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July 5, 2011 by austinparry
Just what is the major ingredient for a good
leader? The more I played with this thought,
the more I came to see that just about anyone
could be a good leader.
Intelligence or education was not necessarily
a criteria because I had seen some brilliant
leadership shown by people with Downs Syndrome.
I had seen similar leadership style with people
who had never studied beyond 4th year at primary
(grade) school.
Training or natural skill was not a criteria
either as I had seen some people who had never
once taken on a leadership role, suddenly have
it thrust upon them because of a death in the
family, or in such organisations as
Outward
Bound where the original leader was hurt and
a relatively quiet follower suddenly morphs into
view and takes over seamlessly.
There are other criteria but in all cases ,
except one, it seems that leadership does not
hinge on them being possessed.
That one thing that seemed to be present in
so many good leaders, remember the emphasis is
on good, was that they knew who they were. They
were not caught up in the belief that they had
to create a specific image to be the leader.
No BS, No airs and graces, no pretend to be
what they were not. They were totally honest
about who they were, completely at peace with
themselves.
They knew who they were, both their strengths
and their weaknesses. They were trusted because
the potential followers saw in them, someone who
was open and honest and at times would admit
that they didn’t have all the answers.
In my coaching model I initially spend quite
a bit of time working with my client using
different profiling and typing tools to help
them get a generic awareness of just who they
appear to be, so they can grow a fuller
understanding of what makes them tick.
Some of the awareness’s are challenging to
the client as there is within many of us an
unwillingness to see the obvious. As the Robbie
Burns poem, “The Louse” says, “O would some
power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as
others see us”. Or in the English we better
know, “O would some power give us the gift to
see ourselves as others see us.”
It takes a great deal of openness and honesty
to have our faults and failings pointed out to
us and to accept them, take them on board and do
something to change them. The usual temptation
is to jump to defend our position or to justify
ourselves. Whilst at the same time possibly
choosing to shoot the messenger.
We do what we do and tend to believe that
that is the way it is. Choosing to see that
anyone who does not see it our way must be
defective. My mother used to quote
Robert Owen, “All the world is queer save
thee and me, and even thou art a little queer”.
Before queer acquired a homophobic inference. It
was from her that I began to see the wisdom of
the poem.
To believe that I was the only one who was
right all the time, and on their disagreement
the other person, by definition must always be
wrong, was the premise that so many worked from
in many areas of life.
The person who truly knows who they are, or,
who at least is on a journey of self knowledge,
is the one who will make the best leader.
The responsibility of profiling tools is not
just to point out who one is. Rather they are
pointing out where the journey of self awareness
starts.
When I can accept who I am, then I am in a
much better place to accept who you are. With
this understanding I am in a better place to
listen to your understanding and add it to mine.
This is synchronicity. This is when you observe
that that the combined awareness of two people
working together is far greater than both
awareness’s taken independently.
Self assessment for a good leader is ongoing.
As my coaching model is followed through we keep
coming back to asking the question, who can I
stretch to become, (What can I be that I did not
realise I could be?) who have I now become, (How
have I grown in understanding and awareness
through my recent experiences?)
I am happy to work with anyone who is open to
search for awareness of who they are and for who
they could be.
You could develop your leadership style! Posted in
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June 11, 2011 by austinparry
Language and Communication are arguably the two
most important necessities in human
relationships. Truly understanding what is
being said!
Leadership is one of those words that is
understood differently by different people. This
potentially leads to confusion when there is
discussion about it.
My first perception of what leadership was
occurred when my grandmother, (who lived with us
and had a great deal to do with my upbringing),
told me what I should be doing and when she
wanted it done by. Other similar examples of
leadership then followed as I experienced trips
to the air raid shelter. (I was born in England
during the second world war). The leader of the
shelter told everyone what they ought to do and
when they could leave.
This was reinforced with school leaders and
how they told and we followed. In my early
conversation with my mother, I realised that
this was what happened with the Leaders at work
in the factory where she had been working.
It was their job to make sure everyone
produced their quota. That nobody stole
anything. That you arrived on time for work.
That you didn’t leave work before you should.
They were like minders. School Prefects. Keeping
you honest. So much of this appeared to me to be
a big power game. Where they actually enjoyed
bossing people around.
I came to see that in fact this model was
alive and well in business with so many of the
Leaders that I observed and worked under
following this model. I also came to see that
this model of Leadership was what was deemed as
Management.
As I grew and started in my working life I
began to notice that there were others in
similar roles who somehow had a belief that I
may in fact have something to offer. They still
kept a strong hand on what went on but they
listened and were far more in tune with how
everyone fitted into the process of working.
There was a more friendly approach. In hindsight
they were the Leaders who i felt began to
empower me to begin owning the roles i was
fulfilling.
By now I had started to read about what
Leadership could be and had experienced
specifically one person who totally empowered me
to take control of the role I was fulfilling and
set up a weekly meeting with me to talk about
how I was going, whether there were any
questions or requests and what I was working on
for the next week. There was an intrinsic trust
which in fact was an even bigger motivator than
having someone watching me to find fault.
During this period of my work life I actually
achieved some rather major improvements in the
job I was doing. The level of Leadership I was
experiencing inspired me to actually believe in
what I was reading as it was not just “pie in
the sky”, wishful thinking, but actually real.
I then read some of the material that was
coming out about MBWA theory. “Management By
Walking About”, and realised that I had been
doing this very thing, asking people I worked
with what they thought, felt about what we were
doing. I moved into the “conscious competence”
mode. Aware that I could consciously promote
this style of Leadership.
A little later on I was fortunate enough to
then be in a variety of positions where I was
the “Boss”. At least I had many people under my
care, one group as workers under my care (a
period of 6 years), another where I was their
“pastor” (a period of 12 years with 2 groups). I
was able to put the style of Leadership I had
come to believe in into practice.
During these times I focused my Leadership
style, as I had come to express it, on
empowering the people to own their journey and
the tasks at hand. Once owned then to come up
with the ways that they as a whole could see
them moving forward.
This was slow at the beginning for many sat
and waited till someone told them what to do,
unsure, from past experience, whether they
should express their thoughts. However, when
asked what they felt was needed, and assured
that it was okay to have a point of view some
amazing ideas came forward, things I had never
thought about myself.
Then affirming them and sending them back to
facilitate those awareness’s themselves, some
rather incredible things eventuated. I was
leading groups who required little intervention
at all, they were facilitating their own growth
and creating the momentum that business owners
would give their eye teeth for.
Leadership is not just one thing. It is a
large variety of styles. Some styles are highly
non-productive. Some are highly productive as
well as low maintenance.
What is your Leadership style? Would you like
to grow it? It could make the difference in your
business. Rather than having an ordinary
business you could have an extraordinary one.
If you would like to strive for the ideal and
grow your style let me know. Just reply to this
post. Posted in
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June 1, 2011 by austinparry
As a culture are we total happy with where we
are at this moment? As Leaders: is the
workplace, the community, the state, the
country, the world working at its best? Or could
it actually do things better?
Is where we are now perfect? Never ever to
need reconsideration? Or is that just wishful
thinking?
I keep hearing that the world is in trouble,
and that we need Leaders who will lead us out of
here. To a better place.
Through his research Claire Graves identified
that discrete patterns of thinking,
(psychological systems), emerge as our brains re
– calibrate themselves, through a bio-chemical
process, to meet the new needs brought about by
changing life conditions.
To put that simply. We develop new ways to
deal with new situations.
The challenge with this is that so many
Leaders deny that the new situations exist. So
no new ways are developed.
This creates new issues as the “New
Situations” continue to present.
If one attempts to hold back the progress of
time, sooner or later time will catch up with
them and override them, swamping them and
proving them wrong.
To really be a true Leader, there is a need
to be constantly facing up to the question, “Is
there a better way?” “Are we doing the best
possible we can be doing at this moment?”
This is what being a true leader is. Always
listening to the comments from all within the
system we may be in, constantly asking the
question, what is this question about? What can
I learn from this question? how can we grow from
what is being asked?
Leadership implies openness. On an expedition
does the Leader really know where they are at
any moment and do they really know where they
are going? They have an ideal goal.
They have a perceived direction. But the
question is that when a fork in the road
appears, is the Leader aware of the challenge
and are they ready to make a choice? How quickly
can they reassess the goals they have set and
set new ones to cater for the new awareness. Are
they open to conversation and another way of
thinking?
If there is no openness, no willingness to
reconsider and make new choices, then probably
the person is a manager. Whose role has a
possible definition of maintaining the status
quo. Managers tend to rearrange the deck chairs
on the Titanic.
True Leaders work at building a new and
better system that is not limited, but rather
open to a variety of possibilities. That will
not choose to do fear or blame. That will rather
say, “Interesting Evolutionary Experience, so
where to from here?”
Constantly open to searching, no matter what.
Looking for the opportunities to grow and take
their organisation, their group, their team,
onto a new tomorrow.With new awareness’s, new
challenges, new possibilities, ready to do the
whole process over and over again.
So many of the models of Leadership that we
are taught were great when they were penned.
However, we need to be prepared for a more open,
flamboyant, searching style of Leadership that
does not know the answers, but is willing to get
out there, get their hands dirty in the search
for “Where too from here?”
Is your Leadership style moving you and your
organisation forward, or is it holding you back?
It is the organisation that has the most
flexible, open style of Leadership that will
flourish in the years to come. The other style
will lead their organisations to become
dinosaurs.
We constantly hear that the only constant in
life is change. True Leaders are open to that
change, willing to consider, to ask why not,
rather than why.
If you really wish for your organisation to
flourish in the coming years, then the
proactive, open, listening, querying way is the
answer. Anything else leads to complaining and a
swift demise.
Sometimes it is hard to assess where we are.
There is a need for an objective outsider to ask
us the right questions, to challenge us, to
question what we are really attempting to do.
That is what Leadership Coaching is all about.
Just how prepared or open are we to creating
the new possibility. If the answer is yes we
are, then you are a Leader: for the rest it is
back to the drawing board, to be reprogrammed.
To reconsider just what the changing conditions
of life are and whether we can do something to
workout how would be the best way to meet them? Posted in
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May 23, 2011 by austinparry
As I observe the world perception of Leadership,
I scratch my head. Leadership appears to be
perceived as, “I tell you what you ought to do”.
The response expected from people appears to
be “yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir”.
I mentioned in my last post about the
different levels of leadership as seen by Spiral
Dynamics.
Over the last few days,my observation has
been that from the political emphasis of our
society, to the pharmaceutical/medical
perception of society and on to the legal
perception of society, leadership is either “do
it or else, for my words are law” . Or “the
system has this answer and we all agree with the
system, because the system is right”.
These are Red and Blue tier is Spiral
Dynamics
click here to read more.
There does not see to yet be a majority
perception that says “lets look at what has been
suggested and see how we can learn and grow from
what we are now experiencing.”
This awareness is where leadership is
heading, it is the yellow tier in Spiral
Dynamics. Yes, I have jumped a couple of levels
in that system, however, I can see that this
level is the one that is able to observe what is
happening and be open to seeing all sides of the
awareness. It seems a great place to aspire to
as leaders.
This is the perception that does not see
black or white. Rather it is able to see the
nuances of what is in between, the greys.
It is no longer interested in exclusive
definitions. Rather it is focused on inclusive
understanding.
What are you actually attempting to
communicate to me? Is the question.
The desire to be in a place where I totally
get what you are telling me.
I am intrigued that people are so focused on
achieving their agenda that they are not open to
what the other person is really attempting to
say.
Isn’t the listeners role to actually listen?
If this is so, how come we so easily move to
interpreting what is being said from our own
perspective? Surely we have now moved from
hearing what others are saying, to hearing what
we want to be heard.
To me Leadership is less in telling others
how it is, and more on listening to how others
perceive how it is. David Rock on the cover of
his book “Quiet Leadership” says, “Help People
Think Better–Don’t tell Them What to Do.”
As a Leader, how open am I, are you, in
actually hearing what our staff are wanting to
say to us.
In the 1990′s there was an awareness of what
became called MBWA process. Which meant
“Management By Walking About.”
That is, listening to what the staff are
attempting to tell me about how I can improve on
how I run my business.
The main issue is whether I, as the Leader,
am open to these thoughts and awareness’s.
My intrigue is that so many times I find that
the leader is caught up in their agenda, rather
that the good of the team, the group, the
organisation.
Question? What is going on? How open am I to
getting to the bottom of the issue? Am I
seriously involved in being open to the
possibilities?
Leadership would do well to go back to the
basics. Assess what its role is intended to be.
Then reapply itself to future growth.
What is going on? Either we are focused on
growth and moving forward or we are caught up in
maintaining the status quo, for no other reason
than it is the status quo. Not a Leadership
role.
The challenge to us all is to step outside
our comfort zone and truly become Leaders who
are seeking to make a difference, open to all
possibilities and options. Posted in
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May 18, 2011 by austinparry
The main challenge with the being many styles of
Leadership is that so many of the styles
categorically believe that there style is the
only one. I have been continuing my reading
about
Dr Claire Graves and “The Emergent Cyclical
Levels of Existence Theory”. This has since been
called
Spiral Dynamics.
I have followed the
Spiral
Dynamics Integral leg of the development
promoted by Don Beck and
Ken Wilbur of Integral Theory.
The awareness that humanity has developed
through an
Eight-stage spiral of Development has
enabled me to look at Leadership styles and
observe the different styles that are out there
in the marketplace.
By noting the difference in styles I am far
better able to coach the business or the
specific Leader of the business as i have an
awareness of their specific driving Values.
I did a Values Profile some 10 years ago and
found it a powerful tool to expose my Leadership
style to me. Up till then I couldn’t work out
easily why people did it differently.
I am going to be rather naughty and cut and
paste from a
document by Beck and Cowan picking out the
Leadership traits of each level. Even though I
know there is a lot to digest in this post, if
you commit to reading it fully it will have
value.
Here are the different levels of Leadership
mentioned by Don Beck in the article i mentioned
above.
BEIGE: Leadership Assumptions and
Implications:
· People require subsistence needs to be met in
order to remain alive.
· Workers need immediate compensation in the
form of basic needs.
PURPLE: Leadership Assumptions and
Implications:
· People are ‘married’ to their group –
nepotism is a way to take care of our own.
· Workers owe their lives and souls to the
parent-like organization.
· People follow their leaders willingly to honor
their ancestors and the spirits.
· Anyone will sacrifice self without question if
the group needs it to survive.
· Change requires the support of accepted
‘elders.’
· Change rituals should be emotional and full of
symbols.
· This vMEME exists deep within each of us and
tends to surface in times of
uncertainty.
· People are nurtured through observing seasonal
rituals, honoring individual’s rites of
passage (weddings, graduations, funerals) and
expressing a sense of enchantment and
magic in life’s mystery.
RED:
Leadership Assumptions and Implications:
· People need to be dominated by stronger force
that gives rewards and keeps their
lusts in check.
· Workers will put up with a lot if their basic
needs are met regularly.
· The haves are owed their status and perks just
because of who they are.
· Have-nots probably deserve their status and
have no right to complain.
· Payoffs get results, nobody can be trusted,
and everyone has their price.
· People need to hear firm change mandates from
the powerful ones in straight, tough
talk.
· Workers need to know ‘what’s in it for them’
in order to accept change.
· People are nurtured by preserving the stories
of company heroes, or by celebrating the
great feats of conquest when the company,
figuratively at least, ‘slayed the dragon.’
BLUE:
Leadership Assumptions and Implications:
· It is mankind’s lot to work for the glory of
the one True Way and keep a job.
· People work the best when they are told how to
do things the right way.
· Workers are cogs in a system, fulfilling roles
they are destined to.
· Higher authority rules by rightful compliance,
not by might or fear.
· Doing duty and being punished when failing to
do so gives meaning to life.
· Workers owe the organization loyalty as it
provides their well-being.
· In times of change workers need a new system
to embrace, a new cause to espouse,
and a refreshed purpose.
· Change must be orderly, consistent with
principles, sanctioned by those ‘in authority’
and honouring of the past.
· Attacks on the old order trigger resistance.
· People are reinforced through appeals to
traditions, by respecting the past, by
honouring length of service and loyalty.
· Various forms of patriotic appeals and
charitable sacrifice should accompany
observances of national, religious, or secular
holidays and commemorative events.
ORANGE: Leadership Assumptions and
Implications:
· People are motivated by the achievement of
material rewards.
· Competition improves productivity and fosters
growth through opposition.
· Tried-and-true is best, though it can always
be improved upon.
· Workers want to get ahead and have more
influence over others.
· Here-and-now success is evidence of rewards to
come in the future.
· People are energized by displays of symbols of
progress, success, growth, and
accomplishment.
· Individuals or groups who excel should be
recognized for their achievements.
· People like a piece-of-the-action but also
enjoy getting good things done.
GREEN: Leadership Assumptions and
Implications:
· People want to get along and feel accepted by
their peers.
· Sharing and participating lead to better
results than competing.
· Emotions need attention, but hard feelings
should be avoided.
· All members of an organization should have
their say and be included.
· The organization is responsible for its
community’s well-being.
· People are inspired by stressing the
importance of human beings and the warmth that
exudes from a feeling of a caring community.
· Socially responsible activities should become
tastefully visible as everyone in the
group contributes.
YELLOW: Leadership Assumptions and
Implications:
· People enjoy doing things that fit who they
are naturally.
· Workers need free access to information,
tools, and materials.
· Organizations are only transitory states
because change happens.
· Learning and understanding motivate people,
not payoffs or punishments.
· People have different competencies and
capacities, and most are OK.
· People are inspired through conveying a sense
of personal freedom with emphasis on
getting an important job done without specifying
how it must be done.
· Flex-time, alternative working hours, remote
working, and job interchange are ways
to avoid over-managing.
TURQUOISE: Leadership Assumptions and
Implications:
· Spiritual bonds pull people and organizations
together.
· Work must be meaningful to the overall health
of all life.
· The universe is a single entity of elegantly
balanced, interlocking forces.
· Experiencing feelings and information together
enhances both.
By looking specificallyat each style of
Leadership it is possible to observe the
different styles.
Where are you on the Leadership Style profile
based on your Values at this point in time?
Would you like to rethink whether your style
is adequate for the role you wish to fulfill?
Let me know and we can take it from there.
Next post I will look more on the awareness
of styles of Leadership based on this
perception. Posted in
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May 4, 2011 by austinparry
There is a Bishop in The Roman Catholic Church
in Toowoomba, Australia, who put forward a few
suggestions as to how the church could possibly
solve some of their staffing issues by
considering Women Priests and Married Clergy.
Having expressed my perceptions within the
church in the late 1960′s early 1970′s, I could
have suggested to him that Leadership in the
mainstream churches does not have anything to do
with leading people, rather it has a lot to do
with maintaining the status quo.
One of the hardest things in so many
organisations, as well as the church, is that
those in the positions of “leadership” seem to
have a belief that “protecting the Fort” is what
it is all about.
The desire to define exactly what we believe,
how we believe it, how everyone should behave
and think, etc, becomes one of those issues that
so many so called leaders believe is important.
It’s as though, by defining everything
completely, we will be able to protect what we
have, making it safe and secure. If we can do
that then our future is completely guaranteed.
There will be no nasty surprises because we have
covered all the bases to ensure nothing untoward
happens.
The problem with this kind of thinking is
that all we may have been able to do is prevent
any of the known dramas from turning up, but we
haven’t be highly proactive in preventing the
unknown ones, or ones we have no control over,
neither have we put much time and energy into
moving forward, keeping up with the changes that
are happening in the world at a great rate of
knots..
The Catholic Church has a belief that clergy
must all be single men. It has invested a great
amount of energy in propagating this belief and
reinforcing it. Like all limiting beliefs it has
some original shaky foundation at it’s
beginning. However, those in power are unwilling
to look at the original beginnings of the
belief, rather they search for bits that will
prove the belief and ignore the bits that
disprove it.
The brain is an interesting bit of material.
It has now been shown to spend a massive amount
of time and energy on searching to validate what
we already have chosen to believe and discount
anything that contradicts the belief.
A bit like a Court of Law that will only
admit the evidence that will prove the guilt of
the accused. Rejecting any evidence to the
contrary. A bit like some of the “leaders” in
“emerging nations” where dictatorship is the
norm.
Yet, I could probably name a few
organisations, (I am not going to, I will leave
that up to you,) where that style of leadership
still exists.
Ego driven leadership has the potential of
becoming the death of a business, as the person
driving the agenda has the greatest possibility
of being totally out of touch with the rest of
the people in the organisation.
The role of a true leader is more a role of
facilitating the growth of a business or
organisation, ensuring that it continues to be
relevant and meaningful. To be the focus of an
organic process where the whole is monitored and
learned from so that it can continue to evolve
in the best possible way.
The role of a true leader is to actually
sacrifice their own agenda so as to be in a
better place to represent the mindset of the
whole organisation.
It is the organisation as a whole with its
multitude of leaders, each with their own
awareness’s, that is tapped into by its real
Leader. This collective energy is what makes an
organisation thrive and excel.
Whether it is the “Management by Walking
about” stuff of the 1990′s or all the later
equivalents, to ignore this wealth of
information is basically organisational suicide.
The role of the real Leader is to facilitate
this process by creating an environment where it
is fostered and enthusiastically encouraged.
The Church Leaders who are more interested in
maintaining the status quo are stultifying the
growth of their organisations.
The politicians who attempt to impose their
individual perceptions on their constituents,
who look to groups to validate their beliefs
rather than being open to new possibilities are
likewise killing the political process.
All true Leaders are open to a myriad of
possibilities, are willing to entertain ideas
that they may not be totally comfortable with,
open to trying new ways, ideas and
possibilities.
If only we could all open ourselves to the
wealth of new possibilities that there are out
there rather than limiting our selves with
narrow, archaic, thoughts and beliefs. Posted in
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April 25, 2011 by austinparry
Our youngest granddaughter asked for the book
“Tomorrow When The War Began” for Christmas.
She waxed lyrical about it. We bought it and
gave it to her.
Last week I saw the DVD at the Video shop and
thought it may be worthwhile seeing what she was
so interested in. I brought it home.
Not knowing what i was about to watch I
approached with an open and interested mind.
Suddenly I realised I was in a Leadership
Development Arena.
Here were a group of young adults, each with
their take on life so far showing through their
behaviours.
Their beliefs were very definitely rather
mundane. The kind of things people in ordinary,
non challenging lives may focus on.
You could go as far as saying that they were
living boring lives. A bit like Thoreau in
“Walden” when he said that “Most men (People)
lead lives of quiet desperation.”
This reminds me of so many of the people I
observe today. So caught up in other peoples
expectations or conforming to fit in, or
disillusioned by those in charge that they have
given up their ability to have a choice in what
is going on.
Suddenly in the movie they become aware of a
total change in their environment, things are no
longer the same.
It is then that we begin to see a change in
these people, as is normal, the change is
different in each of them and happens at
different speed and times.
The one consistent is that each of them moves
into Leadership roles, albeit, one at a time,
but they do, promptd by different circumstances
as their differing personalities deal with the
changing events.
I was actually quite glued to the television
as I watched this DVD, intrigued by the lesson
that was unfolding in front of me as to what
Leadership truly is.
None of the people seemed right initially.
Definitely no “born to the role” contenders.
Some definitely were painted as not having a
ounce of leadership material in them.
Some changed quite dramatically and took on
roles that were 180 degrees in the opposite
direction to the earlier expectations described.
As with everything in life there are a
variety of ways that leadership can pan out.
Different members of the group responded in
differing ways. Some more effectively than
others.
My constant awareness was that if they had
been better aware of what was going on within
their own processing, what was making them tick,
then they would have been in a far better
position to choose the best way to respond to
the challenges of leadership that were thrown up
to them.
I know that it sounds like a broken record
but each of the young adults in the movie
beautifully represented differing personality
profiles, different profile behaviours.
With a better understanding of the default
that they were coming from as well as that of
their friends, they would have been much better
able to understand why they responded the way
they did and better understand why their friends
responded the way they did.
What is more they would have been able to
intuit better ways that they could have
responded. It is one thing to know why you have
done something the way you have done it. It is
another totally different thing to know better
ways that you could respond whilst in that
specific situation.
That is Leadership! The movie showed the
differing ways that leadership played out in
this particular story. With a far deeper
nderstanding of their potential they could have
been even better, more successful Leaders.
Do you know your leadership style? Would you
like to better understand what your leadership
style could be?
If so just make a note in the comments. It
could be the beginning of your leadership
style’s coming out and becoming obvious.
P.S. I note that this book is part of a long
series. We will see how leadership plays out
with them by reading or waiting till the next
movies come out in the next few years. Posted in
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April 20, 2011 by austinparry
So much of what I have read lately has been
about Leadership of organisations, institutions,
business, political parties. In fact I now
understand that I was beginning to perceive that
there was only one leader in any organisation.
It was no one else’s responsibility to act
out the leadership role. One person is the
leader, everyone else is a follower.
As I thought about this perception of
leadership and how I had experienced it in
organisations I had worked in or managed, I
began to understand that my beliefs and values
about Leadership actually were different to
those I was reading and hearing about.
The organisations that ran the best may have
had a CEO, a General Manager, an owner, a boss,
however, these people were not the only ones who
fulfilled Leadership.
Leadership was or ought to be a part of
everyone’s personal mission statement.
To everyone in the business, leadership
meant:
- acting as if you owned the business
- working in the business with a focused
sense of purpose.
- being totally responsible for the roles
you played within the organisation. “owning
your actions”.
- Accepting that as far as you were
concerned you were where the buck stopped
when a decision was made in your department.
- No one else was ever blamed for
decisions that you made.
- Everyone cared for and supported one
another. “mutual respect”.
- exhibiting an intuitive or lateral
awareness of what is needed.
- the ability to think on your feet.
Interestingly enough these traits are all
able to be grown in all of us. Inheriting them
is not the only method of acquisition.
I feel that we place far to much emphasis on
it being in our genes. Family inheritance of
beliefs, culture, behaviour, what we are capable
of achieving and our station in life are not
givens, they are all capable of change and
growth.
As with everything, awareness is the first
part of any change. We have to see what we are
doing, see the repercussions of those actions
and then ask is there another way that this can
be done, a better way that satisfies different
criteria, different ways we want the results to
turn out.
It initially means standing back and
observing ourselves in action.
Then questioning whether what I observed was
the best way to do things.
We may need to have done some work
identifying our actual values. If we believe
that others are there for us to ripoff, then we
have an issue. At least in my eyes. That work
may need to identify the beliefs beneath the
values. Where did the values come from?
Then we may choose which way we desire to go.
By beginning to take ownership for everything
that happens in my life, I free myself up to do
something about changing it. I have started the
process that will create the changes necessary.
This is the beginning of understanding
leadership.
Where are you on the journey to own the
leadership in your life, relationships, job?
Are you into choosing how the role will be or
are you still manipulated by your circumstances,
your beliefs?
Leadership is every persons right. It is
something that we are all capable of. However,
if you are not comfortable in the role of
leader, then you need to look and ask why not.
Let me know if your leadership is not what it
ought to be, maybe I can assist you?.
Email me at austin@austinparry.com Posted in
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April 13, 2011 by austinparry
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April 12, 2011 by austinparry
Can one get caught up in emotional, aggressive,
Rude,insulting, potentially abusive,
questionable and irrelevant comments and still
claim to be honestly seeking the truth? I have
been observing our politicians over the last few
weeks, from all major and minor Parties and
Independents. Specifically in Australia,
however, when I looked beyond this country out
to the global community, I noticed a consistency
with what I had observed here.
There appears to be a Mission statement among
political leaders that proclaims, “For the good
of the Country!” Was what was happening truly
for the good of the country? Was the proclaimed
agenda the same as the actual agenda?
I was challenged with what I observed. The
more I thought about it, the more I wanted to
ask, if the running of countries is done as a
business. What kind of Business Leadership was I
observing?
This led me to contemplate and then ask a
couple of things, Could business, in general,
run successfully, with this style of Leadership
that I was observing? Also, were politicians’
throughout the world truly offering Leadership
to their constituents in the best possible form?
I won’t go there in this post, but it could lead
to some interesting contemplation.
Can? Does? business run successfully with an
overtly aggressive and abusive leadership.
Obviously it must still be able run, albeit,
with challenges, when you note organisations
such as
“The
Boss Whisperer” promoting their business.
I know that for myself, I do not work in an
efficient manner when there is aggressive
management roaring around. It brings out my
doubt in my ability. Consequently I do not
perform at my optimal level.
It strikes me that if we all had a better
understanding of how we process, were willing to
look at how that positioned us in our work
environment, (or even our personal life), and
allow ourselves to ask the question, “Could we
do this differently, better”? Then the world
could be a better place!
Could it be that there are a variety of ways
that different people could chose to see things?
And all of them could be correct responses.
Could it be that there are a variety of
responses to any one issue? And all of them
could be correct responses.
Could it be that there are varieties of
beliefs and values? And all of them are quite
acceptable from an objective perspective?
I know from my perspective, the more I
understand how I process, what motivates my
beliefs and values, how I work more effectively
with specific guidelines, the better able I am
to create around me an environment where I can
work more efficiently and effectively.
With my lack of in-depth awareness, I may be
wrong, however, I could be forgiven for
believing that the interchange we see amongst
politicians in parliament and in the media is an
unnecessary and irrelevant part of governing a
country.
I am absolutely sure that it is unnecessary
and irrelevant part of running a business.
Whether our ultimate goal is to run a country
or run a successful business, improving its
bottom line and increasing its productivity and
efficiency, the ways to do it are consistent.
When we focus on the goal rather than attacking
people, we have a far greater chance of
succeeding.
If you are interested in learning more about
your way of processing. I am happy to do a
complementary profile of your profile using the
Enneagram Typing Instrument. This will give
you an overview and general understanding of the
possibility of how you process and what drives
you.
Just mail me at
austin@austinparry.com and I will arrange to
forward the link to you. Once completed I will
return the results to you. Where you choose, I
can offer further support.
Self knowledge is the road to self mastery.
The more i know who I am, the better I am at
marketing me to the outside world. The better I
am as assessing objectively what is going on in
any given situation. Posted in
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Choices:
still a work in progress, more articles to
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