December 2009 

Let's Be Successful Again 12

Join the movement!

This year's theme has been to counter the effects of the recession by changing our attitudes and focusing on what lies within our circle of influence as individuals and business people. You can still join the movement by getting involved in the debate at www.letsbesuccessfulagain.com or following me on twitter, facebook or linked in.

In 2010 the focus of Let's Be Successful Again will be about changing organisational cultures from the inside. To mark the publication of my third book in the Autumn of 2010 I'll be considering what's wrong with our workplaces and how to fix them. Get involved and share your views!  

From predictability to chaos

When I am working with leaders who want to understand the difference between management and leadership I often talk about “chaos”. A manager’s job is to minimise chaos. He or she is successful if there is certainty, predictability and process. Managers do not want surprises.

This is true whether the manager is someone who actually enjoys a frison of excitement or is, by nature, risk-averse. It is the nature of the job that dictates that chaos is to be avoided, not the nature of the person in the role. Having said that, someone who needs to place risky bets and doesn’t feel good about themselves unless there is turmoil will probably struggle in a manager’s job. They will either power up the hierarchy, spending as little time in the middle jobs as possible, or avoid hierarchy altogether.

A leader’s job is to be comfortable with chaos. At that level, nothing is for certain. Because leaders look in to the distance they are trying to coordinate any number of unknowns. They have to sit with uncertainty. Again, some people will find this more uncomfortable than others. But those who require structure, blacks and whites and order will find leadership a constant struggle.

As I implied in last month’s newsletter, my role is changing. Having run my own small business for a decade, coordinating a small team of associates but largely taking care of my clients myself, I have now stepped in a new role as Managing Director of a company called Taming Tigers and am starting to build a coaching and training team for an employee engagement business based in the West Country (more on this another time!). In many ways life is no different – I still work with many of the same clients and am based in the same office.

But how I spend my time is vastly different. I am handling more complexity and looking far further in to the future than ever before. In essence I am adding the title “leader” to my portfolio as well as “manager”.

This journey is going to be an interesting one. Having written and spoken about leadership from the perspective of a coach I am now starting to write and speak about leadership from the perspective of a leader. It will be interesting to discover whether my actions and beliefs change as my perspective does. I imagine they will.

Which brings me to news about this newsletter. I have been writing this newsletter monthly for about 7 years. Currently over 2000 people receive it and every month some write back to me with their thoughts and feedback.

I always appreciate this. It is a great way for me to provide food for thought to people who have heard of me or met me. And I will continue to write. However, from 2010 the newsletter will not be monthly. Instead I will send it when there is news to share or when I have an interesting titbit which may trigger a shift of mindset or different way of thinking.

One thing I am realising is that when life changes and you take on more responsibility you can’t simply do everything you did before, only faster, in order to squeeze in all the new stuff. You need to actually change the fundamentals to create space. I have outsourced many aspects of my administration and now share responsibilities that I used to own single-handed. Letting go of the need to produce a monthly newsletter is another shift.

However, you can keep up to date with my thoughts and my work on my blog at www.letsbesuccessfulagain.com and by signing up to the Taming Tigers newsletter at  www.tamingtigers.com And I will still be writing books – my next is out in Autumn 2010 – so I will keep you updated about progress. 

I must admit to being rather uncomfortable with this more chaotic approach to the newsletter. It signifies a struggle I may have on a grander scale moving from manager to manager AND leader. But I hope that, when you do hear from me, the value will be that much greater, as the insights come not only from my work with other people but the work I will be doing on myself!

Happy Holidays and I’ll be back in touch in 2010! 

Buy the Books

In addition to being able to buy my first book,  The Hyper-Creative Personality, in many good bookshops and on Amazon.co.uk you can now order my second, The Recipe for Success. Just click below for more details.

Who is “Blaire Palmer”?

Blaire Palmer is one of the UK’s leading Executive Coaches and Creative Thinking Partners. Clients include some of the world's biggest companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Airbus, HSBC and BT.

Blaire brings her decade of experience as a BBC journalist, her years of coaching experience, her insight honed over thousands of hours of brainstorming and creative thinking with clients, her natural vivacity, energy, creativity and enthusiasm and her solid credentials in to your company to uncover ideas that could make or save your company thousands of pounds.

If you have an idea and want to flesh it out, are facing a problem and need some fresh thinking or want to tap the creativity of your team or your organisation Blaire Palmer's 1-2-1, group or team creative thinking sessions and training programmes will help delegates make the most of their limitless brainpower.

You can read more at www.blairepalmer.com or just call on 08707 66 16 26 and see how Blaire Palmer can help.