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New video interview up with Richard Barnes, watch it below or direct on YouTube.

Have you found your Flow? That’s the name we give to that place where individuals and teams are ‘in the zone’, ‘in the groove’, ‘on top of their game’. That place where you are so engaged in what you’re doing, that you completely lose track of time.

In my latest ‘In the Hotseat’ interview I am joined by @Richard Barnes, MD of @Buffalo 7 and an enthusiastic practitioner of the Theory of Flow.

Richard explains why Flow is so important to his organisation, and the steps Buffalo 7 take to nurture and increase Flow.

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By Paul Reynolds
Program Director
www.morganjamesconsulting.co.uk

“Remember this, nobody is thinking about you.”

Sounds harsh?

Read on.

The pandemic of 2020 brought new challenges to the world of work. Many people have lost their job, their business, their livelihood.

As someone who has experienced painful job loss more than once, I want to share a few tips from my experience on the theme of resilience, or the ability to spring back in to shape.

1. Remember – it’s your job that’s redundant, not you. I know it doesn’t feel like that sometimes, but try not to take it personally and don’t beat yourself up.

2. Don’t define yourself by the job you’ve been doing. Most people are capable of switching to other careers, or even starting their own business. I changed career at 49. You could do that. Believe it.

3. Stay connected with your support network. Popstar-turned-vicar Rev. Richard Coles wrote of a piece of advice given to him by an aunt when he was young. She said “Remember this, Richard, nobody is thinking about you.” It’s generally true that most people are thinking mainly about themselves, so you need to be proactive and be the one that reaches out to others. Remember particularly that it’s hard for your loved ones at this time, too.

4. Treat looking for a job as your job. Work at it as a 9-5 job with structure, proper breaks and the occasional treat.

5. Develop a desire to hear the word “No”. Every no is a potential learning opportunity and gets you closer to the eventual “Yes”.

6. Break the rules sometimes. If a job advert says to apply by email, find a way around it. Make an old-fashioned phone call. You may be making their job of filling the vacancy easier. I know this works.

7. Do your homework. Research the company and work out some good questions to ask them. People love that (and expect it).

8. Keep the pipeline full. Never sit back waiting for people to respond (nobody’s thinking about you, remember?). Keep churning out those applications.

9. Tell everyone that you’re on the market – I mean, everyone. Friends, ex-colleagues, the postman, the man at the Off-Licence, everyone. People know people and often want to help.

10. It’s OK to be down, as long as you don’t stay down. There’ll be days when your energy and spirits are high, and others when you feel demotivated. Accept that it’s a rollercoaster and make the most of the ups.

Finally, since I started work in 1977, I have experienced the effects of redundancy, recessions, restructures, takeovers, financial crises, strikes, good years, bad years and everything in between. And now a global pandemic. But I’m still here, still working, and probably enjoying my “third career” as much as anything I’ve done before. Resilience has a lot to do with that.

Paul Reynolds is the Program Director for our Step into Management Program and delivers executive coaching programs for those who want to really accelerate their performance. To find out more about how Paul can help you and your team please call 01606 883383 or email paul.reynolds@morganjamesconsulting.co.uk

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What’s your worst experience of customer service? I’d be interested to hear of your experiences.
I’m sorry to say that mine was at the hands of Tesco – three times in a fortnight and, although my experience was over 10 years ago, it’s caused me to not enter a Tesco Supermarket since. I’m sure that many of their staff do a fantastic job but sadly, I have such a strong somatic marker when considering my buying choices that it causes my emotions to override any rational thinking. I just cannot walk into one of their stores without feeling really angry at my experience, as if it happened yesterday.

So many companies are struggling to stand out in increasingly competitive markets and are going to have to work even harder to retain their existing customers let alone find new ones in the coming months. Delivering exceptional customer service is what truly makes a difference to generate raving fans who will be very reticent to leave you if you truly listen to them, treat them like human beings and fulfil their needs.

My best customer experience ever has been with apple. Whilst I’m not an apple brand addict, the response to returning a product (some Beats headphones) that were just out of guarantee and not working, was flawless. A warm and friendly customer service manager responded to my call promptly (within 3 rings – almost unheard of!), listened to my problem, clearly told me exactly what she was going to do to solve it and gave me a timescale by which it would be resolved. A man arrived with a bag to pick up the old Beats to see if they could be repaired within 24 hours of my call and the following day, a new pair were delivered. No hassle, no quibbles – just service with a smile and a ‘thank-you for your custom.’

I found this short film on You Tube which throws up some interesting statistics on buyer behaviour in relation to the Customer Experience (and bear in mind this film is 5 years old – the stats will be even more striking now). It reminded me to share an acronym, BLAST, that has served many of my service industry clients well when faced with a customer complaint:

Five steps that, if implemented rigorously and regularly can turn disgruntled customers into raving fans.

After a challenging 2020 where so many companies have had to pivot and really fight for their share of the market place, might it be worth reviewing and overhauling both your customer service and your staff retention strategies to ensure that you are retaining and training all of your people to deliver superb service to every client? As Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos says:

“Customer service shouldn’t be a department; it should be an entire company.”

Lily Newman – December 2020

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By Lily Newman and Nicola Jackson

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another” – William James

It’s quite strange reflecting on looking forward to Christmas and what we were doing this time last year at Morgan James Consulting. Our financial year ends in October, so we had just posted a record year in 2019. I was also looking forward to a much-needed sabbatical – 6 weeks in Australia and New Zealand in January and February. If I knew then what I know now – that during the first half of this year, so many businesses, would be decimated by Covid, including ours, would I have still taken 6 weeks out of my business?

You bet I would!

If Covid has taught me anything in the past 9 months, its these three lessons:

  1. What matters more than anything in this world is people and relationships.
  2. Don’t sweat the small stuff. It truly doesn’t matter.
  3. You are responsible for your own thinking which impacts your own feelings, your own behaviours and your own ability to be resilient when the chips are down.

Yet, how often do we really consider the bad habits that we can be prone to developing in relation to our thinking which can have an impact on our effectiveness at work, our relationships at home and our ability to maintain perspective?

The Negative Impact of Assumptions

Your perception of the world around you is not necessarily the same as what is happening.

Making assumptions can lead to over-generalising, catastrophising and having an overly simplistic or ‘black and white’ perspective. These assumptions can take you down a rabbit hole of negative thinking and result in unhealthy behaviours.

But why do we make so many assumptions? Our brains are predisposed to run on automatic pilot to reduce the use of kinetic energy for much of the time and making assumptions create shorter neural pathways to help our brains to work more efficiently and easily deliver routine tasks. However, assumptions can also come from learned behaviours, and, much like biases, are developed as a result of our upbringing, family and cultural norms and personal experiences. Recognising this and taking steps to be more mindful of how assumptions are impacting your actions and negative behaviours can be a liberating experience. Here are some tips to help you get started:

Increase your curiosity:

Accountability – Don’t play the blame game!

Accountability is not consequences, but ownership. It is a character trait, a life stance, a willingness to own your actions and results regardless of your circumstances – Brian P. Moran

When someone is not holding themselves to account, their actions are likely to show up via defensive behaviours including blaming others, helplessness, cynicism, self-deprecation, making excuses, complaining, and taking things personally. All of these behaviours help to create a victim mentality and often increase levels of stress and anxiety.

The key to breaking free of a victim mindset is to recognise that you are in it. Are you always feeling sorry for yourself? Do you feel that you have no control over your life and that you are simply at the mercy of the people and events around you? If so, you can choose to take back control by looking at where you do have choices, where you can influence outcomes and ultimately how you can be more accountable for yourself and what happens to you. Here are a few tips on how:

“The greatest weapon we have against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another” – Albert Camus

Taking time out earlier this year gave me a terrific opportunity to re-calibrate my thoughts, practise ‘the pause’ and truly explore the evidence of what was happening in the world that would impact my business and the many clients that we serve. Of utmost priority, we ignored our plunging profits and focused on what we could influence or control and what’s most important to us in a values led business: – the relationships with our clients. From March to July this year, we focused on helping our clients to pivot their businesses and, in so many cases, their thinking to ensure that they survived. We held webinars, mentoring sessions, and virtual classrooms for no charge if we felt they lacked the ability to pay for our services.

We are proud to say that during the past 9 months, we have not lost a client. Every single one of them has survived. From our perspective, we are also thrilled to say that our investment in them paid off. Every one of them has retained us and are back, paying for our services again. Whilst they have all experienced days when they’ve wanted to hide under the duvet, each of them has recognised that by ‘acting our way into a new way of thinking’ and seeking new ways to connect with their clients and support them through the tough months, has given them deeper and more meaningful relationships with them. For some, they have found an inner resolve that they never knew that they had in them. We call the need for that resolve, ‘Iron Underpant days” – those times when you know it’s going to be tough but if you dust off your cape and put on your wonder-woman or superman outfit (metaphorically – although you can do it physically too if you feel the need!) you can and will emerge victorious at the end of the day.

You just need to take control of your thinking.

Want to learn more about how to build your resilience and develop a winning mindset?

We’d love to work with you to build a stronger resolve or a more resilient team. Just email us at Admin@morganjamesconsulting.co.uk or call us on 01606 883383 or 0776 458 5030 to find out how.

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Lily’s special guest ‘In the Hotseat’ today is Roy Newey, a torchbearer for the poor, a trailblazer in the field of global education, an exceptional keynote speaker and an author who has served on the board of over 100 high growth companies.

Roy left school at 16 with no qualifications. Although profoundly dyslexic he started his first business at the age of 22, built it to £5 million and sold it. He has invested in small businesses (£3 million T/O) grown them into big businesses (£180 million T/O) that have operated around the globe. He has delivered keynote speeches on business excellence, education, skills, leadership, poverty and disadvantage in over 75 countries. He was appointed by the Prime Minister to chair the UK India bi-lateral trade talks between 2010 and 2015. Roy was selected as strategic advisor to Tata Consultancy Service which brought £16.5 billion to the UK economy.

He is passionate about creating the opportunity for people from all walks of life to grow, develop and become the best version of themselves. His business book, Ready Set Grow, has just been published. He will also be publishing a David Walliams style book for children about overcoming bullying, shortly.

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