New Year - What happened in 2021 and have we learnt anything?

On Sunday 13th February we began our first conversational session of 2022. It's midway through February already, but it really felt that the year started slowly with COVID outbreaks and a general malaise.

The year is now in full swing and I'm starting our sessions thinking about what questions we should be asking as we enter 2022?

How do we be better humans? Be kinder and more compassion and able to deal with our own trauma and the trauma of others?

Is competitiveness the only way to get ahead?

Do we have really have to be Machiavellian in our approach to life? Is violence and aggression the only way to survive? Is it in our 'nature'?

Is politics the best way to make systemic change? Are there other ways to make change? Do all roads lead back to politics in some guise?

How will we fix the environment?

How will we combat fake news?

How do we embrace our individuality?

How do we shift our systems to create more equity and equality?

What will the pandemic leave us with? - fear and loathing or empathy and compassion?

Do we all have to be morning people? (I was reading miracle morning and I hate mornings generally!)

What's your strength and passion and how might we use it to spark some positive change?

Is wanting a solution and an action plan too 'white-man-way'?

Are we all just coddled individuals that no longer have any resilience?

We'll get there on some of these conversation starters this year and it would be great if you joined us for the ride!

Check out our Events page if you like the sound of exploring any of these questions?

Do you have a superiority complex?

A few months ago, I was in a session with Ian McDonald, one of the co-authors of Systems Leadership - Creating Positive Organisations. We were discussing meritocracy, which is a big complex discussion for another day but it led us down the path of equality.

Even though the view of differing capabilities seems logical and hierarchies make sense (particularly when focussed on authorities and decision making), it needs to be acknowledged that positive organisations know how to treat people equally as human beings.

‘Being Human’ is something the business coach Mark LeBusque also promotes strongly. I love how he pushes the idea that we’re all humans and that our core values of kindness, trust and curiosity should always dominate. In fact, I think he would argue that being human makes you a much better leader.

Being a leader means you have the capability to think and manage multiple domains simultaneously. Others within an organisation may be more suited to work that is focussed and detailed and less complex (although possibly more complicated).

Does that make a leader 'better' than the other person?

Does holding a job title that has the word 'Manager' or 'Executive' make you a better person? You might be smarter, more capable, worth more money than the next person, but does it give you the right to treat them as a lesser human being? This seems to be how things play out in some organisations.

How people treat lower-level staff says a lot about the 'real' values of an organisation.

Are you guilty of pandering to a system that displays a lack of trust and enjoys diminishing people?

If you want to work in a positive organisation where you feel your contribution is heard, then think about the system you're in and the bias and judgements you might be displaying. You might just be reinforcing the negative!