Category: English

3 mindsets that prevent you from leading effectively

Posted 3 years ago by Richard Lim

Your mindset affects your behaviour!

Leadership is not just about skills, it’s also about your mindset.

I learned about leadership, at least initially, mostly by observing leaders in real life and, sometimes, from novels, movies, or television shows. The qualities I observed resonated with me, and I told myself that I’d like to be an effective leader like those I have observed.

The problem, though, was that most of those leaders I sought to imitate often seemed perfect. Perhaps they were not actually perfect, but they do seem that way.

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5 key decisions you need to make about your team

Posted 3 years ago by Richard Lim

They affect what your team look like!

The word “Team” means different things to different people.

When I work with team leaders and their teams, I often encounter different notions of what the “team” really is. One team leader may use the word to refer generally to everyone who works under him, while another might refer to a specific group of people.

Even within a team, each member might have a different understanding of what the “team” is; this might even be different from the team leader’s understanding!

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The Most Important Decision of a Leader

Posted 4 years ago by Richard Lim

It affects how you lead!

Leadership involves making decisions.

Getting a team to move towards fulfilling its goals involves numerous decisions.

But right from the get-go, there is one important decision that a leader needs to make. This decision will shape the leader and the team in a profound way. It will affect how he or she leads, how the team interact with the leader, the culture of the team, etc.

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Tips for crafting an effective mission statement

Posted 4 years ago by Richard Lim

It’s about communicating clearly!

Your team’s (or organisation, church, and even personal) mission gives clarity to your direction, informs your strategies and, together with your purpose, forms the basis of all your critical decisions.

The mission statement spells out your mission so that stakeholders (the team leader, team members, partners, target audience, customers, etc.) knows what you do. For yourself and your team, it serves as a reminder to help you stay on course. For others, it helps to differentiate you from other teams or organisations.

As I work with teams during the past 20 years, I often come across mission statements that are either so vague that they don’t tell me anything useful, or are so generic that they could just as well be the mission statement of another team!

These vague or generic mission statements are practically useless.

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How to clarify your team’s mission

Posted 4 years ago by Richard Lim

Without clarity, you can’t get there!

“What is your team’s mission?” I asked the team members in the room.

They recited their mission statement, verbatim.

“Great! What does it mean?” I asked again.

What followed was several different explanations about the team’s mission. And “Oh, I thought this meant…”, “Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be…”, “I don’t think that’s part of what we do…”, etc.

This wasn’t an isolated incident.

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So you’re now leading a team. What should you do next?

Posted 4 years ago by Richard Lim

It’s not just about solving problems!

A client recently took over a team at work. It wasn’t a new team. The organisation went through some restructuring, and his boss asked him to lead this restructured team.

Since this wasn’t a new team, they already have existing roles and responsibilities, along with some problems and baggage.

My client’s first action was to try and sort through the problems and figure out ways to resolve them. Several weeks later, he was still at it, and the problems don’t seem to be nearing resolution.

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I felt so empowered!

Posted 4 years ago by Richard Lim

Helping someone without having the answer.

I attended the Coaching workshop for Christian Leaders in August 2018. Richard facilitated the learning effectively.

Workshop participants came from different countries in Asia and served in different ministries. They shared their experiences and, through them, I gained different perspectives on how coaching can help church leaders to work with volunteers and co-workers.

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Growth in Confidence

Posted 4 years ago by Richard Lim

Discovering the potential and abilities within.

Just like the Bible says that iron sharpens iron, that’s how a man sharpens another. I wanted to get better results, and I realized that I needed some help. If I have a godly mentor, I will be able to ask questions, seek guidance, and reach better results. I saw in Richard a good opportunity, and was honored that he was willing to be my coach, because of his experience in ministry.

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Discovering the answers within.

Posted 4 years ago by Richard Lim

How one leader felt empowered through coaching.

Over the years I have always been passionate about using technology in ministry and leadership development. I had multiple roles, which meant leading two teams at some point. Developing my leadership capacity was a major area that I wanted to grow in because I was spreading myself too thin, finding it hard keeping up with prioritizing, and ministry was not getting easier. It was time to get some help.

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