Mayor Lisa Helps - A User Guide to Starting with a New Team

On Nov 17, 2018 we held our launch for this years cohort of local leaders.  Over the lunch hour we invited Mayor Helps in to talk about her leadership strategies in building the community.  Here is a brief overview of her suggested process:

ALWAYS begin with VALUES 

SPEND THE TIME TO ASK YOUR TEAM ABOUT WHAT THEY VALUE

What is it you value in the work we will do together?

WRITE THEM DOWN.

Then read them aloud.

Read slowly.

ASK QUESTIONS.

Is anything missing?

What do we need to add?

READ THEM ALOUD.

Read slowly.

ASK MORE QUESTIONS

Is there anything here that sounds exactly the same.

What do we filter out?

READ THEM ALOUD.

Read slowly.

ASK MORE QUESTIONS

Are there any words here that people don’t know exactly what is meant?

READ THEM ALOUD.

Read slowly.

ASK MORE QUESTIONS

Is there anything here we need to let go?

What do we remove from the list?

READ THEM ALOUD.

Read slowly.

One more time.

ASK FOR AGREEMENT

Are these the values we all agree to?

RE-WRITE YOUR VALUES

Go away and ask one person to take these words and write them down.

Keep it simple

Weave them together into a statement of our values.

Start with statements: "We are committed to..."

...

Don't forget ... every so often

READ THEM ALOUD.

Read slowly.