How do these men get your trust?
In this country we have seen the first ever live debate between the three leaders of the political parties and the discussion that commentators are now having is about who ‘won’. What is interesting is that this subsequent discussion is not about the content of what these three men said; it is about who scored the most points, who presented themselves best and who was most convincing.
Whether or not you watched the debate, you know enough about these three people to ask yourself the question, “Who, if any of them, do you trust?” Like many others, you may be thinking that you wouldn’t trust one, two or all of them, that they do not answer a straight question and that what they say is not convincing.
So what would build your trust in them? Would it be what they say or what they look like or their body language or how they carry themselves or a combination of these things? The reason that this question is so important is that these are the leaders of our three main political parties and leaders need to be trusted, whether they are leaders of political parties or leaders of organisations. The level of commitment your staff provide to your organisation is commensurate with their level of trust and how confident they are that they will be treated fairly.
If that bond of trust is broken then damage can be done to the brand of your organisation, which will impact on the overall performance. You may be old enough to remember how a flippant comment by Gerald Ratner, in 1991, destroyed his jewellery company. If you’re not, then read about Gerald on the Internet and you’ll learn how easy it is to destroy the trust of your staff, customers and shareholders. Think about the way that the trust in all politicians has been damaged by the expenses scandal, caused by a minority.
As a coach this really caused me to think, so now go and ask yourself some really difficult questions. Look into the mirror and ask yourself why your staff should trust you. What is it about your appearance, words and behaviour that either enhances or diminishes the amount of trust your staff have in you? Do the values of your organisation instil trust in your customers and shareholders – and do they match the reality of the customer experience?
Just a thought …
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Disquiet in the Country
I agreed with Alan last year, that we were heading into very uncertain times both financially and job security, with the patience of the nation on a precipice. Sit and listen in on any conversation around the dinner table and the subject will invariably be about how our country is being run. We are now all part of a nanny state and having the ability to take control of our own destiny without any form of control from the completely inept and greedy government is more difficult than ever.
I read in the paper today that, that complete oaf John Prescott is considering becoming a peer to satisfy his wife’s needs for prestige and the lifestyle she wishes to have. The big problem is this is our money that is allowing them to have such a lavish and comfortable life.
Of course I realise it is more than that, but when you look around as a nation we have so many problems with to many lack lustre politicians at the helm, who really do not have the ability to make the fair but difficult changes we need.
People are frustrated and angry and want to get back at those that have let us down so badly.
My one question is where are our choices for real change?
Please read Alan’s excellent article that updates his thoughts of last year ‘ The summer of discontent revisited‘ and let us know your own views.
Why middle managers need to ‘Wake up and smell the coffee’
The expression ‘being between a rock and a hard place’ may well become a common term used by front line and middle managers who have yet to feel the force of the ensuing storm heading their way. It cannot be ignored and to embrace it will not be easy. One thing is with little doubt, having the ability to recognise and respond will help keep them ahead of the curve.
To really get a feel for what is coming have a read of this article.
Does it pay to be incompetent?
It is a continual struggle in the public sector world to remove an ineffective, incompetent or lazy member of staff because of the inbuilt bureaucracy that protects them. It is experienced throughout the public sector and anyone who is working, or who has worked, in this sector knows this is a real problem. Alan’s article on this very subject should make us all want to rise up and strike a blow for the virtues of common sense.
At last No Keyboard….Review update
We’ve been using this for a month now – and it does what it says on the box. It is making life so much easier; like dictating this post. The installation was easy and the way it checks your documents for ‘your style of writing’ was a bit of a surprise. The performance is just what I expected, but here are a few tips to make your life easier:
· The position of your microphone is essential. Moving the microphone by just a couple of centimetres can change the accuracy dramatically – but the installation process emphasises this.
· Speaking sentences makes the dictation more accurate, as the software puts the words into context, whereas single words can come out incorrectly.
· Take the time to ‘teach’ Dragon words that it regularly gets wrong, it learns them on the first go.
· The more you use it the more accurate it becomes, as it builds up your profile.
· Don’t use it after a bottle or two of red wine. It seems to talk rubbish – or was that me?
A highly recommended bit of kit for anyone who spends a lot of time in front of their computer writing. From our comments on this, I’m really interested to know how Dave gets on with MacSpeech Dictate.
Post by Alan
At last No Keyboard !!!!
When you look at the incredible pace of change in technology, one thing remains oblivious to what is happening around it…The Keyboard. Watch any movie that is set in the future and when computing is involved .. there it is… The Keyboard. Can we break away from it? Do we want to?
Is it because a keyboard is so flexible in the way commands can be given or that it is less easy to make a mistake when touching something physical? It may just be that there has been no really serious need to update the good old keyboard with something that is better and easier to use.
What are the alternatives?
I can only really think of one and that is our voice, technology cannot yet be wired to our thoughts and there are no other methods that I believe offer another way.
A couple of companies have been consistent in their ongoing commitment to enhance the voice as an alternative to the fingers. Nuance Communications who produce Dragon Naturally Speaking Software is one and the the only one who’s software I have used in the past. I used a version way back in the early days and found it was very difficult and time consuming to get it to work intuitively.
We are now onto version 10 and their suite promises:
* Turns your voice into text three times faster than most people type – with up to 99% accuracy
* Allows you to completely control your PC with your voice
* Automates complex workflows with voice commands
So does it work and what is the learning curve like?
Watch this space as we are about to find out and will update you with our results soon.
Post by Grahame
Welcome 2010
Happy New Year. We hope you have had a good break over the festive season. Whilst we were doing so we also got into a discussion about what ‘Ethical Performance’ is. The reason behind the discussion was the ethos of the team at Learning 2 Achieve that ‘everything we do is about ethical performance’. Actually it is easier to give examples of what is unethical performance and this view seems to be reinforced by those who have written about the subject by giving examples without defining what ethical performance is.
After much debate we have so far concluded that it is about openness, honesty and authenticity. Openness is about communication, honesty is about values and authenticity is about leadership. All of these combine to effect the culture of the organisation and whilst organisations talk about having a ‘performance culture’ do they define what that actually means? There is also the overriding question of ‘what’s in it for me’ (WIIFM)? Is a leader in the organisation encouraged to be open, honest and authentic or are they encouraged to keep things close to their chest, look after the values of the organisation rather than their own and put on a façade of everything being wonderful even when it isn’t?
The whole approach of ethical performance is what assists an organisation to navigate their way across their landscape, which is why we have included values in our unique balanced score card performance landscape programmes at www.performancelandscape.co.uk.
I am in the middle of writing an article about ethical performance and I am sure I will also get drawn in to discussing what demonstrates unethical performance, but we would like to hear your views.
London Networking Event
Alan and Grahame went to the Strand Palace Hotel in central London to attend an Internet Marketing lunch organised by a successful online entrepreneur called Martin Avis. It is arranged to allow new and experienced online marketers to mix and exchange ideas. For example Grahame had a long chat with Gary Vurnam who has made over a million with products and ideas he has sold and promoted on the internet. Alan spoke at length with a chap that was just starting out and was unsure of which area of internet marketing he wanted to go down.
It was a long day and at the end we were both brimming with ideas and information. You may well ask what this has to do with our core businesses Leaning 2 Achieve Ltd and Biz Web Solutions. As with any business you need to be able to sell yourself and promote what you do to others and internet marketing sits at the cutting edge of this. Much of what is used such as video, sales letters and joint ventures are pioneered by these guys and they know what works and what is likely to bomb.
Have a look at our short video called Martin Avis London lunch and you will see how informal and relaxed the whole event was, oh.. and the food wasn’t that bad either.
New Video – Ross Brawn the man behind the team
Did you see the Brazilian F1 last Sunday? I know not everyone enjoys this sport, however it does have many great moments and one of these was Jenson Button winning the World Championship.This was a significant event for the man behind this fantastic accomplishment, Ross Brawn. Why? well the story behind how this was all achieved is explained in our featured video on the home page Ross Brawn – the man behind the team. This is narrated by Alan and he explains how Ross Brawn can be regarded as the great all rounder when it comes to performance and strategy.
A Trip To Brighton
Networking is one of the best ways to promote your business. It gives you the opportunity to speak with others about how their own businesses are doing within these tough times and what ideas they have to see themselves through.
Everyone I found to be very open about their business and apart from the odd one or two, nobody was to pushy.
There were business card everywhere and at the end of the event I felt like a kleptomaniac. I am sure I had more than I gave out ummm.
Both Alan and I can really see the advantages of attending these events, My guide would be to be picky about which ones you go to otherwise you will keep bumping into people you have seen before and they already have your card, so choose wisely.
