VII. Read and translate this newspaper article
HAVE A HEART, BOSSES
Managers need to hone their emotional skills as well as their professional know-how if they want to survive at the highest level, difficult decisions and feel comfortable in any situation.
This is the view of Harriet Karsh, a psychologist and personal-development consultant.
Karsh, who spoke at the recent Women in Management conference, says of her Heart of Leadership programme: "I help people to deal with difficult situations where they have to do things that go against their own code of values.
"I help people to understand their values, how they want the world to be and how they want to be in that world, and compare that with their business approach, to find an integrity between what they believe in and what they do. Leaders who lack integration between a thought and deed lose the confidence of colleagues and subordinates.
If you understand what is happening inside you, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, you are facing a dilemma that needs some resolution.
Those who ignore it find it comes out in different ways - illness or breakdown. I help them to check their choices against their values and see the consequences for the business and themselves. You might find a better way of doing what you must do, or you must find the courage to go against it.
"We support people when they work through choices. We help them to take responsibility for decisions they make and for the outcomes of their actions."
"People in leadership roles begin to understand better what they need to do to live up to their highest aspirations."
Susan Young, managing director of a big company, first worked with Karsh two-and-a-half years ago. "I'd just been recruited and wanted to strengthen my team of directors. Harriet helped us to understand what strengths each of us contributed and think about areas where there might be conflict. It encouraged us to rely on one another. She also helped me to recruit a very strong management team."
"We're also changing the culture of job so that people solve problems on their own and constantly seek to improve the way they do things, rather than just follow a set of procedures."
"Harriet has enabled us to build strong relationships required when you are making major changes because there are lots of fears and difficulties associated with them. If you feel you have a strong team you can rely on, it gives you the courage to face things that are at the limits of your skills."
"We recognize the value of the individual, but also understand that we are a team with complementary skills," says Young.
Phil Besley, a management consultant, did the Heart of Leadership course two-and-a-half years ago. He now works with organizations on team and personal development.
"The workshop helped me to understand how open I am to others' views and how ready I am to confront some of my own fears," says Besley.
"I learnt the value of how we relate to ourselves and others, rather than tasks and achievements. If I know what my strengths are, how I feel and what's important to me, I can begin to form some values about life, and that lets me relate more effectively to others."
"I learnt to understand what is right for me."
"Many people in my work have no understanding of themselves, so they are frightened and fragile; they have no sense of real purpose or value in what they do. They tend to do the least uncomfortable thing rather than the most honest thing."
"It requires a deep understanding within leaders to admit that they're as confused and sometimes as frightened and lost as everyone else," says Besley.
"In the personal-development work I do for organizations, I ask people to say what they think and feel, so that they begin to create for themselves a climate where they can give each other support and feed-back. I try to develop a real connection between people, from the boss to the most junior person, so all can feel that they have a right to be heard."