Leadership

Today we talked about leadership in our team leader course. I found the day very interesting as I got a better understanding of why people sometimes misunderstand me and I also got a better overview of how to be a leader.
My problem is that is usually skip the "get to know" phase and I usually just spit out what I think from the very first moment when I meet people. This is not appreciated by everybody and I guess I can understand that. But the positive sides of it is that people feel more comfortable to speak their mind too, usually way earlier than they would have without me letting frogs jump out of my mouth. But don´t get me wrong here, I am not THAT bad, just a little bit over the top ;)
As a leader you need to use different ways of leading depending on what stage the group is in. Apperantly there has been a study done a couple of years ago and they had found out that only 1% of the leaders are able to change leadership styles. Most of the leaders stick to the style they feel is most comfortable, and that is why their leadership doesnt always work.
What I learned today is that I am on the right track, but there is still a lot to learn :)
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ledarskap

Being the odd bird

Today at the course I presented myself as the odd bird. This is because I am the only one who is not from Sweden and who does not have a engineering background. (and becuse I have participated in voodo rituals, been swimming with giant turtles and I don´t always follow the societys rules of what is correct)
There are consequences of being the odd bird. The positive ones are that you can help people open up and help them feel more comfortable in letting their personalitys show. You can also make people laugh quite easily by just letting frogs jump out of your mouth. But the downside is that to be taken seriously, you really need to show that you can be diplomatic and that you are a hard worker that deserves respect.
This is something I have been able to do at my ordinary workplace, but in this course I think people are quite suspicious against me. It is interesting how afraid people are of how other people are going to percive them. We had a discussion during the course about dress codes. Most of the people in the course are dressed like engineers and business people usually dress, a preppy shirt and neat pants. I don´t dress like that, I have a more street, slappy style that does not bring that much respect in itself. But does clothes really do the person? Or is it the person that does the clothes?
We have a red headed very bohemic woman in our organisation. She looks way more like an artist than a business woman. But the way she carries herself and the way she talks, shows that she expects respect from other people. And she gets the respect.

Respect.
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sociala normer

Swedish Culture

I am taking a team leading course right now and I have spent quite a lot of time thinking about cultural diffrences. In the course we are talking a lot about the whole team having to be in consensus before making a decision, this something that is very swedish and feels kind of strange to me. Often times when I am at work I get annoyed at the fact that I am booked up for meetings usually around six hours per day, and I don´t get how I am supposed to get some work done when I sit in meetings all the time?
It is just very important for the sweedes to make sure everybody has all the information and that everybody feels that they have been heard. In a way I think this is great, but at the same time it is stealing a lot of time.
Anyway, I thought my course would last for four days, but now it is only for two days and the next two days will be in June, so now I have two completely empty days to just do work on my own....something good in everything, and damn the one who books me for meetings ;)
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svensk kultur

Success

I have been told that I am ambitious, and I guess that is true. But how do you define when a person is successful?
A successful person might be one who has a high salary, works 14-16 hours per day and is in a high position. Status and money are the carrots, the driving force. I don´t think that theese things motivates everybody, and maybe that is why so many people get burned out as they are chasing carrots that they don´t really want?
Why can´t personal goals be more evident in the society? Why does not personal success count more? I mean, if one person is developing her social skills, and is getting really good at it, she should be able to be proud of it and also get recognition from people around her. Or if a person is able to be happy and also a good worker in the same position for years and years, shouldn´t that be counted as success also?
The carrots for my personal succes is not status and money. Success for me is to get as much freedom as possible in my work, to become more and more efficient, to increase my knowledge, to gain better communication skills, to grow in myself and to get a balance between work and sparetime. To be able to achive this I guess I do need to climb the career ladder, but money and status are not my driving forces.
Which is your way to success?
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karriär

Spring cleaning: phase 2

The kitchen is finally clean. It took me one and a half hours to clean everything. This does not sound like much, but if you would see how small my kitchen is, you would understand that it is many minutes for such a tiny space :)
Anyway, feeling satisfied about my accomplishment.
Wardrobe, main room and floors left (and maybe windows).

Spring cleaning: phase 1

The bathroom is finally in approved status. Most of the dust, stains and long hairs are gone.
What still remains is the kitchen, wardrobe and main room....I think the kitchen will be next.

TCP/IP protocol

I am taking a 3 day technical course right now..... All my fellow participants in the course are civil engineers....Guess how smart I feel with my very broad technical background (I am able to understand that I need to use the plug in the wall to get electricity, and don´t ask me how I have a job in a technical company, that goes beyond me!! )
I feel like the Piffla in the forest that has gotten lost in her home. She does not know the way to her bedroom and she thinks the toilet is her kitchen.

GO Piffla! show those civil engineers that 1+1=3!!! ;)
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teknologi