Provocare Coaching

Gossip and slander: putting down others and taking joy in their misery says more about you that does them don’t do it!

Prideful Me, My, I:  Learn humility and the royal WE! Nothing you do is your success alone, so don’t try to make out otherwise. Don’t confuse healthy self-esteem from your ego. One aids you the other can break you. Pride come before a fall.

Hypocrisy-ism: Be real and stop claiming to believe or having feelings, opinions, qualities, experiences and standards that one does not. Being fake is exhausting and soul-destroying, learn to be your authentic self before you get caught when you forget whom you are pretending to be.

My-Community ism: claiming to speak on their behalf. The community is diverse in both in-person and their opinion, so claiming that they believe this, that or the next thing is arrogant and deceitful. As an advocate, you should represent all views or none and learn to own your own.

The dying old guard: They refuse to reach out and involve newer and younger people or refuse to share power when they do, so no one new stays. Their pride and arrogance focus on the past and they refuse to explore future possibilities. Beware of ‘Founder’ syndrome it can undermine everything the organisation ever achieved and close it off to yet to be discovered possibilities.

Snob-ism: refusing to relate to others outside you social, educational, economic status or employment ‘rank’ is a form of prejudice that needs stamping out. Pull your head in you just not that important, and you never know who may be able to help you. We may not all be equal, but we all end up the same sized grave!

Meeting- ism: Have you meet those idiots who believe and feel that the meeting is the work! Meetings are where strategy and brainstorming session takes place to get the job done. Imagine if in soccer the players got in a hurdle planned the game then forgot to play! You be surprised how many times it happens in our sector. Don’t let it happen on your Watch. Meetings are not as important as what happens in-between them! When a lazy ass hides behind them call them on it!

Cliques: people in ‘power’ or influence who will not allow others in the loop, share resources, or even refuse to build relationships with others. Some people may gather in such tight-knit groups/cliques, that outsiders are not welcome to join. They shut themselves out from their own sector and community and at everyone else’s cost!

Stuck-in-the-mud: It always been that way why would you change it now they ask!  If it is not broken don’t fix it bigrade, have excuses for not doing anything, they never evolve, they never grow, and drown in the fact that they are legends in their own office!

We-do-not-want-to-grow:  You know the kind, “we do not need to partner or merge with anyone as we are still financially healthy!” “that too much of a risk” there such a thing as becoming too big you know.” Any excuse to hide the fact they make decisions to protect their comfort, ego and conceal their apathy at the cost of the mission objective or organisations health

Emotionalism: Focused on poverty porn? Playing the hero, the victim organisation dealing with the community’s victims, the deficit model is their default! And it everyone else’s fault and or responsibility to fix It. Whilst sitting on thousands in their account reserves? And or overstating your impact.  People will soon see past your superficial persona.

Legalism: makes up all kinds of rules, whims, forms, theories, frameworks and procedures that distract people away from the real work whilst keeping behind the scenes out of touch desk-bound people in a job. All things in balance, regulation should be there to enhance your impact and not stagnate it.

Personality Addiction: Happens when an organisation of community allows itself to be monopolised by a single personality, now sometime this can be useful, but it can become dangerous when it slowly turns in to dependency. Great leaders know how to mobilise and create other leaders not to become the only leader.

Hyper-Cooperative-ism: When everyone is responsible for everything, and no one oversees anything, no one can do wrong because we don’t need that kind of negativity. They are focused on being a big, happy family, and there is an aversion of rules, standards, regulations, and speaking truth to power. So, they overreact when someone tries to bring them up. Are you there to be liked or to make a difference?

 Grievance-ism: The list of wrongdoing hoarder, every time another perceived mistake is made, they bring up all the past ones, resentment rules their very being, and intron it eats away at the organisational culture like cancer.

Apathy-it is usually caused by being overwhelmed with all the stresses and struggles of the work, and we get to the point of giving up. We harp on about the good old days and look at the future with cynicism and negativity. Well, suck it up, buttercup!  You have likely become too comfortable in your position and in doing things, and you need to give yourself a perfect talking to. Again, when you’re not learning, growing, trying new things, apathy will slowly take over and ruin your outlook and more than likely everyone around you.

Feel free to add to the above by commenting below or share strategies for building healthy cultural values and behaviours in your community sector team.