A couple of years ago during the summer we (my wife Hilary and
I together with Bailey, our Cavalier King Charles spaniel) took a day out in
Cheshire finishing up in Chester. While
Hilary went into a well known store to buy something to eat that evening, I
stood outside with Bailey and did some people watching.
We were accosted (in the nicest possible way) by a charming
African American lady who insisted on showing me pictures of her Cavalier back
home in the US and then took several photographs of Bailey.
I wished her well for her trip to England and she said:
“Oh, I come here
often. This time I’m here to speak at a
conference”.
Intrigued, I asked her what the conference was about and
she said:
“It’s an Anglican
conference – I’m a Bishop” and went smilingly on her way.
I hadn’t even considered her occupation during our
chat. Looking back I suppose that I
could have imagined her being a senior administrator in a business or a head teacher,
but that wasn’t relevant in the context of our meeting.
The fact is that unless we ask our people or at least give
them the opportunity, we frequently don’t know or even think anything about
them other than their interaction in the business and their performance.
Too often our people are allowed to come in to work, take
off their coats, take off their brains, hang them both up and then do their
allotted time until they go home again having put on their coats and their
brains. What a waste of talent.
I have fond in my one- to-one sessions with business people
particularly at the first meeting that it can be disarming to say to someone: “So, tell me story of your life” and the
result can be remarkable. If the leader then keeps quiet and listens he/she can
find just how happy people are to talk about themselves.
I recall an occasion in a previous business that was
developing a coated fabric ostensibly to be used for wet suits for divers. One of the machine operatives asked the
technician the purpose for designing the product.
The operative told the technician that it wouldn’t be
suitable for use on wet suits and the technician rather patronisingly asked why
would he have an opinion of any value.
The operative told him that he was, in his spare time, the
secretary of a nationally based sub-aqua club and he was an acknowledged expert
in the subject. To give the company the
credit they pulled the operative off the line for a period so that he could
give of his expertise and help to develop a suitable fabric.
It is always a matter of giving people the respect that they
deserve and of showing genuine interest in them and their lives. Of course, trust and confidentiality are vital and need to be stressed.
Even more importantly, we can learn so much more about our
people, their interests, their hobbies, their families. There is the constant
surprise when we find out that someone does something remarkable in their spare
time.
And why shouldn’t those hidden talents be brought to bear in
the business to the advantage of the company and, more importantly, to the
advantage of the member of the team?
Most of them aren’t Bishops, of course, but they are all
individuals with feeling, interests and aspirations, and they deserve to be respected
as such.
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