Claude Warner - Executive Coach
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 Time Forethought 

Time Forethought

 Leadership

  • It Starts at the Top!
    Posted by Claude Warner on Wednesday 11th November 2009 at 14:30:10
      - 1 comment on this post - most recent Tuesday 9th March 2010 at 14:40:11

 Communication

  • Listening is not Understanding
    Posted by Claude Warner on Wednesday 17th February 2010 at 21:10:49
      - 1 comment on this post - most recent Monday 1st March 2010 at 13:13:59

 Emotional Intelligence

  • 1 + 1 = 3
    Posted by Claude Warner on Wednesday 20th October 2010 at 14:49:28

 Successful Living

 Wisdom

My Vision and Mission

Posted by Claude on Friday 18th September 2009 at 11:45:09


My vision has been inspired by the statement "What makes you come alive?"

My vision is of a world of people, fully alive, living abundant lives.

I have come to realise that the workplace is where people spend most of their adult lives. For that reason I have re-framed my vision. It is better to work towards transforming the workplace environment to one in which people are able to find meaning and fulfillment, as opposed to having to create your own enabling environment outside of it.

Many might be cynical of that possibility, seeing corporate life as incompatible with finding meaning and fulfillment, but this does not have to be true. If enough business leaders change, the face of busines can change.

As Danah Zohar says  (in Spiritual Capital - Wealth We Can Live By), “If enough of us change ourselves, we can change the world”. This change speaks of a process which starts off slowly with a few pioneering souls, but in time this can become a process of transformation, transforming the current form of capitalism into something much more empowering and sustainable.
 
By starting with personal transformation, leaders can become what she calls business "Knights”, who, acting from higher motivations, can transform organisational cultures.

The goal is a capitalism that is itself sustainable, and a world in which sustainable capitalism can generate wealth that nourishes all our human needs, including our personal need for significance, meaning and fulfillment.
Using the acronym VMOST, I have expressed this as follows:
Vision

I see a world in which people are fulfilled and happy. They do work that they find meaningful and satisfying. Their work is in alignment with their own values and purpose, and is a true expression of who they are. Their place of work is empowering, acknowledging their talent, skills and creativity, seeking to develop them to the highest level, and empowering them to be able to apply these, leading to personal fulfillment and organisational effectiveness .  

The organisational culture is one in which they are trusted and communicated with as an equal, notwithstanding their role in the organization structure. They feel that those who lead them are clear on their own and the organisation’s vision, mission and goals, and that these leaders are able to relate to them in appropriate relationship, with their emotions being acknowledged and heard.

The atmosphere in which they work enables them to be “happily productive”, asking for occasional sacrifice but never abusing their values and priorities in other aspects of their lives. They are recognized as a whole person, and acknowledged for their contribution to their employer, but also to their community and the world at large.

Mission
My mission is to contribute to the creation of environments that empower people to become all they are meant to be.

Objective

My objective is to embark on a process of organic organisational transformation, starting with the leaders of the organisation.

The first step will be to transform their personal leadership through personal mastery in the areas of emotional, social and spiritual intelligence. (This could also be called personal mastery or character development. To quote Warren Bennis, organisational and leadership consultant, "Leadership is Character in Action.)

Through their vision and leadership example they become “business knights” who start to create an organisational environment where people become empowered to actualize themselves.

Systemic and structural changes needed to the organization to enable it to accommodate and enhance the organic changes are rolled out in sympathy with the environmental changes to ensure stable and sustainable transformation, constantly referring and adapting to a shared corporate vision.

Strategy

To work as a thought leader, leadership and organisational transformation coach, and consultant.

Using the authenticity of my own personal leadership mastery, to engage with leaders at the highest level within organisations to grow their awareness and capacity, starting with growing their emotional intelligence through appropriate assessment and resultant action learning, then growing their awareness of meaning, values and purpose, then using their thinking and strategic intelligence to start implementing what this process has revealed.
Tactics
My primary tactic will be to start leaders on an organic developmental  process commencing with the cultivation and use of emotional and social intelligence, particularly emotional self-awareness.  

This is done through formal psychometric assessment, with 360 input to reveal blindspots, followed by the development and implementation of an action learning plan.
By being able to lead yourself effectively through knowing and managing your own emotions, by recognizing, understanding and responding appropriately other people’s emotions, you are better able to communicate and relate effectively to those you lead. Your people skills and ability to “connect” with those you lead will enable you to be far more effective as a leader.
The ability to lead yourself in order to lead others is a worthy achievement, and can be an end within itself. A leader with high emotional intelligence is likely to have excellent relationships in all their roles, live a more balanced life, and be effective in their leadership role.
The next tactic would be to develop and clarify the leaders own vision, values, meaning and motivators and then looks outward to the shared meanings, values and purposes within the organization.

The leader’s ability to “connect” with others within the organization will increase the trust required for the others to speak and be “heard”. This clear communication or dialogue enables a common or shared vision to be drawn up.
There are formal assessments and developmental processes that can be accessed to enhance this process.
The third tactic would be to embark on a process of organisational re-engineering to reflect the shared values.
This process of personal transformation leading to organisation transformation will not happen overnight. In fact it may take years.

True visionary leaders however will consider the rewards:
  • Stakeholder value creation – Employees, shareholders, customers and the larger community will all benefit. Think of the power and efficiency of an organisation where there is a common vision, shared values, and an alignment of energies. Consider the cost savings of reduced staff turnover, absenteeism, and highest productivity in a supportive environment. A business that is productive will be competitive and profitable, creating value for the shareholder. Customers will increasingly support businesses whose practices do not harm the environment and who benefit the larger community.
  • Sustainability – when people are motivated and pursuing a common vision they operate with the least amount of emotional drag. They have stamina and can sustain their efforts. An organization that empowers its people, whose vision is ultimately for the betterment of mankind, whose systems and process reflect this, will endure.
  • Contribution – people who have the opportunity to develop themselves and to give of their best live lives that have meaning and significance. The organization can contribute to this. Through seeing the employee as a whole person, the employees are also empowered to contribute to their families, communities and to society as a whole. Similarly, by conducting business in a way that seeks to minimize its impact ecologically and societally, an organization contributes to the sustainability of the planet.
There are many other benefits to this approach to conducting business.
I, as a single person, may not be able to fully realise this vision in my lifetime, but I can contribute to the greater good, one leader at a time, recognizing that each person impacts many others.

Paraphrasing Danah Zohar’s above statement “If enough people can contribute to enough leaders to change themselves, we can change the world”.

Claude Warner is an Executive Coach specializing in Personal Leadership Development, which is the development of our personal leadership in order to be able to lead others more effectively in a business context. 

Understanding the influence of our personal example, Personal Leadership Development coaching seeks to develop our ability to understand and manage our own emotions and our ability to relate to, understand and respond to other people and the situations within which we encounter them (Emotional Intelligence), our ability to find meaning and purpose from which we are inspired and motivated (Spiritual Intelligence), as well as our ability to think rationally, logically, critically, strategically, and systemically. (Thinking Intelligence or IQ). 

Claude’s coaching style is dynamic and shifts between a structured and systemic approach, and a relational and intuitive approach, informed by whichever approach best serves the clients' style and agenda.

Claude coaches Executives and business leaders nationally via in-person and telephonic coaching. He can be contacted 083 227 5153 or info@claudewarner.com. Further information is available on www.claudewarner.com

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to embrace change"
Chad Andrews - Snr GM
Aberdare Cables

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Tim Fox - Area Ops. Mngr
 Transnet Freight Rail

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Gary Tiedemann - Branch
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Activia Competition Winner
 
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