If you’ve come across this blog and thought, “Wow, she hasn’t written here in a long time!” that’s because I’m writing mostly over at Sheep Tales & Kneedle Soup (www.kathiechiu.com.) It’s a more personal and devotional blog and I’ve several years of articles on there you can read through and comment on.
Come join me at Sheep Tales…
grace….Kathie
Well, a year ago I started this blog to record my thoughts and start conversations on leadership. You see, I had applied to Trinity Western University for their Master of Arts in Leadership program, better known as MAL. That didn’t happen in 2009 and as much as I was disappointed, it was a good thing that I didn’t start last year as I ended up with some health issues and then I lost my mother who had been living with me for 11 years.
However, this year I reapplied and The Salvation Army saw fit to approve my application for a master’s degree program and away I go. My first two courses start this summer and I’m hoping that you’ll join me on my journey of learning about leadership.
I started the reading for the first two courses and I’m astounded by the sheer volume of reading there is to do! In the next while I’ll be discussing some of the books and some of the things I’m learning from them.
I’m very excited to be a part of this program. My prayer is that I’ll be able to keep up with it as I continue to work and spend time with my family. However, I know God is faithful and He will sustain me through this journey.
grace… Kathie
One of the things I enjoy most about being an Executive Director has nothing to do with directing, administration or paperwork (which I don’t enjoy at all!) – it’s helping people develop themselves into better workers, better leaders and better people. However, it’s also one of the things that makes some days very difficult. More difficult than delegating, more difficult than administration or even just doing a job myself.
Why?
Because people tend to resist change. I know, I resist it myself. I actually abhor change. Helping people change involves communication. Conversations full of questions, often guiding questions that lead to self discovery are paths to help people change. This can also be emotionally exhausting, because what you’re doing is pouring yourself, your knowledge and your experiences into someone else. However, if you want to be an inspiring leader, this is what it’s all about. Many think that leadership is all about making decisions, being in charge and telling others what to do. For this reason they resist leadership – all that scares them. And yes, there are times when you have to do all of the above. But if you’re a good leader, or even a great leader, you know that to do those things too often diminishes your leadership in the eyes of those you lead.
Effective leadership is all about others. It is about helping others become all they can be. It is about empowering others and letting go of your power. It’s about passing it on.
No matter what level you lead at whether you’re a teacher in an elementary school or a supervisor of a few employees or a principal in a high school – or someone who is just discovering that you’re a leader, this is something you need to know.
grace… kathie
What a great team!
Have you ever worked for a micro manager? How depressing it becomes. You know you will never live up to their expectations and whatever you do they’ll just redo it at some point or stand over your shoulder telling you what they want you to do – step by step. When that happens you feel like saying to them, “Why don’t you just do it yourself?”
Leadership requires trust. Now, if you’re a person of faith, then what I just said is a no brainer. However, I’m not talking about just trusting God. We do need to place our trust in God. I’m talking about trusting your staff. When we place our trust in those who work for us, we inspire confidence in them. When we hire someone to do a job, it’s our responsibility as leaders to provide them with the resources they need to do the job – and then let them get on with it. Now, you might ask, “What if they do it wrong?” Well, so what? If and when that happens, you go back over it with them, help them fix it and then guide them through the process of learning what could have been done differently to produce a different outcome. This is especially important if you’ve hired someone who has moved up to a new level of leadership and is experiencing some situations for the first time.
Obviously, trust is something that grows as people learn to do a job and you learn to let go and let them get on with it. However, when you place your trust in someone, you have to be willing to accept that they might fail in their task. That’s the scary part. Now, it’s a bit different if you’ve hired someone who you know has experience to do a job and then through carelessness makes a mistake of huge proportions. Well, you know that you’re going to have to do something about that! However, in the day-to-day tasks that our staff must perform – from the front end employee to the supervisor – we need to trust them to do the job.
Micro managing your staff is counter-productive. It says, “I don’t trust you.” It also says, “You’re not good enough.” That is not the kind of message that will help others develop and grow in their jobs. It’s also an indication of a deeper problem – perfectionism. There’s a difference between wanting to do a good job and needing it to be so perfectly done to our specifications that no one wants to work for us.
We need to learn to let go.
I’ve been off on sick leave for four months now and it is the first time in a very long time that I’ve been able to be away without having to worry about what is going on at work. That’s because I placed my trust in my management staff. Did they do everything perfectly while I was gone? Probably not. However, they did a good job and held their own through some difficult situations. When they needed guidance, they called the right people. When they needed to act on something, they did so. When they needed to wait for me to return, they waited. They carried on as if I were there and kept up the momentum.
However, I had to let go.
God placed His trust in me by giving me the responsibility for our ministry. I then passed it on.
Pass it on!
grace… Kathie
I have a great staff! Check them out: http://www.caringplace.ca/who-we-are.html
I’m sorry that there haven’t been any posts recently. I’ve been on sick leave now for two months and my writing time has been limited. However, stay tuned for some more posts on Full Potential. I’m hoping to have a new post very soon.
grace… kathie
A life long Salvationist, originally from Long Island Newfoundland, Roxanne has been a SA Officer for 21 years. She has been happily married for 20 yrs to Larry and together they have a son Greg, 18. She loves cooking and baking and learning - actually, she considers herself a lifetime student!
I’m pleased to welcome Guest Blogger Roxanne Jennings to Full Potential.
One of the questions that is often asked today is – do you have a coach? If so, who is your coach? I have to admit that I love the Coaching model and have done some studies on it and look forward to doing more. And I am aware that coaching is more than just another technique to study, it is who I am. Easy to say, not always easy to remember! I want to learn all the techniques and practice them, yet I have had cause to reflect and the questions for reflection is:
Is coaching something else we need to learn how to DO and DO well in order to get to where we want to BE?
There is a danger of falling into a trap of believing that what we do is who we are. I am a wife; I am a mother; I am a Salvation Army Officer; I pay the bills, that is not who I am – just what I do.
It is very difficult for us to learn to just be. In the book Leadership From the Inside Out, Kevin Cashmen says, “Our training, development, and educational systems focus on learning about things. We learn what to think, not how to think. We learn what to do, not how to be. We learn what to achieve, not how to achieve. We learn about things, not the nature of things. We tend to fill up the container of knowledge but rarely consider comprehending it, expanding it or using it more effectively.”
If we are going to learn how to DO coaching then we are going to learn how to DO something outside of ourselves and while I believe some of that is necessary in learning the concepts and tools; we need to know who we are and lead from the inside out – to coach from our being and personhood.
We have been trained to DO adn now it will take conscious awareness to BE.
Take time to BE holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secreet with Jesus alone;
By looking to Jesus, like Him though shalt be;
They friends in thy conduct his likeness shall see.
Take time to BE holy, BE calm in thy soul;
Each thought and each motive beneath his control;
Thus led by his spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.”
(William Dunn Longstaff 1822-1894)
One Terrific Management Team
Sometimes I hate what I do. Well, not all of it, but parts of it. Some of the things I have to do as a leader are quite difficult. This week I’ve been faced with having to tell my management team that The Salvation Army has instituted some drastic policies regarding finances and budgets in response to our current global recession. There will be no raises, no cost of living increases, a hiring freeze, no courses, no retreats, etc…. I have to say that I am so proud of their reaction and their dedication to ministry. They were ready and willing to do what they had to do to make a difference.
I’m sure the decision to implement this policy wasn’t easy for our organization’s national leaders. For many of our employees, that cost of living increase is very helpful and in hard times like this, badly needed. To have to make the decision to forego this much needed increase for our employees this year must have been agonizing. I know they didn’t make that decision lightly.
What can a leader do when faced with a situation that stretches us in this way. For organizations or businesses that employ a lot of people, the largest single expense line on the budget is salaries. It’s the easiest place to save money. However, what looks great on the budget translates into a real crisis for real people on the other end. Those employees that are affected have families, mortgages, car payments and mouths to feed.
This past month the Board of the Christian school our children go to had to make some hard choices. They were faced with a critical financial situation and in the end, some staff were laid off, one was a teacher with 8 years at the school. Between the principal and the school they had to choose who would stay and who would go. I’ve certainly been praying for them and the teachers who won’t be returning for another year.
Our community also suffered another blow when E-One Moli Energy laid off 220 employees at their battery manufacturing plant here in town. Some employees had been there up to 20 years. It was a very sad day for them. Unemployment in our community has risen this year and everyone is concerned for their jobs.
When financial times are tough and there are hard choices to make, there are some things you can do to make it through.
When all options have been explored and every possible solution has been discussed, and you still find yourself faced with having to lay off your staff, there is only one way to handle it.
More prayer.
Openness and honesty.
Care and compassion.
How do you translate that into practical information? Well, if you are at that point and have to lay off someone from your business or organization, here are some things to consider:
As leaders, it takes a concerted effort to do these things the best way we can. Every time I’ve had to let someone go from their job my voice has shaken with emotion. One time I outright cried and tears poured down my cheeks as I broke the news. It can be very difficult. But we should remember what His word says,
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1
Much grace…. Kathie
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