Seth Godin’s blog is required reading for me. He has lots of insights into marketing in the web age as well as good general observations.

In a recent article he said,

“Just doing my job”. What a bogus excuse.

If you take a job, you’ve bought into what the company does. You’re responsible.”

The tenor of the article is about not making excuses for working for companies who don’t do the right thing, but I’d like to add a corollary. If you have accepted a position with a company, then you’re bound to operate by their rules, or get out.

When you apply for a job you usually believe it is a good fit for you and that you will be successful. This is not a passive process – you are responsible for this choice. Your employer has a responsibility to make sure you understand the role and your responsibilities, and you have to perform to the best of your ability.

When circumstances change, or are not what you expected, ask your employer for help. If you remain dissatisified after this, it’s time to consider your exit strategy. No one enjoys someone whining about the company, it’s policies and procedures, especially if they’re choosing to remain there. Behave responsibly and you will continue to enjoy the respect of those around you. Most importantly you’ll take care of your own wellbeing and self respect.

Why invite an independent resource to your very important strategic planning day or your next really important implementation planning day?

As experienced CEO’s MD’s and GM’s my associates and I agree that when developing  strategic plans for your business, it’s important for you to  be a part of the planning team. It’s very difficult to lead a session and be an effective participant at the same time. Using an independent and experienced facilitator allows full participation and contribution from the team. You also have the benefit of  the experience the facilitator brings.

Another benefit  is an absence of personal agenda. The facilitator and (now very popular) co-facilitator can keep the group on track by managing the process and providing constructive feedback and suggestions if  the team becomes bogged down.  In terms of  time, energy and quality outcome this is a valuable investment in achieving  clarity of delivery of the shared commitment.

The team may also request some creativity exercises to take them out of their familiar way of doing things to give them an opportunity to learn a new skill or a new way of approaching ideas, in our experience maintaining higher energy levels during a demanding and challenging process.

One of our most popular processes is leading planning days with two facilitators.  The facilitators have a better opportunity to observe the process and provide quality feedback to the group on their energy and participation.

Another interesting learning for us is that this is quite economical. Some of our clients have spent 3, 4 and 5 days away with teams developing very important plans. We have found that by increasing the professional support by co-facilitation, the time required to create the plan is often halved  or more.

Experienced facilitators take a comprehensive brief and  prepare rigorous processes to cover the collection and review of information, the exploration of green field ideas, conducting a risk analysis before the final plan creation. This is their job which allows the team to stay inside the process, optimising their skills and experience to create plans that secure their future business success.

The feedback we receive from this particular process is invaluable to us and of course validating. I would like to share with you some points that are indicative of a strategic planning team’s reflections;

This is the first time I have left one of these sessions not drained.

I feel ready to go back to work and get straight into this

I am amazed at how pleasant this was and how much we achieved in so little time

It was so good to spend quality time with my colleagues and deliver a great result

Let’s make this our new standard

So good to remove the old adversarial defensive behaviour

One hour session - 200 ideas

Last week a client asked me if he should shave every day for work. I answered with Ron’s* Law – “It all depends”.

Why should we be assessed for employment because of our appearance? Why can’t we be hired for our natural charm, ability and output? There are many psychological treatises, but underlying is the requirement to conform if we want to be accepted by the group. It happens in the playground, it happens in the workplace. If you don’t want to conform with this group, find another.

If you’re selling B2B financial products (bad analogy today) you’d better look like someone who knows about these things, and that would normally entail wearing a suit and tie. If you’re a graphic designer, you’d better look hip and funky. Naturally there’s a lot of variation along the poseur-hobo continuum and to succeed, you need to know where your group fits.

George Clooney

Back to the issue of beards -

• evil dudes have dark facial hair – Rasputin, Osama bin Laden, Hitler
• very few guys look good with a three day growth
• take this test, do you look like George Clooney or a rat hiding behind a cactus?

Seriously, if you’re going for a job interview and you’re not sure about the corporate culture, shave.  Having a beard or stubble could go against you in a job interview, as could wearing a bright yellow suit – why risk it if you really want the position?

You mightn’t need to shave if:

• you are in a creative profession
• you are a sportsman
• you are an academic or public servant
• you are Santa
• you are a wizard

But then again if you were a futures trader you wouldn’t get a job if you had a beard, but you might get it if you had no ethics. It’s your call.

Last Word

Men who don’t shave every day enjoy less sex and are 70 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke than daily shavers.

Catherine

* I have no idea who Ron is, but he was very wise.

I happens like this. You’re invited to John’s farewell, the drinks are flowing and his manager either doesn’t turn up, or doesn’t want to give a farewell speech. Either that or you are John’s manager, and giving farewell speeches is becoming far too frequent because of promotions or  company expansions.

Remember that nobody really likes long speeches, but if the occasion is that important, it should not be impromptu.

Here is a short mnemonic to remember what you could say:

PAST P

P – Purpose

Why are we here, where is he going, what has he been doing?

A – Achievements

What did John achieve while he was here – personally, professionally?

S – Story

Tell a very short (90 sec) story about John

T – Thanks

Thank him for his efforts

P – Presentation  Well Wishes

Present him with his farewell gift, wish him and his family etc all the best for the future, thank him again and call upon the crowd to show their appreciation.

You could also use this format to thank a visiting official or an executive from head office, or any occasion where there is a presentation.

impromptu speech