So what do inspirational leadership and ducks have in common? Well surprisingly they are to do with encounters today. This morning and part of the afternoon some of the circuit leaders met and had a fascinating time with Jon and Alan (Superb individuals)who inspired and challenged us to explore leadership. Using Dr Meredith Belben's team roles analytical tool I came out as a plant. Well what worried me initially is that I kill plants quickly so I wasn't too enamored. Also, I have struggled with labelling of individuals - for me labels are for packages and not people .... however, I can fully understand and appreciate their validity in team dynamics and it can certainly help team relationships if we understand the profile and tendency of others - we can also idenitfy what we are lacking in our team.
So what is a plant - Plant (PL) - the Plant is the creative innovator who comes up with new ideas and approaches. They thrive on praise but criticism is especially hard for them to deal with. Plants are often introverted and prefer to work apart from the team. Because their ideas are so novel, they can be impractical at times. They may also be poor communicators and can tend to ignore given parameters and constraints.
Hmm if you know me you can probably see part of my personality in this definition and other parts which are not.... Introverted?? Poor communicator? creative - yes. Of course no one particular model is complete in itself – but all can be useful in different contexts. They are simply tools to engage in reflection about ministry and team dynamics.
So what about the duck then? Well perhaps that question is best targeted to my esteemed leader Maam. Who whilst discussing the Lymm duck race and the fact that ducks were going backwards due the weather and were being hit back into a place with a man and a stick, "isn't that a bit cruel - how did he get away with it?" Attempting to keep our straight faces failed as we all simultaneously responded - "they are plastic". Bless her....
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