Grey matters

March 4, 2012

Grey or brown with grey flecks?“How will I recognise Deirdre and Greg?” , Gina’s mum asked. Gina is one of the Fuzion crew and her mum does some work at Manor West Retail Park in Tralee. We were attending an event at the centre and her mum wanted to introduce herself.

“Greg is tall with grey curly hair and Dee will more than likely be with him” … That’s a reasonable explanation but it came to me like a devastating bolt from the blue and nearly knocked me over when I heard it..

“Grey, are you kidding? ….. my hair is brown with some flecks of grey” I seriously questioned Gina’s explanation of my hair colour … “No Greg, your hair is grey” she reassured me with a definite sense of authority but I was still convinced that she was just winding me up.

The truth is I wasn’t kidding – surely I know better than anyone else what colour my hair is? I look at it everyday in the mirror and without giving it a lot of thought I truly believed my mop of hair was brown with grey flecks !

This little “realisation moment” occurred towards the end of last year and it did knock me back … The boy is officially getting (looking at least) old!

This does tell you a lot about how we see ourselves and how differently others see us …. It does tell you how everything is constantly changing and we need to realise that our assumptions and beliefs need flexibility to match ….. It does tell you that you can be wrong about things that are under or over your nose!

It does tell me that sadly eyesight might also be an issue!!

I could pretend that when I had brown hair people underestimated my incredible “wisdom” because I looked so young – as a result I decided to dye it grey so I looked older!!!

Would I get away with that one do you think?

Because after all …. Grey matters!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion PR

Tags: , ,
Posted in Marketing, Personal development, PR, Uncategorized | 12 Comments »

That song ..

March 4, 2012

Train journeyThat song begins and it gently grabs hold of you, it wraps around your heart and suddenly you become breathless, it takes you back to a special moment, a place, a feeling – if you close your eyes you are there …

That song …. thank you for capturing the memory

What’s your special song?

Posted in Personal development, Uncategorized | 12 Comments »

What are we teaching our young workers?

February 28, 2012
Young workers

Happy Workers?

My young friend of mine rang me last week all excited – she had been offered a full time job in a sports store in the city.

While she was thrilled she was a little bit upset because she would have to leave her current job, which was also in a sports store. She is a loyal creature, she liked working there, she had made good friends and it had been a real confidence booster for her.

Each week she was one of the best performers in the store, beating her weekly targets consistently and selling well above the other staff members.

So, why was she leaving ?

The store have one of these short sighted recession led policies of restricting  all staff members to just over 20 hours a week so that it would save money – I’m not sure if this was down to saving on breaks or savings due to PRSI class. Either way someone in the organisation set a policy of maximum hours per person to save money.

This money saving was deemed as being better for business than allowing your best people have the most hours – the difference in performance between the different sales staff was thousands of euros consistently each week. Who’s saving money?

Eventually my young friend was left quite demotivated, the penny dropped that no matter how well she performed it would make no difference to her hours or career prospects so she decided to shop for a better position.

Her very last experience with her existing employer was when she handed in her required two weeks notice. True to form she was punished and her hours were slashed in her last two weeks.

I have encouraged her to hold her head up high and to finish off her last days there professionally. Unfortunately she has been left a little disillusioned by one of her earliest work experiences in one of Ireland’s biggest retail chains. I know myself that all of these early experiences play a huge part in forming your attitude towards work and your employers.

What are we teaching our young workers?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion PR

(p.s. I have written to them out of curiosity to see what they have to say)

Update 

This post was actually about my daughter. She started her new job in another sports store and can’t believe the difference it is. They look after their staff really well and from the very first minute she was made feel really welcome and appreciated.  She is lucky to find such an employer and thankfully she is now learning more positive “work lessons”.

I was really annoyed about how she was treated by Lifestyle Sports so I wrote to them hoping for a response but also hoping that they might take the lesson on board. I never received a response to the email that I sent. Maybe this is a reflection of the culture that exists there or maybe it is just a coincidence?

Email to Lifestyle Sports: (career@lifestylesports.com) – see copy below:

Hi ,

I am writing to you to both thank you and express my disappointment with you as an employer.

My daughter has worked with you for nearly two years in a Cork store and despite being one of the top performers in her store with her targets etc she has been held back to the minimum amount of hours each week.

I understand this is a policy to minimise costs – this is a foolish policy when the net result is employees that perform well getting disenchanted as they lose out on hours to other staff. These are foolish savings that are costing your business money and are also demotivating to staff. Too many accountants (I started off life as one) getting their way!

Eventually she managed to secure a full time job with a competitor where she is starting off soon. I was thrilled for her when she was offered the post but she was upset as she had built up a loyalty to Lifestyle Sports.

The last bitter pill was when she handed in her required two weeks’ notice and her store manager “punished” her by slashing her hours..

What kind of spirit are you nurturing? Not only have you really upset her in her last two weeks but you have also upset her colleagues that she works with.

She will freak out when she knows I wrote this as she is frightened she won’t get a good reference.

I trust you will not let this email affect her reference.

As I said at the outset ….. thank you for employing her for the last two years but please, please review your internal policies. You are getting rid of and demotivating performers and undermining the excellent training you give them.

I would like a response to my email.

Regards,

Greg Canty

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Customer Care, Irish Economy, Personal development, Retailing, Staff training, Teamwork | 23 Comments »

“Live” Testimonials – Who thinks you are great?

February 25, 2012
testimonials

I think you're great !

My poor laptop was starting to fall apart, left mouse button a bit wobbly, battery life of about 2 minutes and a regular dose of crashing and ctrl alt deleting required ..

I just wasn’t up to the trauma of changing, mail system not working, transfer of files and program’s, a few days of frustration …. too busy for all of that!

In the end I was forced to bite the bullet so I rang my buddy Sean Ware from TSG who gave me a really good price on a well spec’d machine and promised to do a painless changeover.

Hmmmm … I wasn’t convinced, it never works out that way!

To be fair to Sean he had convinced us earlier in the year to move to Google Apps for our email service, which not only protected our emails but also made and changeover a lot easier.

A few days after ordering Sean arrived with the new laptop, software installed and even my email was set up. An hour later we were 100% up and running after transferring files and re-installing a few random pieces of software that I use.

I must hand it to him – the transfer was incredibly painless.

I paid him and sincerely thanked him for the great service.

Going out the door Sean winked at me and suggested that if I was really happy with the service I might “tweet” out that I was happy. To be honest he didn’t need to suggest it as I would have done it in any case! I was more than happy to oblige of course.

“Live” Testimonials

This is where social media is absolutely brilliant – you can capture “live testimonials” for you and your business for all to see.

Word of mouth was always the best form of referral and the traditional face to face method was the only way this really travelled. Now with your Facebook page, Twitter account and LinkedIn presence (of these LinkedIn personal recommendations are the most permanent and  powerful) you have an opportunity for anyone that is happy with you and your business to post that positive feedback “live” – what better way to capture that your customers are satisfied with you?

Next time someone tells you that you are great you know what to say to them!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion PR

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Brand Loyalty, Customer Care, Positivity, PR, Social Media | 4 Comments »

The Promise

February 20, 2012

The Promise

We were conducting a marketing workshop for a client and we did a number of exercises so that we could get a group consensus about their core objective and key messages.

As part of this session we were trying to define their “essence” , their heartbeat , who they are and exactly what they are all about – this was really useful as it helped us to understand them even more and it helped to deliver some extra clarity to their own senior team.

The session was steering it’s way towards a Mission Statement, an outward and inward declaration of intent that they could stand over, which hopefully was going to be a lot more than corporate dribble and something that would actually connect with their audiences.

The problem is I actually hate all of that Mission Statement “stuff” – I guess the original intent was good, but for me it has become a corporate and organisational formula and I have yet to read one that stops me in my tracks and tells me something genuine, honest and emotive about what they actually do and what they believe in.

I wanted to introduce something deeper and more meaningful so I wrote a word on the flip chart – Promise

OK folks..  “What can we promise?”

Initially this question made people shift uneasily in their seats …how can you really promise anything? Is that leaving you open for inevitable failure? Is a promise a little juvenile? We live in a world of broken promises and is using that word even credible any more? What if we don’t live up to our promise?

Once the idea settled a little and the group started to get their heads around it we started to think about “what we could promise“. At this point we had a really incredible conversation that quickly went to the absolute heart of what they were all about and there was now an enthusiasm about making a real promise.

Why was there discomfort initially around using the word “promise”?

Besides making a commitment that was deeper and probably much more personal for everyone concerned it also gives you little scope for failure and sets that bar really high. On the plus side it shows that you are prepared to lay your commitment on the line and be measured by it without that margin for error.

Is it really that risky to make a genuine promise and then stand over it?

What’s your promise?

Greg Canty is a partner of FuzionPR

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Teamwork | 22 Comments »

Do you want my number or do you want to connect?

February 15, 2012
Alone in a Crowd?

Connections or just numbers?

@gregcantyfuzion is following you – Great, that’s another follower and your numbers are building. Who exactly is this guy?

According to his bio he is a partner with a PR & Marketing in Cork and Dublin firm, called Fuzion. If you have any interest in this guy having had a peep at his profile you might follow him back. Why did he follow you and what is the value of the connection- is he just “collecting numbers” for vanity sake?

I try a little test when people connect with me by asking a simple question – “Hi Greg, thanks for connecting, how is everything in your world?”

On Twitter, nine times out of ten I don’t get a response – they are either rude or just in a game of boosting their numbers. Worthwhile connection? – mostly not.

Greg Canty wants to connect with you on LinkedIn – Great, that’s another connection and your numbers are building. Who exactly is this guy?

According to his quite detailed bio I can see what he does, where he works now and where he worked in the past, I see links to his website, his recent comments and his other connections. He looks interesting so you decide to connect with him. Why did he follow you and what is the value of the connection – is he just “collecting numbers” for vanity sake?

I try a little test when people connect with me and ask a simple question – “Hi Greg, thanks for connecting , how is business with you?”

On LinkedIn, nine times out of ten I do get a response – quickly you get a sense of why they wanted to connect with you. Worthwhile connection? – mostly.

These are generalisations but from my own experience the quality of your LinkedIn connections are much better, which says a lot about the platform. This is not to say that Twitter connections are worthless, but many of them seem to have very little depth. On LinkedIn the platform makes you jump a few hoops before it allows you to request a connection, which does preserve the quality to some degree.

You can find a “gem” of a connection on any platform but as with everything else in life if it’s too easy then it probably isn’t worth as much. The real magic starts when you start communicating openly with these connections and get a chance to show them who you are and what you do and vice versa.

so … do you want my number or do you want to connect ..?

Happy connecting !!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Marketing, Positivity, PR, Social Media, Uncategorized, Web Marketing | 12 Comments »

Are the people in your “Church” allowed to speak?

February 9, 2012
Eulogy

Are you allowed to speak?

Tommy “The Scouser” called me to say that he had a little piece written out for the funeral of our Auntie May who he was particularly close to. It wasn’t a full eulogy but it was a really short piece that perfectly summed up the character and spirit of our fabulous aunt. He was really upset reading it to me.

He wanted to read it at the funeral mass but wasn’t sure if he could manage actually saying it without getting really upset. If that was the case he wanted to know that I was in reserve to read it for him. I knew he would be fine but agreed in any case.

On the day of the funeral I was asked would I do a reading along with some of the other family members. I did my piece and I wondered what was going on as the funeral mass drew to an end and there was no sign of “The Scouser” going up to the altar – maybe he decided he wasn’t up to it after all?..I wondered.

The funeral party moved on to the cemetery where Auntie May was laid to rest as the priest said the final prayers. Just as he finished I noticed Tommy making his way to the microphone (much to the surprise of the priest) and he did May proud by reading his beautiful and very emotional piece, which was greeted by a huge round of applause from everyone standing in the sunshine in the peaceful country graveyard.

This was a really special moment as it was the only true occasion during the whole funeral process where the family put a “personal” stamp on the proceedings, where a “real” voice was heard and in some small way he said what we had all felt and wanted to say.

I wondered why Tommy had left it so late in the day to read his piece and was totally shocked to hear that the priest in question “did not allow” people to say such things and would not allow it at the mass!

This has left me bewildered and quite furious and while I know it is not the usual behaviour of the church it does give you an insight into some of the odd and very old and traditional thinking that has turned so many people against them in recent times.

Whose church is it anyway I thought? Whose memory were we all honouring?

The more I thought about this the more I reflected on all the other organisations where there are people that have very important things to say but just aren’t allowed. It’s easy to lose sight of what an organisation is about and its even easier to block the real important voices from being heard.

Are the people in your “Church” allowed to speak?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Personal development, PR, Self Help, Uncategorized | 13 Comments »

Is the Grind worth it?

February 1, 2012
Tired Runner

Is the Grind worth it?

In recent months I have posted about the importance of following your passion and also about avoiding the trap of a job that does not provide fulfilment. Isn’t there a huge personal risk in letting that happen?

I received a response to one of these posts that really moved me and it did make me think long and hard about the grind of working for yourself.

Interesting sentiments Greg. Having always run my own businesses and taken risks from the perspective “you’ll regret what you didn’t do” this is something I’ve reflected upon a lot – At one stage I left a very cushy public sector job and we then went through very tough times as the recession hit.

It’s very hard to comfortably make a good living in Ireland now – fair play to anyone who can make more than they could in the corporate world once all salaries, outgoings etc. are paid. I’ve gone back into the corporate world and am making more than I did at my business at the peak of the boom- with none of the recent stress.

At the end of the day all that matters is your ability to educate your children and give them a decent lifestyle. I would guess that that guy at Guinness slept easy at night and his kids have never wanted for anything.

If you have a true vocation it makes sense to do what you do best – and follow that path. However most small business and startups are struggling – I see people grind away for years, barely surviving – and this is not a good place to be over the long term.

When I read this I started to feel a little guilty that maybe I am being a little disrespectful with my blog posts to all of those who have tried their utmost and despite everything it just still has not worked out for them.

I’ve been reflecting on this ..

If you find a better life working for someone else then well done to you – I hope that in Fuzion we are giving our team a good life.

If you find yourself without work then I would encourage you to take control of the situation and  try to start off something for yourself. It is hard but it can be great fun (and yes…very worrying and stressful at times).

But, someone somewhere always has to be the starter..

If you try and it doesn’t work … well done, at least it was your grind.

What do you think?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Business Planning, Business Start Ups, Positivity, Recession, Self Help, Uncategorized | 31 Comments »

Dancing in Reardens

January 28, 2012
Disco Lights

Mae, will we go dancing?

I know that the next time my Dad calls me on the mobile it will mean that my Aunty May has passed away.

At this stage the vigil is happening with family and close friends spending the last hours of May’s life by her bedside as she struggles along getting weaker and weaker with every passing minute until the inevitable happens.

Early on Wednesday when the Liverpool v Manchester City second leg was top of my mind I received a text from my cousin, Tommy the Scouser saying that May was not well at all and the doctors feared the worst. The following day even worse news came through that she had deteriorated even more and basically her vital organs were failing.

I felt I better visit the hospital to see Aunty May and spent the first hour looking for her wandering from floor to floor until eventually I met her son in a corridor of the third floor. May was transferred from a room in the new wing on floor two to a “Personal Care” room in floor three of the old section of the hospital, room number 10. Fergal took me to her room where Uncle John was sitting by her side as well as her sister, my Auntie Nuala and her kids and some other people I didn’t really know.

“Greg is here to see you, May” her husband John announced as I arrived and I sat alongside her holding her hand while she struggled to breathe and to talk to me. It was really upsetting watching her as she struggled in and out of consciousness, breathing uneasily and occasionally trying to say something to me.

Uncomfortably I sat up when another visitor arrived who seemed much more capable than me of sitting next to May, holding her hand and chatting to her. I felt useless and totally unequipped to deal with this situation.

For the next few hours I watched uncomfortably as people came and went and interacted with May and each other.

At this stage poor Auntie May was becoming really agitated as she was very uncomfortable in the old hard bed. Uncle John, Nuala and another gentleman struggled with the old bed and tried to rearrange the pillows and blankets behind May to try and make her more comfortable but nothing was working. She called out in pain frequently and despite her condition she kept trying to get up.

While the others were desperately trying to get some nurse attention to sort out the bed and some medication to help make poor May more comfortable I watched as Uncle John lovingly rubbed May’s head and comforted her with reassuring words and gentle comments that “We’ll go around the corner to Reardens for a dance soon!“.

That sense of honour summed up both him and her as their’s was always a jolly and welcoming house. Her twin boys and her daughter lovingly held her hands and gently spoke to her and reassured her that everything would be ok.

Poor May was getting more and more agitated between her pain and her discomfort and it was heartbreaking watching her in the last hours of her life desperately needing simple things such as a soft mattress and some pain relief. The under pressure nursing staff ended up getting the brunt of a very upset family but it was clear that they were struggling with less than sufficient resources.

As the nursing staff arrived and tried to look after May I stepped out into the corridor and gazed around at the old surroundings and into the old rooms and the impact of being moved to floor 3, room 10 struck home to me …. This was the section of the hospital where you were sent when there was no more hope.

As we stood in the corridor May’s daughter Gillian returned with her husband and their young kids all to see their Gran for the last time … Too young to understand the seriousness of their Grans condition they entered the room full of enthusiasm …. they probably shouldn’t have seen her that way..

Uncle John stood next to me and kept repeating how great May was and explained to me that there was nothing more that could be done for her. He kept saying the same thing over and over as if it was a brand new conversation.

When my mum and dad (May’s brother) arrived I decided to say goodbye to poor May and to everyone else as they continued with the vigil, which is still continuing over a day later. On my way back to the car in the pouring rain I called my cousin, Tommy the Scouser who was really close to her.

Apparently earlier that day May who had been unresponsive for quite some time, perked up totally when her favourite nephew visited. They chatted like two old buddies for two hours .. Tommy explained that he wanted to remember her that way and would not see her again. He cried on the phone as he recalled how fabulous she had always been to him through thick and thin.

I remember May for her warmth, her jolly nature and how she would always complimented how I looked and always asked after the kids and Deirdre.

May, we love you and we hope you enjoy that dance in Reardens..

x

Greg Canty is a lucky nephew

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments »

What is the biggest risk of all?

January 15, 2012
Hang Gliding

Freedom to Fly !

When we talk about risk we nearly always think in terms of financial risk – financially what am I putting on the line if this project or job doesn’t work out?

It brings back a simple conversation that I had with one of my bosses many moons ago when I worked in Guinness. This guy was very senior, successful and I guessed very wealthy.

He had all trappings of success, a prestigious home in Dublin, a marque company car and quite a senior and highly respected position in the company.

We were chatting about career, success and life in general and I was asking him about his goals – he had a very colourful career which included some very senior international posts with Guinness and now he was settling back to a senior post with Guinness in Ireland.

In my view the new role he had, while quite prestigious seemed to be a little dull compared to his previous ones – he spoke to me quite eloquently and it was the first time I heard about the concept of a “fur lined mouse trap“.

Basically he was telling me that he wasn’t enjoying what he was doing but the rewards were so good that he could not ever consider leaving the job. What a huge price to pay?

Over the last few years we have had the pleasure of dealing with many new clients who through a mixture of redundancy or choice have jumped off their corporate treadmill and explored new possibilities in their own new businesses. All of them will admit to working harder than before but will also admit to a huge sense of satisfaction and achievement. Quite a common sentiment is “Why didn’t I do this earlier?”

I wonder is financial risk the biggest risk of all?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Tags: , ,
Posted in Ireland, Irish Economy, Personal development, Positivity | 13 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »