Creating space for variety - that's one of my personal missions. But it's not always that simple.
I was recently asked to train managers in the production department of an industrial company. The purpose: improving communication with their employees, leading more efficiently, motivating people and getting them on board.
No problem, I thought to myself, I've done this kind of training 100 times before, with people from a wide range of industries and very different work-environments.
My aim and main motivation always is to provide ideas and inspiration on how we can make everyday life a little better for ourselves and the people around us. I like to offer a variety of content in the sense of letting my participants cherrypick what suits them best. The results usually are highly motivated participants.
And then reality hit me:
In the workshop the headwind and the frustration were blowing hard in my face.
"You’d better explain to me how I’m supposed to lead people who are at the edge of their energy due to shift work and physically demanding tasks, and who only want one thing from me as motivation: more money so they can at least make a living for themselves and their families.
Or those who don’t speak my language at all."
I visited the production halls; even the smell almost took my breath. The noise of the machines – almost unbearable for an office-sitter like me.
Co-workers being solely responsible for an expensive and sensitive machine, physically demanding work, shift work, barely no opportunity to communicate with colleagues who all wear ear muffs or don't understand the language, etc.
To avoid giving the wrong impression: everything was fine in terms of labour law. Nevertheless, from my point of view it was a very strange, hard and stressful world. How are you supposed to socialise well with employees there? How can you have one-to-one conversations, let alone team meetings with just a few minutes of overlap between shift changeover? How do you find out how people are doing?
We - or rather the participants – ultimately worked out quite a few good options for them to apply. In the end, everyone went back to work with an individual package of realistic ideas. Satisfied to think out of the box and to reflect in a calm atmosphere. Full of hope for implementation and improvement.
How did they get there? What were their main take-aways?
Recognize the reality of a challenging leadership situation and appreciate that handling it is not easy
Nurture the seed of optimism in order to realise that a little bit of improvement is always possible.
Strengthen your self-efficacy and focus on what is within your capabilities.
Become aware of your strengths instead of looking at what could be difficult and deficient in addition to the external conditions.
Gain clarity about what you want to achieve and the purpose of your leadership role.
Recognize how you can support the people around you, even in small steps.
Gain insights about how you can take care of yourself in order to keep your personal energy levels up.
I was allowed to observe how the elements and core ideas of positive psychology give people concrete and tangible hope and strengthen them for their everyday lives.
My special thanks to all these great managers who are doing an amazing job not only with their machines, but also with the people around them. Personally I took away humility and a huge amount of respect for this hard environment extending beyond my personal horizon. Thanks for teaching me a new variety about the colors of life.
Silvia Campos-Gonzáles
Trainer, Consultant, Coach