Don’t lose that holiday feeling!

by | Feb 7, 2018 | English Blog

From WeAreTheCity’s Future Leader’s Blog

Welcome back from your summer holiday!

We hope it’s been great.

Maybe you’ve travelled, maybe you’ve spent time at home, maybe you’ve been with friends and family, maybe you’ve done some of your favourite things, like camping, reading, sailing, swimming or whatever else takes your fancy.

And most importantly, we hope you’re all relaxed and full of new energy.

Once you’re back at work, it’s easy to quickly lose that holiday feeling and that level of energy – and all of a sudden it feels like you’ve not had any holiday at all!

Yes, we’ve been there, we’ve done that – and you probably have too.

But don’t worry.

There are ways to hold on to the benefits of the holiday for longer. Coming back to work is an opportunity for a new start and therefore also new habits.

Here are some habits we’ve found useful when it comes to holding on to the benefits of your holiday:

• Laugh more. Laughing releases endorphins, can reduce stress hormones and boosts your immune system. Besides, it’s supposed to be fun at work.

• Take a walk during your lunch, even if only brief. Get outside, get some fresh air, breathe deeply.

• Connect with people at work. Get to know your colleagues, so that you enjoy spending work time with them (if you don’t already of course!).

• Don’t wait until the weekend or your next holiday to recharge. Find ways of recharging your own “battery” regularly. Ask yourself “what gives me energy?” – and make sure you allow some time for that during your day. This doesn’t have to be at work of course. Take time to see friends or spend time alone, go running or put your feet up – make sure you know what you need.

• Don’t get into the habit of working all hours. Some of the most successful and happy people we have encountered over the years are not those that are always “on” but those who can really focus while at work and equally really focus on being off when they’re off. Working all hours is not a recipe for success.

• Be 100% present. This is easier said than done with all the technical tools at our disposal, constantly vying for our attention – but it can be done. Just focus at what you are doing in the moment; if you’re having a conversation with someone, don’t check your emails at the same time. Or if you are writing a report, don’t talk to your colleague at the same time. Constant re-direction of your focus is a massive time waster (everything takes longer to do this way) and therefore also eats up energy. With focus you get things done quicker, leading to a sense of accomplishment and completion, which produces more mental energy.

So welcome back to work! And don’t forget to have fun.

 

About the authors

Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.

Their new book ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions” is out now, published by Financial Times International.

Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”This book is a 21st-century guide on how to build a world-class team. I highly recommend it” Steve Siebold, Founder, Mental Toughness University, Florida USA.

www.leadingteamsbook.com

Does it matter if you win or lose?

by | Feb 2, 2018 | English Blog

From WeAreTheCity’s blog

I’m met this morning by the latest news reports from Brazil about medals won and lost

overnight in the Olympics.

 

I see overjoyed faces and all sorts of expressions of elation mixed with the disappointed look of knowing that you didn’t quite get there.

There’s something very immediate about sports, it’s then and there, it’s in the moment – years and year of hard work comes together in that one moment – the moment of truth – will my hard work pay off?

And if I don’t win, it will be so disappointing of course. Just like anywhere else in life. You’ve probably experienced the same at some point – in school, in sports, at work. It’s OK – disappointing results, as painful as they can be, are also the source of great success.

Just look at the Olympics again!

The real champions are extremely focused on what they want to achieve and at the same time they are able to let go of that expectation (and not let it become something that they start worrying about NOT achieving) and just give it their all. They are also strong enough to brush themselves off if they don’t win, because they know they did their best then and there, and look for what they can tweak in their performance for next time. They are very well aware that they will lose at times, but they don’t let it get them down, they use it to propel themselves into greatness. They use the moment of truth to think:

 

Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn

 

I mean, how cool is that thinking!

Success = getting up more times than you fall down.

Just like how it was when we learnt to walk as kids.

Imagine if we had given up and thought “nah, I’ll never make it”….

 

So does it matter is you win or lose?

Not really, you win either way – either in that precise moment or over time. It’s all a mind’s game – your mind – how you choose to look at your results.

So, let’s promise each other something – if it’s important enough to us, then let’s take every result as useful feedback, and try again. When we do that, that’s when every moment becomes important. What do you say? Make a promise?

 

 

About the authors

 

Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.

Their new book ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions” is out now, published by Financial Times International.

Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”This book is a 21st-century guide on how to build a world-class team. I highly recommend it” Steve Siebold, Founder, Mental Toughness University, Florida USA.

www.leadingteamsbook.com

Time to become a Chief Enabling Officer?

by | Jan 24, 2018 | English Blog

From WeAreTheCity’s Future Leader’s Blog

Written by Mandy Flint and Elisabet Vinberg Hearn

 

We’re all familiar with the CEO, the Chief Executive Officer. Sure.

But how about the Chief ENABLING Officer? Have you seen her/him?

This is the new take on being a CEO.

Nothing new about it per se; leadership was always about enabling others to do a great job. The difference lies in the awareness. Not all leaders think of themselves as enablers – and then they won’t be as enabling as they could. And make no mistake, this is true for all leaders, whether they are:

• a budding leader

• an informal leader who role models leadership behaviours

• a seasoned leader

• the top dog

• in any of the layers of middle management

• a project leader

If you are any type of leader, it’s your job to ENABLE others to do a great job.

Sure, you may say – but how?

Well, there are many ingredients to enablement, but how about this as a start:

• Making sure team members have the tools and resources they need to do their jobs (eg. Technical equipment, working space, adequate time etc)

• Removing obstacles (eg. Building relationships with other teams/departments so that your team members can get help and collaboration when and where they need it)

• Allowing people to do the job the best way they can (eg. Seeing people’s unique strengths and helping them to use them and develop them, to really play to those strengths)

• Encouraging and prompting team members to collaborate with each other, recognising that people can achieve more together than they ever can on their own. Sharing information and encouraging it.

• Encouraging innovation, involving people to contribute through their skills, experience and knowing – getting creative and being ok with it.

• Allowing for mistakes, knowing that progress requires taking risks, trying things out to adjust and adapt solutions for the future – always learning from those new mistakes (not repeating old mistakes).

• Coaching people to learn from the mistakes, finding the learnings and new solutions they bring. Letting people try new things as part of their ongoing development.

The greatest leaders don’t create followers, they create new leaders. By enabling others, you help them grow into the best person they can be. It’s a pretty cool feeling too.

Who will you enable today?

 

 

About the authors

Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.

Their new book ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions” is out now, published by Financial Times International.

Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”This book is a 21st-century guide on how to build a world-class team. I highly recommend it” Steve Siebold, Founder, Mental Toughness University, Florida USA.

www.leadingteamsbook.com

The Power and Benefits of Sharing and Working in Teams

by | Jan 17, 2018 | English Blog

From WeAreTheCity’s Future Leader’s Blog

Written by Mandy Flint and Elisabet Vinberg Hearn

 

 

You.

 

Yes, you.

 

You can influence teamwork in your team.

 

Working as a team is something every one of us will have to do at some point in our careers, but all too often there are roadblocks – ranging from lack of communication to clashing personalities. These can all get in the way of the many benefits of teamwork.

When this happens leaders as well as team members need to get things back on track and create an environment and atmosphere where positive results can be achieved.Working as a team is something every one of us will have to do at some point in our careers, but all too often there are roadblocks – ranging from lack of communication to clashing personalities. These can all get in the way of the many benefits of teamwork.

 

Obstacles to Really Good Teamwork

Why is an effective teamwork strategy so difficult to create and manage? The top reasons for this are some organizations don’t encourage it; personality differences exist; there’s not enough trust between colleagues, some people don’t see the relevance of sharing and just want to focus on their job; negative first impressions have been formed and can’t be overcome; and egos get in the way of people connecting with one another.

A lack of teamwork can result in significant consequences within an organization. When people don’t know or trust each other, it leads to a hesitance or unwillingness to work together, which makes it hard to perform even the simplest of tasks.

Sharing Power Strengthens an Employee’s Power

We all need to be aware that the sharing of power doesn’t weaken our position but actually strengthens it.

Transparency is quickly becoming the norm in business and the expectations of transparency are growing, Even if you think you have a reasonable level of openness in your organization, you need to strive for more. What can you do right now to help this?

So whether you are the leader of the team or not, you influence each other every day and you can have a big impact on the team you work in. Think about what you could be sharing that would be for the greater good of the team. Imagine what you could all make happen together! Please share your experience of teamwork below.

 

About the authors

Mandy Flint & Elisabet Vinberg Hearn, award-winning authors of ”The Team Formula”.

Their new book ”Leading Teams – 10 Challenges: 10 Solutions” is out now, published by Financial Times International.

Praise for ”Leading Teams: ”This book is a 21st-century guide on how to build a world-class team. I highly recommend it” Steve Siebold, Founder, Mental Toughness University, Florida USA

You’re a leader!

by | Jan 11, 2018 | English Blog

From WeAreTheCity’s Future Leader’s Blog

By Mandy Flint and Elisabet Vinberg Hearn

 

You.

 

Yes, you.

 

You are a leader.

 

Whether you have a leadership role or maybe aspire to have one, you influence people every day and as such you are a leader. Some of the most effective leaders in this world are informal leaders. Those that others listen to – and feel heard by.

You can’t really learn leadership in the classroom. You can of course learn principles, acquire tools and models that can help you practice leadership, but real leadership development happens when you start to apply what you know in your day to day job. It’s how you act and behave that builds your leadership.

Because leadership is to influence. To influence is to have an impact. And impact happens through your behaviours.

 

So what impact are you having? Or what impact could you have?

 

Working as leaders ourselves and having worked with hundreds of leaders around the world, here are some of our observations about the behaviours of the best leaders we’ve seen:

  • Takes an interest in and cares about other people
  • Sees the uniqueness in each person and how they can contribute to the team and the organisation
  • Listens to others
  • Stays 100% present in the moment
  • Involves others and invites them to contribute
  • Recognises when people do a good job
  • Holds themselves and others accountable
  • Practices what they preach
  • Conveys a clear purpose and vision for the team

It’s not an exhaustive list, but it’s an indication of how the mechanism of influence works.

We’d love to hear from you. What are your best experiences you’ve had with leaders around you? How did they behave and how did it impact you? Please share below. Thanks.

 

Observations on self-leadership in Mozambique

Observations on self-leadership in Mozambique

by | May 25, 2017 | English Blog

Around the table a group of social workers, youth leaders, educators and project leaders are gathered. The attention is high, focus is sharp; people are keenly listening to the speaker of the moment. The discipline in attention, despite several days of learning, is impressive and quite unusual.

Looking out the window I can spot some of the children coming home from school, playing and chatting. The sun is shining, the sky is bright blue – both which are a welcome change from the torrential rains of a day ago.

I’m in SOS Children’s Village in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. “SOS Children’s Villages International is active in 134 countries and territories around the world, helping hundreds of thousands of children each year through family-based alternative care, schools, health centres, family strengthening programmes, and other community-based work” (from http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/)

The reason I find myself here for the second time is that I am currently supporting a pilot initiative in Mozambique, sponsored by SOS in Sweden. The initiative is aimed at teaching and coaching the children to become active participants in their lives, where they can contribute and have input in their lives, and build empowering self-esteem to be able to create a good and happy future for themselves, with good relationships and work opportunities.

This is a great initiative and so very needed. The children who are living in SOS’s villages have it quite good, they are taken care of into a family environment when their own parents for whatever reason can no longer care for them. It goes without saying that it’s not easy to know that you are not with your biological family. The children are for example sometimes teased at school for this reason. It’s likely to impact a child emotionally and potentially also mentally (and the two are of course linked). What SOS as an organisation is doing through their initiative is going beyond just caring for a child through a home, food, and a “family” around them. They want to also proactively “feed” the child’s self-esteem, his/her mind and heart, to build them from the inside out, to believe in themselves so that they can become great leaders of themselves as a grown-up. It’s a brilliant initiative and so needed – this is what all children and adults need. And early indications from this initiative are very encouraging – it really seems to be working.

I have had the privilege of working with the subject of effective self-leadership (leading oneself effectively in all aspects of one’s life) for 20 years now and this is, without a doubt, a key contributing factor for success and happiness for all people, regardless of their situation, role, age, gender, location etc.

My role in supporting SOS is to help the village adults, particularly the Mums, to become good self-leaders themselves so that they can be role models who can coach the children and teenagers to high self-esteem and effective, respectful and responsible self-leadership.

Organisations can learn a lot from this initiative too.

Effective self-leadership is rarely taught in such a way that self awareness and social awareness becomes empowering and success-creating.

And there may be valid reasons for this, such as not realising the potential of it, dismissing the notion as something vague and “fluffy” or simply not knowing how to approach it. Yes, it may be easier to focus on what’s going on outside of people; adjusting actions and behaviours, adding or changing processes and procedures – to try to achieve better results. But given that we are human beings, our actions and behaviours are driven by what’s going on inside – how we think and feel, and how we see ourselves and others. And as such, to be able to know ourselves and lead and manage ourselves is a deciding factor in the results we get.

Yes, to lead ourselves effectively is the responsibility of each of us, and one worth taking seriously. It’s a life-long journey and one definitely worth taking. With it we can make better decisions and feel happier about the choices we make. We can communicate more effectively with others, collaborating better – which we all need as no-one is an islands – to get better, more sustainable results.

The best leaders are great self-leaders:

  • They know what stresses and energises them (and manage those factors)
  • They know and understand their impact on others (and manage that)
  • They are not in any way perfect (no-one is) but they admit when things go wrong (as they are aware of what’s going on around them) and proactively look for new solutions

I am inspired by the spirit of the family and village leaders in Mozambique who so intuitively and open-heartedly understand the importance of self-leadership and self-esteem for the future of their children, and themselves. It brings much hope for the future.