BRASH CONSULTING ENEWS - DECEMBER 2009

How time flies when you’re having done so much in your year!!

Welcome to our final newsletter for 2009. It is a cliché to say how fast the year seems to have gone but that is our reality. The end of last year was signified by substantial fear and trepidation as we all speculated about what a global economic crisis would mean for our clients and then indirectly for ourselves. There is no doubt that some of our clients put some training offerings in the “nice to have” basket and suspended those offerings.

Other clients invested heavily in learning and development that was targeted and heavily (mass) customised so that they would have product they owned and good track record in investing in their people to demonstrate real care and interest. In this respect organisations I observed appeared to demonstrate far more maturity and respect toward their people, at a time when they could have foolishly turned around and attempted to ‘commoditise’ their workers.

I will never forget the story shared by a former participant about his job interview with a personnel agency during the last financial crisis. When invited into the plush office of the executive recruiter he was advised “You’ve got exactly two minutes to impress me.” How offensive and short sighted of that recruiter to have treated a candidate in that way; someone who could also have been a potential future client. People have long memories about the way they are treated and opportunities to erode brand can occur in such short fragments of time. If you have any doubt, just ask Tiger Woods and Malcolm Turnbull this week, to name but two!

One Shot Deal or Not Worth the Risk?

My partner and I had occasion to purchase some white goods in the past couple of weeks. In an era when people are so time poor, how wonderful to be able to be able to visit one retailer (think “consultancy”) and rely on the sales professional (read "consultant") to epitomise the “trusted adviser” and not the hard sell salesperson.

In thinking about the reasons why we persist in giving the majority of our business to one supplier despite the entrée of so many new entrants to the market, the reasons are clear. They continue to build and maintain rapport, demonstrate their understanding of our needs, provide options that align with our needs and talk with assuredness and transparency about the plusses and minuses of each option. They are not tentative in giving advice. They don’t elevate the sale above all else as they recognise the high value of an ongoing mutually beneficial relationship. The trust and confidence we have in their desire to sell us only what we need and want is extremely attractive and not only makes for lucrative business but stimulates us to talk about them to others and help to grow their profitable business.

Some of us may be tempted to go “below the line” on certain deals believing they are one-offs and that there is no need for an enduring relationship founded on trust. But really, how often is anything in life a one-shot deal? Even if we buy a fridge and think it will be 10 years before we buy another one, what happens if it breaks down? What if it breaks down two days past the expiration of the warranty? Often the ability of others to assist us lies in their own discretion. They have to want to. Doing the right thing by other people is both the ethical and the strategic thing to do. Such was the case of this supplier earlier this year when something did break down two weeks outside warranty. They honoured the warranty without being asked. Their behaviour demonstrates a long term perspective and an abundance mentality. If you would like to know who this incredible supplier is, write to me at feedback@brashconsulting.com.au and I will tell you.

Champion Players, Champion Team? Well, maybe!

I mentioned in the last Newsletter I would be working overseas for some part of November for work. I thought it was very generous of New York to host a ticker tape parade in my honour on the day after my arrival. Ok there were an awful lot of people wearing New York Yankees merchandise and many of them were talking about the “world series” but I was sure it was all for me!! Wasn’t it?

Casey Stengel, the celebrated former manager of the New York Yankees who led them to 10 pennants and 7 world championships between 1949 and 1960 is quoted as saying” Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.” I have the privilege of doing a lot of work in the area of team development. Occasionally team members and senior clients are somewhat shocked when I ask them if they truly want to commit to being a team. I have learnt this is not something to be taken for granted.

The key questions for any wannabe high performance team are:

1. do they really wanna? (and that’s got to be every one of them),
2. do they know what they have to do to be that team?
3. are they genuinely excited and inspired by the team goals or vision? and
4. how hard are they prepared to work and how much of themselves (their individual identity) might they be prepared to relinquish to be that team?

Strategic Real Estate – Context, context and context!

As with everything in life, context is everything …almost. You can imagine this surfer feeling differently about his day depending on whether or not (he believes) that shape in the water is a shark or a dolphin. (Sorry to spoil things for you, it is in fact a dolphin!) The context and our reactions to that context shape behaviour.

So a footy team - my team - can do almost everything right and an opposition player may still come along and kick three match winning goals when the game hangs in the balance. So yes, one of my standout moments of 2009 was seeing my AFL team, the mighty saints, compete in the Grand Final but watching Paul Chapman kick Geelong into the record books was not.

We can only control what we can control and St Kilda like any high performing team will no doubt in the off season on what it can do to extract more value, more speed, more pressure from its performance, faster returns from injury etc. than by trying to gazump the opposition. That is what high performing individuals and teams do. They focus on their personal best and not on the opposition.

What are you doing to pave the way for a successful 2010? Have you nurtured your talent and engendered loyalty and goodwill? Do you work hard to give people blinding role clarity and explain how their job contributes to the bigger organisation in a meaningful way? Have you recognised the importance of the ongoing relationship even with employees who may depart? Do you know what they say about your organisation after they have gone? What visible manifestations are there that they were proud to work with you and wish to keep in touch?

Oh my Gosh – It couldn’t be!!!!

One of my favourite books of 2005 (not a typo) was Malcolm Gladwell’s book “blink!” He talks about the capacity of the human brain to engage in ‘thin slicing’; a perceptual ability to rapidly think and hone in on small amounts of data to form conclusions about the world. He talks in the book about the eminent social researcher John Gottman and his “love lab”. He describes Gottman’s ability to ‘thin slice’ observations of couples as they communicate.

After decades of trying to isolate behavioural cues in relationships, Gottman is now able to predict with haunting accuracy whether or not couples will still be together ten years hence by thin slicing a few minutes of their interactions and looking for defining behaviours with destructive relationship force (displays of contempt being the worst). The author also overviews the story of the famous Kouros (Greek Youth) and the split within the ranks of experts as to its archaeological authenticity going on nothing more than the blink of an eye and the powers of brief observation/rapid thinking which he says is different to gut feeling.

How amazing to walk into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last month, having forgotten where the Kouros may have been housed and walk up to that statue; reflecting on the richness of the story and feeling an immediate connection with things far greater than myself. For all the thinking consultants are required to do, it is wonderful to be able to relish the sheer joy of that surprise.

The Plug

My co-founder of the Workplace Justice Consortium, Tanya Wilson and I have been asked to write and deliver an employee relations workshop for a major training house in late 2010. Keep on the lookout for promotional emails on this program over coming months.

The Greetings

On behalf of Fred, our practice manager, Lisa and Melissa in admin. support and IT I wish all our clients and colleagues a happy festive and holiday season and every good wish for health, happiness, peace and balance in 2010. We thank you sincerely for the custom, trust and faith you place in us and we look forward to working together next year.

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