Be a Care-Full Leader

Leadership is caring

·      Care for yourself first

·      So you can care for “your people”

·      And then care for the purpose of and for the organization/group

·      With care-full character

What that means, in specific, is that you first need to care for yourself because if you don’t you might just burn out and not be able to care for anything anymore.  Take good care of your body mind and spirit so you can, as a friend once said to me, “help the other person put on their oxygen mask.”  Maybe you know the analogy: in an airplane the fight attendant says we should put on our oxygen masks first before helping other. This means we are connected to what we need to continue to care for others.

Caring for others is what servant leadership is all about.  We need to know our people, and that means spending time with them. One of the best ways to develop relationships is over a meal and so we can care for our people and eat with them.  The leading should be about people, helping and prioritizing them, more than anything else.

When the priorities are straight and people come first, caring for and serving the organization and its purpose should flow naturally.  The organization needs to serve its members and not the other way around.  This means that the purpose and the mission of the organization should, in some way, be about making the world and its inhabitants a better place (people, planet, and then profit).  Another issue is governance: make sure it isn’t clogging the agenda and distracting/stopping the purpose from being fulfilled. Finally, when it comes to the people working in the organization, make sure the (clearly defined) job descriptions are in alignment with the organization’s purpose to bring the company/org. forward.

Finally, a leader needs to develop and care-fully pay attention to her or his character. 

·      Integrity

·      Vulnerability

·      Authenticity

·      Humility

·      Honesty 

·      Patience

·      Diligence

All of these traits help bring the caring organization forward, and there are more, including holding tension in the waiting times, project and people management skills including emotional intelligence, and so on.

What do you need to work on first, when you look at this blog? Then what? How are you going to do it and who can help you?  By when do you want to see a change?

If you want some coaching or supervision on this, give me a shout.,

Otherwise, have a wonderful wee,

Patricia Jehle               patricia@jehle-coaching.com

PS, these thought and ideas are a summary of part of what I took away from this month’s Stronger Network (2022) Conference. #SN22Live 

Here are some quotes I took down, too:

Quotes from Stronger Network Conference 2022 #SN22Live (credit given where known, sometimes I lost track in my notes, sorry)

When you say I can’t stop now, that’s when you must stop. Immediately

Culture eats strategy for breakfast- Peter Drucker

Every organization is a startup, now (as of Covid-19)

Character proceeds competence in God’s economy

Opposition (comes from) the nice people- Canon Andrew White

Creativity is my superpower

‘We’ve always done it this way’ is the death dirge of a company, and a church – my quote from my interview on Jan 12th

In a family, the elder lets the younger have their preferences. In a church or family organization, the same should be done.

Daily listen to what God is saying to you and DO it! – Canon Andrew White

The inability to reach our potential stresses our resilience.

Make positive changes

            Don’t wait and make time for it

                        Make time for and make patterns of Rest and Recovery

Don’t get in God’s way

·      Wait

·      Listen

·      And be READY

What do I need to let go of, to cut back on to be ready and have room for the Next Thing?