Category: leadership

>Desks against the wall

David Herbert2 Comments

>It is not good for man to work alone – especially when the desk is piled high with paperwork (see Genesis). Friend Simon led an excellent session on delegation yesterday on our leadership programme – going through the continuum of leadership styles – tell, sell, consult and share and sharing the grid of confidence and competence.

One phrase that keeps cropping up in relation to delegation is “letting go“. It’s a funny expression but indicates the difficulties of delegation and that it involves grief.

Just wondering.

Just wondering whether better words might be “letting in” – then delegation becomes an issue of hospitality, celebration and fun.

It also gives a eucharistic reference to delegation – as this icon by Rublev of the Trinity shows. God is letting/inviting us in in the ultimate act of delegation and self-giving. His mission/work is placed in our hands and on our lips as he trusts us with his work. He doesn’t “let go” in the sense of leaving us to it but “lets in” as he promises constant companionship (bread sharing).
“Letting in” sounds as if it could be so much more fun than “letting go”. It sounds as if there is more room for celebration – and more chance of continuing relationship. There is nothing worse than letting go of something important and not knowing what on earth has happened.

So what are we saying when we have our desks against the wall? The Lord does indeed prepare a table before us, and that table often looks very like a desk of paperwork. How hospitable are we with our work? Shall we let people in? Shall we keep it to ourselves?

>It ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it

David HerbertLeave a comment

>During face-to-face contact, body language and tone of voice determine 85-90% of the impact. That’s the result of research apparently.
There has to be an integrity of what you say and the way that you say it – a bit like the old Fun Boy Three song – “it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it”.
One of my favourite verses is from Isaiah (chapter 42).

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.

Gentleness, humility, patience are fruits of the Spirit – these fruits are evident in what we say and the way that we say it. Without them we will sound in-credible. What is true of individual communication is also true of organisations. What is the body language of government, our bank, our school/college, our church? What is its tone of voice?
Reviewing a book by Stephen Denning on Amazon, Robert Morris points to Howard Gardner’s book Five Minds for the Future, in which Gardner suggests that, to thrive in the world during eras to come, there are five cognitive abilities that need to be developed. Gardner refers to them as “minds” but they are really mindsets.

1. The disciplined mind enables us to know how to work steadily over time to improve skill and understanding;
2. The synthesizing mind enables us to take information from disparate sources and make sense of it by understanding and evaluating that information objectively;
3. By building on discipline and synthesis, the creating mind enables us to break new ground;
4. By “recognizing that nowadays one can no longer remain within one’s shell or one’s home territory,” the respectful mind enables us to note and welcome differences between human individuals and between human groups so as to understand them and work effectively with them;
5. and finally, “proceeding on a level more abstract than the respectful mind,” the ethical mind to reflect on the nature of one’s work and the needs and desires of the society in which one lives

>It ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it

David HerbertLeave a comment

>During face-to-face contact, body language and tone of voice determine 85-90% of the impact. That’s the result of research apparently.
There has to be an integrity of what you say and the way that you say it – a bit like the old Fun Boy Three song – “it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it”.
One of my favourite verses is from Isaiah (chapter 42).

Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.

Gentleness, humility, patience are fruits of the Spirit – these fruits are evident in what we say and the way that we say it. Without them we will sound in-credible. What is true of individual communication is also true of organisations. What is the body language of government, our bank, our school/college, our church? What is its tone of voice?
Reviewing a book by Stephen Denning on Amazon, Robert Morris points to Howard Gardner’s book Five Minds for the Future, in which Gardner suggests that, to thrive in the world during eras to come, there are five cognitive abilities that need to be developed. Gardner refers to them as “minds” but they are really mindsets.

1. The disciplined mind enables us to know how to work steadily over time to improve skill and understanding;
2. The synthesizing mind enables us to take information from disparate sources and make sense of it by understanding and evaluating that information objectively;
3. By building on discipline and synthesis, the creating mind enables us to break new ground;
4. By “recognizing that nowadays one can no longer remain within one’s shell or one’s home territory,” the respectful mind enables us to note and welcome differences between human individuals and between human groups so as to understand them and work effectively with them;
5. and finally, “proceeding on a level more abstract than the respectful mind,” the ethical mind to reflect on the nature of one’s work and the needs and desires of the society in which one lives

Bottom up leadership

David HerbertLeave a comment

If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself – your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers.

If those over whom we have authority properly manage themselves, manage us, manage their peers, and replicate the porcess with those they employ, what is there to do but see they are properly recognised, rewarded and stay out of their way? It is not making better people of others that management is about. It’s about making a better person of self. Income, power, and titles have nothing to do with that.

Dee Hock p 70

The whole team are leaders

David HerbertLeave a comment

Leadership is not the personal responsibility of the team leader. It is to be exercised by all both collectively and individually. So the role of the team leader is to encourage growth in leadership in your colleagues. Just as a cricket captain seeks to bring out the best in bowler or batsman, so the team leader encourages, motivates.
Geoffrey Cornell – How to become a Creative Church Leader

>Leadership Style

David HerbertLeave a comment

> I have to talk with other clergy about collaborative ministry. It begs the question about my leadership style.

According to http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/leadership-styles.html because I am – in Myers Briggs terms – a campaigner (INFP for those who like the letters) – which means I have a strong sense of value, a passion for issues and champion the cause. According to that my leadership style ought to be very useful where a group has lost its sense of identity or is doing too many unimportant things. Apparently it’s not a good idea to ask me to lead where there is a problem “which needs to be solved with dispassionate objectivity” – but I think most people have discovered that already!

The logic of this is that different personality types have different leadership styles, and that different styles are necessary in different situations. Does that sound obvious? Doesn’t it then become obvious that leadership needs to be exercised collaboratively and that leadership team members need to complement one another, so that there is a range of styles.