Uncategorized – Strategic Leadership Consultancy

Motivation

admin — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 15:35:46 +0000

Positive Attitude

It’s so easy to be critical or to give out about other people but why are many of us like that? Is there something wrong with us? Are we unusual to be critical? Can we do anything about it? Well, the answer is yes. So, let’s first look at why we are critical. The reason is because it’s easy to be critical. Did you know we are three time more negative than positive? According to research done on human behavior we process negative thoughts more quickly than positive thoughts.

Many people will tell you they are not negative but think about it, we enjoy gossip and when you think of gossip it’s normally about someone else and what they have done wrong. What about newspapers? They are mostly negative stories – war, deaths, business losses and we enjoy reading them. What about women’s magazines nearly every one of them features articles about what can go wrong with women’s health, they give advice on how to deal with difficult relationships, how to get that amazing man that doesn’t seem to exist. Negativity sells magazines newspapers and keeps conversations fluid.

I used to do an exercise when I was teaching people about developing a positive attitude – I got them to make a list of 10 things they didn’t like about the room they were in. Always easy and took just a few minutes, then I changed the question and asked them to list 10 things they liked about the room – always more difficult so it takes time to develop a positive approach but a worthwhile exercise.

The key is to make sure you are not causing someone damage with false information, yes, it’s tempting to flavor information you have heard to make it more sensational but you are doing someone an injustice and that is not acceptable. How about turning it around and finding something good to say about that person?

I remember having a conversation with a senior manager in a company I used to work for. At his meetings, he was constantly critical and was doom and gloom about the organisations financial situation. I met with him after my first meeting with him and said I thought he was being very negative and was missing an opportunity to motivate and inspire his team. He listened intently and I though that’s good he has got the message.

At the next meeting he used the same approach – doom and gloom and then said “I know people in this room think I’m being negative but I’m not, I’m being realistic”. A couple of meetings later he said he didn’t see value in having this meeting as people didn’t have much to say. The problem was that every time someone tried to talk about something positive, he would be critical about what they said. So, in the end no one commented and the meeting no longer took place. It led to a number of problems as people were no longer in the loop as to what was happening.

There is a lot of value in being positive and looking for inspirational stories as it can motivate people. Research has shown that positive people are more productive and the bottom line is positively impacted as well.

Taking a positive approach and thinking about others has a very positive impact on people’s lives. I was at an airport a week ago and sat having a coffee. I was close to the airlines ticket desk which had just 1 person on duty and a queue of 6 people all demanding assistance from this sole person. I actually felt sorry for her. Them an amazing thing happened, one of the people in the queue who had been helped by the person went and bought a black coffee and a container of milk and went to the desk and said to her I know you have been very busy and working hard but thank you for sorting out my problem and please have a coffee on me. The staff member was shocked, not many people appreciated what she did

Do we need teamwork?

Many of us are currently working from home due to the pandemic. At first it was great we enjoyed the thought of being at home all the time. No more commuting, no need to deal with colleagues that irritated us, no worry about the boss having a bad day, nobody watching over our shoulder. While that all sounds great many of the people I know, who are working from home have realized that they are missing being at work.

They miss the commute and people watching. The crazy drivers who only think of themselves. The weird looking passenger on the train. The Buskers they see in the stations and public places, the discussions about last night’s TV. We miss all of this interaction because it all became a great conversation topic when we met up with our colleagues at work. Also in reverse, the new person who joined the department, the boss ‘s latest idea about motivation, the gossip about work, the journey home, all provided us with conversation when we got home from the office with our spouse, partner or friends.

All of this interaction has slowly slipped away. Yes, we talk to our spouse, partner, friends while working from home but what is there to discuss about? The latest depressing results of Covid infections, whose turn it is to empty the dishwasher? Who is going to walk the dog? So, while we may be happy at home, is it having a detrimental effect on our wellbeing/mental health?

So why is Teamwork important? First and foremost, we are social beings. Yes, we can get along with ourselves but long term on our own without social interaction can impact our mental health. This is why solitary confinement is used as punishment for problem prisoners. It is very tough not to be with other people as we need social interaction. There is a percentage of people who thrive on being on their own and that fine. But 90% of people need social interaction so it’s important to consider its impact.

Teamwork is something that has existed since time began and it’s believed that gave us an advantage over other species. Teamwork allows us collectively, to solve problems that we probably may not have been able to do on our own. Another advantage of Teamwork is that it boosts efficiency as we share the work load, which gets the job done. It also boosts our morale all of which helps our mental health.

So, what can you do about Teamwork while working from home? Well, keep in touch with your colleagues, use WhatsApp or similar communication tools. Why not send messages or comments to let people know you are there and thinking of them? Better still, call them, (it’s more personal when talking to someone than just reading a message). Discuss non work issues, but try to avoid Covid discussions (that only leads to depression). Tell them stories of funny things that have happened – your partners latest attempt to do DIY, your supermarket experience, this will encourage like-minded behaviour and will help your wellbeing/mental health because you are not on your own, you are part of the team.

Why not arrange social meeting outside of work hours? Meet at a coffee shop, a restaurant, or a pub. Try this once a month and keep the team spirit going. The advantages? Well, you can talk about the crazy drivers who only think of themselves. The weird looking passenger on the train. The Buskers you see in the stations and public places, discuss last night TV. It will have a positive impact on your mental health and you will feel you belong!

So, Teamwork is more important now than ever before – enjoy it!

What are we missing?

If your boss asked you to get 20 of your best people together for a project that would take around 2 hours and will take place outside of the office, I’m sure that you could probably manage that effectively but what if there was a gale blowing (40kts) and it had been lashing rain for the past 3 hours and its freezing? Oh, and they have to wear t-shirts and shorts, just to add to your problem.

So, what would you do? How would you encourage or inspire your team to give their full support? Would any of your team refuse? Yes, this is a bit extreme but I was amazed to see a group of 22 guys out on a pitch in these conditions over the weekend. The weather was atrocious, gale force winds, freezing and it had been raining all day and they don’t get paid for doing this. Then a question occurred to me, why is it that we as bosses can’t inspire our staff to be so passionate about what they do from a work perspective.

Many of our work teams play sports at weekends, they play in tough conditions and they do this week in week out throughout the year. Yet sometimes we don’t get this commitment in their work? Who’s to blame? Did we miss this chapter in the book of effective management? Did we miss the lecture in college on effective motivations?

Well, the reality is that we don’t often consider motivation or give it the time and energy in its pursuit, well no one motivates us so why should we bother? Just imagine if you got 50% of the energy and passions that people put into sports in their free time and you managed to get that into the work environment? So, what are we missing? Is there a magic formula?

Firstly, it is your responsibility to motivate your staff even though no-one motivates you (more common than you think in management). Motivation inspires and brings out the best in your team. But and it’s a big but, it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, sometimes weeks and months. Many managers say I don’t have a budget to motivate my team but motivation can be done with little or no cost.

If you have a demotivated or a minimally motivated team or haven’t even considered it as an important issue then it will take time for your team to believe that you are serious about motivation. You have to take the time to build the trust with your team. For those of you who are more forward thinking and who did read or attended the lectures on motivation, then you have to persevere with motivation, it can’t be this week’s theme, it has to be on-going. But look at it this way, you will get better productivity, you will have a happier workplace, your team (and you by default) will become more successful and you and your team will stand out in the organization.

So how can you inspire and motivate your teams? Firstly, you need to build a plan; what are you going to do this week, next month, in three months and in six months. Yes, it has to be a long-term plan. You could start by conducting an informal survey to see where motivation levels are today. Most important is that you have to share the results as soon as possible when completed. Yes, it’s a risk, as the results could be bad. But it’s a starting point, if morale is running at 30% then you have to tell the team and get them together and ask what they (not you) can do to help improve morale as it impacts everyone. They will come up with great suggestions and you will find many of the ideas will be low cost or no cost.

There are many forms of action you could take, staff member of the month, best idea of the month, best example of customer service, most innovative new idea to reduce complications in work processes. But the key is to make sure you reward the people concerned and to explain why they are getting rewarded to the rest of the team. If you want people to follow suit they need to understand what behaviors are required to be recognized by their manager or boss.

Recognition is another form of reward that helps improve morale. This can be done in many ways. A staff presentation highlighting individual contribution to the business. It can something as simple as coffee with the boss. To make it easier on the boss I suggest you encourage a number of people to join you (maximum of 10).

A written letter, not E-mail because it’s too impersonal, has a magical effect because as well as the impression it creates for the individual who receives it, he/she will show it to their colleagues and will also share with family and friends – the end result is that it creates a very positive impression of you and also your organization.

Another motivator is involvement. Staff like to be involved in decisions that affect them. This can take the form of getting a team together to look at better ways to operate, ideas to enhance the work place. Also getting them involved in organizing plans to get the whole team together for an away-day also has a major impact.

Communication is another powerful form of motivation, letting your team know what is going on, why specific decisions are being made, the reason why people are getting promoted. Tell them how the business is doing, who the competitors are and what they are up to. You can also share what customers like about us and what they don’t like, it’s all very beneficial to staff. It one of the easiest and effective ways to motivate staff as it helps them feel part of the tea.

I was asked to review a major Call Centre that was having problems with motivation and productivity. It required me to fly across the globe to visit the location. I asked to meet with 2 of the most junior staff, 2 mid-term staff and 2 long-term staff. No supervisors or managers were involved to ensure that the staff were comfortable giving unbiased feedback. It turned out that the main issue was the lunch room. I took a visit and it smelt bad, it had no decorations and a lot of the furniture was old and damaged and part of the carpet was missing.

This was a global corporation and I was amazed at the condition of the place. I asked the Director to meet me in the kitchen and he was shocked (of course he had never visited this part of the building) we then invited the manager and the supervisors to see what had gone wrong. The supervisors said they had put their concerns with the lunch room conditions in their report to the managers for months but as nothing was done the supervisors gave up reporting it. The manager said he considered upgrading it a year ago but didn’t consider it a priority as he had other issues like equipment and staff recruitment with limited budget spend.

Taking the plunge

I’m always amazed at the number of people who go for a morning sea swim throughout the year. I’ve tried a couple of time but only once with success as I was concerned about getting frostbite as the sea was so cold!

I asked a few people why they do it, some said it was fun (not sure how) others said it was for health reason, it is good for the blood flow and the heart and keep you healthy. But the majority said it was the challenge. The challenge of getting up from a warm bed and going out into the cold and getting into a freezing sea. The challenge of going in, in all weathers and the camaraderie they get with other sea swimmers.

From a work perspective what can we learn from this?

Well let’s look at how challenging work is for our teams? When I talk to teams of people about work most say they enjoy their work but there’s not a lot of challenge in it. If you ask the Supervisor or Manager they will often tell you they have too many challenges and the pressure of work never ends. So, we have a disconnect.

What if we gave our teams more challenging work? Passing on challenges that we need help with. Teams I have worked with always thrive when given challenges. It adds interest to their job role, it gives them something to achieve, they support each other and it builds camaraderie between the team members involved. Some call it delegation, but the work we delegate must be interesting as well as challenging otherwise they will soon figure out that we are dumping work that we don’t want to do.

If you pass on challenging work to your team, you build their skills, you create a better team environment and you give them the chance to feel fulfilment in their jobs and a great sense of achievement. Doing so, reduces your workload, it upskills your teams and it makes you a more competent and effective leader.

We also need to factor in that sometimes it may not work out to our liking, but they can come up with better and faster solutions so give them the encouragement that they need and step back and let them get on with it.

So why not take the plunge and give your teams a sense of achievement?

Think about what jobs you could delegate and encourage and support and see what happens – you too might just go for that morning sea swim!

Customer Experience

admin — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 15:25:50 +0000

I had a couple of recent experiences with retailers, one was good and one bad…..well really awful. I will explain the problems, the good experiences, explain how they happen and why. At a time when retailers are struggling to survive, you will see why some are a success and why others fail. The sad part is they don’t really know why they fail. This week I will tell you about the bad experience and next week about the good experience and why they are successful.

If you want to protect your business and make or keep it successful then read this. It’s a useful article for managers and staff to understand why the customer is important and for businesses to understand that staff and customers are important to their survival.

My story begins when I decided to buy a quality printer from a high street conglomerate who specializes in PC’s and white goods and have operations throughout the UK & Ireland. I went to their local store as there was a sale on. There was a queue due to the ongoing Covid epidemic.

I stood in the queue for 40 minutes and eventually got to the front door where I was met by a gruff aggressive staff member with crossed arms. He said “What do you want?” I said “I’m looking for a printer” he responded with “We have no printer anywhere in the store” So I said no problem I will just have a browse around as there is a sale on. No you won’t he replied, no browsing allowed!

Wow what an attitude and I wasn’t the only person getting this attitude, which is shocking for a major retailer. Yes, we are all concerned about Covid, but to practically push a customer out of the store, who wants to spend money, is a first for me. So later that day I went online and asked to be advised when the printer stock will be in and the system said I will be notified.

The system worked! I received the confirmation of my preference being in stock on Monday, the e-mail arrived Sunday night so first thing Monday I was back in the queue and yet again the guy on the door (a different person) challenged all customers asking what they wanted before allowing them in. A young couple in front of me said they wanted to see what was on sale and they were refused – no browsing that’s the rule. So, they left and said they would go to a competitor where they would be allowed to browse.

I went back as they now had printers. I had to be personally be escorted by a staff member and I was told I could only look at printers, yes really! I told the guy I had an email confirming stock of a particular printer. He said no, they were out of stock of the particular printer I was interested in. He said they came in last Wednesday and all sold on that day. I asked why I received an email saying it was in stock. He said he didn’t know but that stock only comes in on Wednesday so I asked how about the next Wednesday, should I come then? He said no I don’t think we will get any printers next Wednesday. That was my experience with this retailer – will I buy from them? No, I certainly won’t.

My first concern is what type of manager runs an operation like this? At a time when retailers are struggling against online sales and yet this retailer had such unpleasant staff on the front door. He or she must condone this attitude. As a customer it got my back up and I’m sure many other customers felt the same. The result is that staff at this retailer created upset and angry customers who their colleagues would then have to deal with. I bet the staff think what awful customers we get in this store. Well, you create your customers attitude by the attitude you take towards them.

I will be interested to see how long they last; staff will lose their jobs along with the managers and they will all wonder what went wrong. I looked up the comments of that particular store on Google and they get a poor score. Most reviews say rude unhelpful staff – I wonder if their management follow up on this. Sadly, it seems unlikely as the reviews have been negative for a number of months.

I had a look at Glassdoor ratings of this retailer as a place to work and they get a poor rating in all areas. This suggests this organization doesn’t value their staff and that’s another reason why the staff don’t value customers. Financially they have struggled over the past few years but had a good 2018 when they went back to profitability. I will be interested to see how they do this year.

So, what can you learn from this?

Keep an eye on all public reviews about your business

Reviews confirm the experience your customer are having good and bad. They highlight your good staff and it will also highlight problem areas that may need your attention.

Motivation is critical to business success

How often do you meet personally with your staff? You should try to do so weekly. Ask them what the problems are, ask them for suggestions on how to improve any potential issues. Share feedback with them. If it’s good then mention staff names, if it’s bad don’t mention names but discuss why that incident occurred and how it can impact the reputation of the branch and everyone who works there.

Reward the good staff

Recognizing your best people means they will stay with you and they will become an example to other staff. The majority of staff seek attention and recognizing them is the most powerful way. It’s not about the money it’s about being appreciated.

Develop your staff and management

Most frontline staff only learn about the organization and it values but what about the psychology of dealing with people? What about developing managers to effectively manage staff? When I asked the staff in my experience about if they had a been involved in training they said yes we attended the staff induction programme when we joined but that was it.

A tale of two retailers – Part 2

Last week I gave an account of my experience with a major PC and White Goods retailer in the UK & Ireland who had serious flaws in their service delivery process. It’s interesting to note that they have announced this week that over 800 staff redundant and cite Covid and on-line sales as the reason. The reality is their service delivery is flawed and they are driving customers away from their business.

My 2^nd experience was a good one and it was with Woodies, a DIY focused retailer.

When I visit their stores (there are two in my hometown of Galway) I have always observed the staff being friendly and helpful whenever customers need help. I was in there about three weeks ago, as I was repainting a bathroom in my home. I had decided on a particular paint and while in the store I couldn’t find the specific supplier I wanted so I decide to look at another supplier. A staff member noticed me browsing the paints, I explained the situation and he said he would look in the store to see if he could find my original choice. A few minutes later he came back with the tin I needed.

Two weeks ago, I decided to buy a computer desk for my home office and chose a sturdy well designed unit. I approached the check out and requested specific desk. She asked me if I could wait a couple of days which I thought was a strange question. She then went on to say they were having a sale later in the week and the desk I wanted would be reduced by 50% so I paid for a couple of other items. She didn’t have to tell me that, but the fact that she had made me realise how good the service ethic was in Woodies. A few days later I went in and got my desk with a 50% reduction which I was very pleased about.

Looking at Woodies financials their trading profits have risen close to 50 per cent over the past three years which is impressive. It’s clear that good customer service leads to increased profits. I also looked at staff comments about Woodies. It makes interesting reading: Friendly environment, productive and fun; staff are treated with respect. A great place to work.

What a difference to the other retailer where I had a series of bad experiences. Like many good companies they are not perfect but overall, the vision and values of the company stream down to the front line.

Retailers, there are lessons here that you can incorporate into your business which will help increase profitability:

Treat your staff how you want your customers to be treated

Woodies spend a lot of time focusing on the staff. They have a ‘Colleague Committee’ for voicing their opinions. It’s important that staff have the opportunity to have a voice in the organization. They often come up with great ideas that can save the company money and improve the service experience. Don’t waste this valuable resource.

Make the job interesting and fun

Working in retail can be challenging and yes, there are some very difficult customers out there which front line staff have to deal with on occasions. You need to allow you staff to download in a safe environment. They will learn from each other and everyone benefits as their understanding will improve on the process to defuse such situations. Get staff to share funny stories, crazy questions they have been asked, strange customer they have met. The objective is to bring a bit of fun into the work environment. Don’t forget to take the opportunity to recognize the good staff who get the best feedback from customers.

Profits will come if you look after your staff

One of the biggest errors in retail management is not understanding ‘How you treat your staff directly impacts the service customers receive’. Good service leads to increased profits but only if you value your staff and their efforts to help your business succeed.

You must train and develop you staff

Woodies run regular training programmes not only in customer service but in product information, communication skills, working in a multi-cultural environment and management skills. If you don’t develop your staff they won’t stay in your organization. Today most new joiners ask what development they can they expect in their careers. It’s a big benefit that retailers provide development, you will attract the best candidates and they will stay longer with your company.

Where did the customer service go?

Where did the service excellence go, it seems to have run out of fuel – Car Hire

Have you noticed that customer service seems to be on life support in many organisations? We need to act fast as it could become extinct. Maybe this seems like an exaggeration but over the past few months while I was travelling, I noticed that service is not what it used to be. I was hiring a car from a well-known European car hire company; one I have used in Ireland many times in the past 2 years. I booked the car online and when I went to collect it, I was told they would not give me the car unless I took the collision damage waiver (CDW) insurance.

I explained I have a separate policy for that so didn’t need to purchase the daily rate which can be very expensive over a long rental. I was happy to take the normal excess on my credit card. I had done this on a number of occasions in the past with the same company at the same location. But not this time!

I asked to see the manager. Picture the scene, the staff member is 3 feet away from me behind the desk. The manager come up and is midway between myself and the staff member. He says “What the problem?” She then whispers in his ear as quietly as possible about the CDW issue. He then looks at me suspiciously and asked me what the problem was. I told him the situation and explained I had done this a number of times in the past two years without any issue. He said “that’s not possible”!

So, think about it, he has just called me a liar! I continued to be pleasant and asked how long he had been at this location as he might have been new, “Ten years” he responded, “We can’t rent you a car without the CDW insurance unless you have a credit card from Canada or the USA”. I asked “Why” he said “It’s the rules. If you don’t take the CDW insurance then you can’t have the car”.

I reminded him we had done this on a number of occasions before (as recently as April 2016) and he said “Well, when we find out who did this, we will take action against them!” I explained with the limit on my card I could buy the car I was hiring but no, with his arms crossed he refused to budge and so we took our suitcases and left. Now think about my situation I have arrived after a long flight, the weather in Ireland is prone to rain, a lot of rain and here I was with no car. Also, it was embarrassing as other people were looking on and of course my wife wasn’t too happy either.

So, we went to the next car hire company along the road, a company called Enterprise, they were so helpful. The staff were smartly dressed in uniform (unlike the previous company who looked scruffy in their uniforms) they addressed us by name were very helpful regarding the car. And of course, there was no problem if you don’t take the CDW. So, in less than 10 minutes we were on the way. Interestingly the lady in Enterprise told us that they get a lot of upset customers coming from other car hire companies to them. It seems the staff in other car hire companies are on commission. I guess their attitude is focused on the commission as part of their salary so the service goes out the window.

I will no longer use the well-known European car hire company; I will probably tell at least 30 of my friends about the experience and I’m sure they will pass on the information as we all love to hear the bad service stories. And I’m sure people reading this will think along the same lines. So, if you run a major service organization, listen to your customers because by the time you realise you have a problem with your service it may well be too late.

Well done Enterprise you train your staff very well, they have a great attitude and look very smart. Think about how many organization today have let their service standards slip and sadly it seems to be increasing. Service is critical to long term business success. Even Ryanair had to change as their service record was really questionable but look at them now as they move to put the customer at the centre of their operations. Given time they may well become a role model. But it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, belief and communication from the management. It needs staff to understand the importance of effective service and everyone in the organization need to realise the importance of service from the top to the bottom line or you too could run out of fuel!

4) Do we need Teamwork anymore?

So why is Teamwork important? First and foremost, we are social beings. Yes we can get along with ourselves but long term on our own without social interaction can impact our mental health. This is why solitary confinement is used as punishment for problem prisoners. It is very tough not to be with other people as we need social interaction. There is a percentage of people who thrive on being on their own and that fine. But 90% of people need social interaction so its important to consider its impact.

So, what can you do about Teamwork while working from home? Well keep in touch with your colleagues, use WhatsApp or similar communication tools. Why not send messages or comments to let people know you are there and thinking of them? Better still, call them, (it’s more personal when talking to someone than just reading a message). Discuss non work issues, but try to avoid Covid discussions (that only leads to depression). Tell them stories of funny things that have happened – your partners latest attempt to do DIY, your supermarket experience, this will encourage like-minded behaviour and will help your wellbeing/mental health because you are not on your own, you’re part of the team.

So, Teamwork is more important now than ever before – enjoy it!

Leadership

admin — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 15:23:50 +0000

After 111 years of trying ….

After 111 years of trying, Ireland finally beat the New Zealand All Blacks in Chicago on Saturday 5^th November 2016. The final score was 40 points to Ireland 29 point to the All Blacks, to some this was a historic victory, to others it’s just another game.

Whatever your opinion there are lessons to be learnt from this game. Many SME (small to medium enterprises) often think they can’t compete against the big guns, they are too powerful and connected for us to take them on. How true is this statement? How many of us say ‘Don’t bother we don’t have a chance”?

But hold on, let’s just look at sport for a few minutes. Dr Roger Banister ran the 4-minute mile in Oxford UK on the 6^th May 1952. So, what was so special about that, well for over a thousand years humans were trying to achieve the 4-minute mile with little success. Experts said (at the time) the human body was not capable of running the 4-minute mile and it was dangerous to try. The Romans even tried chasing people with Loins to achieve it but it didn’t work – I’m not sure what happened to the runners in that race!

What is amazing is that once Dr Roger Bannister ran the 4-minute mile, many people since then have achieved the 4 minute mile. It’s part training and part psychology, you need belief, passion and the ability to practice, practice, practice and believe in yourself.

The Irish game was written off by many pundits before the game and even the commentators from New Zealand at the game were quietly confident that it would be another tough game from the Irish but they would be beaten by the All Blacks as usual. Was this compliancy? Arrogance? Or just normal expectations?

Think about big organizations, they are always sure they will win against the small guys, because of their reputation? But is that enough in today’s digital arena. A digital guru, trained and guided me on the importance of digital media in today’s business. It gives SME’s the opportunity to take on the big boys on a level playing field. You don’t need a big marketing budget or TV advertising, just a good digital media strategy and you’re now in the game.

So, take the Irish approach, believe in yourself, be passionate about what you do and have a good digital media strategy. If Dr Roger Banister can do it and Ireland finally beat the All Blacks just think what your company could do?

Look at some of the SME’s of yesterday: Airbnb, Dropbox, Salesforce.com all started off as SME and grew their business, yes hard work was a key but similar to what Ireland did, they had belief it could be done, they had passion, they knew they were good, they worked closely as a team and kept each other motivated.

At one stage during the game the All Blacks got within 4 points of the Ireland score. This was a tactic the All Blacks used for years to make the opposition think they were winning and as soon as they took their foot off the gas (relaxed), they came back and beat you. For many that would be the point of giving in, but like Bannister and Ireland, you have to go the extra mile, and then the most amazing thing happens you achieve great success.

Ask yourself could you do it, are you ready to take on the big guns, it may not work the first time or the second and maybe not the third time, but like Airbnb, Dropbox and Salesforce.com your time will come and you’ll be glad you tried.

In conclusion, sometimes the impossible is possible, if you believe in yourself! Take the initiative, discuss with your team, look at what you thought was not worth trying for, review your digital media strategy, if you don’t have one you will be out of the game. Think about it?

Do you really trust your business partner?

Do you really trust your business partner?

I was privileged to attend a dinner reception hosted by Martin Naughton owner of GlenDimplex, a company he calls International not Global. Michael gave a touching and inspirational speech talking about his success but yet modest in what he said.

We were hosted in the Portrait restaurant on board the beautiful ship called ‘The World’ which in itself is an amazing business story which you should check out on Google. She was docked in Dubai for a few days before going off on a tour of the Gulf and then on to the Far-East.

So back to Martin, he is a very successful business man who started off in Newry, Northern Ireland with a staff of 7 people in 1973. Today GlenDimplex is a power-house across the globe with business in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Far-East and Australia. Their turnover is approximately $1.5 billion per year and they have over 8,500 staff. This organization is still growing with more acquisitions on the cards.

Martin told us how he started the business and the challenges and successes along the way, then he mentioned an acquisition he recently acquired. He said he originally wanted to take over this particular business about 15 years ago but the owner did not want to sell. Move on 15 years and Martin met this friend again who is now in his late 80’s and still working in his successful business.

The friend said his sons and daughters were doing very well and in their 50’s but no one was interested in taking over the company. His grandchildren too were very successful but again no interest in the family business. So here he was in his eighties with a company he had built up and loved but did not want it to be sold off to people who would probably destroy the culture and fabric of the business.

Martin agreed to buy the business off him, but his friend said only under two conditions, firstly Martin had to keep him on for a few more years, as he didn’t want to retire just yet (remember he’s in his 80’s) and secondly there would be no contract just a handshake. Imagine trusting someone to that level that a handshake was all that was needed. Well, that’s exactly what happened. Obviously some paperwork was needed but the lesson here is how far would you trust your business partner and as Michael explained his partner said if we have a contact that would suggest that you intend to take me to court at some stage otherwise why would we need one? I found this fascinating.

I know some people would say it was madness but think about it, a partnership built on trust. It’s a shame we don’t have more people like this in both Government and business. The world might be a better place. Would you have the courage to operate this way? Well in reality you need to know who you are dealing with and remember Martin and his friend had a long-term relationship.

On completion of the dinner service Martin insisted on introducing the chefs, their assistants and the waiting staff so we could show our appreciation of their efforts on producing an amazing meal. I was impressed with his humility, I was impressed by his persona and his attitude, to not only his own staff but even to the staff of the restaurant.

So what can we learn from this?

For me the take-away’s were look at your business partnerships and see if you would really trust your business partners. If not why not? What can you do to rectify that situation?

What can you do to recognize your backroom staff and show them how important they are to you?

Do you really need to change the culture of a successful and thriving business? This is an area I see a lot of issues with. The number of Organisations that insist that they must be branded on the owning company, have management that fit the owning company’s culture and then with those changes the new business starts to struggle.

Martin is very successful, he manages his people well, he cares about people not just profits and that’s what makes him successful. I believe we can learn a lot from people like him.

What would happen to your business if you passed away tomorrow?

What would happen to your business if you were run over by a car tomorrow?

This is a question most of us would avoid or else we think that it would never happen to us. But and it’s a big but, how do you know? I was unfortunate the other evening to have someone tailgate me on a busy road. Thankfully no one was hurt but my car needs to go into the garage for repairs which is a major inconvenience. However, this got me thinking, if I had been badly injured what would happen to my business? Thankfully I have always been a believer in succession planning so I know that my business would continue and that my family would be taken care of.

What about your business? If you were unable to continue running your business, do you have a plan in place? Many of the SME’s that I have helped and supported have not considered having one why? “I don’t think about that”, “I don’t need one”, or “What’s the point?”

Think about it this way if you don’t have a succession plan your business could fall apart and become dysfunctional very quickly and it could have a disastrous effect on your family or shareholders. The great part is that it’s not rocket science.

First make a list of all the senior people in your company, it may be as small as 4 people or as big as 4,000. Now list down your direct reports and consider their skills and competencies. Next remove your personal emotion from this exercise. It’s not a friendliness competition, you need to ensure you think of the company’s longevity. Will the selected person or persons help the company grow and thrive if you are not available?

Draw up your list and prioritise what the company needs most – it could be sales skills, diplomacy, strong directive style, a decision maker, a combination of all? In fact, it will probably be based around your skill set. But try to build in potential growth in the future and look for someone who is as passionate about the business as you are.

As you sit back and think about this, your list will start to develop. Another useful idea is to talk to the persons peers – what type of person is he/she – remember as the boss you are only getting one side of the story, asking their peers helps to build a truer picture. Build a box matrix with the strengths and weaknesses of each individual and this will help you focus on what the ideal criteria is to run your business.

Finally, once you have you list of potentials be it 4 or 15, do not share this with them – this is critical as it will cause greater problems if they believe they may become your successor. The information can be shared and discussed with your HR Senior Manager. If you don’t have one then the alternative is to discuss your succession plan with the partners in the business or the share-holders. Someone needs to know that you have the succession plan or it’s a waste time and effort. Also keep the information confidential. Remember to review the plan each year as situations change, you could lose people in your team and gain new ones which will all impact the succession plan.

If you feel you need help in this area please do get in touch.

When everything seems to go wrong

Les Misérables the show.

I had the privilege of going to see Les Misérables at the Dubai Opera House the other afternoon thanks to our friend Frank. What an amazing venue, the cast and production was world class. Shows are a great way to step out of the stress of everyday business life for a couple of hours.

The story of Les Misérables is built around the life of Jean Valjean and was written by Victor Hugo. It’s really about Jean’s life story and how he succeeds through life’s tribulations and challenges.

It bears a lot of similarity around business life. Firstly, it takes a lot of hard work, patience and persistence to finally get what you want in business, but it’s not always an easy journey. Just as things start to get better for Jean Valjean, he discovers that one of the managers who works for him is not good with his staff and it leads one mother getting fired (unfairly) but that can happen in real life too. How often do we check on staff morale and ensure we don’t have rogue managers?

Luckily Jean finds out and decided to do something to help, today we call it CSR Corporate Social Responsibility – giving back to the world some off what we have accumulated in life. This is one of the strong themes of the play – giving back to people we meet or know. What do you or your organization do to help people less fortunate that us?

My daughter works for an excellent US company with an office in Galway Ireland. Each Christmas they put up a traditional tree and on it are various tags. Staff take a tag and on it is an age group and the gift or toy they would really appreciate. The staff member then buys the gift and wraps it up and closer to Christmas the various gifts are distributed through charities in the locality, it is totally voluntary and everyone wants to participate. I found this an excellent way to help others in the community.

Like some young people today Jean’s start of his journey up the corporate ladder was troublesome, he felt the world owed him a living and he was angry and jealous of what other had. He takes advantage of the kindness of someone who took him under his wing. But the individual instead of taking revenge on Jean for the wrong that he did to him actually prevented him from getting arrested. Yes, it’s a bit drastic but think about when new people join your organization? How are they made to feel, who looks after them? Do you have a dedicated person (possibly a mentor) to ensure they settle in successfully? Do you ensure they are effectively developed to add value to the job role?

Just like in business, there is an individual that Jean does not get on with, someone who constantly is a thorn in his side. In business that could be a competitor, it could be a difficult boss, it could even be a toxic business partner, but we do meet them and have to deal with them too. Often, we try aggression, to retaliate, but in the show, Jean shows a different approach and uses kindness to deal with difficult people. Yes, some people believe aggression is the only route but using kindness sets you up as a role model and yes occasionally it may not work, but the reality is we are dealing with human beings and the majority react positively to kindness when it is appropriate.

As in most people’s lives, Jean has his ups and downs but he did not let the negative situations get him down, you have to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you don’t believe your business will succeed them that’s exactly what will happen. If you believe a project will not be a success them the same result. Look for the positives in all situations, they are there sometimes you have to really look to find them. In the end a positive approach will help you solve problems.

Jean, gets caught up in the French revolution and there is chaos and uncertainty, how many reorganizations have the same effect and why? Well in the majority of cases it’s down to a lack of communication. Staff want to know what is happening, why and what the outcome will be. If they don’t get this information is leads to serious demoralization, a dramatic decline in the customer service and staff start to look elsewhere for employment. So, while the process is designed to reduce cost, my question would be what will you lose in terms of customer loyalty? How many of your experienced staff will look for jobs with your competitor? What impact will it have on your organizational brand and reputation – those costs will be far greater in the long term. Something many reorganizations do not factor in. So, communicate the plan with your staff they won’t like it but they will respect your honesty.

So, in the end Jean marries off the daughter that he had adopted and ensure she has a good start in life. It was an interesting look into the life of an individual and the trials and tribulations he faced, it’s good for us to do this occasionally and learn from it. One piece of advice I give to participants of my programmes is to read a biography of a famous business person once every 3 months. No, you won’t become this person but you will learn a lot about remaining positive in difficult times and to achieve small objective which them become bigger as you progress. Many biographies are inspirational and they help you to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you get the opportunity do go and see the show, its engrossing and spectacular and well worth the time out. Try to find the time to lose yourself for a few hours either in a show a movie or a play and you will feel the value of the time spent and I’m sure your spouse will appreciate it too.

You need a plan

How painting can help you plan for return to business after the current crisis?

Like many people at home, I decided to do some DIY and paint my balcony. So how does this help with a return to business? When painting, you have to plan what you are going to do, how much paint, how many coats, which brushes and what if something goes wrong – turpentine, white spirit, cloths.

Start with a plan: what do you need to do first? Plan your marketing to let people know you are going to be back in business by using advertising or social media. Who need to know and by when? Set deadlines, if something doesn’t work within a time frame you have to can it. You can’t afford to waste resources or time?

With painting you have to prepare the area you are painting to protect the adjacent areas from paint. Sanding down old paint for a better surface to work with and better end result.

What changes do you need to make?

What needs to change in terms of manpower, suppliers, product or services? Be aware that not everything will be back to normal when you want to start. The reality is your business will need to change to get you started again. What if things go wrong? Do you have a plan B – critical in the current situation.

In painting once everything is ready painting begins, you can’t rush it or errors will happen. It will need two or three coats and they need time to dry in between.

Getting the business back on its feet

You have to take your time and be patient. Don’t expect great results initially, it will take time. Sometimes you need to do things two or three time to get a result. Then you will start to see the business take off but like painting sometime you have to start again because your preparation or plans have not been fully though out.

When you finish a painting job and admire your work, it’s a great feeling for you. It’s an achievement and you made it happen.

Restarting a business

it’s hard work, requiring a lot of effort and commitment but with the right plan you can make it happen. Always take the positive approach that it can be done and like painting there will be blemishes and rework of some areas along the way but the end result will make it all worthwhile.

Is it good for you?

Guinness have announced a Euro 100 million fund to help and support pub businesses globally. With the impact of covid 19, many pubs and restaurants have had to close. Now Guinness is offering practical equipment and confidence building measures to get the pubs reopened.

What is interesting in this story is that a supplier is helping the industry that it supplies at this critical time with the world economy in a tailspin. You would expect the suppliers to be the ones needing help? But Guinness has though out of the box and will help their suppliers and they will help Guinness sell more product in the long term.

What a great idea and one that will be beneficial to the drinks industry. To me this is a model that other industries should look at. I’m shocked at how many businesses have made their staff redundant as if the end of the world is coming and they don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.

What’s happened to the positive approach that kept many organisations successful through past challenges? Why are industries and some governments only looking at the here and now not long term? Look at aviation’s mass layoffs, grounding and reduction in aircraft numbers.

Do they really believe it’s the end of aviation? Come on, life will get back to normal and sooner than they think. Ask any airlines that have already restarted their services most are reporting full flights! If this trend continues many airlines will not have the capacity or staff to bring the airlines back to full operations.

I recall seeing on LinkedIn recently a Captain who had 22 years’ experience with an airline, he was also a training Captain and also an approved test pilot and he was made redundant – hello have we lost all reason in business? Most of the successful airlines have massive cash balances and yet they are not protecting their greatest assets – their people.

So Guinness has come up with a great idea to help their industry so let’s hope we see some more innovative and long term thinking and strategy in other areas of business. There is light at the end of the tunnel so don’t give up yet!

Titanic Belfast

I recently went to Belfast to see the Titanic Exhibition. It’s the 2^nd most popular tourist attraction in the whole of Ireland (1^st is the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin – also worth visiting if in Dublin). I have always been fascinated with the Titanic disaster since I was a child, the exhibition gave me a great insight into the tragedy and having gone through the experience I saw a lot of connections with business today.

The first problem was the belief that the Titanic was unsinkable, folly of course but hindsight is a great thing. But how many Senior leaders think their business are infallible today, any yet the many icebergs of business, the threat from competition, is mostly ignored.

Why does this happen well it can be for a number of reasons but from my experience it can sometimes be due to the middle management team. Their approach is don’t tell the senior managers when things are going wrong or we might be blamed – what ice bergs?

Sometimes it can be the arrogance of senior managers. A common but dangerous perspective is to think and actually believe that their organization is infallible, unfortunately all businesses have the potential to fail, the seabed of business is littered with them. You may recognize some of the following, some have sunk and other are about to sink sadly, Blockbuster video rental company, Eastman Kodak, Sun Microsystems, Borders Bookshops, Sears Retail Company, Pan American Airlines (Pan Am), The Hummer Jeep, Blackberry mobile phones, Abercrombie & Fitch.

What they all share is a belief they were infallible and a reluctance to innovate but as the ship is sinking and the band plays “we told you so” the staff go down with the ship and the bosses all wonder where it all went wrong.

I know of an organization that when the President went to visit the organization the management team made sure that the best staff were on duty, the operation was spick and span and everything worked perfectly. The outcome was the President believed he had the best organization in the world but the reality was there were many problems that impacted the customers who didn’t get his VIP treatment. So when issues were raised at board meeting he didn’t believe there were problems – big icebergs ahead!

So what can we learn from this? Firstly, don’t believe everything you hear check it out yourself, drop in unexpectedly! Talk to your customers they will tell you what the problems are or ask their secretary who deal with the organization. Don’t ignore the feedback there is probably a lot of truth in it.

Encourage your management team to be more open and to feel comfortable tabling issues. Give them the opportunity to discuss challenges and they will help you find solutions. Don’t become the Captain of the Titanic. Show effective leadership, be a good communicator and a good listener. And keep watching for icebergs!

Politics ….. who’s in control

A question I get asked frequently is how do you play politics in a corporate environment?

It’s a great question but be very careful about playing politics unless you know what you are doing. It’s similar to investing money, you need to be prepared to lose as well as win.

The interesting part is that you don’t start playing politics, it starts by playing with you. Think about your first day in the job, who came and introduced themselves to you? What were they like? Friendly, welcoming, asked you a lot of questions to get to know you. Well, you were starting in the game of politics. Politics is all about power. Who is in control and who leads the pack?

Even at home or among your friends you are playing politics too. Think about it, who decides where you go as a group on a night out? Who decides what you will eat tonight? Who takes control in an argument? The amazing thing about politics is it is part of your daily life. The difference is that some people pay attention to it and use it to their advantage, while others cruise along, not really aware of what is going on.

My first piece of advice is: don’t try to take control as it has already been decided by the group your work with or socialise with. If you suddenly turn up saying you will decide where to go or what to eat is just going to put people’s back up.

The real trick with corporate or social politics is to understand where the power base is, who supports the power base and who is influential in that power base. Another useful angle on understanding the power base is the see who is outside the pack? What person or persons are criticized the most, which ones are ridiculed at the water cooler talks or bathroom talks? You need to know who they are too.

As you can see with this process, you are building up a matrix of who’s who. In many cases it could be your boss who is the group leader and hopefully he’s good at his job. Many bosses enjoy the power of being in control of people’s lives and emotions. Some people play up to the boss for this reason and this can be a risky strategy. Bosses can and do change and then you’re back to square one.

So back to your matrix, try this at home and you will be amazed. Start off with the controller of a particular group that you are familiar with and then add in supporters, influencers (use different colours for each group). Now start another group you are familiar with, who probably don’t associate with the first group but probably work in the same area. So, build up that matrix too. Now you will see the people who understand politics as they will have position in both camps. They run with the foxes and hunt with the hounds. Many people don’t realise they do it, but it’s useful for you the have the map.

So how can this help, well it’s all about awareness! Ideally you need a foot in each camp but that may result in you not being an influencer as you may be perceived as part of the other group. But for the sake of harmony, you help build bridges, so you are perceived as useful.

Now how do you use it to help yourself? Well, knowing who makes the decisions and who the influencers are can really assist with your progress in the organization. Apart from being good at your job, which you must be, you should be passionate about the organization you work for, that alone may not get your up the corporate ladder, it’s the connections that you have made, along with the use of the influencers in the various packs that can get you noticed.

The most important part of politics is being aware of who the main players are, find out about them. How long have they been here? What are their objectives or goals? Can you assist in anyway? If you can, then they maybe they will assist you on your way up.

A note to bosses, yes it’s great to have a team of people around you who tell you that you are great but is there sincerity in that? Get to know your people. Who are the leaders of the groups? Who has influence? How can you use this to help you meet target and goals of the organization? Get building that matrix too.

So, can it go wrong? Yes, it does and frequently – that’s why many people don’t play politics except people who are good at it and why some of us are happy to coast along with the group. Bosses change and so do allegiances so beware. Having a foot in both camps helps to limit the effect of this.

Corporate politics is fascinating, as a starting point talk to the people who have been there for a few years, ask them who the players are and find out about them and their traits. This will help you identify the ones to be close to and the ones to be careful of. And, if you become really good at politics well then, your career path could take you a long way.