A couple of things caught my eye this week that shows what can be done - with vision, focus and a bit of help from your friends
Firstly Robert Hruzek currently has a Blogapalooza under way. Yes that is a made up word…
Robert runs regular group writing projects on the theme of “What I learned from” and usually gets a good response. But this time he hit more than 100 contributions so far. He did ask his online buddies to help get him there - and they responded! Great work Bob.
Then I read about a bunch of Twitterers getting together to help homeless people on the streets of Vancouver keep warm. What started as a couple of people having an idea grew really quickly. Love it.
If you apply this thinking to anything you want to do - for yourself or for others… the possibilities are endless.
It occurred to me today that we are about to enter the 10th year of this millennium. How did that happen? It seems like just yesterday that we were all expecting computers to crash on January 1st and plans for the biggest and best fireworks demonstrations and parties were under way in every corner of the globe.
With that in mind the past year seems to have whizzed by in a blink of an eye. They say that happens as you get older!
I have been sifting through my blog entries for this year to put together an end of year compilation and it has been fascinating. One of the benefits of blogging for me is that I have a record of what was happening and how I felt about it. Things that were tricky then have faded into normal life now. Somethings have happened that I could not predict. I have made new friends, had completely new experiences, learned new skills.
Inspired by this post by Phil Gerbyshak though I have been thinking about who I met and who touched my life. I have memories of those who offered help, advice and support at varying points in this year. Sometimes it was an old friend, others a colleague or member of my family. But increasingly it is someone who without internet connections and social networking capabilities I would never have met . Small kindnesses have often have the biggest impact have come from unexpected places and for that I am immensely grateful.
There are many people out there who play a part in my online life but I would particularly like to thank
Brad Shorr for his words, Career Encourager Peggy Andrews, Robyn McMaster for her insights to my brain, Joanna Young for her great writing ( and who lives in Scotland), All Things Workplace Guru Steve Roesler who just seems to know when to send an e-mail/post a comment at the right time, John Connell who created GLOW for Scottish Education and is a great source of information ( and another Scot), fellow Speakersbank trainer and so much more Dave McQueen, the always unpredictable and great fun Robert Hruzek , Rosie Sherry at Talent Social who was an enormous help in sourcing fellow HR bloggers and last but not least Jo Jordan at Flowing Motion whose comments are always challenging and thoughtprovoking.
In addition a special mention to all of my new friends at HR Bloggers, Linkedin and Twitter.
Happy New Year to you all.
I had an early start this morning ( for me - I really come into my own about 3.30 in the afternoon when my most productive and creative phase of the day usually kicks in) and was heading for the station to catch my train to Glasgow for a meeting. I took a different bus ( don’t worry - I am not on an Edinburgh transport rant again…) and cut through from the stop past the end of the Union Canal. Now up until a couple of years ago I was only vaguely aware that the Canal existed - and did not realise that it ended in that part of Edinburgh. It is a really interesting part of the City where house barges jostle with brand new office developments. But that’s not my point. Tonight I am heading to my speakers club meeting which is in a different venue from normal - in a building right beside that same canal only 20 miles away!
This realisation really perked me up. My opportunity to become a Speakersbank trainer has had an interesting effect on my working life it came along by way of a friend and colleague and me making a couple of small connections. And today’s meetings - both taking me near to the canal - are part of developing what we have to offer to people in Scotland who want to have their voices heard - but don’t feel they have the tools.
I often speak with people who are looking for opportunities to do something and I ask what connections they already have that could help them on the journey. Sometimes it is a person . For others it is a skill ( sometimes underused - or undervalued for that matter). Very often the success stories I hear are full of “coincidences” and being in the right place at the right time - but I am guessing that the storyteller may have just missed the small connections that came to the great result.
Looking for a way to a goal can sometimes be daunting. If it seems to big why don’t you think of the links you can make to small things to help you on your way to that success?
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about amibition and discected the word and meaning. With my passion for words I think I will make this a regular feature so here is my word for this week
Encourager - someone who inspires with spirit and hope..
Why?
I spent a couple of days with my colleagues from Speakersbank towards the end of last week. We were learning how to deliver another programme of training on public speaking and taking it into presentation skills.
A vital part of any Speakersbank training is the feedback. Although as a trainer I will give feedback throughout the day we also ask everybody to give feedback on each other’s performance. We believe that the learning from observing and noticing another performance can be as important as receiving feedback yourself.
The model we use is WIN with feedback - say what went well, suggest an improvement and end on something to do next time ( or what was wonderful, suggest an improvement, end on a nice comment).
We were learning together as trainers which in itself was a great opportunity to share good ideas. On the other hand that can sometimes be more daunting …after all we are supposed to be the experts. But of course experts always have more to learn.
One of our colleagues - Robin - when giving feedback said “I would encourage you to…” At first I didn’t notice and then when he had done this a few times we commented on how powerful that was.
To encourage someone to do something - to inspire, incite…wow!
Telling someone what you think is one thing. Giving meaningful feedback with examples for improvement is good - encouraging is great!
So I encourage you this week to be an encourager - and if you find that you have some dis -couraging tendencies I would encourage you to think about that too!
I watched Padraig Harrington win the Open Golf yesterday for the second year in a row. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
It is easy to forget that individual sportsmen rely on many factors to contribute to their success. Padraig didn’t though and I think this shows huge strength and leadership. He clutched his trophy and hogged the limelight until he was done.
I was struck by the range of acknowledgements he included.
He thanked
- The R&A for organising the great event
- Royal Birkdale for producing a wonderful course
- The stewards for keeping things under control
- His caddy - for so many things but mainly for being his right hand man
- His fitness team - especially his physiotherapist who turned an injured hand round so that he could play
- His coach who watched every ball hit on the practice range as well as in competitions
- His partner during the last game - Greg Norman - for being such a gentleman in sport
- His runner up - Ian Poulter for running him close
- The amateur winner - Chris Wood for setting an example to all players
- The R&A again for the work they do with children and young people
- And of course his family .
His speech was particulary powerful in that he explained why he was mentioning each person/team. No false flattery but meaningful comments.
Like all good leaders Padraig does not consider himself a “one man band” and it is important to him to acknowledge that.What a great example to set.
