The Right Questions Framework Guide

The Right Questions framework is a process and set of tools to help people who want to:

  • Lead themselves and others well
  • Think analytically and critically
  • Develop effective strategic plans and achieve goals
  • Set priorities and make better decisions

The Right Questions framework is based upon the main interrogative words in the English language, linking each to a key theme and further questions:

Interrogative Use Application
Why Reason Values, principles, priorities, passions
Where Place Situation (past and present), vision
What Thing Mission, end-state, success, USP
Which Selection Options, courses of action, risks, reflection
How Manner Plan, route, tasks, resources
Who Person Self, team, network, relationships
When Time Timing, programming, prioritisation

Navigating The Right Questions Website

To help you navigate the posts that explain the framework, follow the links under the headings below that correspond to the individual posts.

Beside each post, on the right sidebar, you will see the main categories that relate to the posts below. These are:

  • The Right Questions (Background and Overview)
  • Why (Values)
  • What (Mission)
  • Where (Situation and Vision)
  • Which (Options, Risk and Opportunity)
  • Who (Individual, Team and Network)
  • How (Goals, Planning and Resources)
  • When (Timing and Programming)

The Quest – Using The Right Questions on a Journey of Self-Discovery and Fulfilment

The Quest

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Introduction to The Right Questions Concept

Overview of The Right Questions Framework

Stage 1: Strategic Framing

The initial questions of why (principles, priorities and passions) where (situation and vision) and what (mission, success criteria) provide the strategic framing for any plans we make. The quality of the options we develop to achieve success and the effectiveness of our planning depends largely on the development of the overall strategy.

Why? Values

Principles, purpose, passions, priorities

Where? Situation and Vision

Situational Analysis – where am I now?

Vision – where am I going?

What? Mission, success and end-state

Stage 2: The Reflection Point

The second part or stage is called the ‘reflection point’. In every decision making cycle you consider your options in the light of the situation, the risks and opportunities. This reflection point either takes you back to Stage 1, and a further iteration of refining the Strategic Framing, or onto Stage 3, Developing a Plan, where an actionable plan can be created for the chosen course of action, fulfilling the strategy.

Which: Route, risk, review, reflections

Stage 3: Developing a Plan

The third section on planning uses the questions how, who and when to explore the detail needed to deliver on your desired course of action in alignment with your overall strategy.

How? Planning, Resources

When? Timing, programming and prioritisation

Who? Self, team and network

Case studies, examples and application of The Right Questions

The Right Questions in Organisations

The Right Questions in Coaching Individuals

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

How to Discover Your Top 3 Personal Values

Values are the principles and beliefs by which we live our lives and make our decisions. If you want to effectively lead yourself and lead others then you need to be aware of what those personal values are.

Our values are also linked to how we feel. Think for a moment: are you feeling unhappy, distressed or dissatisfied about something?

If you are, then there is a good chance that your reality is not living up to your expectations. Economists and researchers Rakesh Sarin and Manel Baucells worked out the fundamental equation of happiness was: Happiness = Reality – Expectations.

“Happiness equals reality minus expectations”

Rakesh Sarin and Manel Baucells

For example, it might be that you are unhappy about your:

  • Career
  • Relationships
  • Habits
  • Finances
  • Work-life balance
  • Health and fitness
  • Life purpose and direction

The actual reason why you are unhappy

The usual reaction at this stage is to set a goal and achieve something that we think will make us feel happy. But, this often does not solve the underlying issue as unhappiness, and our expectations about being content, are actually rooted in our values. Our dissatisfaction is often caused by a misalignment between your core values and what is happening in your life and work at the moment.

Therefore, even if you did set and achieve a goal without understanding this, you may well find you end up unhappy again. If you do not make a decision in the context of your key principles then it is likely you will make the wrong decision or not really solve the deeper cause of your unhappiness.

By understanding your values you are in a good place to make a change for the better. That is the reason for starting with asking the question ‘why?’ Why do we want something? Why do we feel that way? Why do we want to change? These are the questions that will help us understand our motivations and pick the right goals.

Understanding your own values or principles is therefore vital in order to be effective and happy. And that is not just me saying that. Ray Dalio shares his precepts in his book ‘Principles and urges others to discover theirs. Brene Brown evidences the importance of values in Dare to Lead and Steven R Covey argues for a model of leadership based on being Principle-Centred.

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What are values or principles in life?

Value denotes a degree of importance. In monetary terms, we set a value on something by how much we are willing to pay for a product or service.

In moral terms, a value is an ideal that we give a high degree of importance. Values are the moral code that guides us, and the priorities that motivate us. They are the principles we uphold, the ethics and tenants that we believe in and ascribe to. These ideas are our standards that set our rules of conduct and standard of behaviour.

If you do not know what your values are then it is very likely that you are living your life – whether you know it or not – according to other people’s principles or priorities.

“Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.”

Brian Tracy

How do we express our principles?

There are values we hold personally and those we share corporately, be that with a team, community or organisation. They are often similar but expressed in subtly different ways. For example, common personal values might be expressed as kindness but a team might talk about respect for others. A person may value honesty whereas an organisation might express that as transparency.

David Brooks has formulated another way of looking at values, and that is resume values versus eulogy values. The differences are explored in his book The Road to Character and outlined in his TED Talk, “Should you live for your resume or your eulogy?”

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How do you assess your personal core values?

You can do an assessment of your values by examining different aspects of your life and looking for trends.  You may have a feel for the values you most relate to, but thinking about values through these different lenses will help you see which principles you really do embody or aspire towards.

In my experience, it is good to start with examining our:

  • Personal Stories
  • Priorities
  • Passions and
  • Principles

Personal Stories 

The amount of our character that is fixed at birth or developed by external influence has been a hotly contested subject for many years. We will not go into the ‘nature versus nurture’ arguments here, but it is relatively safe to say that our character is formed from a mixture of both innate qualities and our experiences.

There are various personality tests that you can do but one of the most instructive ways you can examine your character is by looking at the stories of your life.

Try to think about:

  • When have you been most happy?
  • Which achievement or experience are you most proud of?
  • What has been your biggest success?
  • What has been your biggest failure?
  • When have you been most afraid and what do you fear most?
  • Which thing in your past are you most ashamed of?

When reflecting on a personal story you can analyse it in this way:

  • What was the situation?
  • Which role did you have to play and what did you do?
  • What was the result and what did you learn?

Certain themes and principles should emerge as you do this analysis.

Priorities

One simple and effective way to examine our priorities is to see where we use our resources. We invest our time and money in what we value.

Money

Where does your cash go? Money provides a very tangible expression of what we prioritise. Have a look at your bank account and credit card bills. Even how much you spend on essentials and where you shop can be telling. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential but buying luxury options are not. What do you choose to spend more or less on?

Do some analysis and ask:

  • How do you budget or divide up what you spend?
  • How much do you spend on different things? (E.g. debts, savings, utilities, rent/mortgage, holidays/travel, clothes, leisure activities etc.)

Time

Time is a truly finite resource. How you spend your time will give you a good indication of what you really value. Take a look at your diary or think back and answer the following:

  • What amount of time goes to various activities each day and each week? (Working, sleeping, eating, leisure activities etc.)
  • Within your work time, how does it break down? (Emails, speaking to people/phone calls, meetings, writing, planning, business development, people development, etc.)
  • Which roles do you play in life and how do you prioritise them? (Employee, leader, spouse, parent, friend, child, creator, team member, other?)
  • What habits or routines do you have?

Passions

Our passions are the things that drive us emotionally. Our passions either draw us towards or away from something or someone. Often we don’t analyse these thoughts and they can go unnoticed but if you reflect on your thoughts and dreams, beliefs and influences then you will gain a deeper understanding of your passions.

Thoughts and Dreams

What we spend our time thinking, dreaming or worrying about can also tell us a lot. Think about:

  • What are you hoping to achieve in life?
  • When you daydream what is it about?
  • If time and money were not limited what would you do?
  • Imagine that you have one wish that would immediately be fulfilled, what would it be?
  • What are you anxious or stressed about right now?

Beliefs

What are your theological, metaphysical, philosophical and political beliefs? Ask yourself:

  • What are the values of the politicians or political parties you vote for?
  • Where do you put your trust for the future?
  • When something goes wrong, what or who do you turn to for answers and support?
  • What makes you joyful?
  • What makes you angry?

Influences

There are many external influences on our lives and predominantly these are people we know or respect. Think about the following:

  • Who do you follow?
  • Who do you want to be like?
  • Which are your favourite biographies?
  • What are the books and stories you like most?
  • Which films do you like most and why?
  • What are the principles of your family and friends?

Principles

Having thought through your personal stories, how you spend your time and money, your dreams, your beliefs and your influences, you should be a much better place to assess what your values really are.

What trends do you see appearing and which words help to sum those up?

“Principles are fundamental truths that serve as the foundations for behavior that gets you what you want out of life. They can be applied again and again in similar situations to help you achieve your goals.”

Ray Dalio

What are examples of values or principles?

The list of words that we could use to express our values is almost endless but sometimes we can struggle to come up with the right one.

Here is a list of more than 150 more common values that will help to prompt you:

Accountability Discipline Humour Respect
Accuracy Discretion Humility Restraint
Achievement Diversity Independence Results-oriented
Adventure Dynamism Ingenuity Rigour
Altruism Economy Inner Harmony Romance
Appearance Effectiveness Inquisitiveness Security
Ambition Efficiency Insightfulness Self-actualization
Autonomy Elegance Integrity Self-control
Assertiveness Empathy Intelligence Self-expression
Balance Enjoyment Intimacy Selflessness
Beauty Enthusiasm Intuition Self-reliance
Being the best Environment Joy Sensitivity
Belonging Equality Justice Serenity
Boldness Excellence Leadership Service
Calmness Excitement Legacy Shrewdness
Carefulness Expertise Love Simplicity
Challenge Exploration Loyalty Soundness
Cheerfulness Expressiveness Making a difference Speed
Clarity Fairness Mastery Spirituality
Commitment Faith Merit Spontaneity
Community Family Nature Stability
Communication Flexibility Obedience Status
Compassion Fidelity Openness Strategic
Competitiveness Fitness Order Strength
Connectivity Fluency Originality Structure
Consistency Focus Partnership Success
Contentment Freedom Patriotism Support
Continuous Improvement Friendship Perfection Teamwork
Contribution Fulfilment Personal growth Thankfulness
Control Fun Piety Thoroughness
Cooperation Generosity Positivity Thoughtfulness
Correctness Goodness Power Timeliness
Courtesy Grace Practicality Tolerance
Creativity Growth Privacy Tradition
Curiosity Happiness Preparedness Trustworthiness
Decisiveness Hard Work Professionalism Truth
Democraticness Health Prudence Understanding
Dependability Helping Society Quality-orientation Uniqueness
Determination Holiness Recognition Unity
Devoutness Honesty Reliability Usefulness
Diligence Honour Resourcefulness Vitality

What are your top 3 personal values?

Pick the 3 most important principles, those with the highest score and correlation after looking at the various aspects above.

Why 3? Because:

“If you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities”

Brené Brown, Dare to Lead

Three is a powerful number for various reasons (to find our more read The Rule of 3).

One of the best ways to identify your values is to follow this easy process:

  1. print off a list (such as the one above) and then cut them up so you have one single value per piece of paper or card.
  2. Now sort those values into three equal piles (most important, less important, least important)
  3. Take the ‘most important’ pile and discard the rest.
  4. Go through steps 2 and 3 until you are left with just 3 values.

How do you define or refine those principles?

For each of the 3 words that you have chosen, write your own definition. Think:

  • What does the word mean to you?
  • Which actions or behaviours display your defined value?
  • What other word or words would you add to the initial one to make it embody the value most clearly?

The idea here is to define how you actually live out your value. Simon Sinek puts it in this way:

“For values or guiding principles to be truly effective they have to be verbs. It’s not “integrity,” it’s “always do the right thing.” It’s not “innovation,” it’s “look at the problem from a different angle.” Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea – we have a clear idea of how to act in any situation.”

Simon Sinek

Next, put your principles in priority order. This is important as there will be decisions where you have to know the most important factor. To help you try asking these questions:

  • If you could satisfy only one of the values which would you choose?
  • When a situation causes a conflict between two of your values (for example career and family) what would you do?

Congratulations!

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”
― Roy Disney

Once you know your values you can use them to guide you in making decisions, setting goals and living a more fulfilling life. You are likely to continue to refine your list over time so it is worth reviewing whenever you review your plans.

We have to make an active choice. If we go with the flow then we can be swayed by wrong beliefs and unhelpful thoughts that can create bad habits, wrong values and an unhappy destiny. Or, if we actively work to define our values, we can build useful habits, have positive words and actions and create positive thoughts and liberating beliefs. We all have a personal responsibility for our destiny.

Taking things further

You have made a big step towards understanding your personal values and this will really help you. It does not end there though. In my experience, understanding values is an iterative process; you will refine your principles every time to take time to really examine them.

Your values create a firm platform for your decisions and plans. Question is, now you have the foundations, what will you build?

You may want to start making a plan for what you want to do next and if so you will find my post on making an action plan useful.

You may want also want some help, delving deeper into your values and identifying your goals. I have the pleasure of seeing amazing, positive, transformations in the individuals and organisations I work with. If you would like some assistance too, in person or online, then please do drop me a line. You can email me via the contact page.

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

Understand Your Values for Better Decision-Making

What is the most important decision you have ever made? It might have been choosing your romantic partner, selecting your school, or deciding upon your career. How did you make that decision? Whatever process you applied – consciously or otherwise – to your choice, that decision was informed by your personal values. This is what values-based decision-making or principle-based decision-making is all about; understanding how our precepts and beliefs inform our judgements.

Why is values-based decision-making important?

We might think that our biggest decisions would be based upon pure logic and critical reasoning, but we would be wrong. Just think for a moment; if your spouse or partner asked you why you wanted to be with them, how would you reply? Would you immediately say,

“well I considered the factors, and – following an analytical process – decided that you were the most rational choice of partner, presenting the best statistical chance of a successful union (given the limited alternatives)”?

I doubt that would get a kindly reception.

You are more likely to answer that it is because you love them. But then you must think about the follow-up question of why do you love them? When you explore that question you can see that, knowingly, or otherwise, you have made a values-based decision. The reasons for loving someone are bound up with your principles, beliefs, and passions.

When I first started to think about decision-making, during my time as a bomb disposal officer, I did use to think that decision-making was largely a rational process. It took some near-death experiences for me to realise that the neuroscience of decision-making is much more complicated. Slowly I came to appreciate the important psychology of heuristics and bias, as well as understanding the importance of assumptions and how values underpin our decision-making.

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Values, principles, and ethics in decision-making

The book that introduced me to the concept of principle-based decision making was The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Stephen Covey points out:

“We are not in control, principles control. We control our actions, but the consequences that flow from these actions are controlled by Principles.”

Stephen R Covey 

So, the fact is that – whether we know it or not – our personal values drive our decision-making and influence the choices we make. But this is not a new discovery and Covey was not alone in this idea. For example, Gandhi said,

“Your values become your destiny.”

Gandhi

And this school of thought goes back much further. The idea of making right judgements is the field of ethics in philosophy. In Western philosophy, it was Socrates, Plato and Aristotle – the so-called founding fathers of ethics – who started this tradition.

Ethical decision-making is not just about choices in medicine (such as when to end care) or complex moral conundrums faced by society (such as assisted suicide). You cannot separate ethics from personal values and our everyday behaviour. As well as the moral code of the society we live in, we all have our own inner sense of morality that informs our actions. The ability to make these choices, according to our values is inextricably tied to our understanding of freedom. Aristotle summed it up this way:

“Freedom is obedience to self-formulated rules.”

Aristotle

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How do values influence our choices?

My favourite analogy for personal values is that they are like a compass. The whole point of a magnetic compass is that it points to the North, no matter which way we are facing. Even when we cannot see properly – for example when stuck in fog or deep in a jungle – the compass gives us reliable data about our direction.

Personal values do the same for us. Whatever our circumstances, our values are an inner compass, informing us of whether the direction we are choosing is in line with principles or not.

“I have learned that as long as I hold fast to my beliefs and values – and follow my own moral compass – then the only expectations I need to live up to are my own.”

Michelle Obama

To complete the analogy, it is worth remembering that a compass can be affected by magnetic interference and occasionally not be trusted. In the same way, even our moral compass can be thrown off by cognitive bias. That is why no one aspect of decision-making can be considered without respect to other facets. We must be aware of all the various neural processes if we really want to make good decisions.

Values in decision-making for organisations 

Ray Dalio is an expert in how values affect decision-making in an organisation. In his book, Principles, he shares the values that he has identified and implemented – both in personal and business life. What makes Ray Dalio’s company Bridgewater, so impressive is the way they have built their values into the very fabric of the business.

For many organisations, their company values are just nice-sounding universal values (such as trust or creativity) that have been decided upon by an executive, but with little thought to how these values should truly affect the culture of an organisation. Many employees can barely remember their company values, let alone explain how they should inform their judgements and behaviours. Not so at Bridgewater.

Building a company from the values up

At Bridgewater, not only did they identify the company values, but they also then built organisational processes to reflect those principles, even writing code to embed these principles into automated decision-making. With each decision made these values are tested, the results examined, and the algorithms refined in a constant process of improvement.

This approach, backed up by the transparent way Bridgewater makes choices, empowers people at every level in the business to make decisions. Decision-making is not the preserve of management or the executive suite. At Bridgewater, this empowerment has fuelled effectiveness, growth and profitability.

As Roy Disney, the co-founder of another values-driven company observes,

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”

Roy Disney

It is worth reflecting upon. What are the principles of your organisation and how do they inform processes? Do the actions and behaviours of employees reflect the core values? Are people empowered to make decisions?

Principle-based leadership

This sort of organisation is led by a leader who understands the importance of values; someone who knows their own principles and lives according to them. We call that integrity; someone who walks the talk, and integrity is one of the most frequently listed essential traits of a leader.

Stephen Covey wrote about this sort of leadership in his other popular book, The Principle-Centred Leader, but this approach to leadership also has a lot in common with servant leadership, transformational leadership and authentic leadership, all of which emphasize leaders of moral principle and purpose.

So how do you start?

So, having seen that understanding personal values is important as they affect our choices, what do we do about it? The first step in making better decisions is to identify the principles that guide you in your judgements. This will help both you and the people you work with. As Ray Dalio points out,

“The most important thing is that you develop your own principles and ideally write them down, especially if you are working with others.”

Ray Dalio

Take a moment to think. Can you write down your top values? Try to think of the top principles that you adhere to. I recommend 5 to 10 as a maximum. If you are a bit stuck then there are various tools, exercises that can help you do this and if you would like some help then read my post on What Are Your Personal Values?

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

How Does a Real Man Act and What do They Value?

If you, like me, grew up in a culture without a specific rite of passage that marks when you change from being a boy to a man, it can be quite hard to state exactly when you became a man and, by extension, what it means to be a man.

For me, no songs were sung, or words said. I was not cut or marked. I was not cast out or assigned a specific task or role. But at some point, I just was. A man.

So, what happened and when? Was it when I went through puberty or grew to be as strong as my dad? Perhaps when I got my first job, or perhaps when I left home? Was it when I could legally marry, drive, or drink? Maybe it was all these things or none?

Being a man: is it a right or a responsibility?

Human rights – men’s and women’s rights – are very important. The UN charter was a huge stride forward in addressing injustices in society. But it seems that generally, people must state and stand up for their rights when other people are not living up to their responsibilities; the responsibility we all must respect, love and look after others, especially those less fortunate than us.

And that is why I like to focus on personal responsibility when thinking about identity. If we take responsibility, within our sphere of influence, we can ensure the people around us are treated right. And it is hard to separate the concept of responsibility from what it is to be a man. Being a man involves taking responsibility.

Responsibility means using our influence in the right way. And influence is leadership, so being a man also relates to being a leader. For clarity, I would apply the same logic to women as well. As boys become men and girls become women there is a change of expectation when it comes to responsibility. The responsibility of parenthood and the leadership required of both the father and mother is a great example of this step change in becoming an adult.

We all have influence – to a greater or lesser degree – and therefore we all have leadership potential and responsibility as men and women leaders to use that influence for good. But that differentiates childhood from adulthood more that specifically becoming a man. So, we ask again: what makes a real man?

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What makes a real man?

It is common to hear someone referred to as a ‘real man’. Which does beg the question, what does it mean to be a real man? It is also interesting that one is less likely to hear the phrase ‘real woman’! Perhaps gents – yes, I am speaking to all of you guys – this indicates an area where men have some real insecurities. There is some deep urge to be a real man.

So, what is a real man?

The idea of a real man is very dependent upon a given culture. The idealised man is visualised variously in different places and at different times. Even as I sit here typing I know that my idea of a man is very much dependent upon unconscious biases that I have developed from living in my setting.

But even this picture can vary considerably within a given country. Just imagine a picture of a real man in your country, but either in an urban or rural setting, and you will see what I mean. The ideas are often quite different.

It is important to remember that a lot of the things often associated with the idea of a real man are often cosmetic. For example, in some cultures, a real man wears a beard, in others, not. In some cultures, a real man is obese, in others, they are supposed to be buff. In other words, when people frequently talk about being a real man, they refer to present fashion or trends within a given culture.

But these superficial ideas often indicate a deeper principle. As with the iceberg model of culture, the behaviours we observe are rooted in beliefs and values that are hidden below the surface.

Being a net provider or contributor

There are some cultural similarities, beyond fashion, that point towards a common theme of manhood, and that is the idea of being a net provider. In other words, a person who contributes more to their family group than they take from it.

Even unhelpful stereotypes of the real man, pictured as a gnarly hunter or successful businessman, point towards this deeper value. For example, I know for me that being financially independent of my parents was an important aspect of feeling like a man. Today, being able to provide for my family and contribute to my community is a key to my masculine identity, for good or ill.

I say for good or ill as many men suffer crises when out of work or when they retire. They are not just made redundant, they feel redundant. There have been various studies that show that men, in particular, suffer more from mental health problems at retirement. This is generally linked to more traditional gender roles and men seeing themselves as the primary breadwinner for a family, whereas women place much more worth on their maternal roles. Put simply, guys are much more likely to have an action-orientated identity; they want to be doing something. Women generally place more worth in their relational links and therefore their identity is more shaped in that context.

This may change over time as traditional roles change but, at least for now, it is worth remembering. And we males should challenge ourselves with some questions. What is it that we like to do that brings real worth? How do the things we do contribute to our community? Are we making sure we connect with people, and really foster relationships, as well as just achieving tasks? What do we really value and what do we do that brings real value?

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What are male values?

There are not any exclusively male values, but there are certainly some that are historically associated with men. When working out our personal values, understanding these expectations is important. Misunderstanding these cultural principles can lead to negative expressions or behaviours.

For example, the concept of being a man is often related to strength. This primarily stems from the physiological differences between men and women and that men are generally biologically wired to have greater physical strength than women. This is largely due to body size, as comparative studies have shown. There are hormonal differences too and the increased amounts of testosterone in men, compared to women, is a key factor, particularly through puberty.

Masculine values and behaviour

The idea of physical strength can be related to positive characteristics such as being a provider and protector. In modern Western society, the need for physical strength to achieve these positive outcomes (i.e., supporting and defending our people group) has reduced, but the association remains. And with it also come negative behaviours. The idea of strength is frequently misused through posturing, aggression, and violence. These behaviours most frequently manifest in society through men. For example, the UN 2019 study on homicide shows that men are both the major perpetrator, and victims, of murder.

In terms of linking positive behaviours and values, the poem If, by Rudyard Kipling is an evocative picture of how a man could embody the strength of character, and male-associated principles such as confidence, determination and honesty.

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise.

If – Rudyard Kipling

What does it mean to be a man today?

Due to the challenge of working out what it is to be a man, particularly in today’s culture, there are movements to help people think about what it is to be a man. Probably the most well-known of these is International Men’s Day (IMD), which falls on the 19th of November each year.

The idea of international men’s day is to “celebrate worldwide the positive value men bring to the world, their families and communities.” It does this through six core statements of purpose, the pillars of IMD.

The 6 Pillars of International Men’s Day (IMD)

The IMD objectives or 6 Pillars of International Men’s Day are:

  1. To promote positive male role models; not just movie stars and sportsmen but everyday, working-class men who are living decent, honest lives.
  2. To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society, community, family, marriage, childcare, and the environment.
  3. To focus on men’s health and well-being; social, emotional, physical, and spiritual.
  4. To highlight discrimination against men; in areas of social services, social attitudes and expectations, and law.
  5. To improve gender relations and promote gender equality.
  6. To create a safer, better world; where people can be safe and grow to reach their full potential.

In these statements what we don’t get is a definition of what a man needs to be. Instead, the provisions create an environment where men can work this out for themselves, in a positive way, with the support of others.

Helping men and boys

The theme for International Men’s Day in November 2022 is ‘helping men and boys’. So, for you guys out there, what can you do to help other men and boys? How can you contribute to your family, community, or team? And to you gals, how can you support the men you know in doing this? We, men, may pretend otherwise, but we need support and encouragement!

So, what does it mean to be a man?

There are no easy answers. But we have seen that men like to take action, so as you think about what you might do for IMD, let me leave the last words to Kipling, as something to ponder, as you work out what it is to be a man and help boys as they learn to do the same.

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

If – Rudyard Kipling

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

What Are The Right Questions to Ask Yourself and Others?

What are the right questions? Which questions do you need to ask if you want to lead yourself and others better? Why are the right questions important?

“A prudent question is one half of wisdom.” – Francis Bacon

Good questions are essential if we want to get the right information.

If we don’t ask the right questions we won’t get the answers we need. Without the necessary information, we won’t be able to make good decisions. If we don’t make good decisions we lose our direction, don’t achieve our goals, fail in our leadership, and can end up ineffective, unhappy, or worse.

I found out how important questions are early on in my career because my first role was being a Bomb Disposal Officer.

Nasty surprises

I was just savouring a coffee from my newly purchased coffee maker when a wide-eyed and out of breath soldier stumbled into my makeshift office. My cup was poised in my hand – the aroma was fantastic – and the thought of drinking it was more alluring than anything I could imagine that this solider might interrupt me with. “This had better be good”, I thought.

“Sir! There is a suspicious package at the gates of the camp!”

I put the cup down; coffee time was over.

It was Bosnia in 2001, and I was a young Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers leading the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (bomb disposal) team in the local region. The conflict in Bosnia had died down some time ago so we were there mainly to clear up the mess that a war leaves behind, namely the mines, mortar bombs and other explosives that littered the countryside. But in the post 9/11 world, the threat of terrorist attack was at the forefront of people’s minds. In this context, an unexplained bag, right up against the front gates of a military camp, was screaming out ‘IED!’ (Improvised Explosive Device), and required immediate and serious attention.

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Red wire or blue wire?

Therefore, I went to take control of the scene and do an initial threat assessment. I met the guard commander and asked him some questions such as:

Where exactly was the package?

What did it look like?

Who had seen it first?

When had it been found?

Why was it suspicious?

How had it got there?

Very quickly a picture emerged that put my mind at ease.

One of the guards had seen an old and infirm lady dropping off the parcel. Upon questioning the local interpreters, I found out that this lady was well known to them (as she was a little eccentric) and that she had made similar deliveries before. It was more than likely that this was just a gift for the soldiers.

A short trip to visit the lady at her house confirmed that yes, she had just dropped off some biscuits for the troops. It just so happened that she thought that dropping off a ‘surprise’ in an unmarked bag, unannounced, at the front gate to a military base was a good thing to do!

After establishing all of this I was able to go back, safely deal with the package (no, I didn’t eat or blow up the biscuits), give the all-clear, and return the security levels to normal. I thanked the lady for the kind thought and gift but asked her to refrain from such ‘surprise’ generosity in the future.

So, the right question was not ‘do we cut the red or the blue wire?’ In fact, the right questions were not technical ones at all.

The importance of questions

When you consider your life is under threat then it is very important to properly assess a situation. You have to overcome the ‘fight or flight’ response and use the decision space – the gap between stimulus and response – to work out what to do. In the time given you have to make an assessment. Asking the right questions and getting the right answers is essential before launching into action.

The military, the emergency services and medical services know this and train personnel in decision making. By employing decision making processes and then applying in exercises and real-life situations, to build up experience, such people can become expert decision-makers and can make quick, effective decisions even in high risk environments.

Outside of careers that deal with life-threatening situations very few people get training in asking questions and making decisions, despite that research time and again sights such competencies to be essential to employees and particularly leaders and managers (Harrell, Barbato). The need for decision-making is often expressed in other terms such as:

  • The need for analysing and overcoming problems (Zenger, Folkman),
  • Taking the initiative (Maxwell),
  • Setting direction and goals (Giles),
  • Good prioritisation (Covey),
  • Having a clear vision and strategy for the team (Rumelt)

But all these things are related to or dependent upon good decision-making. And, what’s more, these things all come together in the realm of coaching and personal development. For senior executives and C-suite leaders, this is particularly true, as coaching at this level provides structured time to think and make the most important decisions for their work and life as a whole.

An Introduction to The Right Questions Coaching and Decision-Making Framework

Do we need decision making tools?

We generally take decision making for granted, after all we each make thousands of decisions every day, some conscious, some unconscious, and rarely need to apply more than our intuition to a problem. But there is a problem. Research, particularly by influential figures such as Daniel Kahneman, has demonstrated that our intuition is amazing but has limits.

Therefore understanding decision making and how to make good decisions is critical to all of us, and good decision making starts with good questions.

The problem with many processes and tools, including those used for decision making, is that they are often non-intuitive and hard to remember. That is why we should start with what we already know and structures that are already embedded.

“A problem well put is half solved.”

John Dewey

Start with the questions you already know

When I was training as a Bomb Disposal Officer we were taught a question technique called the ‘Five Ws’ which we used when we approached an incident. The ‘Five Ws’ is an interrogative style employed primarily by journalists and police officers but it is a framework that can be used by anyone to make an appreciation of a given situation.

The idea is that by asking open questions you are more likely to get factual answers by avoiding presuppositions. The simple idea of just having the ‘Five Ws’ of What? Where? When? Who? Why? (along with the added H of ‘How?’) provides an easy to remember checklist that is a useful starting point towards building a rounded picture of any circumstance.

Using Interrogatives

As I have done further research into question technique and applied the principles in my work I have found that it is also useful to add another ‘W’ – that of ‘which?’ – to the list. The ‘which?’ question covers the concept of selection (and therefore of options and risk) and helps to complete the cycle, particularly when we are planning for the future, not just examining an event that has already happened.

This makes seven questions in a total and creates a easily remembered framework. Its easy to recall as its based upon the most common interrogative words that we use in English and also because we find it harder to recall lists about seven or eight items (Buzan).

The application of the interrogatives provides a holistic approach to analysing a situation and making an informed decision. The use of these seven open questions is a technique I have dubbed The Right Questions.

Using The Right Questions

Seven questions? Surely that is too simple you say! Well, we will come back to that point but the simplicity is a large part of the system’s strength. But, as with any tool or model, the technique is only as good as its application and it is this application of the questions that we need to explore in more depth.

When you learn how to apply the system it is very flexible. My starting point when faced with a challenge – whether it is developing a business case, starting a project, or writing an article – will be to write down the seven Right Questions and start to brainstorm and explore my thoughts under each heading.

My experience of working as a coach and consultant has taught me that The Right Questions approach can be applied to everything from life direction and personal vision, to corporate strategy and organisational change.

I am passionate about serving individual and teams, helping them to face their challenges, achieve wonderful things and have fun while doing it. If I can serve you in this way then I will be fulfilling my goal.

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The right questions for life’s journey

In the journey of life we get to travel together with others at different points. Our paths merge, cross and diverge and we never quite know how long we will have to travel alongside people. However long we have, I hope that in our time travelling together I can assist you in refining your direction and encouraging you on to all the amazing things life has in store for you.

Bon voyage et Bon courage!

“The discerning heart seeks knowledge.”

Solomon

To find out more about applying and using The Right Questions framework click on the link below:

What are The Right Questions?


References:

Buzan, T (2010) Use Your Head, London: BBC

Giles, S (2016) The Most Important Leadership Competencies, According to Leaders Around the World, Harvard Business Review

Harrell, M and Barato, L (2018) Great Managers Still Matter: The Evolution of Google’s Project Oxygen, Google/Re:work

Kahneman, D (2011) Thinking Fast and Slow, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Maxwell, J C (2007) The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, Nashville: Thomas Nelson

Zenger, J and Folkman, J (2014) The Skills Leaders Need at Every Level, Harvard Business Review

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

The Top 6 Leadership and Management Books

I love devouring books in the holiday season and I always carefully consider the books I purchase or ask for as gifts. Here are my top recommendations for leadership and management books. There are some old titles and some new ones, but they are all indispensable reads and should inform and inspire you.

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey

This was one of the first leadership and management books I ever read and since that first encounter, I have not stopped going back to it. Full of practical wisdom, the book takes you on a journey; setting a foundation that helps you win at a personal level before providing you with the tools you need to flourish as a leader. If you have not read this book yet then redeem yourself this Christmas and get a copy!
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – UK
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – US

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2. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t – Jim Collins

Jim Collins has become one of the most influential voices in organisational development over the past decade. This prequel to his other famous book, Built to Last, applies a scientific approach to identifying what makes a company successful, including what is needed of the people who lead such organisations. The book is challenging and inspiring in equal measure.
Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t – UK
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t – US

3. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You – John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell is a prolific writer and there are several excellent books that I could list here but this is perhaps his classic work. His straightforward can-do approach to leadership is very appealing and his simple definition of leadership as ‘influence’ demonstrates that we are all leaders at some level and therefore should seek to develop our character and hone our skills to become the best leaders we can be.
21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership – UK
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You – US

4. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – Robert B. Cialdini

Compelling and persuasive in its own right, Robert Cialdini’s famous work is a touchstone for people in marketing but considering Maxwell’s definition of leadership (that leadership is influence) this book is essential reading for every leader and manager. I guarantee that it will change the way you communicate and you will never see a sales pitch in the same way again!
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – UK
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials) – US

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5. The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking – Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschäppeler

This fantastic resource was a new purchase for me in 2012. The book may fit in your pocket but don’t let that fool you, it is a veritable treasure trove. It is made all the more attractive because the material is presented in simple, easy to access chunks so you can work your way through or just dip in whenever you need. Whether you decide to stash the book in your top drawer at work or keep it on your bedside table, make sure it is close to hand for when you want inspiration.
The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking – UK
The Decision Book: 50 Models for Strategic Thinking – US

6. Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life – David Allen

David Allen, the bestselling author of Getting Things Done, and an expert in achieving work-life balance, wrote this book. I have just been given a copy and it comes with high recommendations so I will be reading it over Christmas. I look forward to reviewing it fully when I am finished and discussing it in the New Year!
Making It All Work: Winning at the game of work and the business of life – UK
Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life – US

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

Book Review: The Book of Job by Dale Stafford

Are you wanting a book to inspire your work this year? Searching for a lovely executive gift? Wondering what pogonophobia is? Then check out the Book of Job by Dale Stafford.

It felt like Christmas all over again – or maybe better – because the package I received, containing a limited edition of The Book of Job, was so lovely I almost did not want to unwrap it. My name and address were handwritten in attractive sweeping strokes, the package was encapsulated in crisp brown paper, and all this was sealed with red wax and tied up with red and white string. I felt special just getting it. And there was more! Inside there was a letter, once again sealed with wax, and the book enclosed in patterned paper. So now I am feeling like it is Christmas and my birthday too. Once inside the wrapping the book’s lavish gold edging glistered at me; beckoning me to open it.

The attention to detail, already evident in the packaging, continues throughout The Book of Job. One example of this is in the language as The Book of Job is written in an Old English style (or perhaps ‘Ye Olde Style’) with lots of ‘thee’ and ‘thou’, ‘hast’ and ‘canst’. I thought this might make the book less accessible (as I am more likely to speed-read business books) but the more I read, the more I was disarmed by the approach.

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Content and style

I was also won over by the subject matter of the first page. The title runs “In the beginning was the word and the word was ‘Where?’ This immediately struck a chord with me, as in The Right Questions this is the first question that I pose too.

The book goes on to draw a parallel between the biblical character of Job and what we experience in our own job. The Bible story of Job is terrifying and inspiring in equal measure but Dale uses it cleverly to frame her book. There is an underlying theme throughout the book about turning challenges into opportunities as summed up in the quote on page 135:

“When a problem doth land on thy doorstep, it is opportunity that doth knock at thy door.”

This principle, underpinning the narrative, gives a very uplifting tone to the book. It is not a preachy how-to book about success, but rather a book of wisdom inspired by successful people. Therefore I feel that – although the book is penned in a fun way – the serious message of reframing the way we think about ourselves, others, life, work and success, is all the more powerful.

For me this meant that as I read through the book I found that Dale was speaking to the converted; I agreed with the points she emphasised and increasingly enjoyed the way she illustrated them.

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Recommendation

The Book of Job is full of quotes, anecdotes, humour and insights that make it a pleasure to delve into; whether you chose to read it cover to cover or just dip in from time to time.

This is an excellent gift, especially for your friends in business, but you may not be able to resist treating yourself to a copy! Witty and engaging as well as beautifully constructed and designed, it is a pleasure to receive and to read. Well done to Dale Stafford on creating something so unique.

Oh, and by the way, pogonophobia is the fear of beards. One of the many things I learnt from reading the book!

Dale Stafford is the author of The Book of Job and founder of The Principle Department. You can find out more about her and her work at www.theprincipledepartment.com

Buy the Book of Job from Amazon.co.uk

Buy The Book of Job from Amazon.com

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

The Importance of Inspiring Stories to Values and Achieving Goals

Logic and emotion are both of great importance to being effective. Sharing inspiring stories that demonstrate our values and highlight success help us to engage with both the logical and emotional sides of what we need to do.

The Psychological Requirement to Connect Logic and Emotions

“Humans are creatures with a two-sided brain: On the left side, there’s nothing right and on the right side, there’s nothing left.” Anon

Scientists have long explored the dual functions of the brain and many people have heard of the idea that the left hemisphere of the brain is for logical functions whereas the right side is more for creative thinking.

Although this lateralisation is an over simplification it does contribute to our understanding of thought processes and personality types. We all have some sort of preference to being either more rational or intuitive in our approach to challenges and psychologists have used this and other measures to help explain personality types.

For example in the Big 5’ personality traits model a preference for being more creative, intuitive and creative in approach would lead someone to have a high ‘openness’ score. Equally, within the same system, someone with a more logical, ordered and detailed approach to life is likely to have a higher ‘conscientiousness’ ranking.

Once again these measures are generalisations but they demonstrate that we all have certain preferences and that any preference to one side or another has certain strengths and weaknesses and therefore we need a balance of the logical and emotional in our approach.

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How to Get the Balance and Make the Connection

One way we can achieve that balance is through developing a good team and having people who can fulfil different roles and play to their strengths. But even with a well balanced team there are certain functions in an organisation – such as customer service and brand awareness – that everyone has an influence on and therefore, whatever their preference, they need a way to be connected to both the logical and emotional drivers in the business.

It has been demonstrated that one of the most powerful ways of connecting between the logical and emotional is the use of stories. For most people it is shared experiences, the conversations we have, and the life illustrations we hear, that are the lessons we tend to remember.  These things become the threads that tie together the logical and emotional aspects of what we do.

This knowledge is very important to organisations, as any team needs to engage their people at the logical level, through things such as goals and measurements, to more emotional issues such as values and purpose. Really successful institutions have ways of capturing and sharing stories that naturally spread through the group; encouraging people and embedding the right strategies and attitudes in people whatever level, role or function they operate in.

The Successful Military Model

Having had a military background I can share a way that the Armed Forces has created a process that enables the sharing of stories that demonstrated the values of the organisation and inspire people to achieve their tasks with the right attitudes.

Even though the values of the British Army are regularly taught to soldiers, if you asked the average private what those values were they would probably struggle to give you more than two of the six core values. The core values of the British Army are:

  • Courage
  • Discipline
  • Respect for others
  • Integrity
  • Loyalty
  • Selfless commitment

These values are the most important aspect of the emotional connection within the Army. The critical issue on the logical side is the concept of mission. The military operates within an approach called mission command and the importance of achieving the mission is drummed into every service man and woman.

Because a mission in the Army frequently requires hardship or threat to life it is vital that the values are effectively understood and adhered to. Otherwise the deeper purpose and motivation would be lost. How then is this done when the average soldier cannot recall what the values are? The answer is that they all know stories that link the achievement of a mission with the values that underpin that success.

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Stories that Inspire: Medal Citations

Many stories are passed on informally in the bars and barrack rooms of the military but there is also a formal process for capturing and celebrating the best of these stories. This is done through citations and the awarding of medals.

In the British Commonwealth the most famous medal of all is the Victoria Cross; the highest commendation that can be awarded for valour in the face of the enemy. Introduced by Queen Victoria in 1856 the Victoria Cross (VC) has only been awarded 1356 times, and only 13 times since the Second World War.

The stories that surround VC winners are legendary; VC winners are the heroes of the Armed Forces and the stories permeate the culture of the organisation. Their history is taught during training, pictures of their heroic deeds hang on the walls of offices and messes; teams and places are even named after them.

Lieutenant John Chard – A Hero of Rorke’s Drift

For me, being a Royal Engineer Officer, one story I have been steeped in is that of Lieutenant John Chard, the Royal Engineer Officer who led the defence of Rorke’s Drift during the Zulu War in 1878.

Chard was sent to Rorke’s Drift (a small garrison at a mission station) to build a bridge but the location became the site of a decisive battle.

A Zulu impi (an Army of 3000-4000 men) descended upon Rorke’s Drift fresh from subjecting the British to a terrible defeat at Isandlwana where they had annihilated 1350 British and Native troops.

There were only 139 soldiers (including 30 sick and wounded) and a handful of local and colonial troops (making about 150 in total) at Rorke’s Drift but John Chard led the successful defence of the station. The desperate fighting, often fought hand to hand, went on through an afternoon and an entire night but the defence held. The battle cost 17 of the defenders lives. The Zulus suffered several hundred mortalities and withdrew from the attack the following morning.

The incredible valour by the defenders led to the awarding on 11 VCs and 4 DCMs (Distinguished Conduct Medals). The story is particularly well known as it was made famous by the film ‘Zulu’ where John Chard was played by Stanley Baker and Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead – his fellow officer and VC recipient – was played by Michael Caine.

John Chard’s actions demonstrated his deep commitment to his mission and an exemplary illustration of the values of the Army. The leadership that Chard demonstrated at Rorke’s Drift has inspired generations of young officers, such as myself, and this is just one of many incredible stories that could be told of brave service men and women.

Inspiring Stories for Making the Connection

A recipient of the Victoria Cross is an extreme example of a story, and certainly not an everyday occurrence, but shows the power of stories to inspire people. Stories have the power to connect people to the logical and emotional requirements that an organisation expects of them and it is important that any team or business looks at ways of capturing and spreading stories that equip, inspire and release employees to take new levels of ownership in their work.

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

How Many Mission Statements Do You Need?

Trying to come up with a short pithy mission statement that encompasses everything you are about in life is not an easy task!  Do not worry – the concept of mission statements is bigger than just one individual phrase, as I will try to explain.  Mission statements exist in the context of lots of interlocking levels, generally not just as some isolated goal that stands totally alone.

Different mission statements within a single company

Imagine a company, a company that makes toilet rolls.  The vision of the company is that every posterior in the world should be blessed by the ultra-soft ‘Cushionette’ produced by the business.  They have defined their mission, their measure of success as: ‘to have a roll of Cushionette available in every lavatory in the world’.  It is a bold and audacious mission.

Different departments, different mission statements?

There are many departments within the company to allow it to function properly.  There are Sales; the guys in sales have a mission statement that is almost exactly the same as the company mission because they are trying to sell the product into as many spaces ‘in the world’ as possible.  For the Quality Control team, the mission statement is easy too, they need to make sure each roll of Cushionette is ‘ultra soft’.

How about the Finance team?  Defining the mission for the Finance team is somewhat harder.  It is harder still at an individual level: how do you create a mission statement that applies to the person who does the photocopying for the Finance team?  Yet, if they are going to be effective they need a mission that connects them to the greater vision and shows them how they can make a tangible difference in achieving the bigger goal.

So the Reprographic Officer (photocopier person) will have their personal mission statement.  Let’s say in this case their mission statement is “to always produce copies that are timely, accurate and cost-efficient” but that mission is a sub-set of the Finance team mission, which is, in turn, a subset of the company mission.

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Linking and nesting mission statements

This is important as the more productive each individual and team is the more productive the overall effect is.  Also, one failure of the smallest element can bring down the whole thing.  If the ‘Vice President of Printed Communications’ (another photocopier person) fails to copy the company accounts on time, the company is put at risk. All right, so this is stretching the point somewhat but on a serious note, any communications process can have a major effect on the effectiveness of a team or company.

So from the example above we can see that within an organisation there will be various missions that all need to interlock vertically across the company.  It’s like those Russian dolls that fit inside one another.  Not clear yet?  Let’s investigate this from another angle; here is some background to the theory.

Mission Command

The military has probably spent more time and effort on developing the idea of a mission than anyone else, and in the British military this overlapping hierarchy of mission statements is referred to as ‘mission command’.  This decentralised approach is to some extent based on the lessons learned from the effectiveness of German Stormtroopers and the ‘manoeuvrist’ approach of Blitzkrieg warfare, but again don’t worry if this means nothing to you, you do not need to be an expert in military history to understand the basic principles.

The idea behind mission command is to allow maximum freedom of movement, coordination and support at every level of the organisation by having interconnected mission statements.  It requires a highly trained and motivated force but when it works it is referred to as a force multiplier, in other words, it is highly effective and greater than the sum of its parts.  In business, this is sometimes referred to as ‘synergy’.

So maximum effectiveness is the aim; your main responsibility is to make sure you and/or your workforce are highly trained and motivated, and then to make sure the mission is clear and connected both up and down the organisation.

How to craft a mission statement

In the military, the mission statement actually comes in two parts.  There is both a ‘to’ and an ‘in order to’ phrase in the statement.  For example, I said earlier a mission might be ‘to capture the position on hill 321’ but it will also have a second half that says something like ‘in order to allow the battalion to advance’.  In other words, one mission is connected to another mission in a hierarchy.  In this case, the battalion cannot achieve its mission of advancing unless the enemy position on the hill is captured.  The battalion in turn will have a mission that connects to its higher command and so on up the chain. These go up from the tactical to operational, strategic and grand-strategic levels. That one mission to engage with the enemy on hill 321 will be part of a much larger picture such as a war between two sovereign states. Who knows, the whole campaign could pivot on that one action: that is why the mission is so important.

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Mission statements work up and down and side to side

So just like the toilet roll company, all the missions interlock up and down the organisation. So that is the hierarchy – the up and down bit, but there is more.  There is a horizontal plane of mission as well as a vertical one. Every department in a company or every person in a team will have a slightly different mission but they need to complement each other. Crafting mission statements is likely correctly harnessing horses. You are trying to get people to pull together in the same direction.

As an individual you are likely to have a mission in your workplace that interconnects vertically and horizontally within that organisation but your career mission statement may have very little to do with other parts of your life.  Most of us have a range of responsibilities and wear a variety of different hats. Therefore we can expect to have different missions that are relevant to the various roles we play.  For example what is your contribution or role within your community?  What is your mission in terms of your family and relationships?

These personal mission statements have a hierarchy too as all the goals we set are effectively part of the mission and they only exist (or should only exist) to support the greater mission.  Confused? Don’t worry! Take a look at how to make an action plan.

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

How to Turn Random Individuals Into a Team

We know that building a team is not all about ‘trust falls’, away days and retreats. Therefore, how can managers build lasting bonds and the kind of trust that makes teamwork a breeze?

I started off my career as a Bomb Disposal Officer in the Army, working in situations where working well together as a team was potentially a life or death situation. Since then, as a consultant and leadership coach, I have worked within and alongside organisations in the commercial, governmental and voluntary sectors, equipping teams with the skills they need to be more effective in working together. The bulk of my work revolves around facilitating strategy, giving people the tools they need to make good decisions, and through this building teams that are resilient to change and uncertainty.

There is not always the luxury of having time out and fun activities to build a team. Fortunately, these things are not actually necessary. You can build a successful team in the harshest of environments if you understand certain fundamentals. Here are the things that I have found are most effective in turning a bunch of individuals into a high performing team.

“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”

Steve Jobs

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Be a leader who understands how teams develop

A well-functioning team is dependent upon good leadership. If a team is failing in some way, then the manager has to make the assumption that they have to shoulder the bulk of the blame and take responsibility for finding a solution.

One thing that can really help a leader build and manage a team is understanding the natural evolution that a group goes through on the way to becoming an effective team. One great model of this that I have found particularly helpful (and memorable) is the Tuckman Cycle. Bruce Tuckman did research that demonstrated that every team goes through stages of:

  • Forming
  • Storming
  • Norming
  • Performing and
  • Ajourning

A manager can do things to speed the process through these steps to the performing stage. It is especially important to get through the painful ‘storming’ phase but you cannot completely short circuit the system to get straight to performance. There has to be some pain to get to the gain.

Another model, the Drexler-Sibbet model of Team Performance, is a helpful complement to the Tuckman model. The Drexler-Sibbet model poses a set of questions that a team needs to work through in order to progress through each level of performance. As a leader, this is invaluable in working out how to support the team best.

You can see how the two models combine in the picture below.

The stages of team development and the questions that need to be answered

All teams experience a level of change and you can progress or regress through these models. Therefore a leader needs to assess which stage their team is at and how to answer the key questions. A good leader thinks of strategies to facilitate progress towards peak performance. These can be planned from the beginning.

Gather people to a common vision and set of values

One thing that can help people quickly form as a team and work through initial ‘storming’ challenges is to have a vision for people to gather to and for them to share a common set of values. People need to know where they are going and how they are going to get there. A clear mission gives people the definition of success they need to make progress, while shared values and principles provide the guidelines for behaviour and decision-making that will shape the journey. If these are established early on it will help attract the right team members and then engage people effectively so they can quickly get to the settled ‘norming’ phase.

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Invest time in individuals

Stephen Covey wisely said: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” This is vitally important for the leader and manager. It is very easy to plough into a team environment and start pushing people to do things in a particular way but investing in individuals first can save a lot of time, effort and heartache.

Listening to your team members and understanding the needs and desires of your employees (as well as their skills and experience) will contribute to the effective management and working of the team. Giving time to individuals builds up capital in the relational bank account; an investment you can then draw upon when challenges hit, but hopefully with less chance of going overdrawn.

Give people clear roles and responsibilities

Team members, as well as needing to know where they are going, also need to know their part in the plan. Their roles and responsibilities need to be clearly laid out in such a way that they should be stretched but be able to play to their strengths. One of the most successful tools for establishing the roles within a team is the Belbin Team Roles model.

Meredith Belbin did extensive research into how effective teams function and worked out that there are nine functions or roles that need to be fulfilled for a team to work properly. Some people may take on more than one role but all the following bases need to be covered:

  • Plants are highly creative and good at solving problems
  • Resource Investigators connect with the world outside the team, bringing in external views on opportunities and competition
  • Monitor Evaluators provide a logical, impartial view and help to weigh up options
  • Co-ordinators focus on the objective and delegating tasks to team members
  • Implementers plan and implement a workable strategy
  • Completer Finishers bring high standards, see errors and add polish to the final solution
  • Team workers help the team gel and identify things that need doing to help the team
  • Shapers challenge and provide momentum by driving the team forward
  • Specialists provide in-depth knowledge within a key area

The approach is explained more fully in his book Team Roles at Work (2010).

Overcoming challenges together

When people know where they are going, how they are getting there and what their role is then work starts getting done efficiently. At this point, the team can grow together as they face and overcome challenges together. Successfully tackling a work problem can bring more progress than a plethora of away-days. Helping someone through a problem is far more productive than catching someone in a ‘trust fall’ exercise. The important thing for the manager to remember at this point is that they need to be playing their part in the team, bringing leadership, keeping up good communication, supporting individuals and helping the team to make decisions.

Celebrating success

Finally, when something is done well it should be celebrated. This does not mean popping the champagne (although there are times for that), it could be as simple as praising a team member for a job well done. This should be done in a team or public setting so that people can share in the success and be encouraged to press forward in what they are doing. Then, at the end of a project, throw a party.

Congratulations, you have a fully functioning team!

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!