25/02/10

Tosturi, cydymdeimlad a’r hyder i roi anghenion pobl o flaen biwrocratiaeth – dyna deithi cyffredin arweinwyr llwyddiannus yng Nghymru, yn ôl Archesgob Cymru.

Wrth draddodi’r prif anerchiad heddiw yn seremoni Gwobrau Arwain Cymru, dywedodd y Dr Barry Morgan fod a wnelo arweinyddiaeth dda â gosod gwerthoedd ysbrydol wrth galon mudiadau – credu mewn pobl, cydnabod eu doniau, eu hysbrydoli i gyflawni a  gwerthfawrogi eu cyfraniad.

Dyma chweched blwyddyn y Gwobrau ac am yr ail flwyddyn yn olynol yr Eglwys yng Nghymru a oedd yn noddi’r categori Arwain Busnesau yn y Gymuned.

Meddai’r Dr Morgan, “Bydd byd busnes yn aml yn defnyddio ieithwedd ysbrydol neu grefyddol. Bydd busnesau yn sôn am yr angen am weledigaeth ac am gynllun cenhadu. Byddant yn sôn am bensaernïaeth ysbrydol y busnes. Yn wir, ystyr lythrennol y gair ‘cwmni’ yw lle y bydd pobl yn torri bara gyda’i gilydd.

“Tanlinella hyn y ffaith bod perthynas bersonol yn hollbwysig ym myd busnes. Mae pobl am deimlo bod gwerth a gofal iddynt fel pobl, nid fel olwynion mewn peiriant. Pan ddigwydd hynny, teimlant eu bod yn cyfrif a bod ganddynt gyfraniad i’w wneud. Mae hynny’n  hybu eu synnwyr o ffyniant a hynny wedyn yn effeithio ar eu hagwedd at bawb a phopeth arall. Cysyniad crefyddol yw hwn, oherwydd myn Cristnogion mai dyna agwedd Duw at ei bobl ac mai dyna ddylai fod ein hagwedd ni at ein gilydd ...

“Sylfaen ein hymddygiad yw ein credoau a’n gwerthoedd. Mae’n hanfodol bod arweinwyr yn creu’r gofod iawn nid yn unig i alluogi datblygu medrau a sgiliau pobl ond i roi lle i rywbeth mwy sylfaenol a dynol sy’n perthyn i bawb ohonom”.

Rhybuddiodd y Dr Morgan fod biwrocratiaeth yn aml yn llesteirio arweinyddiaeth effeithiol. “Yn rhy aml,” meddai, “fe’n rhwystrir gan y gofyn cyfoes am resymoliaeth economaidd ac atebolrwydd. Yn ystod argyfyngau diweddar daethom i sylweddoli yn gliriach nag o’r blaen mai sail ysbrydol, nid economaidd, sydd i arweinyddiaeth a bod arnom angen mwy o ysbrydoledd yng ngwasanaethau cyhoeddus Cymru”.

Rhaid i arweinwyr da, meddai, weithio gyda Llywodraeth y Cynulliad i gynorthwyo i drawsnewid Cymru: “Mae’r rhai a enwebwyd am y Gwobrau hyn yn gwneud gwahaniaeth, yn  cymell creu gweithlu mwy hyderus a chynhwysol, ac yn llunio dyfodol economaidd a chymdeithasol Cymru.

“Mewn Cymru ddatganoledig yr ydym yn gydgyfrifol â Llywodraeth y Cynulliad am wynebu sialensiau a gweithio’n ddewr ac yn benderfynol i’w datrys. Yr ydym yn dathlu’r hyn a gyflawnwyd yn bersonol gan y rhai a enwebwyd heddiw ac yn diolch am eu gweledigaeth wrth wynebu cymhlethdod y gymdeithas sydd ohoni. Y mae’r weledigaeth honno yn gymorth inni oll i wella ansawdd ein harweinyddiaeth”.

Atodir testun llawn yr anerchiad (yn Saesneg). Am fwy o wybodaeth, cysylltwch ag:

Anna Morrell
Swyddog y Cyfryngau i'r Archesgob / Archbishop's Media Officer 
Tel: 02920 348208; mobeil: 07 91 91 587 94
39 Heol y Gadeirlan, Caerdydd CF11 9XF / 39 Cathedral Rd, Cardiff  CF11 9XF
http://www.eglwysyngnghymru.org.uk
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk

Leading Wales Awards
25th February 2010
Hilton Hotel, Cardiff

The Archbishop of Wales

 I am delighted to be here today since the Leading Wales Awards highlight leaders who contribute to Welsh society, empower others, and make a difference to the life of our nation.  This is the sixth year of the awards and I am pleased that the bishops of the Church in Wales are again sponsors of the Business Leadership in the Community category.

 This year there are 23 nominees in the seven categories.  They come from a wide variety of fields, business, social outreach, education, health, justice, sport and government, representing all aspects of Welsh society. 

Leadership is much more than managing an organisation, being able to read a balance sheet and taking responsibility for people.  Leadership is about having a vision and inspiring and enthusing others with it. Leadership is about offering clarity of direction and making change possible.  Leadership involves caring for people and harnessing their gifts and creativity.  The dilemmas of leadership are faced by most of us, because all of us, whatever our roles within the organisation make decisions.  Our behaviour affects the lives of those around us and those with whom we work.

 That is why the world of business often uses spiritual, even religious, language.  Businesses talk about the need for vision and having a mission plan.  They talk of the spiritual architecture of their business.  In fact the literal meaning of the word “company” is a place where people “share bread with each other”. 

This highlights the fact that personal relationships are crucial in business.  People need to feel valued and cared for as people in their own right, not as cogs in a machine.  When that happens they feel they matter, have a contribution to make and that enhances their sense of wellbeing which in turn affects their attitude to everything and everyone else.  This is a religious concept, because Christians maintain that that’s the attitude of God towards His people and ought to be our attitude towards one another.

Leaders ought to create an environment where the contribution of everyone is valued.  At their best, leaders listen, observe and encourage the participation of others.  Good leadership is transformational and fosters good communication.  It brings out the best in others by affirming them and as a result increases their commitment.  Good leaders initiate change rather than manage it.  Good leaders motivate others.  Nominees in these Awards are making a difference and through their motivation create a more confident, inclusive workforce, driving the economic and social future of Wales.

In a devolved Wales we share a responsibility with the Welsh Assembly Government to confront challenges and to work with courage and determination to transform them.  We celebrate the personal achievements of those nominated today as we give thanks for their vision in facing the complexity of modern society.  Their vision assists us all to raise the bar on the quality of our ownleadership.

At the basis of our behaviours are our beliefs and values.  It is crucial that leaders create the right space, not only to enable peoples’ competencies and skills to develop, but for something more basic and human in each of us.

Whatever our role, we bring to our leadership our own personal behaviours, aspirations, ambitions, needs and gifts. For this to happen we need leaders who:
 * Are more self aware.  An understanding of personal motivations, needs, gifts, will better enable the leader to understand and value the humanity of others.

* Are careful not to project their own needs and self interest onto others.

* Are confident enough in themselves to encourage and support leadershipopportunities for others, and to value the ideas and creativity which are offered by others.

The nominees for these Awards exemplify these characteristics which are essentially spiritual realities.  It seems to me that the significant characteristics of good leaders are people who:

* have a clear sense of purpose and strategic direction
* have the ability to address detail and relate it to the larger picture and vice versa
* bring clarity to processes which threaten to block and frustrate initiative
* are innovative and flexible, as well as having courage and determination
* have patience and sensitivity with others’ weaknesses and inability to grasp the opportunities presented by change
* have an ability to turn conflict and diversity into something which enhances the whole enterprise
* believe in the people with whom they are working, and in their skills and gifts
* have a determination to challenge unnecessary complexity and power games
* have the grace to understand and forgive

The point is that good and effective leadership propels us in two directions at once.  It requires us  to be as creative as we can in our strategic thinking. And it also takes seriously the everyday world in which each of us lives.  Leaders who pay attention to both raise motivation in others and enhance personal satisfaction, crucial to quality performance.

As a Christian leader I try to be grounded in the model of leadership exemplified by Jesus Christ,  who in serving others offered them an understanding of themselves which they never dreamed possible.  It is a tough and costly love which challenges, listens, cares, perseveres, and transforms peoples’ lives when they are at their most messy and confused.

At the heart of God’s love for people is the empowerment which enables others to flourish.  Of course, none of this is simple or necessarily easy.  Like you I wrestle with real problems on most days. 

As a Christian leader the life of faith assures me of a central core of stability in the midst of uncertainty, offers a kind of reality check against the rhetoric which so quickly can overwhelm me with its simplistic answers.  Where there are people, buildings, finance, projects, and products, there are also opportunities as well as concerns.  We too easily become stifled by the contemporary demands for economic rationalism and accountability.  In the midst of recent crises we’ve realised more clearly than ever before that good leadership has a spiritual not an economic bottom line and we need more of it in the public services of Wales.

I am delighted to participate in this celebration of extraordinary leadership achievement.  We are today constantly reminded that the extraordinary occurs in the everyday life of the wide range of organisations represented here, as well as many others in Wales.

These Awards heighten our awareness of the possibilities for our communities, indeed for all organisations which comprise the fabric of our society.  Through your visionary leadership, your determination to make a difference, your courage and perseverance, you have shown that something special can be created.

May I congratulate you on your initiative, as on your behalf I thank Barbara Chidgey and the consortium for developing and sustaining these Awards.  Thank you too for your leadership from which we all learn and through which Wales develops.