What makes a leader?

So I’ve picked up on a few signs I’m really in Scandinavia (just in case there was any confusion, which thankfully there hasn’t been). Today I saw my first roller-ski commuter, ski poles, backpack and all. It was pretty cool! And yet another example of doing more with less, a standard construction company vehicle here seems to be a Volvo station wagon towing a trailer. Apearantly the idea of driving a massive work truck is just a bit foreign to them. Similarly, mail trucks are more like glorified yellow ice cream truck scooter things. We’ll see how that works out during the winter.

I feel like I had to put up just a little post as a reflection of the day. I’ve been increasingly impressed with our Friday leadership thread workshops here. The first ones had me a bit wary of what the rest of the thread would entail, but in the last two weeks in particular, it has thoroughly redeemed itself and captured my full attention. Last week was a Human Dynamics workshop, and it was incredible to see how different people process information. I felt as though it was a great way to learn how to connect better with people who think differently, and raised my self-awareness about the way I process information. As our workshop leader clearly explained, this is not hard science (hallelujia!) and people cannot be clearly grouped into 4 categories. But the learning really came from appreciating how different information processing styles really value different means and amounts of communication.

Today we had a session called the World Café or Leadership Café. Arriving to a morning session with coffee and snacks sure was a welcome surprise, and we took our spots at café style tables with 4 other people. The first two half hour sessions (switching tables and people in between) we discussed what leadership means to us. Our discussions were incredible, sighting examples in nature of group leadership, efficient use of materials and energy, and compassion. Among other themes in our discussion was the concept of humility. True leaders are humble enough to ask for the help of people who know more than them, are humble enough to understand when it is time to let someone else lead, are humble enough to see their own strengths and weaknesses. Also linked to humility is the ability to see the strengths of others. We discussed how even though we may see other’s strengths, we don’t often say what it is we admire. Perhaps its time for true leaders to start by complimenting more.

The last half hour session we discussed what aspects of our previous discussions did we want to incorporate into our leadership and why. It was a fascinating morning and the conversations were meaningful and flowed very easily. Cultural ideas about leadership and personal strengths were fascinating to bring into the conversation. I must say, after today, despite the intense and deep nature of the discussion, I felt energized and renewed in my focus of study here.

Well that’s all for now. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Wyeth