Have You Been On An Aeroplane?

If you’ve boarded an aeroplane to fly away on holiday, then you’ve heard the flight attendant’s safety chat.

You know the one – where the exits are, that your life jacket is under your seat and how to put it on, inflate it and blow the whistle and if the cabin pressure drops then the oxygen masks will drop from above your head and you need to use them.

Just pondering on that last bit though .. don’t they always tell you to put yours on first before helping children and those struggling around you?

As children we are taught to be polite to other people and offer our sweeties first to others. In fact, if you think back it was almost as if everyone else should come first and it was very rude to just think of yourself. That of course would be selfish!

So why when we are flying on a plane should we do exactly the opposite then?

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside! BUT I just Don't Have Time.

I just didn’t have the time –

The time to write my blogs

The time to write my book

The time to develop new programmes or products

The time to just think about my business

The time to just stop and be

Do you ever feel like that?

It’s a spiral of feeling frustrated as you know you need to do all the stuff, but you just can’t see how to get the space.

We can all learn business lessons in all sorts of ways …… can’t we?

In March I took on a personal challenge to Walk All Over Cancer in memory of my Mum . I pledged to walk 10,000 steps every day for the whole of the month .. that’s nearly 5 miles a day! I raised £700 for Skin Cancer Research which overwhelmed me if I’m honest.

Well let me share that although we are all told we should walk 10,000 steps a day to be fit and healthy, it is no walk in the park! It is a big effort. It takes some dedication I can tell you.. especially on those days when I’d still got 6000 to do, it was tea time and it was absolutely pissing it down ( sorry no other way to describe that !!) In fact one day I did a Facebook live just to show I was on it .. it was rubbish .. dark, poor sound but it got loads of likes and a few more pounds in the pot as I shared my utter madness.

The Problem With HR is The H!

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One thing I’ve learned during my time in HR is that things don’t always go how you’d hope, despite your best efforts.

Obviously very few people try and get it wrong, but the reality is that the skills you need to run a business and those needed for and managing your staff are often very different.

The clue is in the name really – Human Resources. It’s dealing with one of the least predictable beings on earth…humans.

It is one of the reasons that it is so important to have the right documents, policies and procedures in place. That’s way if you do need to have a “conversation” with one of your team there, it can be factual and crucially un-emotional. And based on something “tangible” rather than a “implicit” agreement that some many businesses rely on.

And Narcissism Is Good In Business Because ...

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Steve came to have coaching with me because he was struggling to get any new clients. He didn’t really feel he had a sustained relationship with any of his clients and felt they didn’t warm to him as a person.

He’d go along to networking meetings and feel the odd one out. He didn’t really connect with anyone and leave feeling down and despondent.

He told me that he really wasn’t the person he thought he should be in business. He wasn’t like others in his field, but he pretended to be when he met clients and potential contacts. When he got clients he charged a low fee and was at his wits end thinking he ought to call it a day and go and get a job!

So I asked him a question. A question which floored him to be quite honestly. I asked him to take time before he answered and to answer me truthfully. So let me ask you the same question…

HERE IT IS !!!

So HOW IS Your Plumbing?

No I don’t actually mean the plumbing in your house … I mean those you spend your time with!

Maybe it's time to reflect on your plumbing as you read this ...

You know the sorts .. the ones who are always miserable, see the worst in every situation, don’t want you to do very well because they aren’t. They suck your energy. They are DRAINS.

The other sorts are the folks around who are always inspiring you, they may challenge your negative thinking, seeing the positive in every situation and just make you feel good. They lift you up. They are RADIATORS.

I do love a good quote. Yes, while I might not profess to knowing much about football, I did always enjoy hearing what Brian Clough had to say next. He’s responsible for one of my favourite quotes to date:

“I wouldn’t say I was the best manager in the business, but I was in the top one.”

While Cloughie bristled with a well-intentioned level of arrogance (he did christen himself Old Big ‘Ead when awarded an OBE after all), he did have the stats to back it up. He was a great manager, taking Nottingham Forest and Derby County, two of my local sides, to unprecedented levels of glory.

Like I say though, that’s football. Not my forte. But what about management? What qualities are needed to make a good manager in the workplace step up to become a great manager?

Here are a few small tips that can yield big results:

So HOW Do You DO HR Then?

There's a question. It's a bit like driving a car I reckon. You learn the knowledge and do the basics to get through the qualification and then you learn HOW to do it.

Great ...and that really works IF you are in a large organisation with a tiered management structure of HR professionals but what if you are in a smaller business and there is just you?

What actually if you have never 'learnt HR' and are just 'given it' as part of your job?

So you have decided that the way forward is to employ your first person.

Congratulations!

It may feel really scary but actually take a moment to think of the achievement this signifies in your business. It is likely that you started your business doing your thing and all those other things we as business owners have to do, as there is no one else and cash flow doesn't allow us to outsource or employ anyone. We then get a point where we can outsource and then BOOM we have to make the decision to take someone on ... like a proper business.

Of course I am not for one minute suggesting your business has not been 'proper' but that's how it feels right?

Does Google Have the Answer?

You know those days when you just wished you knew the answer.

Well it’s Ok isn’t it, because you can just type the question (or whatever you are looking for) into Google. Can’t you?

Well yes but sometimes you also need to have the confidence that the answer you get is the right one.

Have You Been On An Aeroplane?

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside! BUT I just Don't Have Time.

A Great Business Lesson From 10,000 Steps!

The Problem With HR is The H!

And Narcissism Is Good In Business Because ...

So HOW IS Your Plumbing?

What Would Cloughie Do? How To Be A Better Manager!

So HOW Do You DO HR Then?

Getting That First Employee!

Does Google Have the Answer?

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