Imagine you are leading a team. The ‘debate, decide, deliver’ model is a good one for involving your people in owning parts of the strategy. Let’s look at how this works in practice. Start by giving people clear guidelines about the freedom they have to operate with the 3 D’s.

* Debate: describe the topics that are not up for debate – because these have already been decided - and those that are.

* Decide: describe the parameters within which people can then make decisions.

* Deliver: describe the deadlines by which people will be expected to deliver.

Great teams know which part of the model they are operating in. They know whether they are debating, deciding or delivering. Poor teams get the three parts mixed up. Bearing these principles in mind, let’s consider how you can guide your team through the three steps.

1) Debate.

Describe again the areas that people can and can’t debate. You may say, for example:

“The big ‘What’ - the result we must deliver - is not open to debate. The key strategies - the ‘How’ - have also been handed-down. What we can discuss, however, are the tactics within each of these strategies. Here are the topics that we can debate as a team.

a)

b)

c)

“Are there any other topics to add that perhaps fall under our remit to discuss? Let’s add those to the list. Right, let’s explore the first topic.”

Embark on the debate process. Clarity is crucial. Looking at the first topic, start by defining the results to deliver. Move onto the choices and consequences. Brainstorm all the possible options - together with the pluses and minuses of each option. Discuss the options, then move onto finding possible creative solutions. Eventually you will find the group start moving towards their conclusions. (You can find more tools for facilitating this process in the piece called 3 tips for making good decisions.)

Good facilitation will be required. Get the right balance between ‘opening up’ - clarifying the result to achieve and exploring ideas - then ‘closing down’. Create an atmosphere in which people share their ideas. Business meetings sometimes close down the discussion too early. On the other hand, some teams open-up subject after subject and never make any decisions. Get the right balance when discussing the first topic. Then, when appropriate, move onto the next stage.

2) Decide.

Time to make a decision. You may say something like: “Looking at the first topic, let’s return to results to deliver. Now is the time to decide on which option - or options - we want to pursue. After making the decision, we must then decide who will do what by when. Okay, looking at the first topic, let’s decide on the route forward.”

Clarify the action plan for the first topic. Continue the session by repeating the ‘Debate’ and ‘Decide’ steps for other items on the agenda. Conclude the session by summarising what has been agreed. Encourage people to ‘play back’ what they understand to be the action plans for delivering the team’s goals. Then move onto the next stage.

3) Deliver.

People must then work hard to deliver. Provide the support they need to do the job. Super teams are made up of people who are positive, professional and peak performers. But sometimes they get thrown off-course. If people become paralysed in long discussions, investigate the reasons. If appropriate, return to the ‘debate, decide and deliver’ model. Check that the ‘debate’ and ‘decide’ parts have been agreed. If so - and if the decision still fits - then ensure they deliver. If not, then ensure people make a decision and deliver. (Sometimes, of course, it can be a case of ‘just do it’.)

Let’s return to your own team. Try completing the following exercise on the 3 Ds.

Debate. The specific things I can do to make clear
to people what they can and can’t debate are:

*

*

*

Decide. The specific things I can do to enable people
to make good decisions within these parameters are:

*

*

*

Deliver. The specific things I can do to ensure that
people then know when they must deliver are:

*

*

*

Super teams have crystal clear goals. People know what mountain they are climbing, why they are climbing it and when they will reach the summit. Within this framework, people work best when they can ‘own’ their part of the strategy. Providing it is used properly, the 3 D model is a good tool for making this happen. People then develop the habit of knowing when to debate, decide and deliver.

“I like working with people who are making the ‘new rules’ in their chosen field,” said one person. “Certainly I can help those who are trying to be creative inside the ‘old rules’, but sometimes institutions can squash people’s enthusiasm. It’s great encouraging individuals and teams who are pioneering the way.”

Let’s imagine you want to work with people who are making the new rules. Here are three steps you can take towards helping them to succeed.

1) You can identify the people who are making the ‘new rules’.

Start by identifying the people who are either pioneers or working in pioneering fields. The first group will probably be people who believe in following certain principles to achieve the ‘prize’. They won’t be into ‘painting by numbers’. At the same time, however, they know it is vital for them to produce the goods. This will be especially so if they are aiming to do pioneering work in an established organisation. They recognise that: “If you are going to be a deviant, you have to over-deliver.” The second group will probably be in the ‘newer industries’. These may include new media, social networking organisations, marketing, high tech and even parts of retail. Both groups of people believe it is vital to ‘show a better way’.

Looking around your network – and elsewhere – who are the people who fall into these two categories? Try completing the following sentence.

The people who are making the new rules are:

*

*

*

2) You can clarify what you can offer to the people who are making the ‘new rules’.

You can tackle this part by doing three things. First, clarify the specific products or services that you can offer to the people who are making the new rules. Second, clarify the specific challenges that these people may be facing. Third, clarify how what you can offer can help these people to succeed. “I found this part difficult,” said one person. “It called for getting inside the customers’ heads and clarifying the benefits of what I offer. Certainly I should be doing this anyway, but it was a good discipline.” Try completing the following sentences.

The specific things – the products or services – I can
offer to people who are making the new rules are:

*

*

*

The specific challenges facing the people
who are making the new rules may be:

*

*

*

The specific benefits these people
can get from the things I offer are:

*

*

*

3) You can work with these people and help them to succeed by making the new rules.

“Five years ago I started this recruitment business which specialises in working with new media companies,” said one 35-year-old MD. “Now I have 30 employees, a turnover of £10 million and a profit of £500k. We built this company by offering something new in our field. Certainly we could make shed-loads of money by operating like a ‘traditional’ recruitment agency. But we really aim to put the right people in the right places in the right companies. This calls for making sure there is a ‘values-fit’. Once I spent my time getting out to customers, building relationships and satisfying their demands. But now I spend my time supervising our people and fire-fighting. My senior colleagues and I need to get into the market and stay close to our customers, but it is proving difficult to do that and run the business. Have you any suggestions?”

How would you work with this MD? The person who did so helped the MD and their leadership team:

* To communicate the vision throughout the business;

* To hire an operations director – a ‘co-ordinator’ – who took care of the day-to-day operations;

* To get the senior partners to do what they did best – building relationships with key decision-makers in client companies;

* To practice what they preached to other companies – clarifying their own company values, then recruiting and rewarding people who lived these values.

* To stay strategic – continually asking themselves: “What are the 3 key things we can do to give ourselves the greatest chance of success?”

Putting these principles into practice, the company increased its profit to 10% of turnover. It also improved its ratings on customer satisfaction and internal morale. (The latter called for starting again with a blank piece of paper and asking: “If we were to start this business again tomorrow, which of our people would we rehire?” Then acting on this information.) The company went from strength to strength.

Let’s return to your potential clients. How can you help them to succeed by following the new rules? Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to work with these people
and help them to succeed by following the new rules are:

*

*

*

Everybody knows the rules of work have changed, but many organisations still operate as if they are in the 1970s. Certainly it is possible to help people to get more oxygen in these organisations. But you may prefer to work with those that are making the new rules for work.

How can you facilitate a mentoring session? One approach is to follow the classic ‘5C’ model which is based on creative problem-solving. This encourages the mentee to focus on their challenges, choices, consequences, creative solutions and conclusions. Let’s explore how you can follow these steps in your own way.

1) You can welcome the person, create a stimulating sanctuary and, when appropriate, explore their first challenge.

Good mentors begin by making the person feel welcome and creating a stimulating sanctuary. They then establish what the person wants to explore during the session. You will do this in your own way – but here are some questions you can ask to clarify the person’s agenda.

“What are the topics you would like to explore? What for you would make it a successful session? Looking at these various themes, which is the first challenge you would like to tackle? Can you give some background and explain what is happening at the moment? What is it you can and can’t control in this situation? Looking at the challenge, what are the real results you want to achieve? If there are several results you want to achieve, let’s put these in order of priority. What are your specific goals? What is your picture of perfection? Let’s be crystal-clear on the ‘What’ before moving onto the ‘How’.”

Bearing these questions in mind, you may get to the point where the person frames the challenge in the following way.

The challenge I want to tackle is:

* How to

The real results I want to achieve are:

* To

* To

* To

2) You can clarify their choices, consequences and creative solutions.

Good mentors help the person to explore their choices – the possible options for tackling the challenge. They then move onto the consequences – the pluses and minuses of each option. Finally during this stage, they help the person to consider possible creative solutions. Again, you will do this in your own way, but here are some trigger questions you may ask the person at each stage.

“Let’s consider the possible choices you have for tackling this challenge. What do you see as Option A? (Doing nothing is, of course, an option.) What is Option B; Option C; Option D; Option E? What other strategies have you tried before? Are there any other possible options?

“Let’s consider the consequences of each option. What are the pluses and minuses involved in pursuing Option A; Option B; Option C; Option D; Option E? We will soon be exploring potential creative solutions, but first let’s check your gut feeling for each of the possibilities. Rate the attractiveness of each option. Do this on a scale 0–10.

“Let’s move onto the possible creative solutions. First, let’s re-establish your goals. What are the real results you want to achieve? Looking at the different options you have outlined: Is it possible to take the best parts from each option and create a new road? Let’s learn from your successful history. Have you ever been in a similar situation in the past and managed it successfully? What did you do right? How can you follow these paths again in the future? Looking at the challenge: Are there any other possible creative solutions?”

Good mentors move onto sharing any ideas, tools and models the mentee can use to achieve success. They pass-on this knowledge in a way the mentee can accept and check-out which ideas resonate. You will do this in your own way and continue until the mentee is ready to move onto the next stage.

3) You can help the person to clarify their conclusions.

There is often a natural rhythm to a mentoring session. You will encourage the mentee to explore the first challenge, choices and consequences. After considering the potential creative solutions, the mentee reflects and then, at a certain point, will be ready to move onto the final stage – their conclusions. They settle on their plan for tackling the challenge. When it feels appropriate, you can enable them to take this step by using some of the following questions.

“Looking at the different options we have discussed, which route do you want to travel? What will be the pluses and minuses of pursuing this option? Are you prepared to accept the whole package? Let’s move on to your action plan. What steps must you take to reach your goals? How can you make this happen? Momentum is vital, so how can you get an early success? You can only do your best, of course, and make sure you also have a back-up plan. What is the next challenge you want to tackle?”

You will have your own style of facilitating a mentoring session – but the 5C model can be a useful approach to add to your repertoire. Here is the complete framework that you can use in the session

Challenges. The challenge I want to tackle is:

* How to

The real results I want to achieve are:

* To

* To

* To

Choices. The possible options I have are:

a) To

b) To

c) To

Consequences. The pluses & minuses of each option are:

a) To

Pluses: Minuses:

Attractiveness: ____ /10

b) To

Pluses: Minuses:

Attractiveness: ____ /10

c) To

Pluses: Minuses:

Attractiveness: ____ /10

Creative solutions. The possible creative solutions are:

* To

* To

* To

Conclusions. The route – or routes – I want to take is:

* To

How can you live your values? How can you be true to yourself? How can you live in what the existentialists call ‘good faith’? One approach is to clarify your values, translate these into a clear vision and deliver visible results. Sounds simple in theory, but it can be harder in practice. Let’s explore how you can make this happen.

1) You can clarify your values.

Start by tackling the exercise on this theme. Brainstorm the values you believe-in, then put these in order of priority. One person wrote: “The values I believe in are: a) To encourage people; b) To care for the environment; c) To make beautiful things.” Certainly they realised this sounded like standing for ‘motherhood and apple pie’, but the real test was how to follow these ethics in their daily life. So start by completing the following exercise. The tough part comes later.

The values I believe in are:

*

*

*

2) You can translate your values into a clear vision.

Take each of the values in turn and convert each one into a tangible vision. Ask yourself: “How can I express this value in my life and work? What might it look like in practice? What is the vision?” The person said:

“The toughest value to follow was ‘caring for the environment’. Starting with my daily habits, I switched the electricity account to a renewable energy provider; invested in solar panelling; bought local produce; stopped buying fruit flown from long distances and travelled more by train, rather than by car. There is much more to do, but I feel more in tune with my values.”

Try tackling the following exercise. Focus on one of your values and translate it into a clear vision. If you wish, you can then follow a similar process with each of your values.

The specific value I want to focus on is:

*

The specific things I can do to translate
this value into a clear vision are:

*

*

*

3) You can deliver visible results.

“A value is not a value until it is lived.” we are told. So how can you ‘live in good faith’? The true test comes from what people do, not what they say. Samuel and Pearl Oliner studied people who followed their altruistic values to rescue Jews during the Second World War. Having a strong base of ethics and empathy, the ‘rescuers’ saw it as natural for them to help other human beings. They said things like:

“I was always filled with love for everyone, for every creature, for things. I am fused into every object. For me everything is alive … I sensed I had in front of me human beings that were hunted down like wild animals. This aroused a feeling of brotherhood and a desire to help … We had to help these people in order to save them, not because they were Jews, but because they were persecuted human beings who needed help.”

Few of us will be tested to that degree: so how can you follow your beliefs in the future? Looking at the value you chose to convert into a clear vision, try completing the final exercise.

The specific things I can do to translate
this vision into visible results are:

*

*

*

Some people are true to their values. Some try to justify what they are doing, even though it is against their values. Every day is an opportunity for each of us to live in good faith.

Imagine you are a team leader. Your team has been given a deadline by which they must deliver a specific goal. How can you tell whether your team has the desire and discipline required to reach its destination?

One approach is to start from the end and work backwards through the steps, then check the team’s motivation to do the hard work. Let’s explore this process.

1) You can start by describing the destination.

Start by describing what the team must deliver. You may want to say, for example:

“Here is the picture of perfection - the ‘What’ – which we aim to achieve by the following deadline. The benefits of achieving the goal will be: a) ___ b) ___ c) ___ There will be some minuses involved, such as having to be fully committed. So it is up to you to decide whether or not you want to work to reach the goal. When taking that step, it is important to be honest. Do not say ‘Yes,’ when you mean ‘No,’ or ‘Maybe’, but we will return later to making that decision.”

How can you do this in your own way? The key is to provide an inspiring vision, but also explain the pluses and minuses involved in reaching the goal. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to describe the destination are:

*

*

*

2) You can explore the disciplines required for reaching the destination.

Great teams get the right balance between consistency and creativity. Everybody must do certain things in a consistent way - but there must also be areas in which they can express their creativity. Consistency means they will always reach a certain standard. But creativity adds that touch of magic needed to achieve success. Every team member must therefore be committed to following the disciplines required to reaching the destination. How to make this happen? There are two approaches:

a) You can outline the ‘dos and don’ts’ for reaching the goal - then invite people to decide whether they want to commit to following these disciplines.

b) You can invite the team to compile the ‘dos and don’ts’ then, providing you are happy with these principles, invite people to commit to following these disciplines.

Whichever route you take, you can use the following exercise. Ensure the team agrees on the ‘dos and don’ts’ for reaching the destination.

How can you do this in your own way? Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to clarify the team
disciplines required for reaching the destination are:

*

*

*

3) You can ensure the team has the required desire to reach the destination.

Now move onto the final part. Summarise what has been discussed, then invite people to rate their motivation. You may want to say something like:

“A mountaineering team follows crystal-clear rules to stay alive and reach the summit. We are not mountaineers, but it is time to deliver. So let’s check if each of us really has the desire required to reach the goal. Be absolutely sure before signing-up. I am serious. This is about much more than simply writing rules on a flip chart. It is about living them every day. Imagine that one of the ‘dos’ is: ‘Do give 100% attention during meetings - don’t do emails in meetings whilst others are talking.’ If somebody starts doing emails, then I will immediately stop the meeting. I will also expect you to follow the rules with each other.

“So I will ask you to rate your desire to follow these disciplines to reach the destination. Do this on a scale 0—10. Again, please be honest. If you would prefer to do other work, that is okay. I will be having a one-to-one follow-up meeting with each person. If you do want to work with this team, we will make clear contracts about your best contribution. If you do want to move on, we will try to work out a ‘win-win’. So, rate your motivation to work in the team to reach the goals.”

How can you take this step in your own way? Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to clarify the team members’
desire to do the work required to reach the destination are:

*

*

*

Conclude by outlining the next steps on the journey and follow-up quickly by holding the one-to-one sessions with each person. Start the next team meeting by giving an update - especially if some people have decided to move-on. Then do everything possible to ensure the team reaches its goals.

1) Philosophy and Background.

Ashoka is a pioneering organisation that supports social entrepreneurs across the world. These entrepreneurs aim to improve the quality of peoples’ lives. They may focus on education, medical care, agriculture, housing, broadcasting or any field of human need. Such people have the passion and practical skills to translate their vision into reality. Bill Drayton, the organisation’s founder, says:

“What differentiates Ashoka Fellows from mere idealists is that, for these rare men and women, an idea can bring satisfaction only when it is realised. Possessing the same unstoppable drive of a Steve Jobs, they define new issues and create new approaches. Their innovations then set new yardsticks of performance for helping society.”

Ashoka’s Fellows have the ability to make ideas stick. Based on research, the organisation’s web site explains:

“By the end of their 5-year fellowship, between fifty and sixty per cent of the Fellows have changed national policy in the countries where they have been working, and ninety percent have seen independent institutions copy their innovations.”

(Note. The Fellows receive a stipend for 3 years but are Fellows for life.)

Ashoka enables people to harness their inner strength and improve their local society. You can find out more about their work at:

Ashoka

(A note on the spelling in this article. The Strengths Academy normally produces articles using the UK spellings – such as ‘organisation’. When using direct quotations from the Ashoka US materials, however, we will use the US spellings – such as ‘organization’.)

Some Ashoka Fellows

So what do the social entrepreneurs do? Here are three examples drawn from India, Brazil and Bangladesh, but Ashoka Fellows operate all over the world. We will be exploring other projects later in the article.

* Inderjit Khurana, India.

The founder of a large private school, Inderjit wondered how the children who begged on railway stations could get a good education. Her solution was to bring schools to the platforms. She chose to combine imaginative teaching methods with offering the children medical aid, counselling and job training. The Ashoka site says:

“One Sunday morning with two cloth bags ‘full of fun and magic for children’ and an innovative idea, Inderjit Khurana stepped onto the railway platform and began teaching … Within a few months, the ‘platform school,’ as it became known, had over 100 students sitting within its chalk-drawn boundaries, all absorbed in the song, dance, drama, music and puppetry that was helping make them literate.”

Inderjit is now expanding the railway schools to other cities across the country. You can read more about her work at:

Inderjit

* Rodrigo Baggio, Brazil.

Rodrigo works in low-income Favelas and offers young people the opportunity to develop computer skills. Called Schools of Computer Science and Citizenship, the first two pilot programmes were enthusiastically received. These were quickly expanded to fifteen sites in Rio de Janeiro. Ten more schools were launched the following year in other parts of Brazil. Within two years over 5,000 people had completed the three-month course offered by the schools. The Ashoka site says:

“In each of the communities in which it is currently working, the numbers of young people eager to enter the program have far exceeded expectations, and several of the program’s sites are now offering instruction on a three-shifts-per-day basis. The program has attracted considerable media attention, and scores of additional low-income communities (in Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere in the country) are eagerly seeking its services. Support from the business community, in the form of donated equipment and financial contributions, is brisk, and government agencies are also providing modest subsidies for the program’s expansion into additional communities.”

You can read more about Rodrigo’s work at:

Rodrigo

* Suraiya Haque, Bangladesh.

Suraiya Haque creates work-place based day care centres in Bangladesh. She began by developing community-based centres for low-income families. Designed to take up to 20 children between the ages of three and five, each had three ‘care-takers’ who received excellent training. The centres were highly successful, leading to a demand for similar arrangements for the under-threes. Two such centres were set-up by Phulki – the organisation she leads - but this revealed other challenges. The Ashoka site explains:

“Suraiya observed that infants were being deprived their mother’s milk. Thus, she started developing the concept of setting up day care centers in garment factories since a significant number of the clients are working in this sector. She approached a garment factory owner who was known to her and, with funding from Radda Barnen, the first factory based day care was established. The working model was kept the same as the community based ones in terms of the number of children and caretakers. The owner provided the space and the other costs came from the donor. Phulki ran the day care for three years and then handed control over to the factory management.”

Suraiya is now spreading her ideas on a national level. You can find out more about her work at the Phulki website:

Phulki

Why the name Ashoka?

Bill Drayton started the organisation in 1980. He chose the name in recognition of Ashoka, a great leader who transformed the Indian sub-continent in the 3^rd Century BC. (Sometimes his name is also spelt ‘Asoka’.) Emperor Ashoka initially threw himself into waging war against his neighbours, but he became horrified by the carnage. Converting to Buddhism, he dedicated himself to improving the quality of people’s lives. Deeply committed to his own beliefs, Ashoka nevertheless spread religious tolerance. Historians are split over the value of his legacy, but all agree that his reign produced great prosperity. H.G. Wells wrote in his book Short History of the World:

“Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history … the name of Ashoka shines, and shines almost alone, a star … His reign for eight-and-twenty years was one of the brightest interludes in the troubled history of mankind. He organised a great digging of wells in India and the planting of trees for shade. He founded hospitals and public gardens and gardens for the growing of medicinal herbs. He created a ministry for the care of the aborigines and subject races of India. He made provision for the education of women … Such was Ashoka, the greatest of kings. He was far in advance of his age.”

Bill Dayton and Social Entrepreneurship

Bill Dayton was born in New York City in 1943. He came from a family of practical idealists who, amongst other causes, fought for the abolition of slavery and for women’s rights. Speaking to Good Magazine, Bill explained:

“Both my parents showed extraordinary (most would say madly unrealistic!) freedom of spirit at 19. Public service and respect for ideas is a recurrent theme in both the American and Australian sides of my family. The fact that the Grimke sisters (anti-slavery and women’s equality) and Wendell Phillips (abolitionist) lie on different branches of the America family suggest another element of deep-seated cultural values that drew these people to one another and, without a word being said, was another wonderful gift from my family.”

You can find the full interview with Bill in Good Magazine at:

Good Magazine

Looking back at his life, Bill recalls his own first encounters with entrepreneurship. Starting a one-page newspaper when at primary school, he soon built it into a 64 page publication supported by adverts. He said. “I can’t tell you how excited I was to get this mimeograph machine. It’s amazing how supportive my parents were. There were 64 piles of mimeographed paper that had to be collated and stapled, and it never occurred to me this might be inconvenient to my family.” Moving through schools, he became increasingly conscious of ‘social entrepreneurs’. These included people such as:

* Susan Anthony – who fought for Women’s Rights.

* Maria Montessori – who created a new approach to helping children to learn.

* Mahatma Gandhi – whose spiritual leadership helped to guide India to independence.

* Florence Nightingale – whose work in the Crimean War helped to found modern nursing.

Bill went on to study at Harvard, Oxford and Yale Law School. It was during a summer break at Harvard that he became gripped by the power of social change. Vinoba Bhave, a disciple of Gandhi, was walking across India, persuading individuals and whole villages to legally ‘gift’ their land to him. He then redistributed the land more equitably to support untouchables and other landless people. Bill was 20 years old at the time and on vacation in Munich. Hearing about Bhave’s work, however, he drove a Volkswagen van from Munich to India to join him. Speaking to US News and World Report, Bill explained:

“Long before sunrise, we’d start walking across dividing paths of rice fields, by the moonlight, stars, and a couple of kerosene lanterns,” says Drayton. At sunrise, thousands of surrounding villagers dressed in their best clothes began appearing in the horizon. By teatime, local landowners had voluntarily ceded their holdings to Bhave. Ultimately, 7 million acres were peacefully redistributed, based on the ability of one leader to turn a powerful idea into reality.”

US News

Bill went on to organise Civil Rights sit-ins – an event he later described as one of the more formative experiences of his life. Pursuing his professional career, he worked at McKinsey, the consulting firm, and as an administrator at the White House during the Carter years. One of his key legacies was the carbon emission trading scheme.

Building Ashoka

Inspired by social entrepreneurs from the past, Bill decided to found Ashoka. It started with an annual budget of $50,000. This was seeded by the MacArthur Fellowship he was awarded. The budget has now grown to more than $30 million. The first Fellow was elected in India in 1981. Today it supports over 2000 Fellows in more than 60 countries across the world. It is funded by individuals, foundations and business entrepreneurs. It does not accept funding from government institutions. Ashoka explains its philosophy as founded on the premise that:

“… the most effective way to promote positive social change is to invest in social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions that are sustainable and replicable, both nationally and globally.”

Bill disagrees strongly with the notion that ‘today there is less leadership in the world.’ He believes people are retaking charge of their lives – particularly in the citizen sector. Why? Older institutions no longer serve the emerging needs. Learning from business entrepreneurs who have dominated the past 30 years, many caring people are becoming what Bill calls ‘changemakers’. Speaking to US News and World Report, he explained:

“(The social sector) has been generating jobs at 2.5 to three times as fast as the rest of society. The U.S. more than doubled the number of IRS-recognized charities in a decade. Brazil grew from somewhere between 500 and 3,600 citizen groups in 1980 to an estimated more than 1 million by the year 2000. There are similar statistics from every continent.”

Talent is flocking to the sector, says Bill, because people believe it is where they can make a positive difference. Certainly there is a place for pressuring old institutions to change, but it can be quicker to build successful prototypes. People are then more able to spot a need, make the new rules and deliver positive results. Let’s explore how Ashoka then aims to make these changes sustainable.

2) Principles.

Ashoka says: “We have designed an approach that offers critical interventions on three levels - the individual, the group, and the sector.” Let’s consider these three themes.

* Ashoka supports social entrepreneurs.

“Social entrepreneurs are the engines of social change and role models for the citizen sector,” says Ashoka. It provides such people with a living stipend, often for 3 years. This allows them to work full-time on implementing their idea. Additionally it provides them with ‘entrepreneur-to-entrepreneur’ support and access to expert advice. The Fellow also becomes part of the organisation’s wider community for life. Ashoka spends a considerable amount of time selecting its Fellows. It looks for five qualities in such people.

1) They must have a new idea – this is ‘The Knockout Test’.

The person must be ‘possessed by a new idea’. It must be a new approach to a social problem that will make a breakthrough in a particular field. Joaquín Felipe Leguía Orezzoli, for example, is creating ‘Children’s Forests’ in Peru. The grandson of a former President of Peru, he involves children in managing the community forests. The Ashoka site says:

“As a child, Joaquín’s garden was a refuge from the world and a space to explore his imagination. After his mother married a Swedish businessman who worked in the Amazon, Joaquín spent his summer vacations in the jungle, which further inspired his creativity. There, he also became friends with a young Shipibo indigenous boy who shared adventures with him and inspired his early interest in the role of children in the environment … After a failed attempt to please his parents by studying business, the political situation in Peru led Joaquín to finish his studies in the United States, where he earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in natural sciences.”

“After returning to Peru and working in a variety of public, private, and nonprofit jobs, Joaquín attended Yale University and earned his master’s degree in environmental management … He traveled to Bolivia to study the role of indigenous children in community development for his thesis project, an experience that affirmed his conviction to work in youth environmental conservation. (Returning to Peru) in 1995 he and a friend founded the Association for Children and the Conservation of Their Environment.”

Joaquín’s idea passed ‘The Knockout Test’. The organisation he leads aims to increase children’s appreciation of nature and equip them with practical skills to sustain their environment in the future. Many of these areas go on to be actually managed by the young people. You can read more about Joaquín’s work at the three links below. The first takes you to Ashoka and a description of his work; the second to The Promise Club, which highlights people’s promises to future generations; the third to Joaquín’s own organisation.

Ashoka

The Promise Club

Rodrigo’s Organisation

2) They must have creativity.

Creativity is crucial. Ashoka asks questions such as: “Does this candidate have a vision to meet some human need better than it has been met before? Do they have a history of creating other new visions?” Creativity obviously comes in different forms. Ashoka is looking for people who can beyond their original idea and find creative solutions on the road to success. This highlights the next characteristic.

3) They must have entrepreneurial quality.

Great entrepreneurs get the right balance between Innovation, Implementation and Impact. They start by having an innovative idea, but this is only the start. They want to implement the idea and make a positive impact. Ashoka’s entrepreneurs are possessed by their vision and want to translate it into reality. They are dreamers who do and deliver.

4) They must have an idea that has social impact.

Ashoka focuses on the candidate’s idea - not just the candidate. The idea must be able to live beyond the person’s involvement. Marie Haisova, for example, has involved women in reducing pollution in major Czech cities. The Ashoka site says:

“Marie’s program encourages mothers to spearhead the development of a beautiful and healthy urban environment of new parks and green spaces. Her program provides training and leadership-building seminars for women so they can effectively launch their own neighborhood campaigns. By providing women with the opportunity to change the area in which they live, Marie is both improving the poor condition of city environments and empowering women to become active community leaders.”

5) They must have ‘ethical fiber’.

Social entrepreneurs must have an internal ‘moral compass’. This is called into action on many occasions. First, when they face setbacks. Can they revisit their inner values and make decisions based on this compass? Second, when they invite other people to adopt a fresh approach towards tackling a problem. Ashoka says that people will ask: “Do we trust this person absolutely?” Third, when they experience pressure or personal attacks. The candidate must then be seen to behave ethically in every way.

Ashoka uses these five tests to judge whether a potential Fellow has the ability to be a successful social entrepreneur. Let’s move on to the second principle behind the organisation’s work.

* Ashoka promotes group social entrepreneurship.

Ashoka believes it is vital to link individuals, groups and networks of social entrepreneurs. They are then able: a) To encourage each other; b) To learn from each other; c) To link together to create effective action. Ashoka promotes this approach under six key themes. These include: Changemakers (see more below); Environmental Innovations Initiative; Full Economic Citizenship; Global Fellowship; Law For All Initiative; and Youth Venture. You can discover more about these at:

Ashoka Group Social Entrepreneurship

Changemakers is just one example of pooling people’s collective strengths. The Changemakers approach includes:

* An on-line community that provides access to over 500 high-impact action blueprints for solving social problems.

* A library of original articles and resources on the growing citizen sector and its historic role in changing the world in positive ways. Here is a link to the library, which is rich in resources.

Library

* A number of ‘Collaborative Competitions’ that encourage people to publicise their social innovations. This produces greater exposure to potential social investors and the wider community. Ashoka explains:

“Changemakers has sponsored collaborative competitions on varied themes, including human trafficking, affordable housing, and market-based solutions for low-income communities … A panel of expert judges from investor organizations in the relevant field selects the finalists in each competition, and popular online voting determines the three winners. Competition finalists and winners then form the core of an emerging and ongoing network of changemakers who collaborate to support each other’s efforts, continue to map emerging principles of innovation, and help draft advisories for investors and policymakers.”

You can discover more about this aspect of group entrepreneurship at:

Changemakers

* Ashoka builds infrastructures to support the social entrepreneurs - the ‘changemakers’ – in the citizen sector.

Bill Drayton believes this is a vital step in sustaining change. Why? The old institutions support the old ideas, but there is little support for the new ideas. The complete Ashoka model is therefore: a) To support social entrepreneurs; b) To promote group entrepreneurship; c) To build the infrastructures that support the citizen sector.

Ashoka tackles the infrastructure issue on several fronts. This includes providing seed financing and building bridges to the business and academic sectors. The organisation has also developed mutually rewarding relationships with companies such as McKinsey, Hill & Knowlton and Ernst & Young. Perhaps the greatest institutional challenge is developing funding models for the citizen sector. Ashoka addresses this by devoting resources to what it calls Social Financial Services. The key strategies it pursues include:

* Engaging major financial institutions, including private, investment, and commercial banks, to provide alternative sources of capital.

* Creating financial models such as SIV (Social Investing Ventures) to allow the movement of these cutting edge ideas to scale.

* Assisting other philanthropic groups and Ashoka Fellows to secure investment through non-traditional avenues.

Bill outlines his thoughts on this challenge in the following video:

Bill on YouTube

Ashoka has a clear philosophy and principles, so let’s explore how these work out in practice.

3) Practice.

“Ashoka envisions a world where Everyone is a Changemaker: a world that responds quickly and effectively to social challenges, and where each individual has the freedom, confidence and societal support to address any social problem and drive change.”

This is the organisation’s vision – so what is the reality? Between 50% and 60% of the Fellows change national policy in their respective countries. Ninety percent see independent institutions copy their ideas. This is a remarkable bottom-line in any language.

David Bornstein features some of these changemakers in his book How To Change The World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. Whilst not solely about Ashoka, the book highlights the work of many of its Fellows. He also cites Ashoka as the organisation that has pioneered the way in social entrepreneurship. You can read more about his book at:

http://www.howtochangetheworld.org

The Ashoka site also contains many excellent videos about the Fellows’ results. You can find these at:

Ashoka Results Videos

Contribution to the strengths approach

Ashoka has made a great contribution to the strengths approach. For example:

a) It has enabled thousands of people to develop their inner strength and become successful social entrepreneurs.

b) It has equipped hundreds of communities to focus on specific issues – such as food production, human rights, education, law, medicine and work – and improve the quality of their lives. This has mobilised people’s collective strength to shape their future lives.

c) It has developed successful models for people sharing their talents, knowledge and wisdom. It has done this through vehicles such as the Changemakers on-line community and the library that provides blue-prints for bringing about social change. These enable people to continue building on their own and others strengths.

Ashoka has many videos about the impact of its work. Here is one that gives a 10 minute overview.

Ashoka Introduction Video

Bill Drayton is optimistic about the future. Outlining his view of the part Ashoka can play in history, he told the US News and World Report.

“I have never doubted that we are serving the most powerful and most hopeful historical force of our era. Or that we are positioned to play a truly important role. We are, after all, a community of most of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs … How could any entrepreneur, confronted by such amazing opportunities to help transform the world and to do so with such extraordinary colleagues, be tempted to lose focus?”

“In the world ten years from now, it will not be possible to be a citizen without being a change-maker. Anyone who is not will feel themselves to be enormously vulnerable. More important, they will not be able to participate in the giving and receiving of love and respect, the heart of human existence, at its most important level - causing change for the good.”

Imagine you have been asked to run a super teams workshop for a team. It will be important to meet with the leader before the actual team session. Here are 3 steps you can take during the pre-meeting to prepare properly for the workshop.

1) You can clarify the goals for the super teams workshop.

Set aside 3 hours to meet with the leader a week or so before the workshop. If possible, send them some ‘pre-work’ to do ahead of the one-to-one session. For example, they can have a first go at creating their ‘picture of perfection’ (See later explanation.) Moving onto the actual pre-meeting, start by giving an overview of the super teams model. Then clarify whether the leader believes people are ready to build a super team. This latter part is crucial. Super teams are made of volunteers, not victims. So everybody must be prepared to work hard and the leader must take tough decisions. If appropriate, ask the leader:

“Imagine everybody in the team left tomorrow and offered their services back as freelancers. Who would you hire and what would you hire them to deliver?”

Let’s imagine the leader says they would re-hire over 80% of the people. They may then be ready to build a great team. What if the leader says they would re-hire less than 60%? You may advise them to wait until they recruit new people – because it is vital to get the right people on-board before embarking on building a super team.

(There are occasional exceptions to this rule - but it comes with a health warning. Some leaders use the workshop as a vehicle for discovering which individuals want to commit to the team. Such a ‘sorting-out’ session is okay, but the leader and facilitator must be crystal clear on the purpose. The first session can then be followed by a second workshop for those who want to be part of the super team.)

Assuming the leader wants to go ahead, move onto clarifying the goals for the workshop. For example:

- To set up the team to succeed.

- To agree on the team’s picture of perfection.

- To agree on each person’s contribution to achieving the picture of perfection.

Give an overview of the potential schedule for the day, then go on to the next stage.

2) You can clarify the leader’s picture of perfection for the super team.

Invite the leader to share the ‘Picture of perfection’ pre-work they have done before this meeting. If they have not already done the exercise, you can position it by explaining:

* The Picture of perfection – the ‘What’.

“This exercise invites you to start by defining the big ‘What’ - the goal your team is aiming to achieve. Pick a date in the future and define the overall goal you want the team to achieve by that date. If possible, try to create a ‘one-liner’ that summarises the goal. Beneath this, describe the 3 things that will be happening that will show the team has reached the goal.”

How to clarify the three main goals? Every team will have different targets. As a guide, however, some leaders focus on the 3 P’s when clarifying their key goals. They focus on their Profits, Product quality and People. For example:

* Profits (or Performance) - the profitability they want to deliver.

* Product Quality (or Service Quality) - the product quality and customer satisfaction they want to deliver.

* People - the culture, internal morale and development opportunities they want to deliver.

Work with the leader on establishing their overall goals, then go onto the next stage.

* The road map towards achieving the picture of perfection

Position the road map by saying: “This part invites you to make a more detailed road map towards achieving the POP. Start from your destination - the end results you have already listed in the ‘What’ - and work backwards. List the milestones along the way. Describe the actual things the team will have achieved at each stage of the journey. Also, write the actual words you want to hear specific people saying. For example, the key sponsors, customers, colleagues and others. During the workshop, we will be asking people to add their ideas to this provisional road map.”

* The Benefits - the ‘Why’.

People buy benefits. So invite the leader to describe the rewards of achieving the goals - for the organisation, for the customers, for the employees and any other groups.

* The Strategies - the ‘How’.

Position this part by saying something like. “Go for relatively few headline strategies - preferably no more than three. You can have lots of sub-strategies beneath these main headlines. People then are more likely to remember ‘What’ they are trying to achieve, ‘Why’ and ‘How’.”

Completing these exercises can be time-consuming. So the leader may prefer to set aside time after the one-to-one to finish them properly before the workshop. The final versions can then be copied and handed-out to people on the day.

There remains one final task. Transfer the main elements of the ‘road map’ to flip charts - so that the map can then be ‘rolled-out’ in front of people. Why? During the workshop we will invite people to suggest items they would like to see added to the road map. They will write their ideas on Post-it Notes and put these on the road map. This is obviously easier to do if the main elements of the map are transferred to flip charts. Again, this is something that can be done during the time between the one-to-one session and the actual workshop.

3) You can clarify what else must be done before the super teams workshop.

If appropriate, go through the workshop schedule and make any amendments. Here is a timetable that works well.

9.00 Start: introduction and goals for the workshop.

* Super teams: an overview

- Invite the team members to each write down the name of a super team they admire. What did that team do right? Link these principles to the super team model.

- Give an overview of the super teams model. Show how it works in practice.

* Setting-up the team to succeed.

Give several exercises on this theme. These to include:

- Identifying the qualities you want people in the team to demonstrate.

- Satisfying the key sponsors.

- Controlling the controllables.

- Clarifying the team’s contract for working together.

- Getting some early successes.

Lunch

* Setting the team’s specific goals.

- Clarifying the road map towards achieving the picture of perfection.

* Building on each person’s strengths to achieve the specific goals.

- Clarifying each person’s contribution towards achieving the picture of perfection.

* Maintaining the momentum and continuing to build a super team.

17.00 Close

Ask the leader if there are any other practical issues they would like to cover. Would they like a half day follow-up session to keep the momentum going after the workshop? Are there any other key challenges? Explore these items and find creative solutions. Cover any remaining items on the agenda and thank the leader for their time. Reflecting on the meeting, make your plans for the team session and complete any outstanding tasks. You can then look forward to the workshop.

What kind of person are you? Are you positive, negative or a mixture of both? What do other people feel after meeting you? What do they say about you? Do you have a positive attitude? Despite any current challenges, do you have ‘reasons to be cheerful’? Looking at your personal and professional life, what are your assets? You may have your health, relationships, talents, some money or whatever. How can you use these assets to encourage yourself and other people? Let’s explore how you can maintain positive energy in your life and work.

1) You can maintain positive energy as a person.

“Several months ago I felt extremely tired,” said one person. “Normally people say that I am energetic, but I had lost my spark. Looking back, I can see the reasons why, such as work becoming tiresome. I allowed this to affect me and it took time to get back on course. Starting with my body, I began to eat better food – plus limited alcohol to the weekends. My wife and I restarted walking in the countryside and working together on our garden. The oxygen fed my brain and helped me to see things in perspective. Feeling ‘healthily tired’, it was easier to sleep at nights – rather than suffering the fitful sleep which dominated previous months. People began to notice and said things like: ‘It’s good to see you are back on form’. The next step is to do a more fulfilling job.”

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. On a scale 0 – 10, to what extent do you have positive energy as a person? What are the reasons for this score? How can you maintain – or improve – this rating? You may want to change your diet, get more sleep, do exercise, spend time with encouraging people, play your favourite music, pursue stimulating activities or whatever. Try completing the following sentences.

The extent to which I have positive
energy has a person is: ___ / 10

The specific things I can do to maintain or improve this rating are:

*

*

*

2) You can maintain positive energy as a professional.

What percentage of your time do you spend doing – or preparing to do – the activities you find stimulating? What impact do you have on other people? What are the actual words they would say about you? What would be said by those who are kindred spirits – the people who share similar values? How can you spend more time with such energising people? How can do more of the stimulating work? What would be the benefits – for yourself, your employers and your customers?

“Looking at my work, I decided to shift strategy,” said the person mentioned earlier. “My organisation had recently expanded into Europe, taking over several smaller companies. My brief was to roll-out the corporate principles, whilst also retaining the special nature of each business. Such ventures often result in crushing the characteristics of those businesses – but we actually bought them because they displayed those qualities. The European companies were resistant, however, whilst my boss pressed for results. Life had become grim. So I changed tack. Instead of urging everybody to change at once, I concentrated on 3 countries that wanted to model ‘the best of both worlds’. Working together, we then built successful pilots. Certainly there have been challenging times, but now people across the business are making the model work. This has brought benefits – for them and for the organisation. Life has become enjoyable and I look forward to going to work.”

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. On a scale 0 – 10, to what extent do you have positive energy as a professional? What are the reasons for this score? How can you maintain – or improve – this rating? Try completing the following sentences.

The extent to which I have positive
energy has a professional is: ___ / 10

The specific things I can do to maintain or improve this rating are:

*

*

*

3) You can maintain positive energy as a planetarian.

Looking at your life and work, to what extent do you feel you are following your vocation – what you are meant to do on Earth? Certainly you can only do so much - you can’t tackle every issue facing humanity. But to what extent do you feel you are making a good contribution? For example, do you feel on the right road – even if you are only pursuing it to a limited extent? How can you follow this road in the forthcoming years? How can you encourage future generations?

“Maybe it’s my age, but I have been thinking more about that recently,” said one person. “During the ‘middle years’ - 30 to 50 - I made hay while the sun shined. Working hard proved fruitful, even though I over-borrowed at times. Nowadays I have become more selective, concentrating on the work I find fulfilling. Strangely, I seem to have more in common with young people today, particularly those in high tech. ‘Legacy’ is probably an over-used word, but I now feel better about what I am passing-on to other people.”

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. On a scale 0 – 10, to what extent do you have positive energy as a planetarian? What are the reasons for this score? How can you maintain – or improve – this rating? Try completing the following sentences.

The extent to which I have positive
energy has a planetarian is: ___ / 10

The specific things I can do to maintain or improve this rating are:

*

*

*

There are many ways to plant seeds of hope. Frequently there will be challenges, however, followed by the need to encourage ourselves and other people. This calls for maintaining our positive energy as people, professionals and planetarians.

People can choose to work in three places during their lives: the cottage, the castle or the cathedral. Some try all three. Let’s explore these places to work.

1) The cottage.

Creative people often start by working from the ‘cottage’. Because they have little money, they use their imagination to reach the market, provide great service and satisfy their customers. Years later many entrepreneurs look back and recall the halcyon days when they felt in control of their growing business. Every decision counts and they see an immediate effect. Every day is an adventure and they must live off their wits.

Creative people attract attention, however, and one day they are visited by a messenger from the ‘castle’. This may be a larger organisation or the company headquarters. “Your energy is just what we need to inject life into our organisation,” says the courier. “Imagine what we can achieve with your creativity and our resources. We can conquer the world. Can you come and help us to be successful?” The creative person turns down the offer, saying they want to remain independent. “Just think about it,” advises the messenger.

Two months pass, then another messenger arrives. Higher in the chain of command, he also waves a big cheque. “We really need your creativity,” he says. “Just think of the resources at your disposal.” Another refusal: but this is followed by another visit and a bigger cheque. Feeling it is worth giving it a go, the creative person finally accepts the offer to work in the castle. (They may also have a back-up plan, however, which involves having an escape route.)

Can you think of a time when you worked in a ‘cottage’? You may have been working as a freelancer, in a small team, on a pioneering project or whatever. What did it feel like in that situation? Try completing the following sentences.

The time when I worked in a ‘cottage’ was:

*

The things that were happening – and
the things I experienced – then were:

*

*

*

2) The castle and the cathedral.

The creative person is welcomed with open arms. It’s great to be lauded as a potential saviour. Time passes. They learn the ways of the castle –but things go slowly. Two months after their arrival, the creative person feels impatient. Planning to get the show on the road, they aim to present their first imaginative idea at the next departmental meeting. Politeness decrees they test it out with the person who invited them into the castle, so they run it past him in a one-to-one session.

“Great work. This is exactly why we brought you into the organisation,” says their boss. “Before introducing the idea, however, there are some key players you need to get on-side. They are busy people, but you can get into their diaries within the next 3 months. Looking at your suggestion, I also believe a working party on the other side of the castle is studying something similar. You can get your voice heard by sitting on their committee. As I said at the beginning, though, this is just the sort of energy we want you to bring to the organisation.”

Kafka’s castle rules. After 2 years of following the rules of court, the person feels drained. Some individuals stay on, hoping to one day reach the inner sanctum. Some join the castle’s ‘process police’ when they visit the cottages to enforce decrees from the centre. Some retire to the ‘cathedral’ - or Academia - to write about the theory of success. Some decide to return to their roots.

Can you think of a time when you worked in a ‘castle’? What did it feel like in that situation? Try completing the following sentences.

The time when I worked in a ‘castle’ was:

*

The things that were happening – and
the things I experienced – then were:

*

*

*

3) The return to the cottage.

Creative people often return to the cottage. Oxygen is vital. They return to running their own business or finding a stimulating project where they can breathe. Decision-makers by nature, they want to feel in charge of their lives. Revisiting customers fires their imagination and re-engages their brain. Regaining their zest for life, they help the customers to succeed. Happy in their work, they get the right balance between innovation, implementation and impact. Life is good and they enjoy the country air. Then one day a courier arrives from another castle, saying:

“The dynamic company you have built fits perfectly with our strategy for becoming the world’s Number 1. The problem is that we do not have your kind of creativity in our business. How much would it cost for you to join us in the castle?”

Some people accept the big cheque. Some accept a deal in principle, but retain their autonomy. They protect their culture by insisting on staying in the cottage - and later getting a huge cheque for producing great results. But they are not stupid. They insist on appointing a trusted guardian as the interface between the cottage and the castle. They also build-in a get-out clause so they can walk. Some send the courier back to the castle pursued by a hail of arrows. Some politely say, “Thanks for your interest, but we are happy working in our own small company.” Feeling at home in the cottage, they continue doing creative work.

Can you think of a time when you returned to the ‘cottage’? What did it feel like in that situation? Try completing the following sentences.

The time when I returned to
working in a ‘cottage’ was:

*

The things that were happening – and
the things I experienced – then were:

*

*

*

Some leaders say, “We want to act like a big company, but maintain the spirit of a small company.” Is it possible? Yes, but it calls for getting the right balance between the ‘global and the local’. Great companies communicate a compelling purpose and outline the guiding principles. They then encourage their people to put these principles into practice in their own way – within parameters – and deliver results. The employees also have a responsibility. They must show how what they are doing is pursuing the principles and contributing to the purpose. The organisations that achieve this balance will reap the benefits. Those that don’t will drive creative people back to the cottage where they can breathe oxygen.

“Why can’t you run a business without having problems?” somebody may ask. “There always seem to be difficulties – either with the products or the people. Do they ever go away?”

Paul Hawken, author of Growing a Business, has one answer. He studied many books by gurus, believing that one day he would find business nirvana and the problems would disappear. But the truth hit him one sunny afternoon: “I had my nirvana, all right, but it was the opposite of what I had been seeking. On that pretty afternoon the actual truth finally struck me: I would always have problems. In fact, problems signify that the business is in a rapid learning phase. The revelation was liberating. I couldn’t understand why other people hadn’t told me this earlier.” Let’s explore three steps towards dealing with problems.

1) You can set-up things to succeed.

Peak performers do their best to make things work. They build on their strengths, set specific goals, clarify the key strategies, do superb work and do everything possible to achieve success. Before going into a situation, they rehearse: a) The specific things that can go wrong - how I can prevent them happening; how I can manage them if they do happen; b) The specific things that can go right - how to build-on these successes. They then ‘go into the arena’ and do their best to make things work. You will, of course, take these steps in your own way.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. First, describe a specific situation or project you may face in the future. Second, describe how you can do everything possible to set-up things to succeed.

The specific situation or project I may face in the future is:

*

The specific things I can do to do everything
possible to set-up things to succeed are:

*

*

*

2) You can recognise there will always be problems.

“People is a key area where there will always be challenges,” said one MD. “We aim: a) To clarify the values we want people to demonstrate; b) To recruit people who demonstrate these values; c) To provide an inspiring induction programme; d) To make sure their first role is with an encouraging manager; e) To get them to build on their strengths and make their best contribution to the business; f) To enable them to get quick successes; g) To offer tools they can use for shaping their career. But there will still be problems. People may find they don’t ‘fit’ the company. They may suffer personal setbacks – such as illness, divorce, bereavement or family difficulties. There may be personality clashes at work, poor coaching, lack of guidance or whatever. Certainly we must set things up to succeed, but stuff happens.”

Let’s return to the specific situation or project you may face. Despite your best efforts, difficulties may still happen. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific kinds of problems that could occur are:

*

*

*

3) You can find positive solutions to the problems.

“My problem-solving style varies,” said one MD. “I am actually more composed when tackling ‘big problems’, rather than ‘small problems’. Theoretically I know it is vital to keep my cool in all situations, but sometimes I get angry about small things. I get upset about not finding a space in the car park, email going down for 10 minutes or whatever. Paradoxically, I am calm during big crises –such as the company facing financial difficulties, an employee encountering personal problems or making tough business decisions. It’s relatively easy for me to see the choices, consequences and creative solutions. Maybe one day I will learn how to use the same techniques with minor problems!”

Let’s return to the potential issues you may face – then focus on one specific problem. Looking at that situation, how can you stay calm? How can you see things in perspective? How can you establish clarity – the real results you want to achieve? How can you explore the options? How can you – as far as possible - find a positive solution? How can you get concrete results? Try completing the following sentences.

The specific problem I want to focus on is:

*

The specific things I can do to stay calm and
find a positive solution to the problem are:

*

*

*

“Get used to problems, because they are an inevitable part of business life,” says Paul Hawken. The steps to take are: a) To do everything possible to prevent problems; b) To find positive solutions when they do happen; c) To learn from the experience and set-up things to succeed in the future. You can then keep growing through solving the problems.