That Little Voice

I have been chasing the cold/flu away at home for the past 2 days.....my main weapon is nasal saline drops. Just last night, I looked at the bottle, which is the same as my cosmetic olive oil bottle almost beside it, except labelled, and That Little Voice told me to move one or the other to prevent accidental use. Well, this morning, I barely caught this accident before it was to happen - olive oil instead of saline drops!

And it caused me to think - how many times personally and professionally do we ignore That Little Voice and perhaps have accidents or miss opportunities?

This is a new year - it is time to listen to our inner selves in everything we do....heed That Little Voice and stay tuned in!

Personal goals - at work

The Growth Facilitators team had a wonderful session yesterday expertly designed and facilitated by Camille. The objective of our 3 hour workshop was to develop our personal objectives for the year. Camille took us through a process of identifying what we wanted to achieve in five areas:
1. Health and fitness
2. Money
3. Professional
4. Relationships
5. Me!

We each experienced various levels of difficulty doing the exercises, but the challenges and the sharing brought forth many insights. We all left the workshop "fired up" (to quote Robert).

Now, you may ask, what do our personal objectives have to do with Growth Facilitators' performance? Answer? EVERYTHING! For when we are achieving, fulfilled and satisfied in our "personal" lives, we are much, much more productive and effective when carrying out Growth Facilitators' work.

For example, facilitation is a physically taxing activity. Doing a one-day workshop means that we are literally on our feet for the entire day. We rarely sit, and are constantly walking around, taking care of the needs of the entire group. We would have been up very early in the morning, for we have to be at the venue at least one hour prior to the start of the workshop. And at the end, when our clients have left, we have at least another hour of packing up and documenting notes. A one-day workshop represents ten to twelve committed hours of physical work on the day - not to mention of course all the preparation that went into the workshop in the days prior. So, it is very important that the Growth Facilitators team be healthy and fit. It is hard to keep our workshop participants' energy up if ours is flagging because we are sick, unfit or burned out.
The other question you may pose to us is why do this exercise together, for aren't our personal objectives our business and no-one else's? There was a wonderful energy of love and support in the workshop. We were not pressured to share our objectives, but some of us did. We also felt empowered to ask for the help and support of the team. For example, most of us set objectives around eating more healthily or losing weight. Critical to our achieving this is the support of Elaine, who stocks our kitchen. "No cookies please Elaine", we asked as she headed out to the supermarket.

So powerful was this workshop for us individually and as a team, that we have decided to offer it to our clients. We feel sure that your team members will benefit from the focus, support and the energy of the team, and that these benefits will undoubtedly result in much improved organizational performance.

Realigning Government to achieve the 2030 Vision

There have been numerous voices calling for Prime Minister Bruce Golding to reshuffle his Cabinet in the New Year. Most, if not all, of these calls have been in the context of real or perceived poor performance by several Ministers. There is an old adage which says that organizations should not be designed to fit persons; rather that persons must fit within organizations. I would like to take a different approach therefore and recommend how the Prime Minister needs to realign the Government Ministries to better support the achievement of the 2030 Vision of Jamaica being the best place to live, work, raise a family and do business.

Why does Government Exist?
There have been many theories put forward over the years on the purpose and role of Government. There has also been much confusion within our own administrations on the role and purpose of Government. At the 2003 Government/Private Sector Summit at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, then PM Patterson had no definitive answer to PSOJ President Peter Moses when the latter asked the former to clarify the role of Government. At the recent Productivity Conference, current PM Golding said that if 1,000 public sector employees were asked about the roles and purposes of their respective organizations, chances are that very few identical responses would be forthcoming. The best definition that I have seen is that crafted by Thomas Jefferson et al and included in the United States constitution. It reads in part “…all men were created equally and were endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights – the right to life; the right to liberty and the right to the pursuit of happiness. It is in order to secure these rights that governments were created among men.” If we indeed accept this fundamental definition, then Government is really the premier human rights organization in Jamaica.

Translating Government Purpose to Broad Functions
We can then break down the securing of rights into various broad functions as follows:

1. Right to Life may be protected by effectively ensuring safety and security of every individual through the provision of external defence of the country and locally the protection of life and property

2. Right to Liberty may be protected by ensuring that Justice is administered effectively, efficiently and without any bias; and that human development opportunities are available and accessible to each and everyone

3. Right to the pursuit of happiness may be protected by the provision of An Enabling Economic Environment; Supportive Physical Infrastructure and Effective Sectoral Facilitation and Support.


Recomended Ministry Structure to undertake Broad Government Functions
In order to better align it to support the achievement of the 2030 Vision; Government must stick to its policymaking and regulating functions while providing facilitating and supporting services to organizations and individuals. Also, to set the tone for focus and efficiency in the entire public sector, I recommend the following Ministries:

1. Office of the Prime Minister – to include Planning, Development, Information & the Public Service

Safety and Security
2. National Security and Defence

Administration of Justice
3. Justice

Human Development
4. Health
5. Education, Youth, Culture
6. Labour and Social Security

Physical Infrastructure
7. Transportation and Works
8. Energy and Telecommunications
9. Water, Housing and Environment

Enabling Economic Environment
10. Finance
11. Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Investment

Sectoral Facilitation and Support
12. Tourism, Entertainment and Sports
13. Agriculture
14. Industry, Mining and Commerce


Assigning Ministerial Portfolios
The Prime Minister has, in addition to himself as per conventional wisdom, 31 other members of Parliament and 13 Senators from which to choose his Cabinet. The usual approach when a particular Minister is not performing is to transfer said person to a different portfolio; however its highly unlikely that such an underperforming Minister will fare better elsewhere. My personal belief is that underperforming Ministers need to return to the bank benches in the relevant house.

While I wanted to refrain from recommending Ministers for various posts, the fact is that our number one problem in Jamaica is crime; and while its long term solution is multi-faceted; short term solutions must emanate from the Ministry of National Security. We have tried Derrick Smith, Trevor McMillan and, for a short acting period, Dwight Nelson. None of the three have distinguished themselves with the Colonel being the most disappointing. Some commentators are calling for the Prime Minister to handle the portfolio while others are suggesting that Mayor McKenzie be placed in the Senate and given the job. I personally believe that the Prime Minister needs to think and act outside the box as tough times need tough decisions, and offer the Ministry to former Minister Peter Phillips. The Prime Minister must follow the lead of President-Elect Obama’s who has asked President Bush’s Defense Secretary Gates to continue. This would be a huge test of tolerance on both sides of the political divide. They are both asking the citizens to join hands, let them take the lead.

Copyright @ 2009 by Robert C. Wynter

2009 – A new year to renew and refresh self

As the clocked ticked over from 2008 to 2009 last night, I saw the joy on person’s faces around me and on the television. I saw the fireworks from the waterfront afar and from various places around Kingston. I asked myself what is the celebration all about? Are we happy to see the end of 2008 or are we happy to see the beginning of 2009? In speaking to several persons, the majority response is that we should celebrate the completion of another year and hope for things to get better in the New Year. I turned and asked someone: “When was the last time we gave thanks for a great year. He replied: “not that I can remember - we are always dying for the year to finish and hoping for improvements in the New Year.


I guess this is where I have a problem. We drift through life, doing the same thing year in, year out and expect that miraculously a new calendar year is going to be different. Many some persons who make resolutions abandon the promises they make to themselves, because they concentrate on doing something in the New Year. What is required is for us to renew and refresh ourselves. What junk (physical, mental and emotional) in our lives do we need to shed? What is preventing us from really making things happen for us in the New Year? Let us therefore not depend on the change in the calendar but rather depend on the change in ourselves. Let us start with one aspect. Let us find someway to say something appreciative to at least one person each and everyday. Remember also that in all things and at all times let us give thanks to our Creator who gave us life!

Happy New Year! Happy New Organization!

As 2008 ends and we look forward to a new year, many of us will be making personal resolutions for 2009. No doubt they will be challenging, life transforming resolutions. They will likely affect all, or most areas of our lives - physical (our health, wellness, weight, fitness), financial (our wealth, income generation, new purchases and investments), emotional (our relationships), mental (going back to school, embarking on a new area of study, deepening our knowledge) and spiritual (commitment to spiritual discipline, deepening our connection with a higher power, serving our community). They will be motivating and inspiring, causing us to stretch, even leap out into the unknown, the hitherto unimagined for our lives. We will feel good about our resolutions, knowing that if we achieve them, we will have manifested significant personal transformation.

Many of our organizations will have just completed, or be about to complete, their annual planning exercises. I wonder – have we approached our organizations' goal-setting the same way we approach the setting of our own personal resolutions? Have we set challenging, motivating and transformational goals? Have we set goals in areas other than financial? Have we set goals for the wellness of our organization, the wellness and health of our people, the wholesomeness of the workplace? For the types of relationships we desire at work? For the way our organization commits to serving its community? For the way we as an organization learn, and how we support our team members in their own learning?

As we set our personal resolutions, it is also opportunity to set some resolutions for your organization. Look at your organization in the same way you do your life. Do not be confined or defined by the past. “History is no predictor of the future”. Decide what type of organization you desire, and then set the necessary resolutions, or goals. As you would with your life - decide what type of life you desire, and set your resolutions accordingly. Don’t worry today over whether you can or can’t achieve your personal and organizational desires. Today, it is enough to set them and believe in them.

Vision - the reality

A key underpinning of the Growth Facilitators approach to transformation is vision. To us, everything begins with a vision. Yet, we sometimes observe a disconnect with our clients and potential clients whenever we passionately advocate the development and articulation of the organization’s vision. Visioning is often viewed as one of those "soft issues", a new-fangled idea that has no impact on the hard, bottom-line. People are impatient to get to the real issues of action and numbers. Yet, throughout history, we note the importance of vision:

"Without vision the people perish" – The Holy Bible
"Give us vision lest we perish" – The Jamaican National Anthem
"Begin with the end in mind" – Steven Covey

If we look at the great leaders of history, the great success stories of political, economic and social transformation, we will see that the creation of a compelling vision of the future was paramount. But great leaders did not just articulate the vision and keep it to themselves, they spoke about it at every possible occasion, they aligned their actions with it and they lived (and some died for) it. It is this passion and commitment that multiplied their followership in numbers, passion, commitment and action, until it seemed like the vision took on a life of its’ own.

Why is vision important? A compelling vision of the future provides people with hope of a different way of being. It takes the followers out of their present into the possibility of a different future. It provides a guiding light and focus in which to make decisions. It provides focus for making choices, establishing priorities and allocating resources. The vision is inherently creative – it says to followers that we have the power to create a different reality! It gives people a reason to get up and get going.

What happens if a compelling vision is absent? Then people simply do what they want, or worse, do what they have always done, resulting in the organization staying the same, or deteriorating. There is no focus in such a situation, no harnessing of the powerful energy of the team. The organization becomes a wayward blob, floating this way and that, drawn or pushed along by events and circumstance, into deterioration and ultimate demise. This is the state of many of our organizations. It is the state of many individuals. It is perhaps the state of our nation.

The first job of the leader, CEO, Chairman, President or whatever the title, is to articulate and keep the vision foremost and forefront. The vision must become his/her mantra. If the leader says anything, it ought to be in the context and with reference to the vision. It is the leader’s responsibility to bring and keep the vision alive. Even and especially in challenging times as we are now facing, the vision must be kept active and dynamic. This is what will raise team members’ eyes from their current reality to see that there is more to life, more to the organization, more to themselves than just what now appears to exist.

As a leader, if you do nothing else today – articulate the vision of your organization, division or department and share it with all – over and over. Most importantly, believe in it yourself, and make sure that every decision you make, every action you take is in alignment with it. There is no reality except the reality you create. The vision is the reality.

Love at Work

Growth Facilitators practices as one of its core values, love. Some people have a problem with the word 'love', and moreso, love as a core value.

Love originated in the heart of the one true God who put us in the world to love and steward his creation as an extension of His beauty. He put us together with other diverse humans in order that we might learn to love one another as a reflection of the relationship He shares with us.

At Growth Facilitators, love is what binds us. It is integral to who we are, what we do, and how we communicate. It drives our behaviour at work, at home and even while in traffic.

This love that we share was magnified two weeks ago while at school (I am pursuing an MBA). On this day (Friday), after having class the Friday before that, I noticed that approximately 40% of the class was absent from our Operations Management class. Through concern, I enquired why some of my schoolmates are absent and the most prevalent response was, "He/she came to class last Friday and couldn't get this Friday off from work". I was initially amazed at this response, and then realized that my amazement was driven by the fact that the love we share at work, transcends work itself, and touches each one of us on a deeper level. Because of this unconditional and uninhibited love (and respect, which is another core value) we have for each other, it is almost puzzling to us that someone would miss their class because they missed a day of work the previous week. We nevertheless remain non-judgmental and accept that the work must be done.

At GF, we view love as a state of being - a genuine and authentic state which is the most inspired of all gifts. Coming to work excites us, and we love and value each other to the core.