by Rosen Rashkov – iCN Journalist (Bulgaria)
‘Chaos! Chaos begins to affect and rule me. I create drama with myself because I start looking inside of me for a guilt, not for solutions. My real goal is to manage the chaos. ‘- This is part of the request for a coaching conversation with Alex, director of production at an international company.
In an environment of dynamic changes and fast growth, the challenge for her is to find a way and engage her team and turn them from the creators of chaos (each with their own plan) into a like-minded crew of believers.
‘It seems like an orchestra in which everyone plays their own tune.’ I returned an observation to Alex. A sudden spark appeared in her eyes. ‘Indeed, we are!’ So was born a great metaphor, which we have developed during the conversation into 4 leadership roles. Using each of them, the manager would successfully turn the chaos of her team’s ‘sounds’ into harmony. But what are these roles?
The Composer
How does the ‘music’ inside my head would reach the people who are supposed to play the music? This is the second question a leader should ask herself. It leads to the logical sequel – ‘what would be the musical notebook for me and my team?’ Or how the things we would give to our people to be properly informed so we could be not only on the same page, but also being able to ‘play’ the very same tune, at the exact same tempo.
And what is the first question?
In my opinion – what is the music in my head? Because, being in the role of ‘composer’, building the vision and strategy for her team, the leader must first clarify whether she will play opera or jazz, what musicians she has available and able, etc. The role of the composer requires the manager to think through and become clear for herself with the melody, before writing it down.
And when she passes it on to her people, she needs to get out of the role and be…
