This toolbox has been designed to support everyone within the Electoral Commission, whether office-or home-based, and it is for us all regardless of grade.
Why are we doing this work together now? It’s a valid question when people are busy, and there is a lot going on. We know that people want to feel valued for what they do, can play to their strengths, have a degree of autonomy over their work and feel like they are making a difference. This development programme will help us all achieve these things and is important to building the strengths of individuals and the Commission as a whole.
The things that matter most to people are not always obvious. The well-known iceberg model below illustrates this. We can see that what really matters is often hidden, and so we end up responding just to what is visible and accessible above and beyond the surface. This means we miss the opportunity for greater understanding and improved communication by exploring what happens ‘beneath the water’.
The information, ideas and practical tips available to all of us in this toolbox give us the opportunity to undertake some personal development by completing the work in the Personal Leadership part of the toolbox.
This will help us to:
- Identify our core values and how they impact how we work and communicate
- Evaluate our communication patterns using a framework called Transactional Analysis or TA
- Discover our five signature strengths and explore the strengths in our teams
Secondly, this toolbox supports us all in having Powerful Conversations about things that matter to us as people, as team members and as part of an organisation serving its stakeholders and communities.
This will help us to:
- Discover ways to plan conversations
- Engage with the creative material provided in the Appreciative Inquiry workshops to have different conversations
- Open up spaces for thinking and innovation
How will it work in practice?
Here is what your CEO Shaun McNally had to say:
You already have conversations with colleagues, line managers, in your own team and others, and with internal and external stakeholders. This programme asks us to think about how we could have these conversations in a more productive way. This will be led by your Line Manager and supported by a group of facilitators who have volunteered to be part of this programme moving forward.
However, my real desire is that this is something that we all own, that we have permission to experiment: to try things out and see what happens. Imagine what would happen if we began to engage in more fun, informal and creative ways of thinking with a focus on the quality of our conversations which build on our strengths and sense of belonging.
I have been asked why I wanted to undertake the work around Personal Leadership and now around Powerful Conversations. Simply, I want the Commission to be the best version of itself moving forward.
From a strategic perspective, I know this toolbox and the associated programme of learning will:
- Be beneficial to our people, those we serve, and to the future of our organisational purpose. It will promote inclusivity and good stakeholder engagement, and will help us be a purpose-driven organisation linked to our Corporate Plan.
- Engage us emotionally and intellectually across the directorates and the wider electoral community. This aligns professional competence and personal leadership, creating strong engagement linked to our People Strategy.
- Help us have conversations that matter, leading to strong partnerships which embrace collaboration and share accountability. We will move from criticism to appreciation. We can be strengths-based and curious about what is possible. This is Appreciative Leadership in action linked to our Culture Charter.
- Let us feel safe, hopeful, and intuitive about our work. This leads to positivity and away from cynicism. We will be able to have voices from every level contribute to our organisation and achievements. This will create a positive emotional climate, and a better place for us all to work and thrive.
As always, I would welcome the opportunity to talk to you about this.
