Monday, June 27, 2011
1st Newfoundfland Regiment - July 1st 1916
July 1st, 1916, near the town of Beaumont-Hamel - 800 Newfoundlanders marched into battle and only 68 replied at roll call the following morning. Completely devastating and hard to imagine. On July 1st 2011 in addition to celebrating Canada Day remember the soldiers of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment. We shall remember them.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Diagnosing bedding issues with the No4 Lee Enfield Rifle
For your Consideration - Your Lee Enfield will NOT shoot well if the bedding is pooched...
There are a lot of opinions on how the No4Mk1 Lee Enfield is properly accurized to maximize performance. My quest to understand this stuff has led me to discover that unless you have a firm understanding of the design mechanics of the Lee Enfield rifle you are not doing yourself any service by attempting to accurize it. The purpose of this blog entry is to give you some tools to diagnose potential bedding problems with your Lee Enfield Rifle. I will write you a bedding guide later as time permits.
Before we get into this further please consider the following:
Shooters Philosophy: “If I’m missing the target it isn’t the rifle’s fault – it’s my fault.” In other words you are the master of the rifle and if things aren’t performing to your expectations then you need to start paying attention to detail. The rifle can’t do this for you. More often than not this is the philosophy for all award winning shooters I have had the good fortune to know in the CF and in civilian shooting. These people have taken the time to educate themselves on the details of their shooting platforms and obtained the experience to spot and correct performance limiting phenomena.
We have all witnessed individuals experiencing significant frustration with their rifle on the firing point (we’ve all been there). It is very annoying when things do not go well. It is especially frustrating when this happens in competition or during snap and rapid fire serials. Failure to feed issues, magazine problems, loss of mental focus, shooting in driving rain, making unexpected sight corrections, etc...
“This %!#* worn out piece of junk”
“Lee Enfields are best suited as a canoe paddle”
“I have jack irons that shoot better”
“Why don’t they issue me with a real rifle”
“The barrel must be bent”
If you continue to blame the rifle for failing to put bullets on target then you’ll experience the same frustration at a later date. You need to assume some personal responsibility, look at the clues the rifle is giving you and then move into action to fix them. If you’ve accepted that your Lee Enfield is a piece of junk and given up on the platform please consider the following advice. In my experience the Lee Enfield, when working properly, is one of the most reliable bolt action battle rifles I have ever had the pleasure of shooting and owning. I am a huge advocate of the Lee Enfield rifle and I encourage people to buy good examples of these rifles whenever I get the opportunity. The .303 British round is capable of excellent accuracy and the IVI Mk8Z 180 grain soft point bullet is capable of taking some of North America’s biggest game species with confidence. You just need to be empowered and educated on how to make them run well. Once your rifle is brought back into running condition you will fall in love with it, hopefully to the point where you can trust your life to it.
2. Peer Review: If the rifle isn’t meeting your satisfaction have someone well versed with the principles of marksmanship shoot it. Compare notes and determine if you could be doing something different with your shooting methodology. Does the rifle really need accurizing or should you be shooting better? “Shoot better – Suck less” Captain J. Jasper.
3. Know your limitations and that of the rifle: When I’m in “The Zone” I can consistently put 10 rounds inside of three inches at 100 metres with a Lee Enfield in the prone unsupported position (I don’t shoot Hawkins). I have yet to find a Lee Enfield that can provide tighter groups in prone unsupported with my limited shooting skills. My experience tells me that if I can’t get three inches then I need to start paying attention to detail. Your threshold may be different to mine but regardless you have an indicator that further investigation to identify issues may be warranted.
4. Heart & Soul: The heart and soul of the rifle is the bore. If the bore isn’t any good then it makes little sense to bother accurizing it. A rifle with an overly worn, frosty and pitted bore (or damaged crown) will never shoot to match conditions even if the bedding is perfect. For more information on bore condition and cleaning review the following blog entry.
LEE ENFIELD BEDDING EVALUATION
Preliminary Examination (You have performed individual safety precautions (ACTS PROVE safety check) and ensured no ammunition is in the rifle)
1. ACTION SCREW: Ensure the action screw is tight before continuing;
2. MUZZLE PRESSURE: Rest the butt-stock on the floor so that you’re facing the muzzle. Grasping the fore stock and placing your thumb under the front sight protector push up – you should feel 4 to 5 lbs of resistance. Lack or absence of pressure is an indicator of worn draws and a bedding problem;
3. BARREL CENTRED: While you have the rifle in this position (see #2) look to see if the barrel is centred in the fore stock’s barrel channel or if it is angled off to one side. If the latter this is an indication that the rear of the fore stock making hard contact on one side of the receiver ring (aka butt socket) there-by forcing the stock in the direction where there is less , or no contact. When you eventually remove the fore stock from the rifle, look for pressure points in this area. There should be no contact with the receiver ring;
4. LOOSE ACTION: If you can see movement when pressing the action from side to side (or feel slop when shaking the rifle) then you have a serious bedding problem;
5. TRIGGER: You should have a light 2 to 3 lbs +/- first stage and a 5 to 6.6 lbs crisp second stage trigger pull. If you have a long and drawn out single stage trigger then you either have a bedding problem indicating that the rifle is sitting to proud in the stock and the trigger ribs are not properly aligned with the sear OR someone has filed down the top trigger rib.
Detailed Examination
1. ACTION SCREW BUSHING: Remove the barrel bands and hand guards. With tension still on the action screw, try to wiggle the action while it still sits in the fore stock. If there is movement make note of where it is. Chances are you may have an action screw bushing that is too long which is preventing proper wood to metal contact when the action screw is taught. Hopefully you have a few spare bushings of various heights available to swap out with to test this possibility. Otherwise you may need to file the metal bushing down incrementally to fit.
2. TRIGGER GUARD: With the rifle still in the fore stock and the action screw removed turn the entire assembly upside down and examine the trigger guard. The trigger should be making light contact with the sear but the trigger guard should be sitting flush with the wood. If the trigger guard is under sufficient spring tension from the sear to lift away from the action screw area then there is a problem;
3. REMOVE FORE STOCK (WARNING): Do not pry the rifle from the stock by pulling hard from the muzzle end. You are placing direct crush pressure in the metal / wood fit of the draws (more on this later). Wiggle the rifle up and away from the wood inching it away from the receiver end and the muzzle end (back and forth) until the wood releases from the metal. Careful, the action screw bushing may fall out and disappear (very annoying).
4. THE DRAWS: Examine the draws in the fore stock and look for crush damage, cracks, chips and gouges. More often than not, this is an area that will require attention if the rifle has seen any significant level of use or if the stock is not original or properly fitted to the rifle. To determine if the rifle is making good contact I like to insert a small piece of plasticine in the draws of the fore stock and then re-insert the barrelled action. Tension down the action screw, wait a few seconds and then remove the fore stock to examine the draws. Has the plasticine been squished out or does a healthy amount of it remain in the draws? If the latter then we may need to look at replacing the draws using glued and dowelled wooden inserts or using marine-tex / steel putty epoxy as a bedding material.
This is a quick and dirty look into diagnosing issues that you may be having with your rifle. Rangers must pursue the proper channels to obtain permission to rectify issues with their service rifle. This can be a difficult phenomenon because there are no in-service Weapons Technicians that have the training or experience in restoring Lee Enfields – at least none that I am aware of.
Next article will be a practical demonstration of match bedding and free floating a 1942 Savage No4Mk1 2-Groove in accordance with the 1965 DCRA Lee Enfield Accurizing Convention.
There are a lot of opinions on how the No4Mk1 Lee Enfield is properly accurized to maximize performance. My quest to understand this stuff has led me to discover that unless you have a firm understanding of the design mechanics of the Lee Enfield rifle you are not doing yourself any service by attempting to accurize it. The purpose of this blog entry is to give you some tools to diagnose potential bedding problems with your Lee Enfield Rifle. I will write you a bedding guide later as time permits.
Before we get into this further please consider the following:
Shooters Philosophy: “If I’m missing the target it isn’t the rifle’s fault – it’s my fault.” In other words you are the master of the rifle and if things aren’t performing to your expectations then you need to start paying attention to detail. The rifle can’t do this for you. More often than not this is the philosophy for all award winning shooters I have had the good fortune to know in the CF and in civilian shooting. These people have taken the time to educate themselves on the details of their shooting platforms and obtained the experience to spot and correct performance limiting phenomena.
We have all witnessed individuals experiencing significant frustration with their rifle on the firing point (we’ve all been there). It is very annoying when things do not go well. It is especially frustrating when this happens in competition or during snap and rapid fire serials. Failure to feed issues, magazine problems, loss of mental focus, shooting in driving rain, making unexpected sight corrections, etc...
“This %!#* worn out piece of junk”
“Lee Enfields are best suited as a canoe paddle”
“I have jack irons that shoot better”
“Why don’t they issue me with a real rifle”
“The barrel must be bent”
If you continue to blame the rifle for failing to put bullets on target then you’ll experience the same frustration at a later date. You need to assume some personal responsibility, look at the clues the rifle is giving you and then move into action to fix them. If you’ve accepted that your Lee Enfield is a piece of junk and given up on the platform please consider the following advice. In my experience the Lee Enfield, when working properly, is one of the most reliable bolt action battle rifles I have ever had the pleasure of shooting and owning. I am a huge advocate of the Lee Enfield rifle and I encourage people to buy good examples of these rifles whenever I get the opportunity. The .303 British round is capable of excellent accuracy and the IVI Mk8Z 180 grain soft point bullet is capable of taking some of North America’s biggest game species with confidence. You just need to be empowered and educated on how to make them run well. Once your rifle is brought back into running condition you will fall in love with it, hopefully to the point where you can trust your life to it.
2. Peer Review: If the rifle isn’t meeting your satisfaction have someone well versed with the principles of marksmanship shoot it. Compare notes and determine if you could be doing something different with your shooting methodology. Does the rifle really need accurizing or should you be shooting better? “Shoot better – Suck less” Captain J. Jasper.
3. Know your limitations and that of the rifle: When I’m in “The Zone” I can consistently put 10 rounds inside of three inches at 100 metres with a Lee Enfield in the prone unsupported position (I don’t shoot Hawkins). I have yet to find a Lee Enfield that can provide tighter groups in prone unsupported with my limited shooting skills. My experience tells me that if I can’t get three inches then I need to start paying attention to detail. Your threshold may be different to mine but regardless you have an indicator that further investigation to identify issues may be warranted.
4. Heart & Soul: The heart and soul of the rifle is the bore. If the bore isn’t any good then it makes little sense to bother accurizing it. A rifle with an overly worn, frosty and pitted bore (or damaged crown) will never shoot to match conditions even if the bedding is perfect. For more information on bore condition and cleaning review the following blog entry.
LEE ENFIELD BEDDING EVALUATION
Preliminary Examination (You have performed individual safety precautions (ACTS PROVE safety check) and ensured no ammunition is in the rifle)
1. ACTION SCREW: Ensure the action screw is tight before continuing;
2. MUZZLE PRESSURE: Rest the butt-stock on the floor so that you’re facing the muzzle. Grasping the fore stock and placing your thumb under the front sight protector push up – you should feel 4 to 5 lbs of resistance. Lack or absence of pressure is an indicator of worn draws and a bedding problem;
3. BARREL CENTRED: While you have the rifle in this position (see #2) look to see if the barrel is centred in the fore stock’s barrel channel or if it is angled off to one side. If the latter this is an indication that the rear of the fore stock making hard contact on one side of the receiver ring (aka butt socket) there-by forcing the stock in the direction where there is less , or no contact. When you eventually remove the fore stock from the rifle, look for pressure points in this area. There should be no contact with the receiver ring;
4. LOOSE ACTION: If you can see movement when pressing the action from side to side (or feel slop when shaking the rifle) then you have a serious bedding problem;
5. TRIGGER: You should have a light 2 to 3 lbs +/- first stage and a 5 to 6.6 lbs crisp second stage trigger pull. If you have a long and drawn out single stage trigger then you either have a bedding problem indicating that the rifle is sitting to proud in the stock and the trigger ribs are not properly aligned with the sear OR someone has filed down the top trigger rib.
Detailed Examination
1. ACTION SCREW BUSHING: Remove the barrel bands and hand guards. With tension still on the action screw, try to wiggle the action while it still sits in the fore stock. If there is movement make note of where it is. Chances are you may have an action screw bushing that is too long which is preventing proper wood to metal contact when the action screw is taught. Hopefully you have a few spare bushings of various heights available to swap out with to test this possibility. Otherwise you may need to file the metal bushing down incrementally to fit.
2. TRIGGER GUARD: With the rifle still in the fore stock and the action screw removed turn the entire assembly upside down and examine the trigger guard. The trigger should be making light contact with the sear but the trigger guard should be sitting flush with the wood. If the trigger guard is under sufficient spring tension from the sear to lift away from the action screw area then there is a problem;
3. REMOVE FORE STOCK (WARNING): Do not pry the rifle from the stock by pulling hard from the muzzle end. You are placing direct crush pressure in the metal / wood fit of the draws (more on this later). Wiggle the rifle up and away from the wood inching it away from the receiver end and the muzzle end (back and forth) until the wood releases from the metal. Careful, the action screw bushing may fall out and disappear (very annoying).
4. THE DRAWS: Examine the draws in the fore stock and look for crush damage, cracks, chips and gouges. More often than not, this is an area that will require attention if the rifle has seen any significant level of use or if the stock is not original or properly fitted to the rifle. To determine if the rifle is making good contact I like to insert a small piece of plasticine in the draws of the fore stock and then re-insert the barrelled action. Tension down the action screw, wait a few seconds and then remove the fore stock to examine the draws. Has the plasticine been squished out or does a healthy amount of it remain in the draws? If the latter then we may need to look at replacing the draws using glued and dowelled wooden inserts or using marine-tex / steel putty epoxy as a bedding material.
This is a quick and dirty look into diagnosing issues that you may be having with your rifle. Rangers must pursue the proper channels to obtain permission to rectify issues with their service rifle. This can be a difficult phenomenon because there are no in-service Weapons Technicians that have the training or experience in restoring Lee Enfields – at least none that I am aware of.
Next article will be a practical demonstration of match bedding and free floating a 1942 Savage No4Mk1 2-Groove in accordance with the 1965 DCRA Lee Enfield Accurizing Convention.
2011 Service Rifle Competition - Terrace
Been thinking this over for a while and I've come to the conclusion that it is time to bring Service Rifle back to Terrace, BC.
The course of fire is both simple and fun and has minimal resources required to make it work. This is open to both modern and vintage service rifles and will be delivered through the Terrace Rod & Gun Club.
A commitee will be stricken comprised of stakeholders that have a vested interest in service rifle shooting in the North West. The purpose of the committee is to suggest improvements, provide support and enable the success of the program. I am hoping for a quarterly match with one annual championship.
Rules are subject to change.
July 23rd at 0800 hrs.
Hope to see some of you there.
The course of fire is both simple and fun and has minimal resources required to make it work. This is open to both modern and vintage service rifles and will be delivered through the Terrace Rod & Gun Club.
A commitee will be stricken comprised of stakeholders that have a vested interest in service rifle shooting in the North West. The purpose of the committee is to suggest improvements, provide support and enable the success of the program. I am hoping for a quarterly match with one annual championship.
Rules are subject to change.
July 23rd at 0800 hrs.
Hope to see some of you there.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The Queen’s Lee Enfield
I was very young when I was introduced to shooting. It was serious business but it was also made fun for me and I recall the instant satisfaction of hitting a reactive target.
As I grew into adolescence I started to focus this interest into more formal shooting associations through my dad, local gun club and sponsors. Our local gun club partnered with the Boy Scouts of Canada to instil the principles of target shooting in the community’s youth. We had affordable 22 Rifles with peep sights installed. It doesn’t have to be expensive to be fun right!
Before I knew it I was 15 years old and I was an accomplished marksman but I was also starting to lose interest in the sport. I did not entirely appreciate the coaching or skill base I had developed back then until I was an adult and started to compete again. My father was a good teacher and his fundamentals of shooting technique and method were very solid. I stopped competitive shooting for fifteen years to obtain a useful education and establish a career path.
Then one day…
Someone I knew handed me a minty Danish refurbed M1 Garand and told me if I gave him $400 it could be mine. In that moment it suddenly dawned on me that I had just been given an opportunity to catch up on something that I had adored as a child and bring it back into adulthood. A significant portion of the activities we enjoy as adults were intrinsically influenced by our youthful endeavours.
I researched when our local gun club meetings were scheduled and started attending them. I did this for about four months until I got to know who the players were and how things operated. Eventually I approached the club’s executive and told them I wanted to start a new branch of the Terrace Rod & Gun Club. It was 1999 and Terrace had not hosted a formal rifle competition in just over 20-years. After a basic interview of who I was and what my intentions were I was promoted to the club’s vacant ‘Rifle Chair’ position. I built and designed an annual vintage military service rifle event that grew in complexity and sophistication over a decade.
In the process of invigilating these matches I became familiar with members of the Canadian Rangers whom are a sub-component of the Canadian Armed Forces. I signed up, received some weapon handling drills and was issued a 1950 CNo4Mk1* Lee Enfield. Through the Canadian Rangers the military has provided me with an avenue to build on the principles of marksmanship that I developed as a youth. I have been able to involve myself in shooting opportunities with the Canadian Forces that I would never have been able to partake in otherwise. I have travelled within Canada to compete with the military in service rifle competitions and concentrations with this old Lee Enfield and the two of us have performed admirably.
I attended the Canadian Forces Small Arms Concentration (CFSAC) in 2009 which is located at the Primary Training Centre in Connaught, Ottawa. At this concentration the shooter is exposed to deliberate, snap and rapid fire serials in prone, kneeling, standing and run-down events. Distance to targets vary from 25m to 500m and the lee enfield, when wielded by someone that knows how to use it, can perform these tasks with impressive results. During this concentration I placed fourth highest Ranger shot in Canada, qualified to shoot the Queen’s Medal Round and came home with the highest scoring Tyro Trophy. Not too shabby for a chap that had never shot CFSAC before.
I've shot a lot of ammunition through this rifle over the years and ‘baby it’ more than any other rifle in my collection. I can’t help but feel ‘she’ deserves the extra attention. It is this particular rifle that I know best because of the significant experiences we have enjoyed together.
As I grew into adolescence I started to focus this interest into more formal shooting associations through my dad, local gun club and sponsors. Our local gun club partnered with the Boy Scouts of Canada to instil the principles of target shooting in the community’s youth. We had affordable 22 Rifles with peep sights installed. It doesn’t have to be expensive to be fun right!
Before I knew it I was 15 years old and I was an accomplished marksman but I was also starting to lose interest in the sport. I did not entirely appreciate the coaching or skill base I had developed back then until I was an adult and started to compete again. My father was a good teacher and his fundamentals of shooting technique and method were very solid. I stopped competitive shooting for fifteen years to obtain a useful education and establish a career path.
Then one day…
Someone I knew handed me a minty Danish refurbed M1 Garand and told me if I gave him $400 it could be mine. In that moment it suddenly dawned on me that I had just been given an opportunity to catch up on something that I had adored as a child and bring it back into adulthood. A significant portion of the activities we enjoy as adults were intrinsically influenced by our youthful endeavours.
I researched when our local gun club meetings were scheduled and started attending them. I did this for about four months until I got to know who the players were and how things operated. Eventually I approached the club’s executive and told them I wanted to start a new branch of the Terrace Rod & Gun Club. It was 1999 and Terrace had not hosted a formal rifle competition in just over 20-years. After a basic interview of who I was and what my intentions were I was promoted to the club’s vacant ‘Rifle Chair’ position. I built and designed an annual vintage military service rifle event that grew in complexity and sophistication over a decade.
Numerous competitors shot this match, many of which travel long distances to attend the course of fire. It was a very large club sponsored event, which sustained its own tradition of shooting, fellowship and an opportunity for new shooters to get involved in the interesting sport of service rifle shooting.
 |
| CNo4Mk1* |
I attended the Canadian Forces Small Arms Concentration (CFSAC) in 2009 which is located at the Primary Training Centre in Connaught, Ottawa. At this concentration the shooter is exposed to deliberate, snap and rapid fire serials in prone, kneeling, standing and run-down events. Distance to targets vary from 25m to 500m and the lee enfield, when wielded by someone that knows how to use it, can perform these tasks with impressive results. During this concentration I placed fourth highest Ranger shot in Canada, qualified to shoot the Queen’s Medal Round and came home with the highest scoring Tyro Trophy. Not too shabby for a chap that had never shot CFSAC before.I've shot a lot of ammunition through this rifle over the years and ‘baby it’ more than any other rifle in my collection. I can’t help but feel ‘she’ deserves the extra attention. It is this particular rifle that I know best because of the significant experiences we have enjoyed together.
· I know where almost every scrape, bruise or blemish on this rifle came from;
· We have hiked and beat our way across some of Canada’s most difficult and extreme remote wilderness locations together;
· This Lee Enfield has been relied upon to provide sustenance;
· This Lee Enfield has won trophies in competitions;
· I rely on this rifle to protect me from dangerous animals;
· This rifle may have served Canada in the Korean War and;
· This rifle has also helped me accumulate and demonstrate the experience required to bridge the gap from student to teacher.
Sufficient to say that I advocate the Lee Enfield rifle every chance I get. I have only one problem with this worn and tired 1950 CNo4Mk1* Lee Enfield rifle. Of all the expensive and modern rifles in my gun safe my favourite rifle is the Ranger issue Lee Enfield - the only rifle I do not own. This favourite rifle belongs to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second; Queen of Canada whom has loaned it to me for my service with the CF.
I’m now the age my father was when he introduced me to shooting. I’m looking forward to passing these milestone lessons down to my sons so that their lives may be enriched by them, as they have enriched mine.
 |
| Riflechair on the right side of this photo |
Friday, March 18, 2011
Your job as the leader is to create more leaders.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
1. The Learning Leader: If the leaders thinks he knows it all he is not a leader “There is nothing new in the world for me” attitude...
1. The Learning Leader: If the leaders thinks he knows it all he is not a leader “There is nothing new in the world for me” attitude...
· Episodic Learning VS Continuous Learning
· What did you do today VS What did you learn today?
2. Sustainable Leadership: Recruiting leaders from within;
· Identify and recruit NCO’S that share a concern or have a passion about leadership. People who want to deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting with one another on an ongoing basis;
· Leadership must be grown, cultivated and explored at all levels (not restricted to NCO’s);
3. Leadership Space: Leaders create space, they don’t occupy the space (goldfish grow bigger in a larger pond);
· The old way of thinking: “How few people can we involve in the planning”? Your Rangers are left in the dark until the plan is mobilized....
· The new way of thinking: “How do we empower our Rangers to make recommendations about a proposed plan”? Ideas are captured and considered in advance of mobilizing...
4. Relationship Leader:
· We take it for granted that we have a good relationship. Many people need to know you before they will do business with you or trust you.
Action without relationship has no commitment
Action without possibility has no imagination
Action without reflection is doomed to make the same mistakes
· Hard Skills VS Soft Skill Leadership
o Hard Skills: Developing a set of orders, assigning tasks, completing an equipment inventory, etc...
o Soft Skills: People Skills – People feel appreciated for their efforts, people are recognized for going over and above, some members are going from high performing to low performing Rangers – why?
5. Leading Change
· We often take a good idea and kill it by turning it into a program or a flavour of the month;
· Good change happens from the foundation up not from the management down;
· Leadership places just as much emphasis on the soft skills as the hard skills;
· Team building is not an event – it is an everyday practice;
· People will resist change if they perceive that you are trying to change them;
· People generally do not resist change if the focus is spent on the system within which we work;
Leading Effective Meeting Management
· The problem with meetings is that they often have too much information or too much talking by one or two people. Here is how to shrink the ballance:
· L.I.D. template (put some thought and preparation into your meeting and combine all of the top five leadership aspects).
o 1/3rd Learning
o 1/3rd Information
o 1/3rd Dialogue
Reference: B. Chartier
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Understanding Minute of Angle (MOA)
If you have a vernier rear sight on your No4Mk1* each click is approximately one MOA. If your No4Mk1 has the sliding ladder (Mk 3 or Mk 4), adjusted in 100 yard increments, or the 300/600 yard 'flip sight' (Mk 2), swap it for the Singer vernier sight immediately. The No 5 (Jungle Carbine) sight is in 2/3 MOA increments. This offers more precise adjustment than the No 4 Singer sight.
MOA is popular because 1 MOA is approximately one inch at 100 yards, a traditional distance on imperial rifle ranges. Note the CF shoots on metric ranges but your sights are calibrated in yards. A shooter can easily re-adjust their rifle sight by measuring the distance in inches the bullet hole is from the desired impact point, and adjust the sight that many MOA in the same direction. More to come on this subject - I think it deserves more attention. In the meantime enjoy the video.
RC
Monday, March 14, 2011
Strengths or Weaknesses - What should we focus on?
A few years ago I attended a Royal Roads University seminar on subjects such as ‘Exploring Within’ and ‘Leading the Way’. Very reflective subject matter that gave one pause to consider what had just been heard. I’m going to transcribe some of my thoughts on what I heard for you (mainly descriptions from my notes) because I think a lot of this stuff is applicable to anyone that is interested in leadership.
It seems to me that most human beings are fixated by fault and failure. Certainly throughout my entire education and throughout my career I have been encouraged to identify and correct areas of weakness before I had any chance of being successful. I now believe that there are sometimes choices to be made where this model has no bearing what-so-ever and may very well be an inherent flaw in logic.
I believe that sometimes there needs to be a shift of focus, or a decision, that allows us to pursue success by concentrating on what we’re strong in; not what we’re weak in. I think this can be said of individuals and I believe this can be said of clubs or organizations. To me this just starts to make sense.
Two poorly considered assumptions we make about people:
1. People can learn to be proficient in almost anything;
2. A person’s greatest opportunity for growth is through concentrating on their areas of weakness;
Many employers maintain an employee performance review, and in these reviews, your supervisor works with you to identify ‘areas of opportunity’ or ‘skill gaps’ (aka nice way of saying “Weakness”) that you need to bring up to a more acceptable level. It’s a management tool to minimize weaknesses in the organization and then you are possibly sent off to a remedial course or workshop. Is this development or is this damage control?
If this is your modus operandi then I suggest you, or your organization, will never be able to capitalize on your subordinates strengths.
A new way of looking at this dilemma:
1. A person’s talents are unique;
2. A person’s greatest opportunity for growth is through their strengths;
We don’t ignore weakness but we maximize strength. The people that wake up in the morning and look forward to their day at work are called “The Blessed Ones”. These people have been able to identify in themselves some recurring patterns of behaviour then developed them into productive strengths.
Attributes of Strengths?
• Must be able to consistently demonstrate it successfully time and time again;
• Must derive satisfaction from the activity
Capitalizing your strengths and managing around your weaknesses is a lot easier to say than it is in practice. I’m still struggling with this however I have been able to demonstrate this numerous times at work by negotiating jobs that I find interesting and that I am good at into my work portfolio. This work is showing dividends for me and is starting to open doors that would otherwise be closed. Additionally I am building competencies that can be demonstrated should other jobs that I consider more aligned to my interest become available.
I’m only touching the tip of the ice berg on this subject because this medium is a blog. Needless to say strengths are constructed, developed and polished out of specific raw material. Sometimes you don’t know that you have these skills until you step outside of your comfort zone and accomplish things you never knew you were capable of accomplishing. If you are surprised by a feeling of satisfaction, elation and sense of accomplishment then you really need to pay attention to it. You may have just tripped over a strength that has been buried inside of you that just needed an outlet.
It seems to me that most human beings are fixated by fault and failure. Certainly throughout my entire education and throughout my career I have been encouraged to identify and correct areas of weakness before I had any chance of being successful. I now believe that there are sometimes choices to be made where this model has no bearing what-so-ever and may very well be an inherent flaw in logic.
I believe that sometimes there needs to be a shift of focus, or a decision, that allows us to pursue success by concentrating on what we’re strong in; not what we’re weak in. I think this can be said of individuals and I believe this can be said of clubs or organizations. To me this just starts to make sense.
Two poorly considered assumptions we make about people:
1. People can learn to be proficient in almost anything;
2. A person’s greatest opportunity for growth is through concentrating on their areas of weakness;
Many employers maintain an employee performance review, and in these reviews, your supervisor works with you to identify ‘areas of opportunity’ or ‘skill gaps’ (aka nice way of saying “Weakness”) that you need to bring up to a more acceptable level. It’s a management tool to minimize weaknesses in the organization and then you are possibly sent off to a remedial course or workshop. Is this development or is this damage control?
If this is your modus operandi then I suggest you, or your organization, will never be able to capitalize on your subordinates strengths.
A new way of looking at this dilemma:
1. A person’s talents are unique;
2. A person’s greatest opportunity for growth is through their strengths;
We don’t ignore weakness but we maximize strength. The people that wake up in the morning and look forward to their day at work are called “The Blessed Ones”. These people have been able to identify in themselves some recurring patterns of behaviour then developed them into productive strengths.
Attributes of Strengths?
• Must be able to consistently demonstrate it successfully time and time again;
• Must derive satisfaction from the activity
Capitalizing your strengths and managing around your weaknesses is a lot easier to say than it is in practice. I’m still struggling with this however I have been able to demonstrate this numerous times at work by negotiating jobs that I find interesting and that I am good at into my work portfolio. This work is showing dividends for me and is starting to open doors that would otherwise be closed. Additionally I am building competencies that can be demonstrated should other jobs that I consider more aligned to my interest become available.
I’m only touching the tip of the ice berg on this subject because this medium is a blog. Needless to say strengths are constructed, developed and polished out of specific raw material. Sometimes you don’t know that you have these skills until you step outside of your comfort zone and accomplish things you never knew you were capable of accomplishing. If you are surprised by a feeling of satisfaction, elation and sense of accomplishment then you really need to pay attention to it. You may have just tripped over a strength that has been buried inside of you that just needed an outlet.
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