in yourself as leader.  Give yourself some time for reflection and see what you come up with.  If you are an established leader and want to reflect on your approach in depth then try the mini-stocktake  you will find at this link .

Whichever approach you take, I’d love to hear about your results.
I am Wendy Mason and I work as a personal and business coach, consultant and blogger.  I have worked with many different kinds of people going through personal  and career change. If you would like my help, please email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439.  I will be very pleased to hear from you. I offer half an hour’s free telephone coaching to readers of this blog who quote WW1 – email me to arrange.

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• Becoming a Leader Today – Manifesto for a Servant Leader(wisewolftalking.com)
• Becoming a Leader Today – What is Leadership? (wisewolftalking.com)    

Are you a resilient leader?

 

Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity.  We need it in our personal  lives and we certainly need it at work! It means we can “bounce back” from difficult experiences.

Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. People usually show resilience but that doesn’t  mean they don’t experience difficulty.

Resilience isn’t necessarily something you are born with it – you learn how to show it.  Relationships that create warmth and trust, that provide role models, and offer encouragement and reassurance help bolster a person’s resilience.

Several additional factors are associated with resilience, including:

• The ability to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out
• A positive approach and confidence in yourself
• Communication skills
• Problem solving abilities
• The ability to handle your own emotions

Not everyone reacts the same way to challenges.  An approach to building resilience that works for one person might not work for another.  A person’s culture probably has an impact on how he or she communicates feelings and deals with adversity

But here are some strategies for building your own resilience and encouraging it in those you lead.

1. Develop strong connections with others!  Good relationships with other people mean that you can support each other.  This is particularly important in organizations going through difficulties – sometimes it is only team work that can pull you through!
2. Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems. You may not be able to change what has happened but you can change how you respond.  As the leader, this will affect how others respond. Keep your eye on the bigger picture and look beyond the present to how future circumstances will be better.
3. Accept that change happens. Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help you focus on circumstances that you can alter.
4. Move toward your goals. Develop some realistic and short term goals and start to move towards them.  That will inspire confidence in your ability to move towards your bigger goals and towards a time beyond the present problems.
5. Take decisive actions. Act on adverse situations as much as you can and take decisive actions.  Don’t let people detach completely from problems and just wish they would just go away.
6. Encourage people to look for opportunities for self-discovery. People often learn something about themselves in difficult circumstances and may find that they have grown in some respect as a result of the challenge.  Many people who have experienced difficulties have reported better relationships, a greater sense of strength (even while feeling vulnerable) and an  increased sense of self-worth.
7. Encourage people to nurture a positive view of themselves. Developing confidence in their ability to solve problems and trusting their instincts helps build resilience.
8. As the leader keep things in perspective and maintain a hopeful outlook. An optimistic outlook enables you and them to expect that the good times will come back.  In turn that probably will speed the time it takes to resolve the problem.

I am Wendy Mason and I work as a personal and business coach, consultant and blogger.  I have worked with many different kinds of people going through personal  and career change. If you would like my help, please email me at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com or ring ++44(0)2084610114 or ++44(0)7867681439.  I will be very pleased to hear from you.

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