Leadership values for M&E
In the last blog post we explored the concepts of Emotional and Social Intelligences (EI and SI). If you took the assessment and observed examples of “good” EI and SI in yourself and others on your team, you probably saw that the mood in your office or organization, or what we call, workgroup climate, is healthy and conducive to productivity, collaboration, and reaching your desired objectives. Where you observed examples of “bad” EI and SI in yourself and others on your team, you probably also saw people starting and passing along rumors and acting out “negative” emotions (anger, frustration, and sabotage) in an unhealthy workgroup climate. In this situation, productivity is low and it is likely that M&E objectives are not met.
Aside from being a contributor to a positive workshop climate, a leader in M&E needs to know what his or her values are because the leader’s values affect the entire team.
Let’s try this first – respond to the question, “What makes you really angry?” Often we find that what makes a person angry is something that offends her values. For example, if what makes you angry is someone questioning your competence, it suggests that you value professional competence. Or if you get angry when someone acts abusively to you or someone else, it might indicate that you have a value around respect and caring.
We all act based on our values and beliefs and this is where conflict can arise. If you believe xyz and your colleague believes something totally different, like abc, you may find yourselves angry with each other or frustrated by each other’s behavior. When you are aware of the clash of values, it is easier to deal with these conflicts and not simply condemn the other person for his /her behavior.
- What are your professional values?
- Reflect on a time when you were in conflict with someone. What values of his or her’s might you have been threatening? What were your values that the other person was threatening?
- Could the outcome have been different if you had both understood the power of beliefs and motives?
- Is it important to examine what is behind our behavior and that of others?
Clearly as a leader in M&E in the Health Sector, you must have a professional value around quality health data and its importance for making program decisions and policy throughout the system as well as a strong value around seeing improved health outcomes as a result of better M&E.
Remember: A leader in M&E can be anyone in the system who is involved, even tangentially, in the production and/or use of data.
Question:
What are your three most important values you bring with you to work everyday and how do they affect how you do your job?
Responses