What foundations are you laying for the future?

Yesterday, as I dropped my eldest child off to spend a month with a group of strangers in another continent, I experienced a multitude of emotions from tremendous anxiety and worry to pride. My worries ranged from concerns about her safety, her health and wellbeing, about being so far away from home… to immense pride about her sense of adventure, curiosity, motivation and commitment in wanting to do this and making it happen.

I know that it would be pointless to worry about things that I cannot control or influence so I am taking comfort in the knowledge that the foundations that we (parents, family, school, community…) have built and laid will stand her in good stead. I also recognise that no matter how much ‘preparation’ she would have had, she will not always get it right, will make mistakes and will find some aspects challenging. These situations will test her resilience and will be learning opportunities for her growth and development.

I try to reassure myself by reflecting on what these foundations are and came up with some, including:

• Being brought up with a set of values and beliefs and being part of whole
• Raised in a safe trusting environment where she can ask awkward questions, disagree and put her own perspectives forward
• Having a supportive environment in which mistakes can be made
• Having a voice, being heard and listened to
• As the years have progressed have taken on more stretching assignments from joining the school orchestra to participating in the Duke of Edinburgh award
• Having exposure to role models who lead by example and talk about their own learning and mistakes

As I am writing this I am thinking how my  family / system is not that different from an organisation. There are similarities and transferable learning.

How are you as a leader developing your own talent factory and facilitating learning in your organisation? This is what I have learnt and would like to share them with you:

1. Be a role model who demonstrates that you also need to learn and develop. Identify, recognise and value your own strengths and talents and be proactive in helping others to find and develop theirs

2. Provide stretching assignments to help staff grow and develop. Encourage employees to seek out challenges where they can develop without feeling that if they make mistakes it will not hamper their career or job?

3. Your organisation is the best learning programme. Create opportunities for people to come together to find solutions to real problems, challenges and  issues

4. Build trust, foster inquiry and dialogue, making it safe for people to openly share experiences, concerns and failures

5. Reinforce  learning by celebrating not only outcomes and successes but also learning

6. Communicate and reinforce your values and help employees link their daily tasks and responsibilities to the values in the organization. Ensure that staff understand that what they do is important and how it contributes to organisational success

7. Provide opportunities for social networking within the organisation to foster sense of belonging, being part of a whole and in developing trust

How are you as a leader developing your own talent factory and facilitating learning in your organisation?

How are you as a parent laying the foundations for the future?

 What experiences and strategies can you share?

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