How to create flow in your not-for-profit

Sep 5, 2016

Lately in your  not-for-profit leadership, when you have been asked “how are you?” or “how are things going?” do you find yourself saying things like “Stop the world I want to get off”, “Sooo busy!”, “It’s frantic”, “So much going on” or “I can’t keep up” ?

These are all phrases that at different times we can find ourselves saying, and they can be said in a positive, vibrant “life’s great” way or we can use it when we are in a heavy, overwhelmed and not coping so well type of context.

The truth is that for most of us our work  and personal lives seem to always be full and fast paced – the difference in how we express it or cope with it comes down to how in flow we are with the type of activities going on in our life.

When you feel high vibe and in flow it doesn’t matter how much of it you’ve got going on or how busy you are – it feels great, like you could do this all day every day. But, when you are doing things that leave you feeling bogged down, de-energised and like the days, although busy and full, seem to go on f-o-r-e-v-e-r, you are out of flow.

So what is flow? And how does it impact and affect you as a not-for-profit leader, and your team in your organisation?

Being in flow is that effortless state when you are following a path of least resistance, you are in flow when you are using your natural talents and getting amazing results.

When you are in this zone you can be EXTREMELY busy and life can feel very fast paced, yet it feels fluid, easeful, and productive. You feel energised, aligned and connected.

But how do you get yourself and your team in flow?

  • Know where you create the most value:

Your natural talent area is the area where you bring the greatest value and is most likely the area in which you have the highest trust from others to deliver.

Identify where you create the most value. What is it that you are most trusted to carry out and do at a consistently high standard?

  • Build Trust:

We have been conditioned to focus on improvement of those areas in which we have the least talent, and least trust – we are told to get better.

Creating flow focuses on your talents and the talents of your team as a not-for-profit leader, and building the trust within the team by identifying and utilising the value of natural talents. Applying people to the activities and tasks where they are most productive and able to deliver their greatest VALUE.

By putting yourself in flow, and your team members in their flow zone you create highly productive, efficient, energetic, creative teams and organisations.

These teams go on to make a significant difference in the lives of their communities and the people they serve.

  • Bend with the Cycles:

Flow is also found in nature and the natural cycles of life, most things have cycles – projects, teams, organisations, seasons, and life itself.

Each different stage in the cycle requires a different energy, response, strategy and activity to move through one stage into the next.  Each stage has a relevance to the stage before, and the stage after.

We create the greatest flow when we bend with the natural cycles and draw on the value and talents of those most trusted to perform and deliver based on the stage of the particular cycle we are in.

Where there is flow, there is trust. When there is trust there is flow. You cannot have one without the other.

Create levels of high trust in your organisation by giving yourself and your team the activities that allow them to have high trust to create flow within your not for profit organisation.

Combine high trust and apply it to the natural cycles that exist by drawing on the specific value of others at the right time in your organisations, project and teams cycles to bend with the changes that will inevitably arrive.

Many of us, however, don’t know where to start to get in flow, simply because we don’t quite know what it is we are most ‘trusted’ to do – what value we bring.

How good would it be to understand your flow as a not-for-profit leader?

As a certified Flow Consultant with the highly recommended and utilised Talent Dynamic Profiling Tool, I can help you with that.

If you would like to know more about identifying your value and flow, and that of your team,  register to receive my up and coming video series “Understanding Trust and Flow” or book a complimentary clarity session with me.