I have grown a lot over the years (thank god for that!) as a human being thanks to my assignments, my personal life as well as what happens in the world over all. I became some what more humble and stable! I've also come to realize the important things about group dynamics and how interesting and important it is.
For those of you who missed out, I run my own businesses within IT/music consultancy and properties in the UK. So, back on track - how is this article about YOU?
Because, t's always about you...
When my last assignment came to an end before my vacation, I immediately signed up for a very popular leadership course here in Sweden - the UGL. I wanted to understand the underlying believes that made me FEEL and ACT a certain way in certain situations.
It really became obvious to me that we are all part of "a mass" and that all we want is for "the mass" to accept us. Also called "group pressure".
It takes a-lot-of-ba--s/vag--a to stand out to the crowd and to be different. It can be difficult and cumbersome to argue your different opinion than the rest of the mass.
I believe many of us makes it easy, we give up our own opinion and go along with the opinion of "the mass"...! Well THAT, my friends, can lead to a lot of frustration within YOU if you don't understand why you let it happen and / or how to tackle it - am I right?
So, Who is a leader?
According to me, LEADERS understand the psychology and behaviors of people alone and in groups. They help you, and the group, to grow a confidence. They provide FEEDBACK. They create a climate where you feel FREE to discuss improvements and impediments. They MODERATE meetings so that each and everyone gets the opportunity to be heard, to grow.
Weak leadership & management could easily turn out to a kind of dictatorship if we don't open up for discussions. HOW? Well... in that sense the "keaders" will get support to their own opinions simply because the business created a culture where titles are very important and team members act more like "followers" due to lack of a lot of things.
Might it also be a fact that the members are not interested in creating discussions. They feel no desire to stretch the boarders, to get a (perhaps) different result - they simply go to work to get paid and don't really "give a sh-t" about the outcome...
Human design
70% of the people are generators by design and they are OK to go to work 08:00-17:00... because "that's what you do". They don't get upset or frustrated very often. They accept.
I'm not a generator. Don't mis interpret me... some call me work-a-holic... But, I want to be - part of - the creativity. I want to make a difference when I go to work and I get a bit frustrated if I do not get my opinions out loud due to time constraints at a meeting for instance - due to the fact that "the others" spoke looong and in detail about their own opinions etc. I'd like to try my opinions out in the group - believe me, not all my opinions are great - but that's what's so great - new ideas are invented from some times bad ones...
Borders...
I do not fancy strict boarders as it kills my creativity. Some people need strict bosrders to be able to reach a deadline... Luckily, we are all different. We need all types of people to get a good mix and a great company culture!
KUDOS! Please tag in any great leader that made you who you are or that you use for inspiration!
Group dynamics
We meet a lot of people that just loooove to hear their own voices (listen to my voice at Spotify by the way..."This ain't so bad" - Maluku Sweden). Those talk and talk and talk and there can be X people in the room just nodding, sleeping or checking their mobiles... This to me is waste and creates frustration.. how can we let this "be"?
How is it that we, as a group, can allow this to happen? It is a mystery to me and I might have been one of those as well, but if so, no more!
Meetings "just because"?
I usually ask what's expected from me before I accept a meeting invitation if that's not obvious in the invitation. [Read this article to get some more "ahaa"- experience] (http://projectmanagementhacks.com/meeting-tips/)
EDUCATION/GUIDANCE
Part of being a great leader is to educate the organization in how to create a good meeting culture! I am a fan of good meetings and a small article on how we can help our leaders to create greater meetings can be read here.
A good meeting invitation should at least have:
š¹ a clear agenda
š¹ a purpose
š¹ a goal of the meeting and its participants.
š¹ Some links to preparatory information could be added as well of course!
If we only want to inform about something, well, I'm sure that could be done without a meeting.
YOU YOU YOU
So let's agree that the group are defined by YOU actually! I dare you to question the meeting organizer of the above things next time you get the feeling someone invited "the whole company" to a meeting without agenda, goal and purpose! Who knows, you might even get some "extra time" for some real "work" ;).
So, it's all about YOU, now let's help all the organizations to work on an improved meeting culture when we get back to work after the vacation period!
Have a great day!!