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“…And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

John F Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 20th January 1961.

JFK, iconic US President and an oft quoted orator, who sought to galvanise US citizens and who used the space programme as a spur to increase national prestige.

We don’t have to agree or disagree with his politics. We can, though, use his words to spur our own thoughts and behaviours.

We can decide to look to ourselves, take responsibility for our issues and then take action accordingly.

If we are too busy to think, and let’s face it, that’s a common cry of complaint in business, we can choose to make time for thinking.

If we are weighed down with an onerous task list we can prune it, delegate it, re-order it, or dispense with non-value adding tasks.

We don’t have to stay stuck, or be blameful of others.

We can, to mis-quote Kennedy, own it.

Own it.

A great phrase.

I know there are times when we wish the world would deliver the answer to our desk and maybe in a few years time Amazon will have perfected a product to do just that. For now though we are stuck in our world and it’s up to us to use all of our resources to problem solve.

Often in business we are faced with new challenges that we are not prepared for and have had no training in. That’s normal and part of the ‘fun’ of being in business.

We get to reap the rewards and in turn it’s up to us to face issues head on.

We can get help.

We can ask a colleague to support us.

We can go for a walk and give ourselves space and time to think.

Maybe we can make notes, or write down exactly what the problem is and what we’d really like to do about it.

We can generate options, which is always a good method of enhancing our creativity.

We can do, think and feel and be honest with ourselves.

As soon as we choose to own it we have taken the biggest step we can to finding a solution. It might take time and effort to reach the desired end point, and as long as we keep owning it then we will get somewhere.

Or we can choose to ignore the problem, whinge and moan and put energy into pretending it doesn’t exist. Maybe we can do that for a day, so that we can have a jolly good sulk and get it out of our system.

And then we can own it and begin to make steady progress.

So this week, what issue do you need to own? Which colleague is ducking a problem and needs you to encourage them to ‘own it’?

Have fun!

Next week: Coffee Cup Selling

“Leadership is a complex art form which requires years of experience, the reading of at least 100 books and copious amounts of training to get right.”

Discuss, in not more than 500 words.

Well… we can do it 3 words. Hold the boundary.

Simple.

There’s a neat little model in Transactional Analysis, called The Structure Highway (ref Jean Ilsley Clarke). The model is designed to aid parents and, given that parenting is one of the purest forms of leadership, it translates happily across into organisational life.

Imagine a road stetching out infront of you. You’re the only car there and can choose to drive on either side, or to slalom if you like.

One side of the road represents all the non-negotiable rules present in your organisation. These include the rules you set up as a leader. When you’re driving on this side you are upholding these rules. Well done you.

The other lane is for all the negotiable items. These tend to be tasks we set, deadlines and styles of report writing, for example. When we drive in this lane we are collaborating and discussing things with our staff. All good!

However, we also have to imagine that we are not limited to driving on the road …we can diverge wildly to the left and right.

If we leave the non-negotiable lane, and hack off into the scrub, we give ourselves and our passengers (our staff) a bumpy and unpleasant ride. Behaviourally we have become dictatorial and are laying down inappropriate and over-bearing rules. Expect the passengers to get out at the earliest opportunity!

If we veer off on the other side, away from the negotiable lane, then we are entering a world of chaos. Staff set their own rules, ignore ours and do what they like, when they like. If we take a look around us we will find we are not even driving any more and are being driven. Not good.

Holding the boundary means keeping our metaphorical car of leadership on the road and sticking within the lanes.

Clear and rigid boundaries make people feel safe. Porous boundaries mean that people don’t know what to expect, or are treated differently to their colleagues. This creates suspicion and resentment.

Holding the boundary can be hard work. Witness a parent arguing with a teenager that smartphones are not allowed out during mealtimes, and you will instantly know what I mean. However, without clear boundaries and consequences for breaching them, people tend to be less able to operate effectively in teams and tend not to give us their best work.

So, this week, we can define where the boundaries are and police them with fairness and gritty resolve.

We can all be great leaders.

Next week: The Kennedy Aspect