No I didn’t bump into my neighbour and great friend Brian as I was popping down to the local store to grab some lunch.
No I didn’t ask him if he wanted to join me and Dee for lunch.
No I didn’t ask him what he fancied for lunch and no he didn’t suggest that he fancied a nice baguette because he had spotted some guy cycling and he had a baguette.
No I didn’t get a fresh rustic baguette in the store, a selection of salads, marinated chicken breasts and some pastries.
No I didn’t come home, set a table in the garden for lunch in the sunshine.
No I didn’t text Brian to say lunch was ready and no he didn’t come over.
No I didn’t ask Brian and Dee if they wanted some white wine to go with this delicious lunch in the sunshine and while they said no first, no they didn’t change their minds….
No we didn’t have a great chat in the sunshine, we didn’t polish the bottle of wine and we didn’t have coffee and delicious pastries after.
No we didn’t have fun and no we didn’t spend too much time chatting to stop us from being back at our desks for work at 2pm.
No, I didn’t tell you the truth…
Sometimes you just have the embrace the moment because it just might not come again!
Am I the only one that has noticed the big temperature drop?
For the last week the house (yep, we are still home working!) has been absolutely freezing – after the dog walk first thing your body is still warm, but after a while you can feel the cold starting to creep into your bones.
While it is the easiest thing to fire on the heating in the house or turn on the electric rad in my room, instead I am reaching for a blanket, draping it over my legs and saying out loud..,
“F**k you Putin, you aren’t going to get any of our money!”
….and besides, why not wrap up and help to reduce our carbon emissions, which is something we should all be doing when we can?
I don’t think it’s the very best time to be an older man in this world due to a whole number of reasons and circumstances and quite frankly some quite awful examples of male personalities that we all know only too well.
At a panel discussion recently that I was chairing for a client, we tried to take on a number of issues about bias including Gender, Race and LGBTQ and how these issues may affect the workplace dynamic and career progression. At this session I heard for the first time the expression “male, pale and stale” which was used by one of the participants when referring to men of my age group and older (over fifties effectively).
It struck me that while we were talking about biases, here was quite a blatant one and I realised that this is how many would view me, my generation and older. They have us written off!!
When we give an opinion, when we apply for a job, when we present an idea or go after an opportunity are we written off by many because quiet frankly we are viewed as being “male, pale and stale”?
I was talking to a male colleague who recently applied for a board position and from the credentials that were required, you could not get a better fit. Knowing him I would 100% want him sitting around the board room table providing guidance and wisdom and with a huge moral compass.
He wasn’t even considered because of, you guessed it ..a gender quota and an organisation trying to be politically correct and balance the male/female ratio.
While I understand some of the rationale for this policy, I can also understand how my colleague felt in this scenario where merit is discarded – he is talented, qualified and experienced but sadly the wrong gender, the wrong age, the wrong colour and instead of getting frustrated, maybe accepting his lot and throwing in the towel, putting on the slippers and instead deciding to coast to retirement?
All of this can start to make us older boys, feel irrelevant, past it and possibly done and dusted and suddenly our whole mindset shifts to a poor place.
I went to see Top Gun: Maverick last week and I saw 61 year old Tom Cruise in the all action movie. He looked great, he apparently flew those fighter jets himself, drove the fast motorbikes and got the girl!
And just this weekend I went to see 82 year old, great grandfather, Tom Jones (not my choice !!) entertain a packed house at The Marquee in Cork, full of energy and passion. He was brilliant and totally different to what I was expecting.
In a funny way both of the Tom’s shifted my thinking and reminded me that we still have so much to give and so much of this is down to our attitude.
I can’t do anything about my colour or my gender, but I’m definitely not that stale guy that you think I might be. Most importantly I must make sure that I don’t think it!
Age is a mindset..
Greg
Greg Canty is a Principal of Fuzion Communications, a full service Marketing and PR agency with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland.
My first reaction when I read the headline was have they totally and utterly lost their marbles?
“Employers to have at least 13 grounds to refuse remote working requests”
Before I say any more can I state clearly that I am all for home working and have every intention of continuing to do this for both myself and the fantastic team that we have at Fuzion Communications……BUT it is very early days and way way way too early to start introducing anything as we are all still reeling from 22 months of uncertainty and confusion.
The government should not be weighing in on this conversation now, creating rules and guidelines at this very unusual time where everything is still in a flux and at a time when many businesses could be thinking about restoring some long overdue social contact, reigniting comradery and cohesion without battling with an extra psychological obstacle caused by this intervention.
Yes we have all had to work from home in anything from our comfortable homes with oodles of space and spare rooms we were never using to our bedsits where our bedrooms and kitchens are now offices, and we have got used to it and of course it is very convenient (for some) as well as being time and cost effective.
However, we still don’t know the long term affect of this on us both personally (we are social creatures) and professionally as it is way too early in this change experiment. Covid has done huge incremental damage to everyone and we need to start healing and being human again and professionally meeting each other is a necessary part of that.
Am we missing a simple point – If I offer you a job to do work in this proper place of work because that is how I want this work to be conducted (for whatever reason) and you accept then these not the conditions of employment?
If the “working from the office” scenario no longer suits the employee in this fluid marketplace where there is huge demand for talent then they will move on and take a role where an employer is happy with that flexibility. If an employer loses great talent and cannot attract new talent then they are the big loser and the open market will quickly correct itself with those offering the appropriate flexibility winning out.
We don’t need government intervention on this – do we?
Imposing a new rule book about entitlement to home working (what they are constructing is exactly this cloaked in other language) on employers will be hugely problematic and is a very unfair imposition and this will only lead to unnecessary stresses and tensions in workplaces throughout the country as we all grappling with these conversations already.
Team spirit, a learning environment, collaborating with colleagues, personal development, positive atmosphere, having fun, confidentiality and even in some cases pure supervision are just some reasons why an employer might want to insist on office working, but then again maybe we don’t need to give one and shouldn’t have to?
This is the job, this is where the work is to be done, would you like to accept it? Isn’t that how it works and isn’t that the contract we both signed up to?
If that doesn’t suit, employees will vote with their feet and find a different employer.
In a good positive working environment there will be flexibility about this and other issues – this makes total sense BUT we are still figuring out and as I said already, trying to land on guidelines and rules now when we are still in flux is premature at best.
In a hybrid culture you will 100% lose out as an employer with this approach but surely you are entitled to determine the conditions of work without having to worry about workplace circumstances that are totally out of your control?
The idea that you may have to appear in the labour court to justify to a judge why you are insisting that a certain employee works from the office is just crazy and 1,000 steps too far.
Government ….home working is great and will sort itself out all in good time.
I was listening to a fascinating conversation on a podcast with the founder of Toms Shoes, Blake Mycoskie who was sharing his career story including the incredible story of where the idea of Toms Shoes came from, the powerful notion of giving away a free pair of shoes to those who badly needed shoes for every pair they sold and how this idea caught on and quickly led to a legendary success.
At the close of the chat he was asked to give some advice to the listener and he shared a phrase that he lives by “Carpe Diem”, or seize the day.
His basic philosophy is that life is precious, we have no idea how long it will last so make the most of each and every day.
A little habit he uses to remind people of this advice is to sign off all of his emails with the phrase “Carpe Diem” instead of other meaningless salutations such as yours sincerely, kind regards or even my more casual one “cheers” – I do hate formality!
The cynic might think what is that fella all about but this is really clever as it is using a frequent method of everyday communication to replace something meaningless with something meaningful and possibly trigger a positive thought or emotion for the reader.
I was chatting with the fantastic Paul Born of the Tamarack Institute in Canada on my Win Happy podcast and he does something similar but uses equally powerful words “Much joy” – why not spread joy and remind people of joy each and every single day?
Taking all of this onboard I’ve started to sign off all of my emails with the words “Win Happy” which is my core philosophy – I want people to succeed, whatever success looks like for them but to go about this in a way that makes them and those round them happy. If we all lived by that approach I think life would be better and more positive, in particular our working lives.
And taking this one step further maybe even (when appropriate of course) sign off your social media posts with a hashtag with your “words” – if that’s what you believe let people know.
My challenge for you is to think about replacing your meaningless closing salutation and replacing it with something meaningful.
It might get a few strange reactions to begin with but at least it will give people something to remember you by, something to think about and maybe, just maybe, create a shift in their day.
I’ve been doing this post for quite a while now about planning for the year ahead and using a clever visualisation trick to help me along the way as subscribers of my blog will attest to.
I’m writing this post on the 1st January 2022 sitting in my office (the space that pre-Covid was known as a small bedroom!) and Bert (one of my four legged buddies) is after joining me and lying on the little bed that I have in here for him. He’s probably wondering are we back to that relentless routine that we were on last year and most of the one before that?
As an aside ….a hungover Dee has just made an appearance and has reminded me about the fantastic New Year’s Eve we had last night with our great friends Tommy and Joan and Ellen my daughter and her fiancé Mark. As usual we played music all night long, we ate some great food, drank wine (and other alcoholic temptations), called family members, sent messages to friends and….we were introduced to the most wonderful, feel good, fun fun fun Italian Christmas song called Dominick the Donkey from the sixties!!
I am extremely grateful for the life we have.
Ellen works as a Special Needs Assistant at St.Paul’s Special Needs School in Cork and she tells me the kids love this song – it’s not hard to see why!!
This must be listened to standing up and you must sing along and clap your hands!
While last year was a good one for me despite the unusual circumstances, I was really glad of the end of year break when it came and as sure as eggs are eggs it has flown by and I find myself at the beginning of another year and thinking about firing up the engines again.
Of course I want to change it up a little (or a lot) and of course I want it to be a good one but at the core of all of that is me, that little old (er) me that needs to stare at a mirror and realise that I am the same one that inhabits this body and essentially I probably won’t change a whole pile. Having said all of that, let’s reflect and learn from the past and lets take that and march forward and try to take some control and create that better future.
The other thing I am mindful of as I approach this exercise is that in order for it to work properly I need to really understand me, my limitations and my habits and in that context I must create a little structure or framework (another shite word, but you know what I mean) to increase the chances of success.
So..
I had a great year because..
For the last few years I have been doing this simple little exercise at the start of the year to help me get focused around things that are important both personally and professionally.
I have found it to be really useful and it has made a big difference, and as I look back at last year (even despite Covid) I can see the things that I have achieved as a result of this focus. In Fuzion we also ask all of the team to do this – it is really important to us that everyone in the team achieves their own personal and career goals.
Making plans and actually achieving them is always challenging and at the start of the year we find ourselves at the beginning of that loop all over again making promises that often will never materialise!
A few years ago I was inspired by a book about goal setting in a different way called “The Art of Possibility” by Benjamin and Rosamund Zander (a really interesting motivational book by the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and his wife who is an executive coach).
Benjamin Zander, the conductor has the task every year of bringing out the very best from a large group of very talented musicians for his orchestra.
His approach is rooted in the power of visualisation – the simple idea behind this is that if you visualise what you want to achieve then there is a much better chance of it actually happening (disbelievers ….stop reading now !!)
Taking this approach, you can apply it by doing some simple visualisation about the year ahead and tapping into all of Your Possibilities.
Take a quiet few moments so you can concentrate with a blank sheet of paper and a pen and do some visualisation – Take a few deep breaths and relax and close your eyes.
Now imagine the last working day of this year, just before you head out the door to do some last minute shopping and enjoy a well-earned rest. You are feeling really satisfied as you reflect on your fantastic achievements during the year. Some of these were personal things and some of these were professional things – you are feeling great because you have achieved them.
Now open your eyes and start writing:
I had a great year because ….
Now off you go – list the things that will make this year a great one for you.
Take your time and be as specific as you can including all of those business and personal goals that will give you that huge sense of satisfaction on that last working day of the year.
This is the starting point – when you are ready you need to study this list and start figuring out how you can go about making this list come to life.
Put your piece of paper in a safe place so that you can refer to it throughout the year to make sure your list of possibilities stays on track.
The Framework!
Let’s try a few things to make sure this is a list that goes beyond today!
Accessible – As an enhancement to that exercise how about re-writing that list on a notepad on your smartphone (or any other device that you use on a regular basis).
Reminder – To make sure you revisit your list on a regular basis maybe set a reminder on your calendar to check back on it. Does monthly work for you or do you need to check it more frequently?
You decide knowing how you are so choose a time of a particular day of the week or time of month that is most likely to work for you (some day on the last week of the month isn’t the worst idea of all)
Action! – No doubt there will be a mix of actions that will be required to bring the list you have visualised to life. How about when you check that list (at those scheduled times) you decide on some realistic tasks that you can do (big or small) to start moving things along.
Month by month/ Season by season – On your list there will be items that can only happen at certain times of the year. It is no harm marking those with the relevant time periods or even changing the order of your list to reflect that.
Next week/next month – When you do your regular check on your list highlight the things that you can start doing next week or next month (or today!) and again be realistic, you won’t be able to do everything together.
Update that list – Why not change things during the year as circumstances change but make sure that this isn’t an easy way to abandon your initial great intentions.
The Ultimate Review – at the end of the year check that list…how did you do?
One of the things on my list was to get back to writing on a regular basis again – this is a good start!
Enjoy realising all of your possibilities..
Have a WinHappy New Year !!
This clip of Benjamin Zander is really motivational and well worth watching.
When Anthony Quigley took a job with an unknown company in 1992 called Microsoft, did he have any idea the career path ahead?
This is a really interesting conversation on the Win Happy podcast with Anthony about the evolution of digital, entrepreneurship, seizing opportunities, taking risks and some insights into his ventures including the (DMI) Digital Marketing Institute, the Code Institute and his latest venture the Corporate Governance Institute.
He was involved in the huge launch of ‘Windows 95‘, the first big attempt to make PCs more user friendly and from there was involved in many startups, experiencing the usual rollercoaster ride that many of us have experienced.
Anthony saw the early opportunities and provided simple solutions to help companies get on the internet (can you imagine!) with products such as “internet in a box”, providing them with the hardware and software to help people to get online for the first time complete with email addresses!
He ran a successful company that offered the earliest version of “digital agency” services and responding to a shortage of qualified people to do the actual work, he started a training company with the objective of finding talent for their own business – the very successful training business, Digital Marketing Institute emerged this shortage of staff!
Anthony says “everyone has to be a salesman”, he talks about risk and cash flow challenges with startups, he discusses the shortage of IT talent and the very practical role of the Code Institute to address skill shortages that our universities can’t satisfy, and he discusses his changed approach when starting a new business – think of the end goal first he says.
We were having the usual conversation except the only sticking point was that they wanted a full day session with their group and I was trying to discourage this.
I find that if you stay at training too long then people get tired and what they learn in the morning they end up forgetting in the afternoon. It’s best if they get a chance to slowly digest, process and try it out for themselves.
I normally suggest half day sessions, when everyone stays fresh and then allowing a week in between so that everyone can practice and then come back to progress further.
“It must be on the one day because we have the hotel booked” she said.
It was only then that the penny dropped and I understood why she wanted it on the same day.
This threw me as I hadn’t been faced with this in a long time and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it.
Ok, lets do it ..
As it turned out there was a mix up with the hotel booking on their end and the training was cancelled (after all that !!) and while I was disappointed a big part of me was delighted!
I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect and disruption of it.
Travelling and delivering training sessions in person was part and parcel of the last 10 years (pre Covid), but the truth of it is that I have been doing this from the comfort of my little home office (converted bedroom) for the last 16 months and it works really well.
It’s convenient for me and participants, I’ve tweaked my delivery for online and it works really well, it’s cost effective and it also means they get a fresh “Greg” who isn’t after driving for a few hours and all that goes with it.
The big conversation that I was having with myself was “how inconvenient and pointless” that travelling/in person/ hotel experience would be compared to the very convenient way that I have replaced it with, and with no negative impact on the learning experience.
However, I do love the face to face in person training and as a social creature I love the energy you get back from a “live” group and the special learning dynamic that can happen. This will always have it’s place but only when necessary.
I know my simple example of this in person training session will be replicated very soon with so many of those things we have all been doing in the course of our work while working from home.
People have had to take on board new work habits which are now deeply embedded and there are parts about these that are very convenient as well as being cost and life effective and they won’t want to give them up too easily.
We can all talk about hybrid but this could be a very slow and long road back to the office and we need to be really careful to preserve what is working because it is possible to get the job done and ….
At the end of a long work day we could be found trudging from the office weighed down by the usual stresses, challenges and issues, on the way to retrieving the car from the car park and heading home.
And there she would be, and regardless of the day that you have had it immediately would get better.
She was beautiful, inside and out.
When you would bump into Natasha at anytime you were 100% guaranteed to get a warm, friendly greeting, full of enthusiasm and positivity and she would always leave you with a hug and a feeling like your whole world had brightened up, at least for a while.
Of course she was a great business woman and of course she was a really lovely person, but that gift of making everyone that she met feel immediately better was really special and something that will be a huge loss.
Natasha, you were loved by many and will be missed by so many more and a sincere thanks for making me feel so good every time that we met.
Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband Wayne, her two boys, her dad Tony and the many friends, colleagues and students who all had the benefit of some of her precious time on this earth. Her greatest legacy is that her kindness and brightness will no doubt live on in all those she interacted with, even if just for a moment.
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 