At the AusIMM Congress last week we had many a discussion about succession planning within our COI committees. Some of the questions raised were: 🙋🏽♀️ How do we encourage participation? 🙋🏼♂️ How do we support individuals to step up into committee leadership roles? 🙋🏻Why aren’t individuals jumping at the opportunity to contribute? These considerations are relevant to any organisation, team, group or committee that needs succession planning. From someone who has stepped up here is what had me saying YES 🙌🏼 1) I know my purpose - I’ve spent time reflecting on why I do what I do, how I can use my skills, gifts & knowledge to help others & what I want my legacy to be. 2) Mindset - I have developed a growth mindset, meaning I am open to opportunities, trying out new things & stepping out of my comfort zone. 3) There is mutual benefit - I know what my contribution means to our members & the community, and I get to network, build connections which can have an impact on my career. 4) I’m passionate about the industry - I’m grateful for the life I have created working in the mining industry & know others can do the same. 5) Support - I’ve had offers of support from the committee, AMT & of course the continued support at home. So what can you do to encourage contribution which will lead to individuals stepping up into leadership roles? 🌏Help individuals see the bigger picture - Understand the individuals values & goals then link these to your organisations vision & highlight the positive impact of their contribution. 🤝Outline what support is available to them - Who can they reach out to? 👩🏼🏫Upskill - offer the individual opportunities to upskill (and support them in doing so). 🙌🏼Sell it - Higlight what the benefits are to them. Why is this role going to be important to them? Remember when someone says “I don’t have time” what they really mean is “this isn’t important to me”. What will you do to support & encourage your next leaders?
It could also mean: "it's not important to my boss".
The correct response is ‘sure… what other thing that I am currently doing would you like me to stop?’ A request for the time of a busy person must be accompanied by a reason that our scarcest resource (time) should be allocated differently.
or it could mean... "I dont have time"...
Flip it around: why is the request important enough to invest finite life energy in it? Explain it. Is the house burning down? Does one need to work through the night or skip meals or personal care or compromise health to get it done? There's always a balance to be struck... I.e. someone else's emergency is not necessarily my emergency.
Technical Manager , GTE and NFP board member
1moSometimes, “I don’t have time” is true. It should however be accompanied by “I can however set aside some time at xxx, will that work? Please let me know if this is urgent or critical for you and I will try to re-schedule something that is less critical”