Starting with stories
  What do a cat, a the witch, Little Bo Peep and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz have in common?....
These were some of the characters that people on the Sync Intensives programme used last week to explain who they were and how they lead people.
We started the day listening to each other and passing round things we had brought with us too - books, a blanket, things that felt soft, that had different shapes and meanings.
“I don’t think I’ve lost my sheep, I’ve let them go, that’s part of what I do, give people a free rein.”
"I'm Dorothy and I’m nearing Oz - it's both a dream and reality. I know it's not going to be what it's cracked up to be…”
"I'm the Witch - I've brought sweets to entice people to my cottage. I entice people to our world, to the space we live in..."
The power of stories
When we use a character or story to help us explain something, we say we are using a metaphor.
Within Sync, we often use metaphors. They can help people understand what we mean.
For example, when we looked at shared leadership we used the metaphor of geese flying:
To go straight to the article on geese flying ........
Have you ever used a metaphor to think about how you lead? If not, why not try now? Can you think of a childhood story or nursery rhyme character that makes you think about yourself?
The leadership matrix
A box with 3 layers: yourself, your work, and your wider field of influence; and 3 columns: what you feel, what you do, and how you see and plan for the future.
We have mentioned the 9 box matrix of leadership before. It's an idea from Mark Wright of People Create, who made it for the Cultural Leadership Programme.
It's a strong way of looking at what you do well and where you could do things better.
Why not go and look at what we said about the matrix before? Have a go! See where you think you do well and where you think you could do things better.
To go straight to the Sync article on the nine box matrix
What character are you?
At our Sync Intensives day we built on the 9 boxes, and on our ideas from stories.
We looked at some of the characters that some leaders often play. Some people move through all of these, others just play one character all the time:
The Warrior wants to get stuff done, they want to make a difference, NOW! The Good King starts to think more about the future and looks after the others in their organisation or team. The Mother thinks about the emotions - how people feel about what they are doing. The Sage is a wise person, often an older character. They think about wider issues - not just their organisation but the world as a whole.
Do you recognise yourself here, or people that you work with?
And more...
We also looked at some other things - but more on that next month!
Next month we also hope to have some articles and case studies from the members of Sync Intensives to bring to you.
We asked each of those on Sync Intensives this year to share their thinking and experiences with the wider Sync network - and are very excited about what they are planning to share!
But we'll all have to wait patiently until next month - until then, have fun and keep safe.
All the best,
Jo Verrent and Sarah Pickthall
Sync
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