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January 4, 2006 17:16 - When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple
By Jenny Joseph
Don't leave it till you are too old... (Read Article)
January 4, 2006 17:45 - What's the Risk Anyway...
This time of year, we're reflecting on what happened last year, maybe thinking about 'Change One Thing' and looking at the opportunities ahead.
A favourite saying of mine is about chance and risk:-
What kind of man could live where there is no daring?
I don't believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished without taking any chance at all.
Charles Lindbergh
Life is short. Sometimes there is risk involved - although, as my daughter announced last night after telling us she's going off travelling for 6 months, "There's risk crossing the road..."
Not missing out on possibilities, whilst you are taking most of the precautions you can, is a hugely enabling place to be.
Whilst looking at what you are doing in 2006, take a few risks...bend a few rules...read the poem below!
January 4, 2006 18:07 - Coming Rather Soon
Last year, I trialled a weekly newsletter. It went out to two people to start with and ended up with over 300!
So it's time to move it on and start it up again.
I had lots of great feedback, yet I wondered whether I wanted to write something every week. The answer was that I do - and some smarter software will make it easier for me too!
As you might tell from the blog, I love writing. So starting next Monday, you can, if you are signed up, look forward to:-
'Successful Management - Helping you to Manage your People Easily and Effectively'
By signing up in the little click-through to the right of the screen, you will get a free e-course as well. If you've already signed up to that, you are on the list already!
So 600 or so of us will be working together, having some fun and learning a bit along the way.
And I'll be looking for some involvement from you too!
January 6, 2006 21:47 - What if You Could Hear Their Thoughts?
How would it be if you could hear, uncensored, the thoughts of each of your employees or colleagues.
Well, here's some great news for you - now you can.
Hold on a minute though.
In offering you this unmissable opportunity, I wonder what would the benefits might be and, even more to the point, what would your reaction be?
In fact, would this knowledge be a thing you would value or fear?
Apart from the delectable Helen Hunt, there were a couple of striking things about the movie 'What Women Want' which was on TV the other night.
The first was that Mel Gibson had the opportunity to hear fully the thoughts of his employee/competitor and then to change his behaviours, to more meet the needs of his newest recruit.
There were some good things he heard, and some not so good.
Overall, it was an interesting insight into his reaction to the honesty that is inside the heads of other key roles in the movie.
The second, and for me more telling moment, was when he responded to the thoughts he'd absorbed from one of the minor characters. One for whom, once he heard what was going on inside her head, he sat up and noticed much, much more.
Once he was 'aware' enough, he responded far differently than he might have and rushed to her side once he thought she might have self-harming tendencies. He also responded to meet her aspirations and get her career moving.
Positive outcomes.
Yet ones which were seemingly available only to someone with his unusual and temporary skills of hearing the thoughts of others (just women in this case). We can find these thoughts out - we just need to be smarter about how we go about it.
Hearing thoughts comes easily as we get to know our people well. Developing relationships through regular and varied conversations, opens up dialogue which touches on deeper thoughts.
Sometimes these are still hidden as people try to hold onto them - yet there are clues, which if you listen hard enough and set aside your own agenda, can be heard and opened up further - for everyone's benefit.
You don't need a magical touch. You just need to notice, listen and build relationships through conversations.
Then the magic happens.
January 7, 2006 17:09 - The Consequences of 'Not Letting Go'
I met a friend in my local Starbucks yesterday.
She didn't see me at first, nor did I see her. Yet in a moment, we were commiserating about our day. For me it was a little frustration that someone hadn't got back to me when they said they would, but for her, the challenge was more tangible.
She was frustrated - in fact so frustrated, she was almost steaming more than her latte!
I first caught sight of her looking out over the mezzanine balcony from Starbucks into the Borders it is a part of - pretty wistful, lost in her thoughts, she was.
When she described her day to me, it was easy to see why.
"When my boss is working with us, it's chaos. She interferes in everything we do, makes us change what works and gets annoyed with us when it isn't exactly as she instructs stuff to be done. If she'd just leave us alone, and trust us, we would be fine."
I know her boss well. She is running around doing six things at once - a pressure of the business and organisational needs from above. A very capable woman, she is in her first management and feels scrutinised and so tries to do everything herself. It's a way too easy trap to fall into.
Once, I got myself overpromoted. From running a store where I knew where every item of stock was, I got myself catapulted into one of the worst run businesses we had and four times the size.
It was a living nightmare. After about six months of hell (when I asked my boss to let me go back to where I'd been happy and coping - he said 'No'!), it dawned on me that I could no longer do everything myself. It was a maturing of me from a do-er to a manager.
I had to develop my key people to deliver without my intervention much. My skills had to evolve from loads of energy doing everything, to doing just what I was best at - managing the people to deliver the results in the best way they knew how.
As long as it wasn't illegal, I didn't need to know how they got the right results at all, especially not interfere.
I know the boss of my friend. I may, with some careful listening and delving subtly, be able to find out what she needs to do and guide her a little.
If so, it will be a result for all, in the right direction.
January 8, 2006 21:11 - Finding Out "What Good Looks Like" in Your Business
Getting clear on where you are going is vital for you to focus actions.
By measuring what you do against an ideal, your activities will be focused and efficient. (Read Article)
January 9, 2006 22:56 - Snippet of the Day - Say Thank You
Unexpected recognition for a job well done is very, very validating for your people.
Whilst you are busy, you are also developing habits that, well, just creep up on you.
This means that you do things, behave in a certain way - and now is the time to redress that.
If you find there are some of your people you have instant, deep rapport with, it's just human nature to hang out with them more. Respect them and treat them well. Yet you could be missing a trick.
Today's snippet is about specifically targetting those who you don't have an instant relationship with. Make time for those you avoid and engage both in conversation as well as 'catching them doing something right' and thanking them.
Spending time with these folks might, to start at least, not be your favourite way to spend your time - but you may be surprised.
You will also up the stakes in motivating a bunch of people who you've missed out on in the past.
So, today, make a very special effort to say 'Thank you' to people you wouldn't normally do so to. It will make a difference, both to them, you and your business.
January 10, 2006 22:22 - Employee Motivation - The VERY Easy Way!
We all like to be acknowledged, but for thousands, even millions of employees, such recognition never happens. (Read Article)
January 10, 2006 22:25 - Free Lunches Warning from Stelios
For the fourth of the 'Five Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started', courtesy of Stelios Haji-Ioannou, boss of easyJet, (previous titles were on 18th November, 7th December and 16th December - you can find them through the archive links below), he talks about being very aware when someone offers you a free lunch (which, incidentally, he carries through to his flights!).
Of course when something (or, as I've sometimes found someone) comes along which looks to good to be true, it usually is.
Sometimes, and I believe this is directly related to how desperate we are, our judgement muscle goes on twitch mode and loses the plot.
Enabling us to either compound existing problems (oh joy!) or, and I think this may be worse, we store up a new problem to beat us up when current crises are being overcome.
Taking the time to check carefully when you get offered a free lunch doesn't mean you don't take it, but make sure your senses are heightened.
If you haven't noticed, a 'free lunch' descriptor can be assigned as a metaphor for quite a few things in life - and business!
January 12, 2006 19:04 - Now the Rush is Over...
We've had Christmas and the New Year.
Full of fun and joy and then what?
This fag-end time of year can be really challenging. Of course we get on with it, but now is the time to consider little changes for the rest of the year and being pleased with who we are and what we actually achieve day-in, day-out.
Being at ease with yourself for all those things you didn';t get done enables self-honesty with what you have done.
As human beings, we are real shockers at trusting ourselves, and measuring ourselves in a real, true and kind way, though often we are wonderful with others.
Often, listening and accepting the words and feelings of outsiders is the real clue.
When they say thank you or praise you, take it at trust and live with it. It makes for a better world and who knows, might it just be a little true eh?
So if I have a suggestion this year, amongst all those other things you've tried already maybe (and perhaps already failed) is to be true to yourself, accept who you are and above all look at the contribution (maybe often unsung, but valuable nonetheless) and get off your own back.
Then the other 11.5 months will be really worth looking forward to.
January 13, 2006 21:28 - Value Review Phase
You might remember about the team member I came across, who nearly left a business where the manager wasn't prepared to give her a chance.
Then someone in a business down the road, a branch of the same organisation, spotted the potential and snapped her up. I'm deighted to say that she continues to make rapid progress!
This week, she was given a big project with significant responsibility. It was a very clear project with measurable outcomes and a very definite timescale (remember SMART - check this link page on the website for an explanation).
About half-way through the project, I was checking out with her, how she was getting on.
"Well, I've made a couple of mistakes, but I'm learning from them".
One was about how she hadn't read a date correctly and had wasted a few hours work.
"But I know I won't do that again!", she said, "I think it's about learning as I go, so that next time it goes more smoothly".
In life, as much as in work, we can't get everything right first time - indeed sometimes our lack of experience is such that we couldn't possibly see that tricky turn in the road. But her mature attitude made me smile :-)
She knew that post-activity review is a vital component of doing any task or project.
And I could tell that she was strong in the knowing of that. We have a real winner here and it is so great to see.
January 14, 2006 22:06 - Two Jags and More
Sometimes you have to laugh, or you would cry. From the press this week is the news that John Prescott, he of Council Tax fame, has made an 'inadvertant error' in failing to pay some £3,564 (possibly rising to over £10,000) of his own Council Tax.
Bit of an error then eh? Is it any wonder that this government is finding that 'respect' has gone AWOL in the country?
We would hope that members of the government would show the way. It was always in doubt after the same Prescot whacked someone in an earlier election (a great example to set the youth of today).
The same Prescott who presides over delays on mororways and extortionate rises in rail fares.
If you're thinking that I'm having a go at someone, then you are right. This country lacks accountability. It should start at the top. Clearly non-payment of a tax for which pensioners are being jailed for is OK for the fat-cats at the top of government.
Respect - we've a long way to go here with little example to follow.
January 15, 2006 22:57 - Just 'Talking'
Building relationships with your people is the most valuable action you can take.
This week, make the time to get to know your people better. Create spaces in your diary to have some conversations with them which will build rapport. (Read Article)
January 16, 2006 22:56 - Balancing Work with Play
My daughter surprised me with a calendar this Christmas. As I unwrapped an unlikely floppy package on the 25th (seems a long time ago now - only 345 days to next Christmas as I write this), I sort of recognised the front, and then as I flipped through the months, the pictures looked more and more familiar.
Then I realised that they were my photographs - and I was so delighted - my most valued present.
I love photography and it was interesting to note the pictures she had chosen.
Memorable pictures from memorable experiences. In fact out of the twelve months, as well as the picture on the front (gondolas overlooking San Giorgio in Venice), I don't think there is one I would not have chosen.
I also had another calendar from my aspirational photographer at www.blueeyesphoto.com, Sue Kennedy.
You know, mine were not that far off.
So now I'm spurred on. I think I'm going to indulge myself and do a City and Guilds in Photography this year.
Just for fun!
January 17, 2006 18:05 - That's the Way to Do it!
Listening to an operations director at one of the UK's largest retailers last week, on a conference call to his middle managers, it was great to hear that they had an excellent Christmas.
Perhaps to the City, even a little unexpected, though share price had been rising all week in anticipation.
There were lots of positives, not least that the bottom line was significantly better this year, the toughest of all for retailers, in recent history.
There were also some things that hadn't gone as well. And he acknowledged that. But the way he did it was very interesting. It was that some things hadn't quite gone right, and that was OK - it was something to fine tune next year, and they would.
It was a remarkably constructive conversation he was having with his people. Warm, yet very focused. Congratulatory, yet highlighting a record and benchmark performance, which can be even bettered.
Great to listen to and appealing to those who did all the work at the sharp end over such a busy period, with strong encouragement for the future.
January 18, 2006 22:28 - Getting Known
I know that there are lots of different people read this blog. Once in a while, therefore, I'm going to promote products which I've bought and used myself, where I feel that they have been great value.
Writing a lot, it is a vital way for me to get exposure. Yet, up to now, it has taken far more time submitting the articles, one at a time, to one article bank at a time, than writing the article.
Until I found Article Marketer.
This is an awesome programme that I now recommend to anyone who does any writing.
It has truly accelerated my article submissions, such that now, my articles, after just one year and no other promotional activity are found on over 5,000 other websites!
For me, that's a great way to market - free and with a lot of enjoyment on my part to write and share. Click the link below to find out more and let me know if anyone wants to hear more about it for it's value and sheer effectiveness. The least expensive, most effective way to get known in this big wide world of the internet!
January 19, 2006 21:59 - Another Red Bus
I don't catch much TV at the moment. But tonight just for a few minutes, I watched Big Red Bus on BBC1.
Amongst other things, there was a session where a number of drivers came in for additional training where their customer service had been 'suspect'.
There were all the usual complaints for why they had been less than helpful to their customers, not least being spat at and having various weapons thrust at them, but the trainer was adamant.
He provided all sorts of excuses why the front line drivers should not react the way they do (£20 note three days running got several bags of coin as his change on the third day!).
He also respected that customers were pretty unpleasant some of the time. What he said next was the vital bit that had my ears pricking up.
He said that the problem was that although everyone is different, the problem these itinerant drivers were creating for themselves was that they were trying to change the habits and behaviours of their unpleasant customers/passengers in the few moments they were interacting with them, so that they behaved the way that the drivers would and not the way they were.
It was the attempt to change behaviours of a lifetime, but not just to make them nicer people, but that unconsciously, they were trying to make them like themselves.
I thought that was a very interesting insight to where that clash between customer and enployee hits the buffers.
January 20, 2006 20:52 - The End of Stelios?
I've been giving you drip-feed details of the "Five Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started", by Stelios (Haji-Ioannou) of easyJet.com fame - he's the boss, by the way!
We're now on number five of five (previous titles were on 18th November, 7th December, 16th December and 10th of January - you can find them through the archive links below). They all make great reading, so I'll list all five at the end.
They came from the 10th birthday issue of easyJet's 'birth'. And from that came the opportunity to make easier and much cheaper journeys for all of us. My trip to Venice in November cost just £166 for three nights including flights and breakfast. That would not have been possible with out you Stelios, so I thank you!
Anyway, on to his fifth and final thing he wished he'd known when he started (though I suspect he knew this pretty well anyway!)
"If you think safety is expensive, try an accident, that's much more expensive"
...from a guy running an airline business, that's so comforting.
Yet it is such a profound analogy with what happens in everyday work as a manager. We rush around doing things, fixing the urgent stuff, yet take too little time preparing for the future - doing the maintenance.
Maintenance like taking some time out of our every day to make deep acquaintances with our people. It just gets so busy, that we focus in the imminent, where will will be tactically measured and spend way too little time on what needs to be topped up regularly.
And in Stelios' case, the care you take over maintenance is so much more important than the cost expended on short-term issues.
Your job might not entail keeping airplanes in the air, and that's the rub, isn't it - it seems less important. The value to your business of your maintenance efforts might well be just as vital in the end.
"Five Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started"
by Stelios Haji-Ioannou of easyJet.com- Find what you're good at and delegate the rest - 8th November
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Focus - on your job; on your brand - 7th December
- Work hard. It will take hard work to get what you want in business - 16th December
- Don't expect any free lunches. If someone offers you a free lunch, they're probably lying about something - 10th of January
- If you think safety is expensive, try an accident, that's much more expensive - January 20th
January 22, 2006 22:23 - Making Time for Team Building Relationships
Whatever else you are doing - STOP! - whenever you engage with someone in conversation. Ignore pagers. Put off interruptions.
At the very least make sure that you 'honour' the space that you have when you are in any sort of one-to-one with someone else... (Read Article)
January 23, 2006 19:38 - New Stuff!
Hi all - tonight I'm going to be less than creative - I'm all creatived out!
So, here are a few changes to the site you might care to take a look at:-
Classic Leadership Styles, which is a bit of a percolation of some thoughts I've had, as well as listed stuff on the internet. There are a couple of nice links that might help too - I think they all work, but if not, let me know!
I've updated the Newsletter page, with a new sign up box and a sample newsletter - so now to those occasional visitors, you have no excuse not to get a weekly missive from me!
I have, also, finally, raised my head above the parapet and listed a training programme I'm delighted about. Coaching Managers to Coach is just, well, that and if you click through the link you'll see the remarkable offer I'm making for the moment.
Having delivered similar programmes over the last ten years, I'm now making a great offer of a training plus one-to-one coaching package that is fantastic value - and one, as far as I know, that you can't get anywhere else, so take a look and let me know what you think.
And if you need a great training programme with bells on, contact me through the form on the page!
January 24, 2006 22:56 - Watching the Pennies
I meet colleagues, clients and friends sometimes at a local hotel; a large chain, whose name you might know.
We usually have coffee and/or tea, depending in the time of day.
It involves going up to the bar, asking for what you want and settling up at the end. Today, I placed my order and waited. As it happened, the colleague coach I was waiting for was late and I, for once, was early. I had a little reading to do, so I didn't miss the coffee, until just before my colleague arrived.
When she got there, I chased up my order and added hers. With a nice apology, they were both brought together, as were biscuits (naughty, but nice!).
Two hours later, after we'd finished our meeting, I went to pay for the drinks (only a couple of pounds, but I have my level of integrity!). No account was to be found, nor was any bill logged.
I proffered the details of my account and paid. Yet it struck me that whilst I was honest, how much were they losing, day-in, day-out from others who were not so honest.
What was it about the sloppiness of the systems that just weren't working right? In fact, it is possible that this is a symptom of a more serious source issue? That there may be deeper problems within the organisation that allows this to happen.
Just a couple of pounds, yet are they a tip of a bigger iceberg - a malaise in the organisation?
I wonder...
January 25, 2006 22:01 - Way to Go Eric!
Have you checked out the way Google News works yet?
It's a marvellous example of how small the world has become.
Take the item I found today, (a slow news day for me, so I took to the internet for inspiration!).
In an article from the Roseberg News-Review, there was a smart little piece about the excellence of performance of their City Manager, Eric Swanson (new in from Yankton, South Dakota last March).
In praise of Eric's work, the key issue he was especially praised for, was his... "ability to get the council to work together, his communication skills and his leadership abilities".
Eric had had his formal review with the council leaders earlier in the day and this was announced in open session in the evening.
I think the piece is just brilliant! It is a simple statement of their manager doing an excellent job, for which he is being rewarded appropriately.
Eric, and the rest of his management team must be thrilled to be praised by his bosses as well as the way they have been transparent (Eric's salary and annual raise is discussed at some depth too), in their working with him.
I like Roseburg - perhaps there is something we can learn from cold and breezy Oregon from this.
And a big well done to Eric for what sounds like a job well done...
For something a little more humourous this evening, you might ant to checkout this article I found there too!
January 26, 2006 21:31 - A Two-Family State
Everywhere we go, we are encouraged to appreciate that we 'work to live', and not the opposite, 'live to work'.
Listening to Jose Mourinho today, he was describing his life with his 'two families'.
How important it was to him to have his true family at home, yet complemented by his work family at Chelsea.
Have you ever felt like you had a family at work?
How much a challenge it is to say goodbye when you leave to move on, or to lose one of your wonderful key players, for one reason or another?
For me, having a family at work was an added bonus, yet one which, fortunately for me, I didn't have to work hard at. All the tactics, many of which came naturaly to me, as outlined in page after page in the website right here (remember Coaching Businesses to Success!), helped me run a friendly ship in each and every one of my businesses.
Sometimes, perhaps (and with the valuable yet unreal capacity for hindsight), I was a little too generous and prepared to tolerate some underperfomances.
Looking back at the great people I worked with, not many would I treat differently.
All had some positives.
Being in a 'family' at work was an embellishment to an exciting and focused way of working.
We spend, in general, much more of our lives at work than with our loved ones. If we can make it as 'loving' an experience as at home, then perhaps it softens the challenge of that absence a little.
January 27, 2006 22:23 - Are You Getting All Sensitive on Me?
How sensitive are you? When I mean sensitive, I don't mean whether you burst out in tears at the merest hint of criticism (and here I'm talking to you boys as well as the girls - no bias here!).
No, I'm wondering whether you sense things in your employees - unusual behaviours or reactions maybe?
In December's Management Today, there was just a snippet of a piece by Sandra Macleod, of Echo Research, that caught my eye. In it there was this comment she picked up by Patrick Dunne of 3i,
"It's important to listen to what people say, but even more important to listen to what they think."
This was all about knowing your people well enough to sense when there is something up. Now you can't spend all your business life twisting and turning about moody employees.
You can at least notice.
The key to this, is to be close enough to your people to realise when something's up. And that means taking time to get to know them well enough.
I bang on a lot about having conversations with your people and this enables that 'intelligence' of noticing to be fine tuned.
Then, when things seem to be getting a little tense, not only do you notice, but you can ask 'What's up', a lot more easily.
This helps you head off things before the fire really takes hold.
You can read the whole piece here .
January 29, 2006 21:52 - How Showing a Little Appreciation Motivates Employees
There are a whole load of resources you can find on 'motivation'. Books, tapes, internet etc. Yet it need not be so complicated... (Read Article)
January 30, 2006 21:26 - "Let us be Lovers...
..we'll marry our fortunes together..."
Last weekend brought one of those freebies in the weekend paper. You know the sort - that old movie that's too old for even TCM? Or the one of old Tom Jones classics (?).
Yet last weekend there was a free CD that gave me such pleasure this week, well, I can't say how much.
Art Garfunkel was one half of the Simon and Garfunkel duo that formed my very earliest relationship with rock and roll.
I was a little too young for the Beatles mania in 1963 and a little too old for the flower-power generation of the late 70's. But Simon and Garfunkel were my first LP (one of those black round things with a hole in the middle!).
I queued down at Blackburn Co-op, very early one morning, to buy a sort of stereo radiogram thing. A huge box with a record player in it, which enabled me to start my love of music - not to mention entertaining friends in my bedroom.
"Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" was, and still is, the first of a 200-record collection that in the day and age of CD's and i-Tunes downloads, I don't listen too much nowadays (though I do still have a record player!).
The Art Garfunkel freebie had a number of classics from those early Simon and Garfunkel albums (another name for LP's, the 70's equivalent of CDs). yet they are just a little different from that first record.
They are live renditions, off different albums and such joy. Working in my home office, I've had them blasting out at high volume all week - it has made it a lot less like work.
Great news is that there is a second half of the double album which arrived yesterday. So this week sounds like it's going to be fun too, as I take another step back into the past.
As I write this, bizarrely, 'The Only Living Boy in New York', another Simon and Garfunkel classic, has just started on the radio!
It's been a funny old day.
January 31, 2006 20:50 - If in Doubt
Spring is just aroiund the corner. In fact I dug out my trusty sunglasses just yesterday morning and thought it had arrived, but in fact the freezing cold set in again today and I shuffled them away again!
But it started me thinking about Spring Cleaning. Many organisations will have a rush at Christmas and this time of year, say for retailers, is all about tidying up and preparing for the next round in the annual calendar of selling.
It's a time for 'if in doubt, chuck it out'. Now don't get too cavalier here, if you need to hang onto specific paperwork for legal reasons, then make sure you do so.
I suggest in the main that if you haven't used something for 6 months, then it's not likely that you'll need it - and if you do, maybe you can get another one and it might even be more up to date!
Think of the benefits you'll have when your desk is clear and that pile you've accumulated and is getting taller is 'filleted' down to the stuff you truly need.
Next step is encouraging your people to do the same - be courageous and bin it.
Actually, it takes no more than a few minutes at a go and you will feel all the better for it. It's about focus and making a little time.
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