Theme 19: The Power Of Vision Boards When Leading

Have you ever used a vision board as an approach to keep you focused and guided?

A vision board is a visualization tool used to create a collage of words and pictures that represent your present goals and dreams. I have been using them over the last 4 years and believe they are one of the most powerful approaches to achieve what you want in life. 

Jack Canfield, one of the motivational experts I follow and author of Chicken Soup for the Soul, is a huge proponent of vision boards. According to Canfield, representing your goals with pictures and images allows you to strengthen and stimulate your emotions because your mind responds strongly to visual stimulation. Our emotions are the vibrational energy that activates the Law of Attraction. 

Your brain will work tirelessly to achieve the statements you give your subconscious mind. And when those statements are the affirmations and images of your goals, you are destined to achieve them! – Jack Canfield

Here are some recommendations around creating a vision board

• Your vision board should be around A1 size. I buy sheets of A1 corflute which is relatively cheap and sturdy.

• Find pictures that represent or symbolize the experiences, feelings, and possessions you want to attract into your life, and place them on your board. Use photographs, magazine cutouts, pictures from the Internet–whatever inspires you. Be creative. Include not only pictures but anything that speaks to you.

• Your vision board can also include affirmations, inspirational words, quotations, and thoughts. Choose words and images that inspire you and make you feel good.

• Remember to include a picture of yourself on your board. Choose one that was taken in a happy moment. 

• Sometimes I also record statements to visualise my goals and dreams for example, “I am a highly effective coach” Use “I am” statements to train your brain that you are already doing these things as opposed to “I want to” become an effective coach.

• Put your vision board in a place where you can see it every day and be reminded about what it is you want. Imagine these goals and dreams as if they have already come true.

• Be mindful not to create too many visualisations on one board. I would use a maximum of ten.

• Create some time each day for visualisation practice which will increase your motivation to reach your goals.

• Enjoy the process!

If you have goals and dreams in place however struggling to keep focusing on them, I strongly suggest you illustrate them visually on a vision board. If you keep focusing on these things you will be surprised with the changes that will start happening in your life for example developing greater confidence and taking more risks. There is also nothing more satisfying than returning to boards you have created in the past. You will be amazed at what you have achieved!

Here is a link to a resource Jack Canfield has created to give you some further inspiration. 

21 Ways to Make Your Vision Board More Powerful

sean bailey managing director – company owner m +64 21 059 8305  e sean@empoweryounz.co.nz   christchurch new zealand  w empoweryounz.blogspot.com

“Helping organisations thrive, by enabling and empowering leaders”

 

Theme 18: Leaders Need To Read And Write!

 I recently came across this powerful message and thought it was worth unpacking in the context of leadership.  

Reading and writing are important activities for everyone. For leaders, investing time to reflect through writing or reading topical information supports our personal and professional development. Unfortunately with all the other priorities, we juggle on a day to day basis, taking (or making) the time to do this can be a challenge but one that is definitely worth overcoming!
 
The benefits are obvious however worth highlighting. Professionally, keeping up to date with best practice, considering and reflecting on other leaders’ experiences or researching topics relevant to your workplace can stimulate and shape your own thinking and approach. Often scenarios you are dealing with are not new so understanding how others have managed them can be helpful. On the other side of the ledger, reading for personal stimulation and development and reflection is also important.
 
Writing is equally beneficial. For me, it is an activity that helps me clear my mind, prioritise and reflect. It doesn’t have to involve a lot of time but there is something therapeutic about the act of physically putting pen to paper.
 
To overcome the time barriers we all face, try scheduling time in your day or week to do these activities – it will be worth it. Recently I have started getting up an hour earlier each morning (based on recommendations from great leaders) and using this time to read and write while I am fresh and alert. While I was a principal I also used to block out an hour or two every week to either catch up on some professional reading or record reflective notes on my performance. 
 
Here are some suggestions on how you can weave these activities into everyday life:

• Read an inspiring leadership text
• Read leadership blog posts
• Read leadership articles on LinkedIn
• Record reflections on the previous days leaning 
• Set goals for the day
• Write down 10 things you are grateful for
• Record notes from a motivational podcast you have listened to
• Write your own leadership blog!

Regular professional reading and writing do decrease our sense of isolation as it provides an opportunity to communicate inwardly and outwardly. We have so much to learn from ourselves and others!

sean bailey managing director – company owner m +64 21 059 8305  e sean@empoweryounz.co.nz   christchurch new zealand  w empoweryounz.blogspot.com

“Helping organisations thrive, by enabling and empowering leaders”

Theme 17: What does confident leadership look like and why is it an important characteristic?

What does confident leadership look like and why is it an important characteristic?

Confidence grows confidence right?

If you think about leaders you admire, it is more than likely their confident delivery of key messages is one of the dimensions of their leadership that appeals most and makes you feel connected.

Even if you don’t necessarily agree with the pathway, idea or direction – if the message is delivered in a confident manner, it is more likely teams will listen, consider and attach themselves to the strategy.

Confident leadership, powerful delivery followed by actions can positively influence people and outcomes, especially when there are tough decisions to make.

I recently observed a good friend demonstrating confident leadership by making a decision to not participate in or be part of an event that would have involved his entire team. He believed doing so would eventually have a negative impact so he made a tough call to pull him and his team out.

This decision could easily have driven a wedge between him and his team however because he has done his research, had thought through all the implications and delivered his rationale confidently (his WHY), his team accepted and embraced his decision. He helped them believe and understand it was about their welfare – a compelling message.

Leading confidently requires great courage and there will times that we will be ‘knocked off our perch’ when issues and challenges occur. We, therefore, need to develop a toolkit of strategies. Here are 5 approaches I have used in the past.

1. Making sure I lead according to my values. Do you have values that you live and lead by?

2. Being planned and prepared. This demonstrates you take your role seriously.

3. Using positive affirmations as an approach to develop a confident mindset especially when leadership is challenging.

4. Being decisive. This means sticking to what you say and do and not changing your mind unless there is a clear WHY.

5. Thinking about your demeanour and appearance. Great leaders take pride in how they come across.

sean bailey managing director – company owner m +64 21 059 8305  e sean@empoweryounz.co.nz   christchurch new zealand  w empoweryounz.blogspot.com

“Helping organisations thrive, by enabling and empowering leaders”

Theme 16: We Are Creatures Of Habit!

Since leaving my position as a school principal I’ve had time to reflect on the habits I had as a leader, especially the ones that I would change if I went back into a similar role! It’s also been refreshing to look at the landscape outside of education and observe habits demonstrated by leaders in other organisations. Habits are important when leading however they need a purpose or there is a risk they will start impacting on you or the organisation you are leading in a negative way. The purpose of this article is to outline some habits to avoid based on my past experience.

 
Practice what you preach
Managing the health and welfare of your team is a critical dimension to any leadership role. We spend time checking in with our people, helping them to navigate tricky situations that life and work can throw at you from time to time, ensuring they maintain a healthy work/life balance, ensuring they take a break from work and use their leave however we often do not apply the same rigour to managing ourselves or seeking support. One pressure I constantly placed on myself to my detriment was that feeling I had to be at work at a certain time every day, that I had to work across the weekend to catch up. These were not healthy productive habits and the reality was, having quality breaks and allowing myself to approach my day differently at times would have added value to my output and my energy levels. So .... have a think about what patterns or habits you have and try and identify which ones are productive and which ones aren’t.

The first to speak
Leaders can get into the habit of responding quickly especially during conversations and discussions. The wisest leaders I have worked alongside over the years have often been the best listeners and often the last to comment during conversations and discussions. They take their time to speak and listen intently to what their employees or colleagues are saying before providing their thoughts and comments. You are not going to lose any credibility in your organisation by not being the first to speak!
 
The need to demonstrate you are a subject matter expert
It is impossible to presume that a leader should know everything within an organisation. Leaders don’t know everything but they instead surround themselves with great people who can bring their expertise in and advise. It can also place a great deal of unnecessary pressure on leaders who try to be subject matter experts about everything, a trap many new leaders fall into as they navigate through establishing credibility in their role and within their team and even sometimes to colleagues. I learnt very early on in my career that surrounding myself with a great team and an understanding that leaders don’t always have all the answers, created a work environment where we could all contribute and learn from each other.
 
Favouritism
As leaders there are always going to be members of our team that we connect with better than others - that’s human nature. However one of our responsibilities is to ensure the culture within our organisation focuses on equality. This means we need to treat every employee the same and there is no favouritism. This often comes down to habits such as the time you speak to some people rather than others. These are things you will be judged on and remembered by. 
 
Stopping for breaks
One of the major regrets from my previous role was working through breaks. Sometimes this was a necessity, but it quickly became a habit and on reflection what I did, was miss a great opportunity to connect less formally with my team and my wider organisation. Catching up over a break is a wonderful way to check in with your people and engage on a more personal level. You demonstrate a true interest in them as a person and not simply an employee. You may learn something about them you didn’t know or you may learn something about yourself or what’s happening in your organisation through 'chat'. Getting into the habit of not taking breaks is also not demonstrating the importance of downtime and your people may start copying what you do! Breaks of course also ensure you get time to eat to rejuvenate your energy levels. Eating your lunch at 4pm is not OK!
 
After reading this article hopefully, you will be inspired to review some of your daily habits and identify ways you can enrich your own working experience and those of the people around you. Small symbols and actions can have far-reaching outcomes and remember, changing habits takes commitment and hard work, however, it’s certainly worth it.
 
As Steven Covey reminds us: 

“If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting”

sean bailey managing director – company owner m +64 21 059 8305  e sean@empoweryounz.co.nz   christchurch new zealand  w empoweryounz.blogspot.com

“Helping organisations thrive, by enabling and empowering leaders”

 
 
 
 

Theme 15: Eliminating Self-Doubt

Will I apply for that position or won’t I? Will I apply for that position or won’t I? Does this statement sound familiar? The reason it’s repeated is that people often find themselves asking the same question time and time again throughout their careers.

This was evident at a workshop I recently ran for aspiring school leaders at Canterbury University. Throughout the time we worked together great discussions took place around preparing middle leaders in schools for principalship however I couldn’t help but sense trepidation about ‘taking the leap’ and committing to becoming a school principal. This is often the case especially for people who are highly competent however doubtful of their ability.

This feeling differs for the people who are currently in middle leadership positions who have enough other challenges to keep them busy and fulfilled for e.g. further study or family commitments.

In the first part of this article, I, will unpack an important question: Why are very capable middle managers/leaders often hesitant to apply for major leadership positions? and secondly, what does it take to encourage these great people to go that next step?

One of the biggest factors is being put off by the enormity of a job. Sometimes people can tend to focus more on the difficult and challenging parts of a potential leadership position, for example, having difficult conversations, ensuring health and safety procedures are sound and the finances are in shape.

Another reason is negative self-talk. I think we can all be guilty of talking ourselves out of potentially amazing positions, as we don’t feel we are good enough, confident enough and capable enough of doing the job when in fact we are. 

Being influenced by other peoples thinking can also cause self-doubt. I’m talking about these types of statements: “Why would you apply for that position”? “You wouldn’t want to lead that organisation would you?” “Think twice before applying for that job as I haven’t heard very good things about that place.”

Lastly, potential leaders can miss winning great positions because they get stuck in the environment they are working in and can’t see all the incredible opportunities that exist out there. 

The following strategies can be used to ensure your decision-making skills are robust and you are applying for leadership positions because they are ‘best fit’.

• Make the call. Do I want to become a leader or not? It’s as simple as that. If you keep flip-flopping around this decision, you will never go there. I often use WHY or purpose statements to clearly define my career intentions and get me into the place of making clear decisions. For e.g “I educate and passionately influence people”.

• Make a list of your dream leadership positions and start to visualise your self working in those positions.

• When you know a position is coming up, start researching and investigating that organisation. If there are issues or negative aspects currently in that organisation, don’t let that put you off. The greatest leaders have the ability to turn workplaces around. 

• I am a firm believer in meaningful goal-setting when it comes to the next steps in my career. However, make sure goals and subsequent actions are challenging and far-reaching instead of easy to achieve.

• When you are setting career goals back these up with evidence to prove to yourself that you can attain these. This will decrease self-doubt.

• Visualisation is really important. Be open to looking for the position you want and be aware of the signs that lead you to this.

• I use vision boards as a strategy to allow me to focus on professional and personal goals. When these visualisations are around us we start focusing on them more. 

• I enjoy talking to people who I respect and admire about career aspirations. These people often create more questions than answers for us, but that can often be a good thing as it allows us to go deeper with our thinking. 

• I think it’s really important to acknowledge that self-doubt is OK when it comes to deciding our next career steps. We all experience it, however, our aim is to move past this into greater clarity and understanding. 

• If I continue to have negative thoughts, I list them down and then turn them into bridge statements. For example, if you are being negatively influenced by others, create a statement like “I am more than capable of making my own decisions”.

As a leadership consultant, I have a responsibility to continue to grow and develop potential leaders and get them to the stage where they feel confident to take the next steps in their careers. Let’s move away from self-doubt and see the real potential in people!

If you would like to work on your future career steps or leadership aspirations, contact me. 

sean bailey managing director – company owner m +64 21 059 8305  e sean@empoweryounz.co.nz   christchurch new zealand  w empoweryounz.blogspot.com

“Helping organisations thrive, by enabling and empowering leaders”

Theme 14: Are Leaders Born Or Made?

I was brought up with an understanding that leaders were born not made. 

With this belief firmly planted in my mind, I always looked up to people who had lots of followers and buckets loads of confidence and natural ability. I thought I could never aspire to ‘greatness’ as they had. At the time, I accepted this as normal and acceptable and continued to carry on with my life however how wrong I was.

I often reflect back now and wonder why I thought they were great or why they thought they were great!  Was it because they were confident and had the ability to attract others to follow them? Was it their natural ability to achieve? Was it their popularity and sense of humour that caused attention? Or was it adults for example teachers and parents placing them on a pedal stool? I think all of these behaviours existed and probably continue to exist and there is still a clear distinction around who people perceive as born leaders and those who are not.

To be fair, I’m not interested in people who think they are born leaders as I’ve seen many of them peter out due to a lack of stamina and determination. I’m more interested in finding out about what makes a true leader and my WHY is that I have proven that I fall into this category with what I have achieved in my life. If I went back in time to my local high school, I am sure many of the teachers who had the privilege of educating me would fall off their seats if they knew I went onto lead a large educational organisation. The few that had the most powerful influence on me and inspired me the most will not! 

I have just finished reading Seth Godin’s book ‘Tribes - We Need You to Lead Us’. He challenges us to question this whole notion of charismatic leaders. You know the people who want and need to be seen at the front. He states that being charismatic does not make you a leader. Being a leader makes you charismatic. He references great leaders who have speech impediments and fear of public speaking however can still have charisma. George VI was a good example of this.

Unfortunately, there are a number of great people who fall out of the leadership stakes when they see the charisma tick box because they start comparing themselves to others. I can see how this happens and without self-belief and determination along my journey, I could have quite easily fallen into this category. What they often fail to see is that confident, charismatic people are not born that way. Charisma Godin states is a choice, not a gift! 

Lolly Daskal is an amazing thought leader who also challenges us around true leadership. She too believes that the image we create around what constitutes a leader can be very false. True leadership is not about status nor position. We should not hold leaders in high regard because of their position. We admire them because they have held themselves to such a high standard, and by doing so, they have inspired us to do the same. She makes it very clear that leaders are not great because they have power. Leaders are great because they can empower others.

True leadership I believe is about self-belief and self-awareness. We also need to understand that true leadership is about acknowledging and understanding who we are. As Daskal states the good and the bad, the successes and the shadows. 

“Leaders are not born, they are made. They are made like everything else is made through values, virtues, principles and character". - Lolly Daskin

As an exercise, I want you to think back to a leader that has positively influenced you in the past. Were they really a true leader? If so, why?

sean bailey managing director – company owner m +64 21 059 8305  e sean@empoweryounz.co.nz   christchurch new zealand  w empoweryounz.blogspot.com

“Helping organisations thrive, by enabling and empowering leaders”

Theme 13: Are You Developing Trust In Your Organisation?

Recently I had a catch up with a teacher who was in my team at a previous school I worked at. As part of the conversation, we discussed how important it is for a leader to continuously model and demonstrate effective behaviours in any organisation whether this relates to culture, systems or wellbeing. This led me to write this article around one of the main contributors to success when leading - developing trusting relationships with others.

To start I’d like to share this quote from shame research, Dr Brené Brown.

“Trust is the glue that holds teams and organisations together” 

I really like this quote however as we know a lack of trust also has the ability to quickly pull the glue or the team apart. Once this happens, regluing is very difficult especially when leading. 

As part of this article, I also want to reference Patrick Lencioni and his book The Five Dysfunctions of a team. This is a worthwhile read and presents a number of ideas for leaders in any organisation.

When you read over the following information, I want you to reflect on your beliefs around trust and how these beliefs have come about.

Why are some of the barriers to developing trust in an organisation?

• The fear of vulnerability: People often struggle to express how they feel because they fear being judged by others.

• Consistency: Despite the fact that people claim to be completely trustworthy, they often only trust some people in an organisation.

• Past experiences: Focusing on past instances where trust has been lost or broken down, can influence our present thinking. I’m sure you have looked back on times when trust has been compromised and what happened as a result.

• A lack of support: Some organisations do not encourage employees to be pushed in a supportive way therefore people can often feel suppressed around their thoughts, ideas and feelings.

• No clear purpose: In some organisations, the purpose or WHY is not clear. If the leader is unable to clearly see the direction the organisation is going or his or her intentions, trust can be compromised.

• An absence of skills and knowledge: Unfortunately, some leaders are not equipped with the necessary skills or knowledge to manage conversations or behaviours around trust. 

• A need to protect yourself: When trust breaks down in an organisation as mentioned above it can be difficult to claw it back. When people lose trust, there is also a need to protect themselves.

• A presence of ego: Some leaders tend to lead with egocentric capabilities and are so busy looking after themselves, their reputation and hiding their weaknesses that they fail to look after the needs of their team and organisation.

• Blame: Blaming can exist in an organisation and when this way of being develops in an organisation, it can be difficult to trust people.

• Not seeking help: Trust can break down when people are unwilling to ask for help and provide constructive feedback to others.

• Individual vs. group needs: Often within an organisation, there is more an ‘I’ rather than a ‘we’ culture. An unwillingness to teach and support others can lead to a lack of trust.

• Not collaborating effectively: Unfortunately, some people find it challenging working and collaborating with others which can lead to trust issues.

"Trust is knowing that when a team member does push you, they’re doing it because they care about the team". 

- Patrick Lencioni

How can trusting relationships be established and sustained in an organisation?

For trust to really exist in an organisation, leaders must be willing to demonstrate vulnerability and avoid punishing team members who demonstrate vulnerability in their positions. Brené Brown has taught us that vulnerability is a strength.

Team members need to work in a supportive environment where they feel OK about discussing the weaknesses and mistakes they have made.

Leaders need to model and demonstrate every day the importance of asking for help when needed. 

When working with teams leaders need to and accept questions and opinions around their position of responsibility. As a leader, this ensures you remain responsible and accountable. 

Avoid judging team members for what they say and do as well as coming to negative conclusions. If you are doing this, it is time to take a good hard look at yourself as a leader.

Being brave, courageous and willing to take calculated risks in your organisation is sure to build relational trust.

As a leader, your responsibility is teaching and growing members of your team. This is something I focused on continuously when I was leading which led to high trust.

Utilizing other people’s skills and strengths within your organisation is a powerful strategy to develop trust.

When leading you are judged around your ability to lead robust discussions around improvement. Always remember to focus on what matters most and avoid wasting time discussing fixed mindset topics.

When was the last time you apologised or said sorry to a member of your team? They need to know that you are human and sometimes you make mistakes.

In summary, many of the strategies that have been recommended you will already be aware of however as leaders there is a real need to use these consistently if trusting relationships are to be encouraged and fostered in your organisation.

“If we don’t trust one another, then we aren’t going to engage in open, constructive, ideological conflict. And we’ll just continue to preserve a sense of artificial harmony”. 

- Patrick Lencioni

If you would like to develop this thinking further within your organisation, get in touch.

sean bailey managing director – company owner m +64 21 059 8305  e sean@empoweryounz.co.nz   christchurch new zealand  w empoweryounz.blogspot.com

“Helping organisations thrive, by enabling and empowering leaders”