Delivering Confidence: The work of Leaders

We are in the very bottom of a well without been able to imagine the fathom of it!  We are all interested in finding confidence about jobs, about our savings, about our possessions, about the future of our children (never admit that we worry about ours!).  We seek advice from our managers, we try to identify what the big financial organizations forsee, we try to understand what our leaders will do (whether teachers, directors, CEOs, priests, you name it).

But is it really about leaders or about us? What is the real job of leaders?

Rosabeth Moss Kanter   explains that leaders need to e self confident, but this is not the real secret of leadership!!  THE MORE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IS CONFIDENCE IN OTHER PEOPLE!  If the people in charge rely only on themselves as heroes who can rescue  any situation (heroic management) then confidence is undermined and instead of working with the team we sell ideas and we meet a lot of  “cover my ass” behaviours.

more on saturday morning 28th january 2012 at Dais centre.

2012 is approaching – are we ready?

2012 is approaching – are we ready?.

2012 is approaching – are we ready?

 This is a real picture after the Parnitha fires a few years ago.  One could easily compare it with the Greek economy in 2011.  The question is what will we do differently in 2012 to recover and not just continue to “wait and see” totally paralyzed from fear.

As Greeks we do have a very long tradition of fully recovering after reaching our extreme deeps.  We all would like  to view at our country and feel proud and lucky not because of the history and the specific microclimate and geographical location but also for our politicians, governments, public authorities, etc.  I rather think we  all have a great need to be proud about our country and our governors (political and religious). 

However, we are all responsible to make things happen!  We believe that not all of us are actively responsible for what has happened the last 30 years in Greece as not everyone was involved in the Grande Bouffe; but not to act or not to react is also a decision and I am not sure proves one’s innocence.

Lights at night can produce a fantasy and sometimes if they are very bright do not allow us to see the picture clearly; may be if they were less we could see better. 

In 2008 Greece was the world’s leader in consumption of luxury goods! Was that bad? Yes, if this is our only 1st position to be proud of!  Yes, if it is accompanied with very low positions in labor market and overall market efficiencies to say the least.  Yes, if the service sector grows on the detriment of the primary and secondary sectors! Yes, if we are obliged to importa lemons from Argentina and potatos from Cyprus to meet local demand.

Have we become more responsible all these years? Have we learnt our lessons?

What is the most important lesson that if taken would be enough to show an improvement? 

Have we become enough self confident so that we chose our leaders depending on their proven abilities and not just on their promises that they will take full care of all our problems and we will do nothing but voting for them?

Do we have the courage to vote for leaders that they will promise nothing but a lot of effort from our side?  Do we have the courage to stop complaining? Do we have the courage to start doing things that get us out of our comfort zone before we are drastically and unwillingly be obliged to do so?  Do we walk the talk ourselves? Are we all proud role models for generation “y” or we are role models to avoid?

I am optimistic about the future because I am doing today what I deem necessary. I have no guilts because I am not repeating my mistakes. I feel that 2012 will be a different year as there are many other people feeling and acting like me!  Let’s provide constructive feedback let’s be the carriers of contructive reaction.

Our super ego; Why is it so difficult to manage it?

thoughts on dialogue…

The role of mediators, the role of objective independent bodies (either national or international) has been over-estimated.  This is what I think following a recent eye-opening experience I have had in a global dialogue forum.

Two days of debates by experts on the specific topic, a very structured and well planned programme, all meetings chaired by an excellent diplomat, an event in general very well supported at technical and administrative level in a building that brings the last 100 years a lot of historical achievements as far as labor rights are concerned.

There were about 150 people gathered from more than  50 countries all over the world representing governments, employers and employees. 

Hours of preparation, plus hours of travelling from all the continents of the globe, plus hours of meetings, on top of accommodation and travel expenses (for some participants more days spent due to strikes),  on top of hidden expenses and costs for non “producing” on regular posts.

What  I learnt: More ingredients than the above “technicalities” are necessary in order to establish an honest dialogue and more important to come down to conclusions.  This is more difficult if the goal is to come to a consensus after the dialogue.  For the dialogue to be productive all participants need to actively listen to one another.  Active listening means that they will be open to the ideas of others,  they will be ready to re-state their arguments in an effort to pass their message, in an effort the get understood by the others.  For a dialogue to end up with consensus trustworthy relationships should have been established (before the dialogue takes place). For a dialogue to be fruitful, goals should be explicit and common.  If goals among partners are not mutual it is not possible to come to mutual agreement; on the contrary, all parties find all minor or greater excuses to avoid consensus on the hot staff.

 … and there comes the “need” to have an objective organization, a third party to carry out more research on the topic, to collect more facts and figures so that the decision is postponed to the future.

Exchange of arguments is not a dialogue, it is rather a monologue with an audience, who might not even listen to.

But why then did they bother to get together?

what will be your summer holidays’ resolutions?

I am sure you have noticed that most of New Year’s resolutions are abandonned two weeks later or at best within the first 6 months of the year.  This does not stop me from asking myself and myfriends what will be the holidays’ resolutions; afterall the first six months have already run away, so we deserve some new or a refreshment of the existing ones.

Fully absorbing the commands of today I thought that being multiskilled is a compliment for human beings.  During lunch I read that humans are “programmed” differently than PCs; our minds are made to work sequentially, which means one task at a time.  Many of  us will rush to ask but clever can chew and walk (as Jimmy Carter, the US President was capable); eh; well not all of us are as clever, so when we talk at the mobile during driving we run the same risk to participate/to provoke an accident as if we were drunk.  No matter if we talk and we have in our hands the black berry or we use the hands free – since we do not drive safely only because we have the wheel in our two hands, but mainly because we are paying 100% attention to the road and the traffic around us!

And yes, the holidays’ resolution will be how to trnaslate focus on my targets will be accompanied by keeping my attention  to each thing that I am doing each time (one at a time) so that I finish faster and with less mistakes, so that people I am talking to over the phone do not listen to the “cla,cla,cla…” of my typing the next e-mail (and consequently feel embarassed to say the least).

We admire Napoleon but we forget that he lost the final battle.  We admire people who have the ability to listen and read at the same time and we forget that they might not remember as many as they should as their attention is distracted.

My holidays this year will be limited, so I need to pay special attention how to get the most out of them and I wish the same to you all!

 

την πρωτομαγιά γιορτάζουν τα κόκκινα

την πρωτομαγιά γιορτάζουν τα κόκκινα

Originally uploaded by venetia koussia

Καλή Πρωτομαγιά σε όλους, απεργούς, λάτρες της φύσης, κουρασμένους που προσπαθούν να βρουν καταφύγιο στη βόλτα. Το κόκκινο φωνάζει γιά δράση! …και όχι για αντίδραση! Αραγε ξέρουμε όλοι τι θέλουμε ή μόνο τι μας ενοχλεί;

Μεγάλη Εβδομάδα 2011

Καιρός πάντα υπάρχει για να σκεφτούμε αρκεί να το επιλέξουμε και να μην φοβηθούμε.  Η Μεγάλη Εβδομάδα προσφέρεται για σκέψη, προσφέρεται για συγχώρεση, προσφέρεται… Βέβαια ίσως στις μέρες μας ακόμη και οι προσφορές με καχυποψία αντιμετωπίζονται για να μην πω ότι παραβλέπονται…

Κάθε σκέψη ξεκινάει με ανάλυση, των  γύρω, των μέσα, αυτών που μας επηρεάζουν, αυτών που επηρεάζουμε, όσα περισσότερα τα στοιχεία που παίρνει υπ’οψη της τόσο μεγαλύτερη η σύγχυση που δημιουργείται κι ίσως να απομα΄κρυνόμεθα από το στόχο: ανάλυση του εαυτού ….  Εξαρτάται από το στόχο βέβαια, γιατί ανάλυση για την ανάλυση δεν λέει τίποτα – δεν ωφελεί τίποτα.  Ανάλυση για τη συγχώρεση, ανάλυση για τη μετάνοια, ανάλυση για τη βελτίωση όμως; 

 Πόσο σπαυδαίο  είναι αλλά και πόσο σπάνιο να μπορείς να βρείς την ηρεμία μέσα από τη συγχώρεση; 

Μεγάλη Πέμπτη του 2011 ας είναι μια μέρα που πήραμε την απόφαση να πούμε σ’αυτούς που μας σταυρώνουν  ”Πάτερ, Άφες αυτοίς ου γαρ οίδασι τι ποιούσι”….

Are you ready to be a lonely leader?

Among the several leadership styles we tend to characterize leaders as autocrats or democrats (it is actually the easiest to do) forgetting that neither extreme is always good for the team, the company or the state.  Being authoriatarian means to treat people as functionaries rather than as thinking individual beings.  According to Alan Axelrod in his wonderful work on Gandhi, this is a bad bargain for management because it fails to make full use of the company’s constly human assets, as authoritarian leaders greatly damage their people’s morale.

On the other hand, democratic leaders (CEOs or politicians)  make a different mistake as they might believe that the majority should prevail.  Is their objective to please as many of their employees beneficial to the company?  Is it even a valid goal to please one’s employees?  More valid goals include creating customer satisfaction, providing excellent service, produce a worthwile product, increase shareholders value because it is this way that the company will survive and succeed in the long run.  It is only through creating a successful and robust country that a state leader will please all the inhabitants of a country, among which are the citizens, whose life and wellbeing depends on the success of the country.  

However, sometimes leaders  in order to achieve sustainability need to make decisions that are contrary to the expressed will or beliefs of their people.  Is that bad? Who said that the leader always has to please the majority? Who says that the majority is always right?  Listening to many in order to have them pleased  and not to the experts is not always the right thing to do. 

“Leadership is often said can feel very lonely, as leadership is lonely!  The final decision is made by a single, solitary human being.  Every other attitude, belief or policy relating to leadership is either subordinate to this truth or is an instance of self-delusion”  Passive Resistance, Hind Swaraj by Mohandas Gandhi, 1909

I have to shout it louder so that it reaches to the top as decision is prior to any action: ARE YOU READY TO BE A LONELY LEADER?

Laduree Macarons

France was and will continue to be the Queen of  Fine Food and excellent Style.

Walking by the side of River Seine at Paris you can feel with all your sense what we mean by French civilisation. You can also understand why meanings like Freedom and Equality were so heavily supported by the French people.

“Laduree”  is a well known sweet home and I think it is a must to bring a bit  back home.  As it is a habit to go to Thessaloniki and buy tsoureki (sweet bread) from Terkenlis it is an insalt to go to Paris and not buy  colourful  macarons. 

Going to Paris is an experience that everybody should enjoy in his/her life.  Extending it back home by taking pictures, by bringing some gifts or sweets, by talking about it, by blogging about it, makes it last and intensifies the feelings.

If you cannot do any of the above then I recommend you to visit Laduree site and then let me know…….