USTEP - Using Sports To Empower People

Definition

 USTEP is an Erasmus (+) EU funded Project. USTEP is an acronym for, Using Sports To Empower People; the underpinning philosophy of the projects is to use Informal and Non Formal Learning Methods and the beauty and power of Grass Root Sports to equip and enable people, more specifically Young People with the character traits, social skills and high order competences necessary to compete effectively in the 21^st Century economy and society.

Rational

The rationale behind the USTEP project is thus; there is a growing need for people, youth, young people, that are social, fiscally disadvantaged, come under the NEET definition or are generally classified as having few opportunities. These people are looking for a way to up skill themselves; yet due to the fact that they don't have a strong academic constitution, the financial support or the necessary social and language skills are looking for an alternative approach to learn, achieve, and become worthwhile members of the community, and be empowered to make a positive contribution.

Issues & Need

The major issue here is that these group of people see themselves as marginalized by society, and have been failed by the academic infrastructure and hence are angry; because they feel that they don't know, how to learn, what to learn, or where to learn, with the view to improving their situation.

Aims

The aim of the USTEP Project is thus:

To use the principles, philosophy, ethos and fundamentals of Sports (and the Martial Arts) as a metaphor and teaching tool for developing Self Mastery [Self Confidence, Self Control, Self Aspirations, Self & Public Leadership], Presentation Skills, Creativity & Inspiration, Cultural Diversity, Social Mixing, Social inclusion & Social Action, Increased Responsibility, Independence & Self Efficacy, Social Intelligence and Business Competency. 

USTEP

WHO WILL GET US OUT OF THIS MESS?

WHO WILL GET US OUT OF THIS MESS?

I was reading an article in the evening standard of the week commencing 16th of January 2012, the article had the above title, so it caught my eye and my interest because, I felt it applied to a lot of countries at the moment, at varying degrees and types.

The author of the article gave as a sub text, and I quote,  "with the Directors facing legislation to curb excessive pay and UK management being labelled as ‘ineffective’ a new set of leadership value is needed - and that will open up career in management for a different type of individual".

‘Leadership is and always will be a divine virtue, whereas headship is about management’

As I read the article I was thinking to myself that this person, as with a lot of other people does not really understand the concept of leadership; as the article concluded, the argument that the author was putting forward was having more women in leadership (headship, [director, ceo, etc.]).

The key thing that I'd like to address is that thus; the author of this article was in fact making a case for different people, creed, gender, and age to advance to headship, the position at the top, the top girls or top guy, which is a good thing, after all, we live in a diverse society; however headship and leadership are two different things, they have two different orientation, leadership is and always will be a divine virtue, whereas headship is about management.

The author mentions that new leadership value such as courage, integrity and compassion are now being demanded of new leaders; interesting, yet, leadership, true leadership has always had it, these are not new; when God said to Joshua "have I not made you a commander and leader of my people", the virtues that He (God) saw, as He looked into Joshua’s heart are Tenths and Qualities for Leadership, such as:

Truth, Righteousness, Uprightness are all works of Integrity

1.   Love (Compassion)

2.   Truth

3.   Righteousness

4.   Strength [Power & Might] (Courage)

5.   Maturity of Character

6.   Uprightness

7.   Justice

    The issue is this and those of you who know me will attest that I’ve been saying this for the past 10 years, 'we have to redefine our definition of leadership and who are leaders'.

We all have our cross to bear

I mentioned earlier that the title of the articles caught my eye and interests because I felt it applied to a lot of countries at the moment. It applies to the UK with its fiscal situation, the haves and the haves very much as this article seems to be addressing.

 It applies to the Republic of South Sudan; I was privileged to be in a meeting last week with the Minister of Higher Education, the Minister of General Education and the Undersecretary for Education for the Republic of South Sudan; a country now six month old and on the first rung of rebuild; recovering from the aftermath of 22 years of civil war; the agenda of meeting was on strategies & partnership for rebuilding the country’s  educational infrastructure, which leads nicely to, the question, who will get them out of the mess that they are in?

 Nigeria, a country over 50 years old, yet since 1960, with all its rich natural resources has not managed to organise itself for growth, productivity and prosperity,  is now facing a meltdown in social order; again, the question is, who will get them out of the mess that they are in?

Understanding what leadership is

Who will get them out of the mess that they are in? People, individual that can answer questions such as:

1. What is leadership?
2. What is transformational leadership?
3. What are the qualities for leadership?
4. What do I like about making this decision?
5. What don't I like about making this decision?

      What these question suggest is that, we want people engaging in leadership to be Reflective individuals, leader's that have the mental power house, moral strength, maturity of character, to stand back and reflect on their actions, motives, decisions, vision, strategies, people, and purpose; accessing the depth, breadth, width and height of the impact of their actions.

     Most countries, companies, organisations, communities, etc are in a mess today because they don’t understand the concept of leadership or they have people in leadership position that don't comprehend what leadership is or they have given people the right, power and authority to be over them, individuals that don't have the quality of character for leadership.

What do you think of Francis’ opinion? Give us your views

Coming soon Webinar Sessions with Francis

Leaders may be born, yet effective leadership if taught.  Discover how AMS can help you develop your  leadership school of thought, skills, and style with our CMI short courses on Personal Development as a Strategic Managers. 

LEADERSHIP IN THE WORLD 2DAY

^{Leaders and Leadership in the Future}

If you were to stand on the mountain top and observed the world, what would you see in the world 2day? . . .

I’ll tell you what you’d see;

you’ll see a world full of injustice, a world full of suffering due to poverty, a world in which children are left to fend for themselves as orphans on the streets, a world filled with the socially isolated and invisible;

A world in which children are left to grow into adulthood with their foolishness still bound up in them, a world in which the prophesy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, [“… children to be their princes and babes shall rule over them”]

A world in which the whole of creation is held captive, a world in which people have put off restraint, a world encapsulated in dense darkness!       Aha!!! –

What has caused such a dark view of the world?  The Shepherds, Watchmen and Commanders charged with teaching, guiding and leading the people of the nations of the earth have been measured and found wanting.

The Shepherd of the people only feed themselves; the weak they don’t strengthen, the sick they don’t providing healing for, the hurt and broken they don’t bandage up, the strayed and lost are not sought or brought back into society; yet they rule over the people with force and hardhearted harshness.

The Watchmen don’t warn or dissuade men from their wicked ways, so as to receive the glory of men and find favor in their eyes.

The Commanders eat in the morning not for strength but for drunkenness! By much slothfulness the buildings are decaying.

What now! Where’s the Hope? Is there Hope? Yes! There is Hope!

It’s in the right kind of Leadership. Leadership is a divine virtue, the role of Shepherd [Guide, Teacher, Counselor, Father, Mother …], Watchman [Pastor, Priest, Prophet] and Commander [King, Queen, Prime Minister, President, CEO, Principal, Lecturer], are all leadership roles and responsibilities given to man to rule and live in righteousness.

A majority of Leaders 2day have replaced the divine virtues (principle, and qualities for) of leadership with mans definition, the practices of leadership, this is wrong.

Yes! It is true, that Leaders may and will have varying School of thought on leadership, Skills of leadership and Styles of leadership, and their application of leadership will change with respect to what a situation dictates and/or demands; yet to start our walk back into the light and the rightwiseness of living, each and every Leader no matter the level or position must embrace Tenths and Qualities for Leadership, such as:

1.      Love

2.      Truth

3.      Righteousness

4.      Strength [Power & Might]

5.      Maturity of Character

6.      Uprightness

7.      Justice

What do you think of Francis’ opinion? Give us your views

Coming soon Webinar Sessions with Francis

LEADERSHIP IN ADVERSE BUSINESS CONDITIONS

“Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less” – John Maxwell

“Leadership is the innate ability to get people to do the things that you want them to do and have fun whilst doing it” – Francis Nwofor

The above definitions of leadership sounds nice and has a wramy orangeness about it, however, on the flip side, true day to day leadership is gritty and grimy, it’s about protecting and providing for your people, it’s about shouldering responsibilities in all its fullness. This side of leadership arises when a leader has to lead during unfavourable, adverse business conditions. So, we ask:

1. What type of leadership is required during adverse business conditions?

2. What can the leader bring to the table during these times?

3. What type of strategies ought we to expect from our man/woman at the top?

In this article we will first, define what is meant by “Adverse Business Condition (ABC)”, then we will take as an example, the educational sector and in particular, the business of Private Educational Institution and the impact of the Home Offices’ legal strategy to cut down student visas; against this backdrop, we will see examine what the CEO of a Private Educational Institution is doing in order to grow and sustain its competitiveness.

What do you think ? Give us your views

Leadership is One Indivisible Whole

^{Leaders and Leadership in the Future}

Leadership for the future requires a different mindset and a redefinition of who are leaders and what is leadership. Gandhi said once that “life is one indivisible sum”.

Today, the subject of leadership is a hot commodity, in academia as well as commercial institutions, in profit and also not for profit organisations, the sports & leisure industry, it is also gaining a strong foot hold in community based social clubs.

There are 10,000 of thousands of articles and/or research paper written on leadership theories or new strands in leadership thinking i.e. Spiritual leadership, tri dimensional leadership etc.).

Nowadays, everyone from the CEO to the baby sitter is seeking to know how to acquire and horn their leadership skills.

I am not against anyone aspiring to or looking to enhance their employability, career success, progression or social standing. Yet! I do feel that the time has come for us to readdress our strategic approach to leadership skill training; because segmented leadership development does not lead to all-round success in life.

Leadership ought to be seen as, and is, one indivisible whole, in other words, leadership should cut cross all the boundaries of our life; when you put on the mantle of leadership, you ought to wear it not just at work, it should transcend into your community life, family life, as well as your social life.

In the world that we live in today, the news is awash with individuals that society, and/or the business sector has honored as good leaders with exceptional leadership skills, abilities and capabilities, yet in their communities or at home this exceptional skill is not being manifested, and even to an extent they exhibit behaviors that constitute as leadership detailer.

For example we’ve all heard of political leaders who’ve acted without integrity, e.g the ministers expenses claims comes to mind.

On the other hand, there are parents, community youth workers, baby sitters etc that are doing a great jobs of bringing up children and young people, instilling in them virtues that would put them in good stead, in righteousness and uprightness as responsible and contributory adult in their future walks of life; however this home grown leadership skills is not being transferred into their working environment, why? Because of the definition that is held for the term “leadership and who is, a leader”.

Furthermore, this authentic, value based leadership philosophy is not valued in some institutions, for fear that such uprightness of thought and action might hamper profit.

So what do we do?

Leadership is a sexy topic to talk about, to write articles on, to train and teach, to research; the abyss of articles, research papers, films, training courses, leadership coaches, all attest to this truth; yet in practicality, true leadership is gritty and grimy; it’s about protecting and providing for your people, it’s about shouldering the responsibility for what has happened or has not happened and it’s about showing the right way to act by being an example.

The challenge with segmented leadership skill training and development is thus, it makes the assumption that those qualities for leadership rightness and uprightness, qualities such as, integrity, righteousness, credibility, honorableness, and purity of motives, are intrinsic in competency skills and as such can be thought via leadership competency type workshops, this assumption is wrong.

Indivisible Leadership Training

Leadership development through Leadership Experiencing & Leadership Imagination is a way forward. Training and development that bring to bear the reflection and evaluation of motives and action, that encourages the leader to delve into their creative imagination and extract principles, ethos, concepts that can inform their skill, style, and school of leadership; leadership training and development that aids in purifying their conscious.

AMS Corp - ^{Anticipating future leadership requirements today}

What do you think of Francis’ opinion? Give us your views

Leadership Trouble Spots

A Synopsis on how to solve your most challenging Leadership Trouble Spot

1 - My business has just lost a big customer and we have had to make some redundancies.  I am very despondent and so is my team.  How should

I go about energising my employees and myself?

 Title: How to raise the group Energy

1.      Have a ‘let it all out’ session

2.      Building the vision

3.      Have an ‘away day’ that focuses on:

a.      Identify individual + team strength

b.      Personal growth activities

c.       Team Building and Bonding activities

d.     Team Challenge

4.      Have an ‘our future away day, focusing on:

a.      Setting new corporate goals

b.      Setting individual goals

c.       Aligning corporate + individual goals

2 - I have inherited a team of employees and while they are capable, their previous manager allowed a lot of sloppy practices and de-motivation to set in.  I am quite capable of picking up the sloppy standards but how do I go about motivating them to put in the extra effort.

 Title: How to get Superfantastic performance from you team

1.      Have a team made-up of high achievers

2.      Have a result orientated business model (30 day transactional model)

3.      Introduce the ‘ABC[1]’ management concept

4.      Create an awareness of high expectation within the organisation

5.      Define and communicate new targets that will stretch everybody

6.      Introduce informal weekly team review get-together

7.      Introduce formal 30 day review meeting (focus on[2])

8.      Raise the bar after each 30 day review

3 - My team are all very capable at the technical aspects of their job, but seem to have no commitment to our customers or the business.  For instance, as soon as 5 o'clock arrives they all disappear out the door leaving whatever they are dealing with unfinished no matter how important it is.  How can I motivate them to care as well as simply follow the procedures (as ably as they do it)?

Title: Navigational Ability

1.      Find out why your employee joined your firm

2.      Find out what makes them get up in the morning and commute to work with you (notice, I did not say ‘work for you’)

3.      Find out their true motives (intrinsic motivators)

4.      Have a genuine relationship[3] with them 

5.      Align work, task and project such that it appeals to their internal motives 

6.      Have a organisational culture that celebrates small victories 

4 - My team seems incapable of co-operating with each other, there are constant arguments, bickering and one-upmanship with little co-operation.  How can I motivate them to pull in the same direction rather than against each other?

Title: It’s in the Culture

1.      Determine the cause of the internal conflicts

2.      Determine the cause for covet thought process, attitude and behaviour

3.      Determine what hidden or double agendas exist

4.      Eliminate competing objectives from corporate policies

5.      Eliminate internal resource competition

6.      Have a ‘let it all out’ session

7.      Define a new single vision for the organisation

8.      Facilitate ‘Buy-in’ from the employees

5 - We are often invited to pitch against competitors.  We always seem to get down to the last two or three but never quite clinch the deal.

This continued "nearly" has drained our enthusiasm and we are unable to focus on what we can do to clinch the next appointment. What can we do to break the pattern and start winning the business?

Title: Breaking Through

1.      Examine business area

2.      Determine whether you’re in the right business – must distinguish between the business area and the vehicle for delivering the business

3.      Determine what’s causing the limiting belief

a.      What’s causing the ‘we’re 2nd best’ mentality

                                                              i.      Why wasn’t it challenged

4.      Establish where both the team + organisational strength, capabilities, & abilities lie

5.      Establish areas of weakness

6.      Align strength, capabilities & abilities with the needs of the business (right) sector

7.      Define new high expectation goals based on #6

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[1] Attitude, Behaviour, Consequences

[2] What worked, what worked really well, what do we need to improve on, where can we leverage, what will constitute a step forward for us

[3] Don’t just know their name and job role, get to know their dreams, aspirations, fears, and hopes …