OOOpppps!
We think we made a mistake when we sent out the last e-bulletins - sorry!
We think that all the people who should have got sent our easy read version got sent our main version instead.
So we are resending the easy read version now - hope thats ok!
Sorry, again... now back to the e-bulletin!
Find joy in each moment
  ...keep knocking, and the Joy inside will eventually open a window and look out to see who's there. (Rumi)
For the last few months, everything we hear about the arts seems bad. There is no money, there is going to be even less money, lots of people may lose their jobs... Times are hard.
This bulletin wants to be different. We are not going to moan about how horrible everything is. We are going to look at JOY!
How can we find JOY in everything we do?
I’ve started to do something called walking meditation. It's a way to relax, to simply enjoy walking, not just see walking as what you do to get from one place to another.
You don't need to walk - anything can be a meditation - it's about allowing yourself to enjoy whatever you are doing and to really concentrate on the act of doing it - whatever it is – it could be eating, washing up, drawing, blackberry picking...
What can you focus on and really enjoy?
If you want to find out more about walking meditation…
Finding joy in leadership
...flexing your leadership muscle can bring you joy...
So what’s that got to do with leadership?
I was looking on the internet and found a bit on ‘how to find joy at work’.
It said that people who owned their own business were much more joyful than other people, even if they had to work long hours and got less money. Other people who were happy were farmers, fishermen and people who worked in forests - and all those people had very little money.
It said that if you have control over what you do for your work, and have a chance to make changes then you tend to feel happier, less stressed and are less ill.
So here are some ways to find joy at work:
know what you want to do long term - and do it tell other people, get them to help you
tell someone high up - and get them on board too try and make sure most of your work links to what you want to do if people support you - ask them to do things that help you get to where you want to go long term tell lots of people about your ideas - not just the people who would usually know smile! celebrate every little step towards what you want to do
Making the best of things
The only moment we have is now.
Everyone likes doing some things more than others. There are some things we just don't like doing - but we can still make the best of them.
Sometimes we try and say that other people are 'making' us do the things we don't like to do,
But are they really?
We might say: "oh I have to go to work because someone is making me" Really though, no-one is forcing us to go. We go because we know it is a good thing to do, or because we like the money we earn, or because we like some parts of what we do.
So the first thing we can do so that we feel better about everything we do, is to remember that we are choosing to do it.
Then we have another choice - if we are going to do it anyway, we might as well enjoy it as much as we can!
Jez’s Journey
It's been really interesting looking back at myself and my leadership journey. Working with a coach has made me see myself as a leader and now I'm doing something that a person with a learning disability has never done before. (Jez Colborne)
Our case study and article this month are written by Jez Colborne, one of the individuals on Sync Intensives. He is full of joy!
Jez is a learning disabled singer, musician, actor and now musical director whose work has taken him around the world – to Hong Kong, USA, Canada, China and Brazil to name a few of the places he has played and performed.
Jez often works with Bradford based Mind the Gap Theatre Company, and it's with them he’s developing a piece called Irresistible. It’s described as a 'siren symphony' - a live performance with sirens, choral music, projects on the walls and rocks and dramatic lighting, and is being performed twice in Bradford at the end of October.
In his case study, Jez takes us though his leadership journey – how it feels always breaking new ground and taking on new roles.
To go straight to the case study on Jez Colborne
Where did you get that hat?
An important part of leading is to develop your own style. Hats have always been about style and making a ‘statement’, but that’s not the whole story. I reckon you’ve got to enjoy the different hats you wear and practice wearing them for yourself (Jez Colborne).
His article is about the different roles he plays – and how for him, this comes out in the different hats he wears.
Jez links this to something called: 'Thinking Hats'.
This is a way to help people to think about an issue in many different ways using different coloured hats: red, black, white yellow, green and blue.
As Jez says, ‘As a leader you have to do a lot of thinking . The 6 hats can help you think about decisions in different ways. Try these on for size'.
Red Hat - Putting on the red hat, means thinking other people’s feelings and emotions and how your decisions will affect them
Black Hat - The black hat, means having to look at what might go wrong if you make a decision. It allows you to see the pitfalls, before you fall into them.
Yellow Hat - Wearing the yellow hat is about thinking about the good things that will come from your decisions - the sunny side up.
Green Hat - A green hat is about using creativity in your thinking and using this to help spice things up.
White Hat - This is about having the facts and the figures in front of you.
Blue Hat - Wearing the blue hat means you have to see the whole picture!
You can find out more about Irresistible by going to the Mind the Gap microsite – which has an amazing 360 degree photo of the Cow and Calf rocks, complete with ‘clickable Jez’s’! http://www.mind-the-gap.org.uk/irresistible/
To go straight to Jez’s article on Leadership Hats
Other opportunities offered by the Cultural Leadership Programme
Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them. (Jim Carrey)
DaDa in Liverpool are running a new project for Deaf leaders called Hands On. They want to bring together 20 Deaf leaders to inspire them.
DaDa are also running Levelling Up, with the Aspire Trust. This is a project looking at the different ways deaf and disabled leaders have been trained over the last 10 years to find out what works best. Any suggestions? Do get in touch with them and help get the research started.
DaDa
The Bluecoat
, School Lane,
Liverpool
L1 3BX
Text Phone: 0151 706 0365 Voice Phone: 0151 707 1733 Fax: 0151 708 9355
Email: [email protected] www.dadahello.com
There’s also a new book out called A cultural leadership reader. You can download a copy online through the CLP site or ask them to send you a hard copy.
And if all that’s not enough, why not join the CLP network – an online social network for leaders. Again, you can get to this straight from their website.
That’s all for this month.
Next month we bring you the input of another one of the individuals on Sync Intensives – Rachael Wallach.
Jo Verrent
Project Manager, Sync
To go straight to the CLP website...
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