Now there's a question that I bet you have never been asked before!
Who would ask such a question anyway?
Hopefully you would.
"But," I hear you say, "I don't even know what a coolfarmer is!"
Well, not to worry. It is a term that I hadn't come across either until today. But that's the only positive to ignorance – you can easily remedy it! A coolfarmer is "someone who excels in nurturing new creative ideas by helping the creators of these ideas grow and succeed."
So now you know. But the questions remains – are you a coolfarmer?
I leave you to answer that. But whatever your answer, I hope you are thinking more deeply about the significance of the question and, as you do, that you are recognising the challenge it presents, responding to it and renewing your commitment to meeting it.
Of course, upon reflection, there is nothing new to it. It is rather like trying to lose weight or give up smoking – you know what you have to do but find it easier said than done. Perhaps you need some help.
Well, you can certainly learn more from the article that brought the term to my notice. It is by Peter A Gloor and it is headlined, "To become a better manager, stop being a manager."
Needless to say the article resonated with me, because I have long championed more leadership and less management. Consequently the idea that you must "make managers redundant" was music to my ears. I can appreciate, however, that you may not think it sounds quite so attractive. But you can relax because it isn't about making the role redundant. It is simply talking about changing the nature of the role. And hopefully you don't find that daunting because, deep down, you already know that you are going to have to change, because the old methods no longer work the way the once did.
Now, I know nothing about the Coins Seminar the writer is promoting to effect this, so cannot comment. Nevertheless I have some misgivings because the problem with most initiatives today is that people try to introduce them within the context of the old structures, systems and models. That is always set to reduce your chances of success because, to paraphrase Einstein, "You cannot solve a problem with the same system that created it or allowed it to flourish."
Your answer lies in recognising the power of the Linus Torvald's statement quoted in the paper, "having another person's trust is more powerful than all other management techniques put together." However, current levels of employee disengagement suggest trust is widely lacking. So, if you want to turn this around and improve employee engagement, you need a new model.
That is why you should be looking at our universal employee ownership model. It enables you to stop managing and to lead instead. It forms the foundation for such trust and creates greater employee engagement and an environment of coolfarmers. Isn't that the kind of leadership legacy you would like?