Leadership - the space to fail?
In my previous leadership experience, one thing I struggled with was: how do you develop people - allowing them space to fail and learn and grow but at the same time not jeopardise your project / client / funding ? Where do you draw the line? Where do you allow space for failure so that your ‘mentee’ can learn and where do you act with the sustainability of your organisation in mind?
At the previous employer I worked for I was an External Relations Manager, in charge of a department of seven people and of a project that brought in 70% of the annual budget of our organization. Moreover, on the success of this project depended the future budget over the coming years as well.
One of the people in my department I was mentoring was elected the leader of this project. The crucial element for the success of the project was excellent marketing: attracting the right audience and footfall to the event and meeting the KPIs according to the sponsors. My mentee’s key challenge was to motivate volunteers to get them to recruit the right number and type of people to attend the event.
At the beginning of the project I was very nervous about this person’s performance- it was clear to me that he was failing. His planning was not good, he was not keeping volunteers motivated and as a result, the project was suffering. I wanted to step in all the time and I couldn’t let go of the way I normally dealt with things. I kept thinking that if I did things myself it would be easier, faster and better. I had to keep myself from taking charge all the time.
In the end I decided that I had to sit back and give him space to lead and fail. I made myself a ‘Servant Leader’ (as Stephen Covey describes the concept in his works) and waited for him to call upon my help. When he finally did, he wanted me on the ground, with the volunteers. I called in the rest of the experienced team and created a fun, friendly competition to pull in the audience.
The result of the project was not the best we ever had, but the project leader’s self esteem was intact, the team pulled together to achieve the impossible so they were motivated and the funders was happy as the project came within the KPIs of the contract.
The reason why I am thinking of this now is because I am now in the mentee position. It’ s my turn to be coached to step into the next role- the shoe is on the other foot. I am now the one scared to fail and disappoint.
One of the leaders I admire said to me: “Fail early and fail a lot so that you can learn quickly, adapt to a new environment and evolve fast”. So I find myself asking now- in order to learn quickly and gain experience: is failure an option? Will people still support me if I fail? Can I recover from it? Or as Noam put it on a recent 'Raid' session: How can I learn to fail better?
C
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For those of you who went to Syngenta on Thursday and those who didn´t, here´s some info about it:
5.1 Syngenta and GM crops 5.11 Current GM Crops Despite their widespread rejection by people around the world Syngenta continues to develop and market GM crops. Syngenta currently markets crops that are either herbicide tolerant or insect resistant. The following problems are associated with herbicide tolerant or insect resistant GM crops. Herbicide Tolerance [37] Gene transfer to related wild species may take place, creating herbicide tolerant ‘super weeds’. This depends on the proximity of species with which the crop can successfully hybridise. The increased use of the specific herbicide a crop is made tolerant to, will encourage the emergence of resistant weeds through selection pressure. Neighbouring organic or non-GM crops may be pollinated by the GM crop, leading to genetic contamination with the foreign genes. Levels of acceptable contamination have not been set and organic farming standards are likely to demand zero levels. The use of pesticides and herbicides is already thought to have contributed to the dramatic decline in farmland bird species in the UK. Insect resistance [38] Insects will become resistant to the inbuilt insecticide and cause crop failures. In the USA, ‘refuges’ - where non-insect resistant crops are grown - of up to 40% of the crop area are being recommended to avoid this. Gene transfer to related wild species may take place, creating insect resistant ‘super weeds’. This depends on the proximity of species with which the crop can successfully hybridise. Neighbouring organic or non-GM crops may be pollinated by the GM crop, leading to genetic contamination with the foreign genes. Levels of acceptable contamination have not been set and organic farming standards are likely to demand zero levels. Like many controversial transnational companies, Syngenta has been doing its best to make its name and business activities appear to be inextricably linked to the concept of ‘sustainable development’. This was heightened by the build up to the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September 2002. Syngenta also funds the Syngenta Foundation which ‘devotes its resources to promoting economically and ecologically sustainable agriculture throughout the world. Our work focuses on poverty-oriented agricultural research and development.’[44] 5.2 Pesticides Whilst Syngenta’s GM crops have attracted lots of attention recently, the majority of their business still comes from the sale of pesticides. Paraquat [47] ‘The only highly toxic herbicide of the post-war years’ - World Health Organisation on Paraquat [48] Syngenta has attracted criticism for its continued manufacture and sale of the insecticide Gramoxone or paraquat. A number of countries in Europe and in the global south have banned or resticted the use of the chemical. Workers and farmers regularly exposed to paraquat experience serious problems with their health. The high toxicity of the chemical and the lack of antidote leads to serious ill-health, and even death, from exposure. ‘When I started handling the pesticides I experienced headaches. … When I used Gramoxone in particular my nose bled. I used to get severe pains on the left side of my stomach’. ‘After spraying, I had very bad headaches, felt nausea, giddiness and chest pains.’ - Women sprayers on palm oil estates, Malaysia. [49] Despite the concern voiced about the continued use of Paraquat, Syngenta has recently built a new manufacturing facility for the chemical in China and intends to expand the market for it. Exploiting Pesticide Licensing Loopholes
Syngenta has been discovered exploiting loopholes in European pesticide licensing regulations which have allowed them to import seeds treated with chemicals unlicensed for use in the UK.
(from www.corporatewatch.org)
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