Discovering Self

Chikankata Hospital once again is fortunate to draw on the expertise of Insights Discovery(R), a global learning and development company whose list of customers include organisations such as Air France/KLM, AstraZeneca, BC Hydro, Boeing, Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young, HBOS, Lufthansa, Nationwide Building Society, Novartis International, Nuance Group, Pfizer, Royal Bank of Scotland, Siemens, Shell, Texas Workforce Commission, Xerox, 7-Eleven, Nike, Microsoft. And together with a personal commitment from Garry Smith, Insights Discovery licensed practitioner and Managing Director of Essex (UK) based training, coaching and consulting company Genesis TCC Ltd., who came to as far down as Chikankata to actually facilitate the Chikankata Hospital Management Training during 13th - 14th April 2009.

One may wonder at how a rural hospital in Zambia like Chikankata's can join Insights' list of elite customers like the ones mentioned above. It's all because of Garry's links with Insights and its CEO Andy Lothian who is a great supporter of The Salvation Army. Garry himself is a Divisional Envoy of The Salvation Army in Essex.

One of the most interesting parts of the training was that each delegate was provided with a personalised profile, each of which was impressively produced from analysis of 25 sets of questions each delegate has answered through an online evaluator form. Following is my own profile.

Key Strengths
+Competitive and wants to win at all costs
+Embraces change readily
+Self disciplined, confident and convincing
+Intuitive and optimistic
+Frank, honest and straightforward leader
+Ability to communicate his vision to others
+Swift and agile
+Boundless energy, capable of adopting a number of roles simultaneously
+Excellent communication and presentation skills
+Resourceful

Weaknesses
The famous Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung said: "Wisdom accepts that all things have two sides". It has also been said that a weakness is simply an overused strength. So I've no problem sharing my weaknesses with you, and here they are:
-Get so involved may ignore his own and others needs (My wife very much agreed to this!)
-Becomes defensive or dictatorial if challenged
-May not dot all the "i"s and cross all the "t"s
-Dislikes and avoids routine tasks
-Sometimes lacks a sense of humour
-High sense of urgency can create stress for others (My colleagues mostly agreed to this!)
-Doesn't suffer "fools" gladly
-Lacks tact and diplomacy
-May not finish everything he starts (Does this mean I'm the Jack?)
-Dislikes and rebuts personal criticism (So does everybody!)

Value to the Team
As a team member, Zairemthiama:
+Adds excitement to the team through intuition
+Strengthens the bonding process by being responsive and perceptive
+Will assume responsibility but deflect blame
+Is unhindered by existing procedures and practices
+Almost always delivers on time
+Brings drive and focus to the issues
+Will lead by fighting alongside the troops in the trenches
+Can focus equally upon "task" and "process"
+Is unlikely to get side tracked by peripheral items
+Has a "can do" attitude

Suggestions for Development
Zairemthiama may benefit from:
#Accepting rather than rejecting negative feedback
#Regularly reflecting on the days events
#Trying to hear and appreciate others' perspective
#Not always appearing so direct and confident
#Looking for the good in everything
#Allowing people to do their own thing
#Really listening to the views of others
#Being more prepared to acknowledge his mistake
#Meeting more people at least half way
#Slowing down and thinking things through

I am always grateful to the Almighty for choosing and using me as I am. What a privilege!!