Sync

When people join Sync, we ask them what they think about leading. Does being a disabled person mean we lead differently?

Some people think there is a difference and other people think there is no difference.

In this article, we are looking at some of the differences people have talked about.

As disabled people, we are all very different. Sometimes the way we have been treated as disabled people means we get strong and loud, sometimes it means we get pushed back and don't think we can lead.

However we get treated, this becomes part of how and when and where we lead.

Aidan Moesby, a member of Sync put it well when he said:

‘We are a sum of our parts... it's how we come to terms with it when we can that counts.’

Some find it hard to think of themselves as a ‘leader’. They talk about feeling like they don't belong as a leader:

'I have some days where I am sure I am going to get found out. I start to think I have no right to be here, no right to even start to think of myself as a leader.'

If we have just one idea of what a leader ‘is’, and we do the things we think a leader should do, it can be hard to see ourselves as a leader.

Sarah Pickthall, joint founder of Sync, talks about not fitting into someone else's idea of a leader:

‘For me, in order to get to something at 8 o'clock I have to wake up at 5 o’clock to wake my body up. So, for me, a breakfast meeting doesn't work. In the newspaper recently there was an article that said the best business gets done at breakfast, and it's like uh! Oh dear! I can’t do that ‘kind’ of leadership. Does that mean I can’t lead?’

So the first thing we need to do is challenge and change some of the ideas around being a leader. There are many ways to lead and many ways of being a leader.

To do this we need confidence. We need to really believe in ourselves.

This can be hard as when bad things happen to us, it can make us lose confidence.

Some of us find more confidence when we work with other disabled people. But sometimes we can get stuck working with other disabled people when we might want to try other things.

If this happens, we need to think about what is making us stuck. Is it other people saying we can't work in the 'mainstream' or is it something in ourselves that is stopping us?

Sync South East (our work on leading for disabled people in the South East), recently met a man called James Partridge.

He started an organisation called Changing Faces, for people who had disabilities linked to their faces, for people who look different.

When he meets someone new, he has about 5 seconds to make a link with them, before their ‘fear factor’ kicks in.

He says if he can grab their hand, make eye contact and start talking to them before they can react, then he can make them see a different side of him first rather than being scared of his face.

For him, this is a better place to start.

This is something that makes us different.

As disabled people, we have to think about what other people meeting us might think. They might make decisions about us because of what we look like, how we move, what we do or what our access requirements are.

This can be hard. How can we do this and be strong and clear? How can we make sure we are not too hard? We don't want people to think we want to fight all the time.

Lots of people think disabled people are better at working with people who are different.

As we are often seen as different, this makes us better at understanding how other people feel when people treat them like this too.

This should also make us better at helping other people get started. We know how hard we have had to work to get to where we are, now we can help other people get there too.

I talked to Simon McKeown the other week. He is a disabled artist who has done a big project called 'Motion Disabled'.

Simon describes himself as a 'chameleon' - this is a type of lizard that can change its colour so it matches the background its in (so when it is in green leaves, it changes colour to green, for example).

He says he can do this too - change what he is doing to fit in. He thinks lots of disabled people can do this - as they have done this all their lives to fit in with what other people want and expect.

Can you think of any people you behave differently with?

In a leading, changing your leadership style to meet the needs of the situation is often called ‘Situational Leadership’.. There is a great deal written about this – including many videos on YouTube. The link below is to a quick powerpoint and voice over on YouTube that gives you an idea of the tool incase you want to find out more.

As people who lead, we have to be 'flexible' - we have to change how we are to help other people feel comfortable and to get things done. We might not like telling people off, for example, but sometimes as a leader we might have to do this.

As disabled people, we may know where we are comfortable and where we feel on the edge. As leaders, we need to try and find ways to feel comfortable on the edge too, I suppose!

As a leader, you have to be real. Leading isn't about pretending to be someone else, its about being the leader you really are.

As a disabled person, working out how to be true to yourself can be complicated. You don’t have to tell the world everything about you and your impairment to be real, that’s not what its about (check out the article on Johari’s Window for more information on balancing what you show and what you choose to hide).

Often, as disabled people, we have had to look at who we really are. We have had to face up to our strengths and weaknesses, our own unique good and bad points. We can use this as leaders. We can be strong and flexible and able to bounce back when bad things happen.

Disabled people can make great leaders.

That doesn’t mean we all make great leaders, or that we all are great leaders all of the time, but it does mean that there is nothing about being a disabled person that stops any of us being or becoming leaders.

Leading is about believing in yourself. And again, for many of us, our experiences as disabled people may have given us a head start here.

We have to believe in ourselves to think of ourselves as leaders.