15th April 2009
Walk on with hope in your heart.
- Pegs and Holes
- Charlie the Plumber
- Coachability
- Pause For Thought
- How Are You Valued?
- Words of Wisdom
- Did You Notice Anything?
- I Don’t Think We’ve Met
- Circulation Details
- And Finally
Pegs and Holes
Many years ago I had someone working for me who was failing to deliver. This was difficult to understand as he was bright, capable and appeared enthusiastic. He recognised the problem as well, so we sent him off for psychometric profiling. Once we had the results, all became abundantly clear. Quite simply he was the wrong shaped peg for the hole.
We managed to organise a transfer to a different role, one that fitted with his profile. Lo and behold, he became like the proverbial pig in **** and did a great job. I wonder how many people labour on in the wrong holes, not giving of their full potential. There are a number of footballers who started out in one position but for whatever reason where asked to play in a different position. Suddenly they discovered that they were much better suited to the new role and their careers took off. Equally, some managers appear blind to the fact that they are asking players to perform in positions that do not suit them.
Are your team members all playing in their best positions?
Charlie the Plumber
“I left school at 15 with no qualifications, which was a mistake.” So said Charlie Mullins, the founder of a plumbing business. I am sure that many of us have come across people who have subsequently recognised that they left school too soon. The next comment by Mr Mullins is rather more surprising. “I should have left at 14.”
He goes on to explain that he knew that he wanted to be a plumber from age 10 and was lucky enough to have a mentor who instilled in him the virtues of a quality operation: doing a good job, reliability – turning up on time, charging the correct price, smartly dressed workforce, clean and tidy vans etc. A four-year plumbing apprenticeship coupled with this vital insight into the requirements for success was all he needed to set him on his way.
A variation on pegs and holes?
Coachability
New Rambler Owen Smith sent me the following quote from England rugby player Nick Easter writing in the Metro a few weeks back:
"Take on board what the coach says, but don't take any negative comments personally as it can affect your coachability."
As I have mentioned before, I am a member of a speakers club. When we have made a speech, another club member will evaluate it. The evaluator’s remarks are not directed at the speaker but at the audience in general and are focussed on the educational benefits to be gained. Strong points are highlighted, as are opportunities for improvement. By depersonalising the evaluation it generally avoids any negative feelings developing between speaker and evaluator.
Of course, for the message to be taken on board fully, it does require the coachee(s) to understand and accept the comments made. Which almost certainly means that they need to respect the abilities and judgement of the coach.
Pause For Thought
Back in October 2006 I described an encounter with Bob Geldof at a business event. As you might expect, his communication style was very informal and relaxed. But there was one aspect that fascinated me. Twice when answering questions from the audience, he paused for what seemed like an eternity before answering. In reality it was probably only 15 to 20 seconds before he started to speak.
This demonstrated two things. Firstly, here was a man who liked to think before opening his mouth, so what he said actually meant something. The second point is that he was sufficiently self-assured to be comfortable with the silence, not to feel that he should have instant answers.
Now, although Barrack Obama is rightly praised for his ability to communicate, it is also pointed out that he ‘ers’ rather a lot when asked a question. At times he seems stumped for an answer. But at least he does pause for thought before responding. To me this is vastly preferable to the many politicians and others who rush in with an answer that does little to enlighten us.
Perhaps we would all do well to listen to the other person and to think about what they
have said before responding.
How Are You Valued?
Apparently the banks and similar institutions have to pay astronomical salaries and bonuses to attract and keep the right kind of talent. Or so the justification goes. Quite apart from the blindingly obvious observation that it clearly didn’t work for the banks, there is other evidence available that money is not, or should not be, a prime motivator.
Richard Branson recounts how the Australian Virgin Blue airline pays way below the rate of its main rival, Quantas, and yet had no trouble recruiting people to join them when they started up. Ricardo Semler is open about the fact that Semco does not match other top Brazilian companies on the wage front, and yet has a waiting list of people wanting to work for it, and has been very successful over the last twenty five years. And, perhaps most tellingly, Professor Jim Collins identifies that his team researching for the book ‘Good to Great’, found that the ‘great’ companies (those that outperformed rivals and the general market over a sustained period), actually paid their executives less than other comparable businesses.
Up to a certain point, and certainly in the earlier parts of their careers, I imagine that most people are driven to a large extent by financial need. But beyond a certain point, is money really such a great motivator? After all, why do so many people give their time for no reward to voluntary organisations? Because the want to make a difference? Because they want to give something back? Because they feel they have a valuable contribution to make? Because it is stimulating? Because they like the people involved? Yes, probably all of those reasons and a good few more besides. But perhaps the strongest reason is that they feel that their efforts are appreciated and valued. Maybe someone even thanks them for their contribution.
So rather than huge financial reward, wouldn’t it be better to help employees feel appreciated and valued? Surely that would be a greater motivator.
Words of Wisdom
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” Bill Gates, American bloke who made a few dollars out of computer software
“A manager's job is to liberate, develop and use the talents of the people who report to him or her.” Nigel Nicholson, London Business School professor
“A leader's role is to raise people's aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” David Gergen, author and US presidential adviser
“If managers have a job at all it is to make it easy for front line staff to do their job with freedom.” Trevor Gay, Manchester United supporter and author of Simplicity is the Key
“I see the manager's principal role as identifying things that get in people's way (by asking them!) and meticulously getting those things out of their way.” Tom Peters, quite well known management consultant
“Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish.” Sam Walton, founder of the Wal-Mart Corporation
Anyone disagree?
Did You Notice Anything?
I have been stupid! I haven’t visited Seth Godin’s blog for some while. I have just rectified that omission and have reminded myself of how much wisdom I have been missing.
Do you want people to notice your website? The answer is ‘no’ unless viewing the website itself is the point of the visit. For the majority of us the website is just the vehicle that carries the message. It is the message that we want people to see and remember, not the website. I guess it’s a bit like saying that the frame should not be more memorable than the painting.
I guess that the same could be said about all of our marketing communications.
Seth’s blog: (
I Don’t Think We’ve Met
I attend a reasonable number of networking meetings. There are a few people who attend most, but the majority appear to be new faces each time. Now I admit that this may just be a trick of my ageing memory but I don’t believe it to be entirely so. So why is it that the majority don’t attend on a regular basis? Networking is about building relationships. It is difficult to do that in a brief one-off meeting.
Is it that the contacts made don’t appear to be immediately useful? Possibly. But how can one be sure that somewhere down the line there won’t be a benefit from having built a relationship with someone that you met a year ago?
Circulation List
You have received Random Ramblings because you have subscribed to it or you have been in contact with me recently and I thought that you might like to see a copy. If you no longer wish to receive Random Ramblings, click here to be removed from the circulation list.
If you know of anyone who might like to read Random Ramblings, I would be grateful if you would forward it to them. If someone else forwarded Random Ramblings to you, and you would like to receive your own copy, click here to be added to the circulation list.
Privacy Policy - It's very simple! We don't pass your details on to anyone.
And Finally
Last week Liverpool played Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. They had ‘a bad day at the office’ and lost 3-1. In the return game at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge ground last night Liverpool had to score three goals to recover the situation. With pretty much any other team you would say that the task was impossible. But Liverpool believed that they could achieve it. Their fans believed that they could achieve it. I believed that they could achieve it.
They scored four times. But in this astonishing game, so did Chelsea. Even in injury time needing two more goals there was an urgency and belief in the Liverpool players. In the end it wasn’t to be, but even as the final moments were played out their incredible supporters were singing the Liverpool anthem. It will be sung again today at the memorial service for the 96 innocent people who died 20 years ago at Hillsborough because of a catastrophic catalogue of organisational blunders by various authorities. Its words encapsulate the bond between everyone associated with Liverpool Football Club and their belief that they will ultimately succeed. Perhaps these words have a message for us all.
David
You’ll Never Walk Alone
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone
No comments:
Post a Comment