I wrote this during the first lockdown. When we were inventing, with great urgency, new ways to communicate online.
That was then, this is now.
On 01 February 2023. I was made redundant so there are no more babies. I’m pretty certain my removal was a revenge ‘firing’ by my Dean who had made it clear for three years at least that, I’m not sure why, he hated me. The last words he ever spoke to me were in 2018 and were ‘I could fire you, you know.’
I knew then that my number was up.
My crime?
I had complimented him on how great he looked. He a sartorially gifted man, slim and attractive, and on this day he was suited up in his professorial regalia looking grand, He really did. I said so as I passed him, sitting alone on a seat outside the staff toilet.
His response is above.
I meant what I said about his appearance and he meant what he said about firing me. It shook me to the core, to be honest. It was so without cause.
Anyway, here’s the Rāhui post … it’s about leadership …
Rāhui Day 36 (38): republishing from last year:
‘Henry Ford said ‘Don’t find fault, find a remedy.’ It’s the essence of all leadership. Remedies aren’t always easy to find, and they often require a 24/7 commitment to never giving up – on anyone.
And teams aren’t really teams, that’s a misnomer. Just like the idea that there’s no ‘I’ in team. Of course, there is. Teams are a collection of ‘I’s and each one has a different subset of values, qualities, needs, dreams and expectations and we, as leaders, need to be acutely aware of, and responsive to, each and every one of them.
Yes, it’s complex, but just like a teacher who sees the people in her care as individuals not some amorphous mass called ‘students’, individual attention is what brings the richest and often the most unexpected rewards – for everyone.
Publilius Syrus said ‘anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm’ and he was right. The mettle of a leader is measured, not when the sea is calm, but during every single storm they face. They’re judged on who, and how many, they leave behind – and why.
The failure of followers is nothing compared to the failure of leaders, and the worst failure of all is a failure to listen, a failure to hear, and a failure to act.
‘Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity’ and giving up must never be an option. My contract is always the same: if you team up with me then I will be at your side 24/7 and I will never give up on you. Never. Because learning isn’t safe, breaking through is never safe, and anything short of, as Welby Ings says, ‘going through the roof’ simply isn’t an option. If your team are all singing from the same song sheet, you’ve failed totally to inspire. Think about that. Leadership isn’t safe either. It requires courage and guts and a preparedness to confront, not only the problems we face, but, more importantly, our own flaws and weaknesses too. If you’re failing as a leader, then chances are you’re also falling into the ‘blame game’ trap – and that’s insidious. There’s only one person actually at fault, and it’s you.
Just like training honestly in a martial art, leaders must have a no quitting spirit or they’ll fall at the first hurdle. And so many do. So very many do. As Eleanor Roosevelt said ‘to handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart’ and John Maxwell helpfully concurred with ‘tend to the people, and they will tend to the business.’
Yes, the people.
Your people.
Be there for them.
Actually, there for them.
Yep, so it’s back working with my babies. Even at a distance. Creating learning tools but in the lounge where the only feedback is our fur baby looking at me quizzically and wondering why I’m sitting there talking to myself when I could be better occupied feeding her and letting her out.
And in.
And out.
And in.
dykiegirl 