Are you having an adventurous advent? This time of year brings so many things with it, from excited children, gift-shopping, sparkling lights in the street, end-of-year parties to last-minute cramming in of all the things not managed in the other 11 months of the year. It seems like everyone is on a clock to make sure that all loose ends are tied up, ideally before the holidays, and, at the latest, before the start of the new year. After all, who doesn’t want to start into the new year afresh, with no baggage from the last? On the other hand, why throw over-board all the things you have picked up on the way, just to satisfy the changing of the date? How about we adore ourselves and others? And if we can’t manage that stretch, maybe endure?
My year has been filled with different aspects of self-organization, of a business and private nature. As a family we reached the point of pre-school this year and are in transition to being the proud parents of a school-going child, and at the same time, this year has been all about cementing my business, in its fourth year, and moving forward on that. I have been re-doing my website – some of you may have noticed some changes in the photos and set-up already – and am working on finishing that in order to take the last touches into my new year. I have reached the last level of courses in my applied psychology course and have three more units to go before I write my Bachelor’s dissertation and finish this mammoth project that has been with me for the last 5 years. Phew!
Many of the leaders I have been working with on self-organization and empowering their teams to be self-organized have been working hard on their, in my view, core skill in order to be lead self-organized businesses: self-reflection. No team will follow their manager’s lead to become self-organized if they can intuitively tell that their leadership is not behind this push. Just as much will teams who push for self-organisation and find a management that is less than enthused, find other ways to meet their needs. As you can hear from many, many sources, one reference is linked here, humans are naturally self-organized.
So what does self-reflection mean for a leader? Do you need to move onto Freud’s proverbial sofa? Do you need to close yourself in a small room and think really, really, really hard about everything you do? 😉 Or is it more of an ability to be in touch with what you really, really want and, at the same time, be in touch with your reactions to external impulses? For sure, self-organization in your team may push you to limits in some shape or form, be it in terms of letting go, or trusting in the team, delegating decisions or whole areas previously in your realm of power. Self-organized teams and the framework they work in are slightly different for every team and every leader of those teams, but does self-organization mean your team does not need you anymore?Definitely no!
They need you as a leader to provide a direction, allow them to be empowered and take care there is alignment, as well as a good working atmosphere, while all of them benefit from being personally developed by you. Sensing the team becomes something of an art form in some constellations where self-organized teams are not always in one place all the time, for a leader to ‘sense’ them. Particular solutions for each team and each leader need to be found, step by step. This process is lengthy and can be tiring. Therefore it is key for leaders engaged in self-organization to have the skill and the competence to know when they need to build in time for self-reflection, get out of reacting blindly to any input racing at them, take a step back and look at whether what is going on still fits them, the team and their vision. Be it by meditation, taking walks, structured exchange with others, sparring in business coaching, or other ways, these are essential resources to any leader and self-organized team.
What are your favourite ways to clear your head and focus? Or are you still working on finding your oasis of calm in an adventurous advent? Business coaching can help identify your personal resources for self-reflection and self-organization. Don’t hesitate to get in touch! We can work together in Hamburg, at your location, or via digital business coaching means, in native English and German, as well as fluent French.
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