Personal Philosophies workshop with Stella Kanu 6th October 2017
To know your personal philosophies is to know yourself.
Personal philosophies should represent the core of who you are and your fundamental beliefs
Personal philosophies are live ideas – they move and change over time
What we believe shows up in both our personal and professional lives and influence the decisions that we make
Philosophies don’t stay philosophies – they become practical actions
Being able to articulate your personal philosophies will ensure you are real, true and honest to both yourself and to others
Going against your personal philosophies will ultimately make you unhappy. Personal philosophies have a direct impact on your wellbeing.
Remember to apply your personal philosophies to yourself, as well as to others. It is not just about doing good for other people. You must take care of yourself.
Top tips to identifying your own personal philosophies:
Try to understand why you do what you do. What are the beliefs that drive this?
Do you understand your career journey? How have you come to be in your current job?
Do you understand your own story? How have you become who you are today?
Look at the way you interact with the world around you and unpick this to uncover your underlying personal philosophies
How do you articulate your story to others?
3 approaches to using and developing your personal philosophies:
Reflect on where you are with your personal philosophies and what role they are playing in your life. Are they still relevant to you or do they need to be adapted? Are you using them effectively?
Your personal philosophies should guide your decision-making process for future plans. How will you apply your personal philosophies?
Articulate your personal philosophies to others. Test out your ideas. How do people respond? Do they understand where you’re coming from? How receptive are others to your values and ideals?
Personal philosophies and leadership:
o What we believe shows up in our leadership.
o Even if you articulate your values and vision in the best possible way, it doesn’t mean that you will be heard. Sometimes people choose not to hear or value you. Don’t change yourself. Stay true to your personal philosophies.
o Remember that personal philosophies are different from influencing skills.
o Examine your relationship between your philosophies and power – what elements of power do you keep, discard or share? How do your philosophies influence how you use power?
o When building a team or recruiting staff, find out what drives people. Select people who share your values. This will ensure you are working towards a shared vision, and also helps with succession planning.
o As a leader you come into an organisation with a vision for that organisation underpinned by your personal philosophies. Use your personal philosophies – you wouldn’t have been hired unless the organisation shares your vision. But remember to take staff with you when you shift the vision.
o Middle managers play a hugely important role in communicating the values and vision of senior management to lower-level staff and getting hearts and minds on-board. Plus they are responsible for reporting on how that vision is working in action on the ground, and feeding back suggestions to senior management.
o Recognise that people are motivated in different ways and have different working practices. As a leader ask yourself, what makes you work at your best? And ask your staff, what makes them work at their best?
o The application of personal philosophies is a characteristic of Heart Leadership.
Stella’s suggestions for our group enquiry:
Interview a diversity of leaders
Interview people who do apply personal philosophies to their leadership
Prep the interviewees so they know in advance what we are asking of them
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