Change Begins Within: Enhancing the Leadership Effectiveness of Public Leaders

Nelson Mandela stated that “You can’t change society unless you first change yourself.” Two Leadership Essentials program, conducted at MIND, Jamaica for representatives from the public and social sector, helped make this point. The participants were from a wide range of public and social institutions including the Ministry of National Security, Parliament Council, Defense Force, Civil Service Association, Ministry of Local Government, and the Justice Department.

The programs, delivered by myself and Ruby Brown were focused on leading self, leading others, and leading change. The modules and activities were designed to build self-awareness as well as enhanced skills in working with others. While it was easier for participants to focus on leading others rather than themselves they found the process of self-discovery most powerful. We began the program by co creating intentions for the two days. We then worked our way through the Leadership Essentials modules, such as social identity, mindset, mental models, EQ and boundary-spanning leadership. Some of them shared that leadership programs they attended in the past felt like time off from work but this program was about them and drew them in fully. They were not used to “turning the mirror inward” and examining their values, beliefs and perspectives.

At the end of the program most of them shared that the program was a powerful experience that had helped create a deeper awareness of themselves and their leadership preference and style. Some of them who thought they knew themselves well began to notice in a new way their mental models, mindset, their leadership style, including their listening and decision making skills. The participants said they were energized to take the learning forward in their work and life. We ended the two days by asking them to set goals and write letter to an accountability partners. They took this very seriously and made a public commitment to do at least one thing different as a result of the training.

In the final sharing we heard that this program has been the best they’d experienced in terms of content, delivery, interactivity and personal impact. The Leadership Essentials had helped them examine their own approach to leadership and feel empowered to bring about change in themselves and others in their roles in government.

A week at Zen meditation and the lesson of self-compassion

I had the privilege to spend a week in Zen meditation at Bodhi Zendo in India during the 1st week in April 2012. I decided to attend after talking about it for last 8 years or so. I was nervous about not being able to spend 7 – 8 hours in meditation when even 10 minutes seemed difficult as my mind would keep on wandering in thousands different directions. It was taking a leap of faith with much encouragement from Lyndon.

It has been most valuable time that I have spent with myself and really being connected at the deeper level. During this time I realized how and what holds me back from doing what I want to do. The fear of not being able to do it perfectly and the self-judgment. In spite of all the stuff on mindset and mental models when I got connected with myself I was able to see how they still control my actions and behaviors. The other aspect that got in my way was how can I sustain this new development/progress without falling off the wagon and reverting back to my old ways of being and doing. The Zen Master said to me to be compassionate and not to be hard on myself. It was one thing that really helped me to get to the root of my fear of not being able to sustain the change. It really helped me to notice where else in my life it is present.

In my coaching too I notice that often my clients are in this place of not being compassionate towards themselves and really being stuck for not being able to sustain and integrate the change in their lives. It is really very important to spend sometime during the day with ourselves, being connected, so that we can make each moment richer by being fully present rather than being so busy with everything except our own life. I encourage each of you to take time to connect with yourself and notice when you are not being compassionate with yourself. What will be different if we spent just 10 minutes everyday with ourselves in noticing with great compassion. I have replaced empathy with compassion since now it has a deeper meaning for me.