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Katie Frenzy

August 10, 2012
Katie Taylor - Frenzy !

You just “have” to win Katie

Like the rest of you the Fuzion crew ended up ducking out of work early and headed to Sober Lane (great name for a bar!) to watch Katie Taylor’s Gold Medal Winning Olympic Fight.

I must admit that I had never seen her box before these Olympics but my heart was in my mouth for that really close, nerve racking match as we all watched on the edge of our seats.

Of course it was fabulous for Ireland to win a Gold medal and it was extra special that such a special young girl did it for us, but I did feel there was an extra dimensiongoing on.

To me it felt as if the whole country had funnelled all of our hope, our depression about the recession, our frustration about the lousy weather and even our disappointment about the Euro Championships onto the shoulders of this girl and really “needed” her to do something great – we really, really needed her to do this, maybe in a disproportionate way? After the fight was over I saw a tweet by someone who declared the “recession to be officially over” – I knew what she meant!

The match was really strange with both boxers being very cagey and slow to engage – it had all of us quietly biting our nails but then I listened to the Irish crowd in the stadium and they were literally in a “frenzy” lifting the roof off with their sheer noise. I wondered were they even watching the match? – if they were as nervous as we were, they would have been in near silence. I worried at one point that they might pressurise Katie into launching right in there too quickly, but she kept her focus and did her job.

Were we watching more than a contest for an Irish gold medal – I wonder?

Well done Katie & thank you! 

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Ireland, Irish Economy, Motivation, Olympics, Teamwork | Leave a Comment »

Are you doing Laps or going on a Journey?

July 7, 2012
Ballincollig Park, Cork

Laps or a Journey?

Often at weekends we meet our great friends Tommy and Joan Doyle down at the gorgeous Ballincollig Park in Cork.

It’s a huge facility with the River Lee flowing through it, it has football fields, river walks and the ruins from the Gunpowder Mills can be seen as you explore the different spots at the park.

When we go there myself and Dee like to take a full route around the park, moving from the first football field, along the river, exploring the fields further back and coming back via the river letting Bing (our four legged creature) to have a little splash and a drink.

We wander back via the main entrance and have a cuppa and a bun at the fabulous Cafe Chico (Margaret runs a terrific little business there). It’s a nice route and for the most part we don’t revisit any part of the park.

When we meet up with Tommy and Joan we always end up having an argument – Tommy is obsessed with doing laps!! I can’t stand it ….he is happy to do a particular walk at the start of the park and repeat it 10 times.

Tommy is a true Irish GAA legend, winner of 7 senior All Ireland Medals with Kerry, so I guess he spent a lifetime doing laps as part of his training, which is engrained into him (we have a funny friendship as I have zero interest in GAA – we started as workmates).

Sometimes we win the argument and we get  to take our route but often we end up doing his laps routine – it really is mindless repetition, it’s so boring, over and over. I really can’t stand it and only for Tommy’s colourful conversation (he is a great character despite his obsession with laps and routine) we’d never survive it! When we meet them in the evening it’s even a battle to get Tommy to go some place new or try something different.

I get really frustrated and it makes me wonder – why bother doing laps when you can go on a journey?

Isn’t life often like this as we can end up repeating ourselves over and over, the same routine, the same job, the same clients, the same restaurants, the same shops, the same holiday locations, the same walks on a Saturday!

Sometimes routine is safe, comforting and dependable but at times we do have to break out and try something new. In the current climate change was forced on a lot of us and often people will tell you that the change has been a breath of fresh air.

I reflect back on my own journey and in many respects it has been colourful with lots of interesting twists and turns both personal and professional and of course I probably have done a few laps too many in some cases!

Tommy Doyle, GAA Star, Kerry - 21st September 1986 v Tyrone

What a Journey!

I think of my buddy Tommy and his obsession with laps and then when I Google him I see him holding up the Sam Maguire cup as Captain of the Kerry team  in 1986 in front of a crowd of 60,000 people! How many have taken that journey?

Today I must do something new …

Are you doing laps or going on a Journey?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion PR

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR Firm with Offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Motivation, Personal development, Self Help | 5 Comments »

Ignoring the Carrot!

June 27, 2012
Ignoring the Carrot

Ignoring the Carrot

There I sat, new job, GM of quite a large drink’s wholesale company and my new boss, the MD of one of Ireland’s largest drink companies outlined my “objectives” for the year.

Hit these objectives and you got your bonus at the end of the year …simple.

One of these was really unrealistic – he wanted me to raise the Gross Margin % from it’s current level to a higher figure. I explained clearly that this would be impossible as the business volume was shifting from pub products (higher margin) to off licence products (much lower margin) due to lifestyle trends which pretty much everyone in the industry had accepted.

This led to a really lengthy discussion where we both made our case and fought our corner with no real resolution. I explained that the “money” margin on these off licence products could actually be higher and the target should be a money one and not a % one.  At the end of the discussion he insisted that my “target” stood and I quite politely told him that it was impossible.

I left the meeting knowing this target could not be achieved but determined to drive the business forward in the most profitable way possible.

“I’m not very happy with your performance, you missed your objective and as a result you won’t be getting your bonus!”  he said to me across the desk, a year later as we had my review. He waited for my reaction, expecting me to fight my case or get all offended.

“I know, and I told you that a year ago” I responded “and to be honest I don’t really care about a bonus if it’s based on the wrong criteria. I care about doing a good job” …. silence.

After that , we never really got on too well. I guess it was because I didn’t behave like the others he was used to dealing with and the “Carrot” didn’t matter to me one way or the other.

You don’t always need a carrot to force good work and if you’re making targets for your team make sure they are realistic and they believe in them.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Accounting, Business Planning, Motivation, Personal development | 4 Comments »

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