This month we’ll focus on something which is always topical – leadership. Look in any Business Section of a large bookstore and you will find a long line of books on leadership. You can take your pick on who to model your leadership style, from ancient Chinese warriors, military officers, religious leaders to following your star sign. What we can deduce from this is that there is no one answer, no magic formula and no style that is consistently more successful than another. What I have included in this issue is some of the aspects of leadership which I’ve seen work effectively over my 25 years of consulting in this area.

1 – Know Yourself

It’s impossible to lead others if you have no understanding of your own preferences and capabilities. There are many tools, questionnaires and diagnostics which can give you a very accurate picture of you, your personality and your leadership preferences – let me know if you want to try any of these out.

2 – Build Confidence in Others

Help others to feel that you believe in yourself and that you believe in them. Give words of encouragement to team members and continual reinforcement of your belief that you and they can succeed

3 – Network

There is whole edition of a future newsletter that can be devoted to networking! Networking is key, and you need to think about networking internally in your organisation as well as externally. Don’t be pushy, just be yourself and allow people to know, like and trust you – you will then be surprised who can come to aid when you have a problem that can benefit from another perspective.

4 – Be Proactive

It’s a tired expression, but nevertheless a true one: “If it’s to be, it’s down to me”. Take initiative, and also find ways to break down barriers for other people to exercise their initiative

5 – Review – In Order To Improve

The only way we can learn is to stop and review. If the same things keep happening over and over again, if people say ‘he has hasn’t had 10 years experience, he’s had 1 year’s experience 10 times!” then it’s clear that you are not stopping to review what has worked and what hasn’t. Create a daily habit of reflecting on the day and asking yourself ‘what’s gone well? What difficulties occurred? How can things be improved?”

6 – Develop Others
Build your team – even if it just you and one other person. Hold regular 1:1s to discuss how things have gone (as in review above) and practice coaching others. ‘In the moment coaching’, is all about picking up on something as it happens, giving success feedback or pointing out that something needs improving, and helping that person to develop further. Think ahead, build your successors.

Whether we like it or not, people will be creating their own impressions of you and/or your business.  It is therefore critical that you take control of this process.  It doesn’t matter if you starting your own business, or are an employee, what is important is that you are able to communicate who you are and what you stand for.  Whilst many people talk about ‘Brand You’ (as Tom Peters first coined the phrase in the 1990′s),  really what this process is about is identifying your values and ensuring these are communicated in your own way – congruence is key here.

You need to start by asking yourself some basic questions. For example:

• What are your values?
• What do you love?
• What do you hate?
• What are you great at doing?
• What are you most proud of?
• What do you want to be?
• What is important and valuable to you?
• What do you want to be known for?

Basic, fundamental questions, yes, and yet, sometimes these are the most difficult to answer.  But they must be answered and must be true.

To help in this process you might want to sit down with some close friends and ask them how they see you.

The three pillars of a good brand are authenticity, consistency, and clarity.  Use these three pillars as your guide when evaluating who you are and how you communicate that message . By delving deep into yourself during this process and working hard to define who you are and what you stand for, your brand message will become clear.  It will be clear to others precisely because it is clear to you.  When it’s clear to you,  and you ensure that everything you say, do or present reflects this, then you will attract new business and build a reputation based on your own voice, not someone else’s.

An Ex-Pat’s approach to creating Christmas in the Desert

I love Christmas!  There is no denying. I love the excitement. I love the bustle in the shops, the carols, the lights, the decorations and the cold.  So spending Christmas in a hot, non-Christian country does take some adjustment.

This is our 3^rd Christmas in Qatar.  Year one we had some friends and family over, last year I went back to the UK, this year it’s just Dave and myself, so I set about the ‘Christmas Project’ early.

December 1^st – Advent Calendars – this year I have really loved the Jacqiue Lawson Advent Calendar, the Christmas e-cards are always good, but each morning opening up my Village and finding it come to life has been a wonderful way to participate in a traditional village Christmas.  It brings back memories of the small towns I lived in, Dickens nights, the town lights and Christmas tree, the local church.

I insisted on shipping over the tree I had had for many years, it still bears up very well and every decoration has a memory.  Christmas memories are mostly of when my children were small, the tree light up and the open fire alight.

We have no fireplace here, but with the tree up and curtains pulled, I can imagine its cold outside.

To add to the atmosphere, I have created my own Christmas playlist on Spotify – well I know it’s only for UK/Europe but most ex-pats know the value of a VPN!  This also gives me access to sites such as SeeSaw, which means in the lead up to Christmas I can watch old Christmas specials.

Then there is my library of old Christmas films and not forgetting the radio.  This year I am most grateful to Mr Jobs and Apple for the iPad.  One of my favourite apps is the Tunein Radio app, hundreds of stations are available.  I have rejected ‘Christmas FM’ from Northern Ireland, but was delighted to find Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion there as a weekly show.  Garrison can make me both laugh and cry with the stories of Lake Wobegon and Christmas is the best time for both.

So, as it’s now Christmas Eve, and I will listening to the traditional nine lessons and carols from Kings on my iPad, whilst making the mince pies – I can look back and say that I am very grateful for the technology which has enabled me to remember the excitement and wonder of Christmas.

I wish you all the best for the Season and a Happy 2011!

I guess everyone will know by now that ‘little’ Qatar surprised everyone by beating the favourites America to win the bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

As Qatar gets back to work today after a weekend of jubilant celebration, the talk everywhere is of how this will impact the country.  The pride and excitement is tangible.  With a population made up in the majority of ex-pats, there is still great pride in our adopted country.  The slogan says it all ‘Expect Amazing!’  Qatar has amazing vision, amazing talent and amazing determination to succeed.

There is no doubt in my mind that these games will be well organised and staggering in terms of technology and architectural design.  There is a lot to manage over the next 12 years, not just the buildings and infrastructure, but also how to sensitively manage the cultural impact of opening the country up to receive many more foreign workers and an army of football fans in 2022.

I am confident that Qatar will manage this well.

I have attached here a link to some wonderful photos from Al Jazeera of the past 2 days:

Yesterday I spent most of the day in silence.  Actually, that’s not a hardship for me, but being without the internet or my iPad usually is!

The day was part of a “Mindfulness’ Course, which I have been attending run by Tina Mogensen here  in Doha.  The course runs for 8 weeks, one night per week and then has the ‘day of silence’ at the over half way stage.  The programme is based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. is internationally known for his work as a scientist, writer, and meditation teacher engaged in bringing mindfulness into the mainstream of medicine and society. He is Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he was founding executive director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society, and founder (in 1979) and former director of its world-renowned Stress Reduction Clinic.

The benefits of the daily practice of Mindfulness are now well documented with measurable results in stress reduction.  For me, my main objective in starting the programme was to find a framework which would help me rediscover the discipline of a daily practice of meditation.

For many years I have struggled with prayer and meditation, not just the struggle with the ‘monkey mind’ which leaps about takes thoughts off on meandering journeys, but also I’ve struggled with sticking to a daily routine.  So in signing up to a 8 week course with other people attending, I hoped I would be more focused and motivated to do the homework!

I have to report it has been working really well.  Most days I manage a 30 – 40 min meditation and have also found my way back to an earlier practice I adopted 15 years ago with Jack Black’s Mindstore System.  Coincidentally, yesterday Mindstore launched its new online website and I am sure I will post more about this as the site develops.

Back to yesterday.  As well as the meditations we had been introduced to over the past weeks, we were introduced to a meditation which was new to me (but is a core Buddhist Metta Meditation).  This is known as ‘Loving Kindness’ Meditation.

The practice proceeds in a very structured and specific way.  After directing ‘loving kindness’ to yourself and close loved ones, you move to a ‘neutral’ person.  Someone you neither like nor dislike.  Then you move to someone with whom you have had difficulty or conflict.  To send loving kindness to difficult or threatening people is not to forget your own needs.  It doesn’t require denial of your own pain, anger, or fear.  Nor does doing this practice mean you’re excusing malicious or cruel behaviour.  Rather you are engaging in a process of discovering and cultivating your inherent capacity for unconditional love.

Over the years there have been people and situations which have demanded my forgiveness.  Sometimes all I have been able to do is say the words and hope that in the end I will come to believe them.  But this practice was much more powerful for me.  It is also a challenge!  However, over the next days and weeks and hopefully months and years, I will incorporating the practice of sending loving kindness to people who have caused me pain in the past.  I am hoping this will be a transformative experience for all involved.