I taught myself to think out loud
10 June 2024
What I am drawn to is the concept of 'moral ambition' recently introduced by Rutger Bregman. Therein, for me, lies the essence of seniority. The will to turn your ideals into action. Showing ambition. Speaking is Sonja Appelman, long-time deputy director and then P&O manager of de Tussenvoorziening, which, with 530 employees and some 300 volunteers, is committed to providing shelter and guidance to homeless people in the Utrecht region.
Look, you can go for a really great career like a madman. That too is ambition and an ideal with which you will no doubt beat that downward career curve. Or, because that's also possible of course, you say 'it's all fine by me. Making a career is less for me, let me enjoy drinking coffee in the sun. But neither option appeals to me. Neither connect with who I am.
At the time, I had a steady job and if I had served my time, I would undoubtedly have made a lot of money by now. Only, that started gnawing at me anyway. I lacked a social ideal and ambition, that combination. And that's what I found at the Intermediate Provision.
"I found it huge to take responsibility within a club that wanted something but had nothing," he said.
Call me a realist, not an idealist. I am of the here and now. Back then, we were missing something in the shelter chain and that became the Intermediate Provision.
I found it huge to take responsibility within a club that wanted something but had nothing. I always took the phone, mobile did not yet exist, from home, otherwise we had nothing. That pioneering really appealed to me. Of course it also stroked my ego: kicking the established institutions that couldn't do what we did.
Us-side thinking
What gets in the way of seniority is what I call us-side thinking. Seeing yourself as a victim of the other. They don't understand, they don't want or they won't allow it. Statements like that. And then ostentatiously radiate that.
I am more of the three-step approach: you have a problem, you change the process if you wish, but you also check whether the problem has its origin in the cooperation. This third step in particular takes extra time, so you tend to skip it. Not good, because it forces fundamental analyses. Us-them thinking keeps you away from that. Too bad, because that's not how true innovation comes about.
Then you keep on making new procedures, making adjustments and arranging replacements in the hope that the problem will not recur. Whereas at that point, a rethink might have been much more appropriate: does it have to do with our growth? Does the organisation still match who we want to be? Are people still in the right place?
These are essential but also very complex issues, I immediately admit. At those moments, a vulnerable attitude helps me. Not in the sense of 'I don't know any more, you tell me' and having lifebuoys thrown at me from all sides, but in the sense of 'think with me, I need your help'. Daring to ask such a question for help, to invite colleagues for a dialogue, is how I show my own seniority.
I have taught myself to think out loud. In fact, openness is something I value very much. Goh hier puzzle ik mee, heb ik nog een antwoord op. Involving people in the thought process instead of already having a ready-made opinion and vision.
"Seniority for me is bringing something of yourself in and at the same time seeing what is happening."
Seniority for me is, above all, putting something of yourself in and at the same time seeing what happens. Following the process, staying above it and finding out together what we can achieve. For example, what other angles are there? Adding the wider view to the conversation or adding other people's ideas to your perspective. That way, you make that other person equally important. This is only possible if you have a notion of where it should go, not concretely, but in what will work and what won't. Otherwise, the exploration will go in all directions and nothing will get off the ground in the end.
Showing leadership is reciprocal, though. I stick my neck out, make myself vulnerable, but I like to receive loyalty in return. The group should not drop me or judge me afterwards. Out together, home together. That mutual trust must remain.
Beating the curve
When I judge a person on seniority, what is important is whether such a person comes up with initiatives of their own accord. And also knows what the underlying problem is, so that one does not fall into quick and dirty solutions lapses. Innovation is what I am looking for. Suppose we have a problem with recruiting, I want to see it turned into action. Go network, launch a campaign or mobilise our own staff, but get to work. Just mentioning that as possible solutions is not enough seniority for me. And above all, don't make the problem bigger than it is. The culture doesn't need to be shaken up or the wage line lifted to get more people in.
Whether seniority can be influenced? I don't know if it can be taught. You can encourage it, though. Being inspired is different for everyone. Personally, I do like the raw side of society. It is not necessarily the homeless who motivate me for this work, but people with a story. They fascinate me immensely. But others are triggered by their profession or something else that captures their imagination. It is difficult to actively promote that. But you can notice it, be open to it and give it space.
But let's also be realistic. It could well be that one colleague has more energy than his colleague across the desk. Or for some other reason, there just isn't any more in it or other priorities require a slightly different balance at work for a while. And how bad is that? Not everyone needs to rise above themselves. That 15 per cent may be more than enough because it keeps things moving sufficiently.
"Seniority does not prove itself by spending more time on work than on private."
Seniority does not prove itself by spending more time at work than in private. You don't always have to be on, always available. I used to answer every e-mail when I was on holiday. That's not healthy and also not a good example. On the contrary. It's almost showing that you're not in control. You have to learn to trust that people know very well when they can come to you. But that is different from reacting to everything.
But demarcating everything does irritate me; then you don't move along enough, I think. If someone needs help, you have to be available, even outside working hours. I'm on holiday, so I don't read my e-mail, so that's a step too far for me. Especially if it concerns managers. I do think it is normal to keep up with your mail, to be interested in what happens during your holidays. Sorry, in this respect I have very strong noms and values. Incidentally also towards the grandchildren, but that aside
Transfer
I am not so much proud of what the Intermediate Provision is now, the size it is and its social impact. I am proud of its history and that some 500 staff earn an income at the Intermediate Provision and do work that suits them. And also, and perhaps especially, that what we have set up does not stop and continues.
Only partly do I have something to do with that beating the curve. As long as this does not mean that everyone has to keep growing. Always wanting to reach higher, like some kind of holy mission. To me, wanting to keep getting better is not the essence of seniority. It doesn't always have to be higher. Because that is in growth. Growth is reaching ever upwards.
This is also how people look at their careers. Earning more, more, more. As if it will never end. While at a certain point you would do better to transfer your knowledge, or become an example to others or go and preserve what is good. That may sound a bit boring and conservative, but I am starting to value that more and more. For me personally, seniority now mainly lies in the art of perpetuation. Getting things right, establishing them, anchoring them. My ideal now is to pass on the Intermediate Provision to those who come after me, so that they can build on the foundation laid by us.
Work them, Rolf