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Effective Leadership (and have more fun)

Comment by Colin Prentice

A year ago I attended a life changing leadership course at Ashridge, England. I arrived there worn out after six weeks of speeches and media interviews. Little did I know that I would depart radically changed. The course was a much self awareness as leadership training. A battery of questionnaires had been filled in by each participant and their colleagues. Much of what we did was in groups and we were video-taped individually and in groups. A personal coach was assigned to each one of us for six months. By the end of the week we knew more about ourselves than we have ever known.

As a leader I am committed to John 13's notion of servant leadership. I now realise that leaders also have to be good stewards of their energy and time. My sevelopment plan, monitored by my personal coach is:

1. Say NO much more often to requests to speak or lead at conferences and serve on boards. The course showed me that every time I say YES to a commitment, I deny someone else the opportunity of learning a new task, while involving me in further work.

2. BE STRATEGIC RATHER THAN PROJECT-DRIVEN. Too often a leader takes on projects when these are the responsability of team leaders who should report progress to the overall leader.

3. DELEGATE, EMPOWER AND COACH. The concept of coaching really impressed me. I learned to look at my diary and select an event ahead, which could be delegated, provided I empowered and coached the person.

4. IMPROVE FITNESS. I had been too busy to keep fit and the results of a physical fitness test were shocking. Now I run three times a week and feel much healthier.

5. MORE FUN. Feedback from my staff indicated that there was not enough fun around the leader. For the leader and followers there must be a sense of fun. You can and must take a holiday and buy cake or give flowers to people who work for you.

In the year since that course, I've led workshops on effective leadership around the country. I hope I am now a better leader for my Lord and hope these words may make a difference to your leadership style and performance too.