September 2024
Awareness
“Awareness is all about restoring your freedom to choose what you want instead of what your past imposes on you.”
– Deepak Chopra
Prompt:
Last month we spent time focusing on leadership expectations within your company. This month, we encourage you to continue that conversation with self evaluation of how each leader on your team is doing. Then take it one step further by asking the group to think about how this will impact them moving forward. We suggest you use the continuum exercise to bring awareness to where your leaders are and highlight the different situations individuals on your team are facing. Knowing where we stand and how that compares to our fellow team members is a powerful way to strengthen team dynamics.
Activity:
Part 1:
If you created a leadership evaluation/expectations last month. Bring a copy of that for each person to the meeting. Have them all do a self-evaluation of how they have done over the past 30 days. Go around the room and have each person share one area where they feel like they are thriving and one area in which they feel that they need to improve.
Part 2:
Place the numbers from your envelope on the floor along an imaginary line in the room you will be meeting; 1 - on one side of the room, 5 - in the middle, 10 - one the other side of the room. Have the team stand up and let them know that they will need to move around and stand on the spectrum/continuum in the spot that best corresponds to their answer to each question that you ask (have them use their imagination if they are a 2-4 or 6-9…don’t necessarily just huddle on the 1, 5 or 10). One at a time, ask the questions below along with the phrases at two ends of the contiuum and allow the team to move along the line. You can also use the slides we’ve sent by putting them up on a screen. There are no right or wrong answers, it’s simply where someone feels they are with their leadership and responsibilities. After each question, select a few people and ask why they chose the number they did. It helps to pick a person on each end of the continuum and maybe someone in the middle.
Questions:
What best describes your leadership style?
1 – I prefer to lead by example, 10 – I prefer to lead by giving others clear direction
What best describes your decision making?
1 – I prefer to make decisions for my team/others, 10 – I prefer to let my team/others make decisions
As a leader right now it is most important for me to focus on:
1 - Developing my own skills and abilities, 10 – Helping others on the team develop their skills and abilities
Between now and the end of the year the complexity of my job will become:
1 – Less complex, 5 – The same, 10 – More complex
Between now and the end of the year my focus needs to be on:
1 – Systems and processes (the details), 10 – New opportunities (the big picture)
Between now and the end of the year, being a leader for me will become:
1 – More simple/easier, 10 – More difficult/harder