Where next?

Yesterday morning I was still in Zambia, packing up from a fantastic 10-day event with 40 Africa based managers.  It's impossible to understand how particularly incredible the event without acknowledging the pain, confusion and the sheer uphill slog of the last 3 years.  But finally, we can say that we have succeeded in leading a significant internal culture change.  A shift away from a stifling hierarchy characterised by "command and control", to a dynamic, trust-based creative network, characterised by "Yes and...." not "Yes but....".  

In my experience, mountain-top moments like this are few and far between.  Day-to-day life often feels confusing and unclear.  At the beginning, not everyone was excited about what we were doing and there were many days when it all felt like it was going to collapse or that we didn't know what we were doing. This week finally proved we had succeeded.  It was fantastic to watch a creative, dynamic and disciplined group of managers making creative and strategic decisions together.   

Over a beer one night, my boss and I were reflecting on what key thing helped us get to this place. I suspect it has something to do with a steady plod.  To staying true to our principles of empowerment and networking, always looking for win-win solutions, and ultimately trusting that if you have the right people supported in the right way, they can change the world!  It was all about leading beyond authority.

The big question for me now is what next?  When challenged to lead, it seems important to work out where you want to go...  There are so many worthwhile causes and interesting ideas out there but what am I really committed to?  What am I passionate enough about to keep striving for when the going gets tough?

As a manager in an international development agency, it would be understandable for people to assume my passion is to end world poverty or the fight for global justice. In fact, this is not what gets me out of bed in the morning.  My true passion is to shape and create working environments that allow self-directing individuals to flourish.  I am so fed up of seeing fantastic people crushed by their working environments; highly competent people squashed by someone else's ego. I wonder how many people in our world do a good job in-spite of their management support, not because of it?

This is not about soft and fluffy stuff.  This is about focused and dedicated commitment to shaping a new way of thinking.  To support managers in their day-to-day decisions so that they create an environment that unleashes potential and enables shared purpose.  How much more could we achieve if everyone was able to work together to give their best?

Now how can I get on that soapbox?

New to all this

So this is just a test really.  Historically I have been a bit dubious about the idea of blogs as I thought they were for people who thought everyone was interested in everything they have to say.  I have now been reliably informed that this is not the case and they are more like an online journal that people can access if they want.  I am quite a fan of journalling and find it useful to distil my sometimes jumbled thoughts into something that makes a little more sense.

I have joined the Common Purpose programme at a point when I wanted to explore what leadership looks like for me.  I have something of a vision and have a fantastic opportunity to take it forward in my organisation.  I am finding however that taking the bull by the horns and triumphantly saying "I am going to lead this" is proving more of a challenge than I thought.  I have loads of ideas and lots of encouragement but it's just making stuff happen that is difficult.  This is especially true when there are only limited parameters.

For me, I find that is usually me that is my biggest barrier to success and I am guessing I am probably not alone in this.

Through this programme I want to work out how I can unblock myself and really lead a change process in my organisation that unleashes individual potential across the teams I support.  More on this later...