Birds of a feather

There is something energizing and exciting when you bring a group of people together who are not only on the same wave length, but get what you want to achieve in your business and are keen to help you get there.

That’s how I felt after our team meeting this week.  Lots of great ideas – not all will happen at once – but everyone seemed invested in what we wanted to do.

After a group discussion about what direction we were heading in and our goals for the upcoming year, I’d split everyone into small groups, drawing on their expertise and areas of interest, and each group was tasked with some questions to answer that would give us some direction moving forward.

Then we gathered together as the large group again to hear what the others had to say and toss in our own ideas as well.  Having run Company of Women for fourteen years now, there were times, to be honest, when I had to bite my tongue as a suggestion came up that we had already done, or were already doing.

But nothing kills brainstorming quicker than someone saying “we’ve done that and it didn’t work.”  Well maybe not then, but it might now.  I also find there are new approaches out there, and perhaps we (read I) need to get with the program and go with the times.

But to be honest that is easier said than done, but I am getting there. I am a work in progress.

The thing is if you want to move your business forward and take it to the next level, you have to:

• ·      Build a team, a tribe who will get behind you.
• ·      Listen.
• ·      Give opportunities for others to grow personally and professionally.
• ·      Draw on the expertise of others, especially in areas where you do not excel.
• ·      Realize that you can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything, nor do you have the knowledge and skill set to do so.
• ·      Understand that letting go is not easy, and sometimes it seems like a necessary evil.

So I am getting there, comfortable in the knowledge that at the end of the day, it is still my business, still my decision.  But I need to take heed to the input of others, otherwise why bother asking for their opinions or input in the first place.

As someone said at the meeting, we are birds of a feather, and we’re creating a caring nest for us all.  Just watch us soar and take off in the year ahead.

Women as leaders - we have what it takes

This week I was asked to step in at the last minute to be on a panel on women and leadership.

As I read through the questions, they provoked all sorts of flashbacks to a murky leadership past, especially given I had to talk about the leadership lessons I had learned the hard way.

My first thought was that, like many women, I never actually saw myself as a leader, more someone who saw that something needed to be done, and I would forge ahead and do it.

Even when I received a leadership award back in 1999, I felt an imposter and that I would get caught out.  As part of the ATHENA Award I was sent to a leadership conference, and I almost wish I could go back now, as I believe I would get more out of it, now that I have assumed and accepted the leadership mantle.

So what did I learn the hard way?  I’ve chaired several boards – at the local and national level, and early on when I was President of one national board, I made some pretty naïve decisions, consulting only with the Executive Director, before I announced what we were going to do as an organization.

I am embarrassed to admit that I was so autocratic back then.  It never crossed my mind that I should ask the other board members what they thought, probably because I knew intuitively they wouldn’t agree with me. 

 Fast forward to today, with a team of 11 working with me, I know only too well that you have to collaborate, ask for feedback, even if the opinions are different to your own and be prepared to not always get your own way.  After all who says that you are always right and being open to new ideas and approaches can take your organization further.

Part of fostering a strong team is listening.  Learning more about the other person’s interests, skills and what motivates them.  It is all about getting the right people on the bus, in the right seats.  And sometimes you have to re-arrange the seating plan so you capture the true potential of everyone.

One of the questions I was asked was how do women develop their leadership skills and I know for myself it was through volunteering – both in the workplace and in the community. At work, I would volunteer to take on/lead big projects and in my spare time, I would serve on boards of charities that I believed in.

The other aspect of leadership to consider is that you are a role model and so you should be living to your values, demonstrating integrity and walking your talk.

Having presented thousands of leadership awards, the ATHENA Foundation undertook research to discover what were the common traits of the recipients. They discovered they were:  being authentic, valuing relationships, giving back, collaboration, courageous acts, learning, fierce advocacy, celebration and joy

Check this list, I am sure many of you already have these attributes, but like me,   perhaps you don’t see yourself as a leader – but you are. 

Step into your role and lead the way.  As women we have what it takes to lead.

Leadership lessons from the stage

"A leader...is like a shepherd.

He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead,

whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along

they are being directed from behind."

 Nelson Mandela

And you just never know where or when you are going to learn some important leadership lessons.   Recently I witnessed true leadership when musician Jesse Cook performed on stage in Guelph.

How?   As a Juno-award winning musician, he has a big following and it would have been all too easy for him to just perform on stage and take all the limelight.  But he didn’t.   Here’s some of the business lessons I gleaned from watching him on stage.

Lesson #1 – Build a team of people who bring different talents to the group.

Like all good leaders he has surrounded himself with extremely talented people, who can play a wide range of instruments, many of which I suspect he can’t play.  

Lesson #2 – Let each person in the group shine and showcase their talents

Throughout the concert, each player in the band was given several opportunities to do a solo, enabling them to highlight their specific skills and feel part of the group’s success.

Lesson #3 – At meetings, introduce your team so clients know who they are

Jesse made a point of naming his colleagues whenever he could.

Lesson #4 – If people have been on your team for many years, acknowledge their contribution

It was impressive to hear how long the musicians had been playing together.  It also gave credibility to the group and spoke to how cohesive as a team they were. 

Last, it speaks again to Jesse’s leadership style.  It wasn’t all about him.  He was the shepherd.

WE FOUND OUR BEAT

I must confess I was bit like a little kid organizing a surprise party. Only a handful of people knew what we were planning at the end of our Journey to Success conference. We called the session Finding Your Beat – an interactive activity – which actually accurately described what we would be doing – but I suspect no one really imagined that it would be drumming.

We led the women into the room, table by table, as the drummers drummed them in. Without a word being said, the women picked a drum, sat down and started drumming. It was fascinating to watch as women joined in. There they were, many in their finest, with an African drum between their legs, pounding and following the rhythm in the room.

Most people, myself included, really got into it and when we finished our first “performance” there was a loud howl as we congratulated ourselves on the music we’d made.

Now ending the conference on this “note” was a risk, and to be honest not everyone participated, some people left and that is fair enough, but for those who stayed (around 150 women) it was an empowering way to end an inspiring day and my sense was that the women left feeling they could tackle anything.

And Terri – who led us through the activity, landed another contract from someone who participated. Now that is what it is all about.