Able Relationships

Day 2 of our Leadership course talked about 3 able relationships that leaders should consider.

1. NOTICABLE – how we should take notice and responsibility of ourselves, of others and of the task.

2. RESPONSIBLE – how we respond to problems can sometime make it worse. We have the power to choose our response: change it, change ourself, accept it or walk away.

3. DESIRABLE – how much do we want to change ourself to manage relationships and leadership behaviours.

The final exercise of the day was to take it in turns to talk about each member of our group in terms of what we had appreciated about them over the last 2 days and what we felt they could do to improve their leadership skills. That person had to sit quietly and listen and then had an opportunity to respond. Bearing in mind that before day 1 most of us had never met.

When it came to my turn to be analysed I sat in the hot seat with sweaty palms. The comments around what people had appreciated about me were things like my quick witedness, honesty, natural skills, good leadership qualities, focused, put everyone at ease, not pretending to be something I’m not and very able.

The suggestions about what I need to improve on were having a greater sense of self belief, understanding others a bit more and being aware of my own ability. One of the comments I had made about myself earlier in the day was that I don’t consider myself a people person, but everyone disagreed and felt that I had been open, friendly, curious, caring and inclusive and that I should try to stop seeing myself that way.

These 2 days were a really useful practical assessment and learning experience. All previous leadership courses I’ve been on, and indeed my Masters in Healthcare Leadership, have tended to be more theoretical but didn’t really give anything by way of practical suggestions. The giving and receiving of feedback for me, has been key to unlocking some changes I need to make in my own perception of myself so that I can be more like how others see me. As one of the group said I am my own worst saboteur.

This course continues next month with another couple of days. We weren’t given anything to work on between now and then, but I guess the idea is that we take this new found knowledge about ourselves, and work on those areas to improve.