Who are you watching? April 22, 2012
Posted by thehutch in ponderings.Tags: control, leader, leadership, people, problem
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When watching the parade and gun salute for the Queen, in Hyde Park, yesterday, there was an unexpected spectacle as one of the horses was ‘spooked’ by the events. This was not a part of the programmed events but there was a valuable lesson.
The crowd were taken by the horse acting out of character, it was bucking and acting in a way that was out of control. However, whilst this was happening, all the participants of the parade ignored the horse and continued with their responsibilities. Everything else appeared as clockwork. Horses are herding animals and so as the parade closed, the bucking horse followed the herd.
In leadership, we often spend hours concentrating on the ‘bucking horse’ at the expense of everything else. There are times that we could ignore the commotion and see no apparent negative affects to our needed outcomes.
Do we spend too much time and focus too much attention on the ‘bucking horse’? Who are you watching? Who is stealing your time?
who has the power? March 22, 2012
Posted by thehutch in thoughts.Tags: control, difference, leadership, power
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Who is in charge? Who has all the control? Who can make a difference?
If you are in a large meeting group, wait until something controversial is said, then look at peoples eyes. The person that most people glance at, in that moment, has all the power. This is not difficult to do, the next step is to watch where that individuals eyes look – that can tell you a little bit more.
in too deep? March 2, 2012
Posted by thehutch in thoughts.Tags: control, deep, leadership, leading, question
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How deep is too deep? In the sea, it does not really matter how far you are from the shore, if you cannot swim, as 10 yards may be too much.
So how deep is too deep?
Too deep is when you have no chance, no hope, no place to go – there are very few of us in that deep, if any at all.
delegation, control or balance? February 10, 2012
Posted by thehutch in thoughts.Tags: control, delegation, leader, leadership
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Leaders claim to be good delegators, followers claim that leaders are too controlling but, in truth, what is the place of balance?
I believe that the best leaders provide boundaries yet allow complete freedom within those boundaries. The point of control is the boundary line, the place of delegation lies within the boundary line. If people work at the appropriate place, there should be balance.
content or context? January 26, 2012
Posted by thehutch in thoughts.Tags: content, context, control, leadership, style
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A great deal of time can be spent by leaders in an attempt to control the content of peoples daily work. Perhaps time would be better spent by shaping the context for our workers and allowing their creativity to determine the content. If, as leaders, we do a good job shaping the appropriate context and provide good boundaries, we may be surprised by what ensues.
job titles and our responses January 19, 2012
Posted by thehutch in personal, ponderings, thoughts.Tags: control, names, power, title
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Have you ever thought about the job title you possess and how others interact with it? Does the title we possess matter more to us than our own integrity, the way we live or how we behave? In conversation this week, I have heard various comments regarding titles and how the title conveys power or control to others and how we can use title, or ‘people of title’ to our benefit.
In youth ministry appointments, people may spend longer debating whether the job title should be ‘youth pastor’, ‘youth minister’, ‘youth worker’ or some other derivative. The conclusions usually relate to how people view the title rather than the role that needs to be fulfilled. When looking for speakers at events, we look for the ‘high powered’ or the ‘celebrity’ as they can provide an extra endorsement, in business we love the titles to demonstrate our impressive abilities – President, Vice-President of Operations, CEO, CFO, Director, Principal and so forth and so on.
Titles can be necessary and important but, in my opinion, we need to be careful that we do not hold these things in awe, rather in humility. The badge that we wear can easily be removed, the person that we truly are can never be taken from us. Are we people of integrity, working for truth, humility and justice? Or are we those that are seeking the best seat in the house, with the ‘best’ company? How do we view our own title? Certainly some questions that leave room to ponder.
