Lessons Learned in Belgrade

 I am always struck by how much I learn from the clients I work with. I find that almost every interaction provides a new perspective, insight or lesson. I found this to be especially true of the time I recently spent working with leaders in Belgrade, Serbia.  (here I am at the Belgrade Fortress)

What a huge privilege it was for me to deliver leadership training over a four day period to an incredibly engaged group of leaders.  I appreciated their openness to being challenged, and more importantly,  their willingness to engage in dialogue by challenging the leadership concepts and models within the training.  I found myself walking away from the experience in Belgrade with many ‘nuggets’(new insights or powerful reminders) and for some odd reason I was surprised by how much I had learned.

Here are my top three ‘nuggets’:

1) Be careful of the assumptions you make
2) Give people an opportunity to show their brilliance
3) Having fun enhances learning

1) Be careful of the assumptions you make:
My perception, as well as many of my colleagues’ (given the number of people who warned me to ‘be careful’), of Serbia was that of a war torn country. I also assumed that the leaders I would be working with may have challenges grasping some of the concepts (which I tell myself are VERY progressive!) within the training. In both cases my assumptions could not have been further from reality. Not only is Serbia a beautiful country and the people extremely kind, but I can honestly say that I felt so comfortable in Belgrade that I’m hoping to bring my family with me on my next visit. It was not at all what I had envisioned. As for the leaders, well they really impressed me with their progressive attitudes, brilliant questions and great ideas on how to integrate the concepts we covered into how they lead.

2) Give people a chance to show their brilliance:
I was reminded, once again, of how creative people are when they are encouraged to develop solutions to overcome their challenges or leverage their opportunities. It has been inspiring to hear from the Serbian leaders as they, each in  their own unique way, executed on their action plans (based on the training content).  Very cool to have them share their ‘wins’ with me!

3) Having fun enhances learning:
At times I have found that I can take myself a bit too seriously and this, I have learned, can impact the creation of a positive learning environment.  What a joy it is to let go of being so serious and to work with people who successfully balance and understand the rigour of learning with having fun (thankfully our clients remind me about this constantly!).  Here’s a great example of participants having fun . . . They took it upon themselves to learn and then sing O’Canada in front of their peers. What a fabulous way to kick-off a day of training AND create a fun, supportive learning environment!

Take a look at the result!

Serbian Friends learn Oh Canada...and Sing it! from Kim Houlahan on Vimeo.