Life Lessons: 3 key lessons to appreciate your team

Life Lessons: 3 key lessons to appreciate your team

Much has been said about Theresa May over the weekend by people more eloquent than myself.  My observation is that she is having to learn some hard life lessons in a very public manner about the value of working as a team.  No matter what your political views may be, Theresa needs our compassion as she learns these lessons.

In the middle of leading a large change programme, I was unexpectedly widowed and survived that period in my life through acts of kindness at work and at home. Over night my whole value base shifted to fully recognise the importance of people.  This was not just for my husband, who sadly I had lost, but also for the value the other people in my life brought. These are the values I believe we need for innovative, creative leadership to be successful. They are ones Theresa May is having to learn very publicly – the value of a team working together, the different individual contributions team members can make and learning to listen to people.

Whenever you are in a challenging period, hopefully not as dramatic as Theresa’s or mine, remember these key life lessons well as they can make a really difference to how the challenge resolves itself;

• a team working together brings more than the sum of the parts
• individuals in the team are very different and bring value in different ways. Diversity is good so do not alienate the ideas it brings especially if they are not your stance.
• learn to really listen to your team. This means not just going through the motions of listening but to hear and think about what has been said.  Seek clarification to ensure you have fully understood before you evaluate what has been said to you.

Challenges are opportunities to learn and practice life lessons.  Honest conversations are key to a team working well together.  In my experience honesty is a good to value but not always easy to deliver, especially if there are some challenging characters in the team.  So saying I have always found life is less complicated if you are honest, but tests your ability to communicate to ensure the correct message is conveyed.  Life is full of challenges!

A mindful leader is someone who embodies leadership presence by cultivating focus, clarity, creativity and compassion to reach common goals that maximise the well-being of all stakeholders.

Alison Pooley-Wem – life coach, author and leadership consultant, MBCS CITP, former Business Transformation Director, IT Director, Programme Director who led major transformation programmes for corporate and multi-national organisations such as Amey PLC, Christies. News UK.

Alison is married with five grown-up children. Many of the techniques in her ‘leading yourself’ coaching and courses are based on her life experiences in her professional and family life. She retains a calmness and clarity enabling her to assess the right things to do.

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