LEADING WITH JOY - MY WIPR STORY

Do you know a friend who will never leave an event or a programme until everyone leaves? Well, if you don’t and we are friends, now you know one – me.

I may not necessarily be the first to attend an event, but I would stay till the end.? This I would later define as my staying power. I love to see how things end, which means, when all others are bored and tired, I hold on to the joy of anticipating till the end. This happens even with movies or books I don’t necessarily enjoy.

?On 6th July when the Women in PR (WIPR) Summit was done and dusted, five of us in the Executive Committee were still around soaking in the joys of the day and the trials that preceded the event. ?

During our discussion, one of the members asked me “so why were you made the President”? I gave her the answers I have given myself when I was first told to lead the team. ?Over the period or maybe that week, I found myself repeatedly asking myself that same question- the answers I gave, would be for another article

What has all this got to do with leading with joy? Well, since I was given the great privilege to lead Women in PR Ghana, I have fused the task with a bigger goal of experimenting with the idea of leading with joy. ?A leadership trait I carved for myself four years ago. This is in preparation of what I believe would lead me into my aspirations for the future.

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As I review my leadership of Women In PR, Ghana over the past seven months, I have discovered these lessons as the key drivers to my leading with joy. ?This is not just because my name is Joy, but that ??leading joyfully is a better option to pursue. Several of the books I have been reading recommend authentic leadership and if my life goal is to spread joy, then I have found the perfect example to experiment with.

Here then lie the key ingredients to my leadership style over the past months: ?

• Empathy: This word, I believe I have overused. ?I am told sometimes what I really mean is compromise, but no, to be emphatic, I mean empathy. This requires the understanding that others may be going through difficulties they cannot express, while being mindful of the fact that the work must be done. On occasions when I felt that a team member needed help, we would shift things around to get another member of the team to step in. ?This comes with banishing prejudice and listening to what is not being said. When a team member comes across as harsh, I imagine what their day may have been like and diffuse my emotions so not to take it personally.

• Play to your strength: To lead with joy, acknowledge we all love to do the things we love to do. Yes, some tasks may not be pleasant to do but as much as you can, distribute the work to fill in the strength of the team so they don’t feel overburdened.?

Even though each Executive Team member is a PR or Communication professional, we each have unique areas of strength. Coming together, we complement each other in a way that advances the agenda, but not without disagreements which tend to smoothen ?things out. ?Studying the team carefully, one would notice the ease with which we turn to execute our tasks because of its alignment to our natural flare.

• Balance: I believe in balancing serious discussions with light moments. There were times where our meetings got intense and tempers were high, but to lead with joy, I found a common ground, or a lighter topic that allowed me and my colleagues to assess our emotions and stick to the matter at hand. ?This act may be misconstrued as conflict avoidance, but it is not.? Understanding that our duty goes beyond the activity at hand helps to manage emotions. ?And sometimes, when I believe it is okay for team members to just let their emotions out, I do not get in their way, so they don’t suffocate on what they are feeling.

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• Appreciate: One of my love languages is gratitude and so I turn to equally over appreciate. Saying thank you comes to me naturally. And even when I get the silent response “stop patronizing me,” I still believe gratitude is a multiplier.? Even when I receive feedback that is unpleasant, I prefer to appreciate it verbally and take the time to digest the real issue later. Appreciation is both my weapon of defence and attack. When I show appreciation, not only does the receiver feel good, but I do also. A win-win, you may call it. You can try it the next time someone gives you what you may consider as a criticism.

• Learning process: Each day, and each meeting date were training grounds for me. After each meeting I marked my analytical skills, temperament, attention span and quality of deliverables to be sure I am learning and improving. ?I must say I have learnt a great deal these past seven months. I have found myself thinking about a particular meeting we had at the beginning of the journey where I felt misunderstood. I have countlessly analyzed myself on how I could have handled that meeting differently and what it could have meant for the execution of that particular idea.?

• Preparedness:? For every meeting we hosted, there was an agenda beforehand. This was deliberate to shape the conversation. This is especially because we each had full-time jobs coupled with the management of our personal lives. As long as the meetings had an agenda, each member is prepared giving us direction to quickly zoom straight to the point. Of course, with few moments of digressing, but we were always redirected to discuss urgent needs that demanded our attention on the agenda.

The past months have been teachable and humbling, but most importantly, instrumental in deepening my understanding of leadership, accountability and responsibility. It has shaped me to set my priorities right while giving me added exposure as a Public Relations and Communications professional. I am now more confident of my leadership with joy experiment.

So now, let’s go back to why staying power is necessary.

You see, after all the congratulations and the enthusiasm of the new role have faded, I must find all the strength, as the captain to continue steering this ship until it sails to its destination. Would this destination be both rewarding to me and the passengers aboard?

See you when we get to the end of the year- our destination, to measure the impact.

Are you a woman in PR, have you joined Women in PR yet? And, if you have, are you active, committed and willing to make your membership count?

Joyce Sackitey-Ahiadorme is a communication professional with over 10 years’ working experience in the FMCG sector.? She is a storyteller, wordsmith, conversation facilitator and moderator.

She is the President of Women In PR Ghana and Founder of Girls Goal Getters.

Contact her on 0501298532 or via email at [email protected]