It's Team Time!

At a time when the Olympic Games are all pervading, our thoughts have turned to team working. It’s captivating to watch our athletes working together, striving for peak performance. How do they really perceive the balance between the euphoria of winning and the pride in taking part? To a large extent this will depend on the original goal - whether medals are a realistic prospect or not and how participants are then able to learn from their performance and take positives into the longer term from short term disappointment. Transposing this line of thinking into organisational life, the euphoria of winning equates with achieving stretching team goals that bring rewards for the team and help make the organisation successful. Pride in taking part resonates with the strong relationships that can endure longer term and pride in the company and employer brand.    

Looking at our Level Seven ‘7 Steps to Effective Team Work’ (http://bit.ly/QdOhsP) in the context of the Olympics, they are clearly relevant to sport as well as to business. 

Here are our thoughts – let us know what you think:

Step 1 – Create a common sense of purpose -  from ‘going for gold’ to ‘doing our absolute best’

Step 2 – Communicate – verbal, physical, emotional; before, during, after

Step 3 – Commitment to each other – the team is all; no blame; sharing glory and disappointment

Step 4 – Take calculated risks – exploring and supporting innovation

Step 5 – Learn from setbacks – reflection, analysis, energising change

Step 6 – Build on success – celebrate the highs, acknowledge the lows and grow stronger

Step 7 – Create space to learn and grow – ongoing philosophy of continuous improvement

Go for it Team GB!! 

Our UK Correspondent

The Manila Diaries

Experiential Learning

20 July 2012

79 degrees Fahrenheit, scattered thunder storms, Humidity 90%

I am pleased to report that notwithstanding a number of formalities I hope to soon be joining the faculty of the Asian Institute of Management www.AIM.edu  during my stay in Manila.  My responsibilities will include delivering corporate programmes to a range of AIM clients as well as delivering inputs into degree programmes such as MBA and Masters in Management programmes.  I will also have the opportunity to undertake some collaborative research and write this up for publication.  In addition, part of my time will be promoting joint consultancy opportunities between AIM clients and Level Seven’s portfolio of services.

Level Seven’s leadership and talent development programme, Putting Your Talent to Work is based on the notion that experiential learning is an effective way for adults to learn.  I have the opportunity to engage in this methodology first hand when joining AIM as I believe I will learn more about myself, culture and management and leadership style experientially through taking up this post with AIM than merely sitting on the sidelines of expat life.

I anticipate a start date in early August and so am using this time to expand my social network, learn how to play mah-jong, as well as indulge in some thinking about possible research ideas and workshops.  All positive activities.

Weather is still variable.  We had a tremendous storm last Friday and I have heard murmurings today of a typhoon about to strike!

Signing off for now

Our Correspondent in Manila

The Manila Diaries

Being or Doing

6 July 2012

82 degrees Fahrenheit, Scattered Thunder Storms, Humidity 76%

It’s been a week of ups and downs.  The Ups relate to emerging positive opportunities to do with work and business, the Downs are that each situation is taking longer to progress than I would have thought and therefore causing some anxiety and frustration.  So this down-time has given me space for some deep reflection.

I thought I would take some time-out and follow my instincts in terms of what I would do each day.  This reminded me of the debate that sometimes comes about when talking about the difference between ‘Being’ and ‘Doing’.  I know that often when asked to describe who I am I usually end up describing what I do as for me my identity is strongly linked to what I do and in most social situations (rather than academic debates) this is the sort of answer that is expected to the question, who are you?

With some time on my hands I tried a little experiment these last two weeks.  I have tried to just ‘Be’ in the world, i.e. not worry too much about taking specific actions (Doing) and actually just trying to go with the flow.  However, unless I sit still and contemplate or meditate then I have found that trying to ‘Be’ is intrinsically linked with what I do.  So, it seems that Being and Doing have a causal relationship.  However, what I have found that is interesting is that in trying not to worry too much about what I am doing has released my thinking process and allowed me moments to think about my thoughts and reflect on what these could mean in terms of possible future actions.  I have also been able to become a keener observer of what is going on around me. 

My feelings in the first week of this experiment of anxiety and frustration seem to have now taken a back seat and I am feeling more at ease with both my current and potential situations.  The ability to ‘let go’ has been liberating.

My conclusions are that I feel fortunate to have had this luxury of being able to take time out from what would normally be a busy schedule but the benefits resulting from having some ‘thinking  time and space’ may well enhance different areas of one’s personal life.  I would recommend taking time out even if only for short bursts, as it does help to re-charge the batteries.

And finally, the weather, it is still very hot with longer bursts of rain but with the rain comes a cooler temperature and I’m all for that!

Signing off for now

Our Correspondent in Manila