I was having a chat with a buddy of mine who we do some work with from time to time.
A project with an immovable deadline had hit an impasse because someone on the client side had let one of his guys down – the task they were to do was a relatively straightforward one but they didn’t get to it due to their own work pressure.
The person on his team informed him that she could do no more because of this ‘thing‘ that wasn’t done so the project deadline would be missed.
It would probably have been a legitimate reason for missing the deadline and he could quite happily declare that “there is nothing we could do“.
He had a choice to make ..
Being in business is like being on a dance floor except you have no idea what music they are about to play or who you will have to dance with!
You turn up expecting an eighties disco and suddenly they play a waltz. You are waltzing and an Irish gig comes on. Sometimes the dance floor is packed and you are struggling to manoeuvre around the floor and suddenly you find yourself dancing by yourself and feeling very awkward as everyone is watching.
There are times when no one is dancing and its up to you to get things moving by dragging an unsuspecting dance partner out on the floor in the hope that others join in.
Sometimes you can dance all night and have the best of fun but there are times when you are just not in the mood – your feet are sore but you still have to dance.
Sometimes it’s dancing with the most perfect, incredible, stunningly beautiful woman and sometimes … Well. you can only dance with the women who are in the room!
My buddy instructed his team member to just do the task that the client was supposed to do as it wasn’t a big deal and he wanted to deliver the project on time. Nice move..
I bumped into a good buddy of mine, Pat Sweeney recently and we were exchanging various nuggets of wisdom (of course!) and he started chatting about some wise fella called Cicero, that he is very interested in and studies quite a bit.
Cicero used talk about six mistakes that mankind keeps making century after century. I was quite interested in what these mistakes were and when he was alive.
It turns out Marcus Tullius Cicero was 3rd January 106 BC and died on the 7th December 43 BC. He was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and was widely considered to be one of Rome’s greatest orators and prose stylists.
He seems to have had an interesting life – following Julius Caesar’s death Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony in the ensuing power struggle, attacking him in a series of speeches. He was proscribed as an enemy of the state by the Second Triumvirate and was consequently executed by soldiers operating on their behalf in 43 BC. His severed hands and head were then, as a final revenge of Mark Antony, displayed in the Roman Forum!
The six mistakes he spoke about were:
Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others
Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do
Stephen Donnelly of the Social Democrats did really well during the General Election Leaders Debate on RTE this week. He comes across as an articulate, intelligent and impressive individual and his performance was one of the things that many people were talking about after.
He won over some of the audience!
While he is very impressive it is very hard to buy into a manifesto that wants to keep taxation high and let the state use those funds. If I thought the public service was capable of spending this money wisely and efficiently there might be some merit in his arguments but this just isn’t the case.
Also this high personal taxation philosophy is a huge deterrent for human talent to work and live in Ireland. Sorry Stephen – people want to be able to enjoy the spoils of their labour and will move to more favourable regimes such as the UK to make that possible.
However, Stephen did impress..
My other half, Deirdre Waldron said as much on Twitter (I would consider her to have a lot of influential followers) and effectively she gave his performance a big ‘thumbs up‘ publicly. She wasn’t the only one who did this I noticed.
The Golden Opportunity
While this online endorsement is great for Stephen it leaves a huge ‘Opportunity‘ door wide open for him to walk through. Of course it’s up to him and his team to grab this opportunity.
What if he could do something really simple to grab this tangible goodwill and take it to a higher level?
What if he could do something really easy to take this positive feedback and convert it into a supporter or a fan even?
What if he could take a few little seconds and grab a simple chance to show an online audience that he is a really great and very popular guy?
What if he decides to do nothing?
Do does nothing ..
Dee is thinking …hmm, I said something complimentary and it wasn’t even acknowledged. That’s not very nice, I won’t do that again.
That positive impression has wilted a little
He likes the post..
Dee is thinking…hmm, It’s nice to see that he acknowledged the positive thing that I said. He is one of the good guys.
That positive impression has been reinforced and she might even repeat the positive posts about him in the future.
He engages with the post..
This is the ‘Holy Grail‘ of social media and it is the big prize, the gift, the one thing that is waiting there to be easily plucked from the tree.
Stephen tweets back: “thanks a million” or even better “thanks a million Dee, I appreciate the positive feedback” or even better again “thanks a million Dee, our campaign is really connecting with people”
Dee is thinking..hmm, this guy is the real deal, he would be a great person to have working for us in Dail Eireann. I’m going to follow him and listen carefully to all of his proposals and arguments and I might take his local candidates more seriously.
Now Stephen has won her over and one vote turns into two and so on..
Why is it not happening?
Maybe this very sharp and intelligent guy who is out there giving it everything, just doesn’t get this simple trick? Maybe he just doesn’t have the time? – I’m sure he doesn’t but he can surely get someone who understands his message intimately enough to assist him with his Twitter account.
These are easy wins for Stephen and so many of the other politicians who have positive momentum. If they are serious about getting each of those precious votes then grab the golden opportunities by jumping in – Acknowledge and Engage.
For the rest of us the argument is exactly the same with our online communications:
I found myself in the middle of a series of emails back and forth with a business colleague (I hate that word) who I have a really great relationship with.
There was some confusion about an issue and we clearly had a different interpretation of the ‘facts‘ and as result our explanatory emails to each other were not helping!
What I was saying to him was clarifying nothing and vice versa and as a result a little tension and frustration had crept into our communications.
You could see an edge creeping into the tone and the language both of us were using…. this was heading to a bad place. It would have taken very little at this stage to drag the tone lower and raise the tension and before you know it we both would have our swords and shields out ready to do ferocious battle.
In the blink of an eye a great and very productive and enjoyable relationship could be ruined forever.
Both of us thankfully avoided the awful trap and we picked up the phone recognising that an actual conversation was the best way to sort out the issue.
Step back, take a deep breath and make a decision to be a friend and not a foe… It’s s much better place to be.
I was chatting to one of my kids buddies who was running their own business for the first time and they asked me a very genuine question.
“With all that I have learnt along the way, what advice could I give them?”
This was a really good question to ask because just like any other ‘older‘ (a very loose definition!) person I have accumulated a collection of valuable life experiences and learnings from my many different situations, which you would hope could benefit someone younger and with less experience.
I heard a series of interviews on the radio over the past few days with a similar theme: “What advice would you give your younger self?”
This is a clever thing to ask because it is all about passing on wisdom that has been learnt along the way and trying to crystallise this into solid pieces of advice.
The only problem with all of this is that it is a little bit too retrospective and doesn’t do a whole pile for us!
Ok, we did learn things that might help those with less experience and we can give theoretical advice to our younger selves. Brilliant!
Instead how about asking that younger person with all of their freshness, different perspective, raw energy and enthusiasm to give us valuable advice about our lives and then apply our accumulated wisdom and knowledge and then do a totally different exercise…
Answer this question:
What advice would you give your older self?
Write down the answers and start following that advice straight away …what are you waiting for?!!
It’s that time of the year again and we are planning our ‘team day‘ to sign off another year.
This is always a special day when we discuss our plans for the new year, do a few team things together and toast the successes during the year gone by.
My team is really important to me and while this is made up of a group of individuals it is the collective that makes it so special.
We work hard to create a special atmosphere that allows a team spirit to thrive – this is always about respecting each other, working hard, having fun, encouraging, praising, supporting, celebrating special occasions, team days and every Friday we go to lunch together and break bread.
We call this #WinHappy and it is about working hard together in a good, enjoyable, supportive atmosphere – when you get this right you win with a big smile on your face!
The team spirit process starts when we recruit and we place a big emphasis on the character of the individual as well as their technical ability. In our job specifications we make it clear that we want ‘heart and soul‘ team players.
While we work hard to create that special atmosphere it will only happen when the individual plays their part, which does involve a sacrifice on their part.
Will I stay on for drinks after work, will I give up my Friday lunch, will I stay back and help, will I attend the networking event, will I give up my night and celebrate with the team? Why can’t I just punch in my time and head home once my work is done?
While I would love to say we always get it right in Fuzion and succeed in creating that special team spirit there have been times when this just hasn’t been the case. Invariably the reason for this has been that someone who doesn’t fully buy into or fit into the Fuzion ethos has started working with us and it quickly upsets the whole dynamic.
When this dynamic isn’t right it is very damaging for the whole business and everything becomes more difficult. It is like playing a match with a big weight on your back and at the time you realise that something is wrong but often it’s not a very easy thing to sort out.
When it is not right you end up with unhealthy cliques, sniping and personal agendas, people not helping each other, upset and stress, jealousy, silly games, poor work and a lack of commitment. This will impact on the quality of the work at some point.
Even worse in our own business I have witnessed the transformation of great, positive people into disheartened, unmotivated and disruptive individuals in a matter of months when the wrong atmosphere develops. Just one person who isn’t the right fit can change everything.
On each of the few occasions when this happened it has been quite easy to pinpoint the individuals who upset the team balance and in every single case during the recruitment process I can recall that clear voice in my head saying “they are not a fit for Fuzion” or “this just doesn’t feel right“.
In each of these scenarios I forced myself to ignore the voice in my head when the evidence on their CV’s was so strong convincing me that they would be a great fit for Fuzion – none of these appointments have ever worked out!
I wonder if each of the individuals themselves knew they weren’t a fit? – I guess when you need a job you too can ignore these voices.
I’m looking forward to our team day, to enjoying the year ahead together and making sure that I always listen to those reliable voices..
I’m writing this a little bit depressed after a very disappointing defeat away to struggling Newcastle but in general we have seen a transformation of Liverpool FC in the last two months since Jurgen Klopp, the manager has arrived.
The players have been transformed, the same squad that we thought were lousy purchases are now looking like great players and we have had a few very impressive results of late (except for Newcastle!) and it does seem to be wholly down to the charismatic manager (the self declared Normal One) who has previously enjoyed huge success in Germany with Borussia Dortmund.
Pretty much every Liverpool fan believes that success is around the next corner, which was certainly not the case before he joined the club.
How can a manager make such a difference and can the lessons we learn from him be applied to our own businesses?
What does Jurgen do that is so special?
1.”Belief”
The first thing he did when he joined the club was he made a declaration to the fans “We need to change from doubters to believers”
He gave every fan and player something to think about – we must believe if we want to achieve, which is a simple and yet powerful statement.
He went on to say that he believed in the team at the club, which was why he joined in the first place – if you were a player listening to these words you would feel good about yourself.
Do you believe in your team?
2.Honesty, openness and no jargon
When he is asked a question by the media he gives a straight, honest and open answer. He talks in a simple way that we all understand and can relate to.
He tells us that football is a simple game ..he is right!
Can you be open and honest with your team?
3.Don’t be afraid to hug!
We watch him going onto the pitch after the matches and playfully hugging the players. This seems to be a lot more than professionals doing their jobs!
Are people happier when they are treated like this?
4.Have fun
Jurgen loves to laugh, he has a huge smile and he seems to do it all of the time and it is infectious. At the press conferences the media laugh with him.
He tells the players to enjoy themselves on the pitch.
Can work be fun?
5.Don’t take it too seriously
Unlike Bill Shankly the legendary Liverpool manager who said football was “more important than life or death” Jurgen says it is just a game and that it should be enjoyed and not taken too seriously – you can see he lives this.
Are your team so stressed that they can’t function properly?
6.Work Hard
This is a key success factor with him. All of his teams are known for their ferocious work ethic – without hard work you won’t win.
This is totally non-negotiable with him.
Are your team prepared and motivated enough to give you 110%?
7.Have a plan
Already he has managed a few historic victories against some of the big teams and he puts this down to hard work combined with good planning. In one of these matches he fielded a surprising team who played exceptionally and won – he explained after that he had time to plan and prepare with this group of players so there was no point using some of the bigger stars.
Are you planning carefully?
8,Things go wrong – that’s football!
He commented that with the Liverpool team he noticed that they would implode if they conceded in a match and as a result could not recover from this situation.
He has taught the team to accept that things will go wrong and that this is part and parcel of competing – just learn not to give up when it happens!
Do your team have resolve?
9.Mr Motivator
He does seem to have the gift of bringing the best out of each and every single player. He seems to know when a hug works, when a few positive mentions in press conferences will work and when helpful advice from the sideline works (he does scream and roar during the matches).
We clearly don’t see everything that goes on but the players have gone on record as to the huge difference he has made to them.
Do you feel motivating your team is important?
10.Passion
Take just one look at him when he celebrates a goal or even when he lives every kick and moment of the matches…he is incredibly passionate!
If you aren’t passionate can you expect your team to be?
“Can you sit us at a good table this time?“…I could hear that familiar question being asked.
Years ago we used take a very glamorous fashion and beauty event on tour around the country – I kid you not!
We did this every six months for about four years, running over 70 events in total. We had the best Irish models, the best of fashion, superb staging and we had many sponsors who felt our event was a clever way of reaching a ‘high-end‘ female consumer.
The event was called Catwalks and in latter years Blossom Hill sponsored it so it evolved into Blossom Hill Catwalks.
The events were complex and very hard work covering every possible thing you could think of from choosing and liaising with venues, deciding and negotiating menus, choosing models and entertainment, pitching to fashion and beauty companies, creating unique branding for each series, executing PR and advertising plans, visiting each location in advance and then selling tickets!
When all of that was done all we had to do was run the events, which was the really heavy duty, demanding and totally exhausting part of the job.
The most delicate and sensitive parts of each event were all about hierarchy!
In the exhibition area which sponsor went in each available space, which brand would start the fashion show and which ended it, and most importantly where did everyone sit?
The seating plan in particular was a very emotional, highly charged one whereby you had the responsibility of deciding where approximately 300 women would sit. In every single function there are great places to sit and not-so-great places. As the organiser you need to decide where each of those women will sit, knowing that your decision will please some and displease others. “Why am I less important than than others?”
This is really tricky and once you go beyond looking after the sponsors (your breadwinners) how do you choose where people who have paid exactly the same for their tickets sit?
My criteria in allocating the best seats used be sponsors first, supporters and influencers second, enthusiastic and really nice people third, prize winners last and everyone else as fair as possible in the middle. This wasn’t an exact science and there was always a group who felt a little hard done by because of where they were sitting and yes I did try to look after the nicer of these with a little extra wine!
There was always an awkward few that you knew might give you a hard time so if you weren’t in the mood for a hard time they might have ended up with a better seat – I hated doing that!
In every walk of life there is a hierarchy and where you are seated, where you are positioned in the brochure, or where your exhibition stand is situated reflects either how much you paid or shows how you are thought of.
Why was I put here?
There is no point getting upset about it …just try to understand why and only if it matters enough figure out how to move up that hierarchy.
I was in the middle of a social media training session with the senior team of a client and Mick, who was one of the elder statesmen in the group asked a question.
This brand new world is a scary place for Mick who has been doing his own thing in his own way for a long time and now that day has come. The company believe that they are missing out by not fully embracing technologies that might deliver them business and LinkedIn is the platform they chose for me to run a training session for them.
I’m guessing that Mick and probably some of the other guys have been hoping that this day wouldn’t come but eventually it has arrived and I was the ‘scary monster‘ who was standing up at the top of the room talking about this dreaded LinkedIn, the thing that they feared could possibly render all of their skills, crafted over many years out of date and useless.
His body language, disguised with a little bit of humour screamed “I am choking, please let me out of here!“.
He sat there during the session saying very little.
At the beginning of these sessions I spend a lot of time with the team figuring out what ‘stories‘ they want to tell about their organisation.
“We are an experienced team, we have our own R&D department, our technology is ahead of everything else in the marketplace, how the company came about is very compelling, we work with some of the biggest companies, we are successful, we are expanding, there is a genuine 24/7 service and the culture is very strong.”
This is a company you would want to do business with.
We explored how we could communicate some of these things on an ongoing basis with a combination of blog posts, published posts, company and personal status updates on LinkedIn.
I always stress that you must be clear what your objectives are and the messages that you want to communicate. I talk about developing a ‘message board‘ that is built into the organisation social media strategy for the company and this should be shared with all team members to ensure they understand what the content guidelines are.
Out of the blue Mick popped up with a question: “But what if someone says something wrong?“.
I think he had accepted that it was time to face his fear and now he threw out his real fear that in ways has been fuelled by media reports about damage that has been done to organisations by stupid things being posted by people working there.
What could we possibly do to prevent that from happening?
Ironically he made this comment right in the middle of that part of the training where I am setting the content guidelines with the team.
On the phone, chats with team members, meetings with clients, conversations at conferences… we all have the potential to say something stupid or damaging but we are trained and trusted to do our jobs and represent the places we work for properly.
Social media is no different and you do have to trust your teams but you must give them clear guidelines and explain what is expected of them.
Unfortunately those ‘stupid’ mistakes happen when this is not done and when someone inexperienced (typically when someone is “good” on Facebook) and lacking in knowledge about the organisation is given free rein to post for the organisation. It can also happen when an outside agency is appointed to post on behalf of the company without proper briefing and controls.
Mick, you are right but we will make sure this won’t happen here!
p.s. Mick knows his customers and his organisation better than anyone and will fly once he loses his fear.
It’s Saturday morning and I totally admit that we are slightly hungover and very tired after a fantastic party the night before in the office to celebrate our Fuzion 15th birthday.
Despite the torrential rain we had a great turnout of friends, clients, media and of course our team. The banter and fun was in full swing and a few of us headed to Brick Lane for a few more drinks and even a boogie or ten! Slices of pizza at Fast Al’s was a must before dragging our tired bodies home in a taxi at 3am ….you are only 15 once after all!
Unfortunately someone had to head to the office so that the audio visual crew and the caterers could collect their respective gear and then face into the big ‘tidy up‘ to transform our space back into an office.
My head was sore and I promise you I was not looking forward to this arduous, painful task but it had to be done and as it was a Saturday it was Deirdre and I who had to do it. Of course we would love help, of course we would love a few extra hands to lessen the load but it is Saturday and the team are off so we wouldn’t ask.
As ‘owners’ isn’t that what you do?
We parked up and dragged our bodies slowly to the office and then something incredible happened.
Aoibhinn, one of the senior members of the team was already there with her young son Noah and she was in full swing with the tidy up. That one set of extra hands, that willingness and that powerful gesture of taking ownership felt like 100 extra hands and it just blew both of us away and we had the job done in no time.
We own the business and we have a great team in Dublin and Cork that work hard with us from Monday to Friday. For 15 years we have worked really hard to build a good team spirit but its moments like this when someone takes ownership and does the unexpected that you feel you have a real team and you are actually in this together.
It felt good ..thank you Aoibhinn
PS – Knowing Aoibhinn she will hate me writing this!
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 