The perch
Some Managing Directors try everything under the sun to get a break, even a short one, from the business but they never quite make it.
Somehow, what’s going on at work manages to infiltrate every waking, and much of their sleeping hours too. Alcohol sometimes helps but may not be a positive long term strategy; exercise doesn’t always hit the spot or frequently isn’t possible. Family time can be of use but equally it can be a hindrance. A little dose of ‘me time’ is usually the answer.
So during his appraisal he confessed that his work life balance was shot to pieces; he said that he once had a hobby but that he hadn’t fished since he was a child.
We drove out to a beautiful natural lake that nestles in the Black Mountains of Wales; it doesn’t see a soul for weeks on end. All the way there he talked about the business, the marketing issues, the cash flow problems, the people stuff, but in the space of a split second, his world was transformed.
He was fishing a worm under a bright red float just as he had done as a boy forty years ago. The scarlet dot on the water bobbed, then it slid sideways and stopped. I told him to wait until the float went under the surface which it eventually did. Suddenly he was captivated as the rod was bent almost double as a fish fought and dived and battled for its freedom.
For a moment it looked as if he had lost the fish in a patch of lilies. We saw the brilliant vermillion fins, the deep green back of the fish and the vertical blue stripes, the massively erect and proud dorsal fin as the perch turned in one final dash away.
And a moment or two later, as he drew the fish gently over the landing net, he was actually a million miles away from any of the business cares or concerns that he had ever had.
Reel time
Many people in business are having to look at trying to sell new products and services to existing customers and markets, or existing products and services to new customers and markets. And sometimes I hear them asking wearily whether the end will justify the means.
The dawn had just broken on the lake. It was a crystal fresh morning with not a breath of air, nor the slightest wisp of a cloud. I was intrigued by the battery of four fishing rods all arranged identically and each with an electronic bite alarm that bleeps and flashes when a fish takes. The owner of the kit was apparently asleep in his ‘bivvy’ but the computer screen hanging inside would tell him which rod to attend to.
His modern baitrunner reels allow line to taken with no resistance and the braided hair rig on the hook ensured that most fish would be hooked by the time he got up to reel them in. Even the bait was encased in soluble poly something that allows free offerings to be found by the unsuspecting fish.
By the time I packed up it had been a magical spring morning with a pair of kingfishers hurtling across the water with their express train whistles, herons fishing in the margins and the sound of the near extinct cuckoo calling from a distant copse.
The man with the technology caught five glorious olive green tench whilst I had caught nothing. Driving back across the park I wondered whether I need to ‘up my game’ in line with this new knowledge world. Or do I carry on fishing with much of the same kit I had fifty years ago. The technology question and the answer is absolutely 100% clear for every single one of us in business.
A hobby however is different.Labels: the impact of knowledge or business and hobbies
On the knives
Lots of today’s great family businesses started by making the product, selling it and distributing it. Just like that.
In the knowledge world it is an entirely different paradigm that will take these businesses to the next phase of growth. I was working with a third generation meat and butchery business last week where they have several elements to the group.
When dad was given his chance by his father some 35 years ago the only piece of advice he was given was: “You stay on the knives son”. It was very much about how many animals you killed each week, preparing the cuts and putting them on the slab for customers.
In those days 85% of the cost of the product was raw materials and labour. If you purchase a Marks and Spencer precooked, frozen lamb mousaka today, 85% of the cost is in the research and development, the process and the packaging.
Staying “on the knives” for the Managing Director today would be one of the fastest ways of cutting out any prospect for future growth.
Labels: developing competetive advantage, new paradigms, the knowledge world of business
Home and away
There has never been a better time to revisit your business and personal Bull’s Eye but when you do, there are surprises in store for sure!
I’ve been a free range chicken for twenty five years now and when you are self employed or in partnership pecking away, you may find a juicy slug on Monday, nothing on Tuesday, a fat lobworm on Wednesday and nothing again on Thursday. That’s just how it is.
Some four years ago, although there has always been plenty of work in the West Midlands region where I live, I fancied trying my luck further afield, nationally and even internationally. It may be mixing metaphors but when you have played for Hereford United for a period it feels like an exciting challenge to see whether you might be able to get a run out with Manchester United. And the fact is that I now do enjoy working away.
But recently some local clients had approached me to suggest that I might like to do some stuff in my own back yard once more in Hereford. At first this felt a bit like going out with an old girlfriend. After all, the recent strategy had been to explore pastures new. Anyway three Mondays ago I made fifteen phone calls and amazingly twelve Managing Directors of local businesses signed up to our Herefordshire Directors Forum.
We start tonight and as I prepare all the files, each with the client company logo on, the prospects for this ten session event is just about as exciting and fun and challenging as it could be.
Enjoy the journey.
Labels: adding value, local sourcing, using personal brand
Indian Warriors
The great football managers have just a few things in common but one of them is the ability to spot and develop talent from young people at an early age.I have a daughter who was seventeen on Thursday and eighteen on Friday 1st May. The theme of her party was 'Indian Warriors' and her parents were told there would be fifty females arriving between 630 and 730 to "get ready". The barbeque and drinks needed to be served from 730 onwards and they would leave the house at about nine to walk into town for the dancing, pubbing and clubbing. And by the way, eight of the girls would be stopping over. "Should be back about three" we were advised. Unknown to us, Ursula had published the full itinerary for her guests on Facebook, complete with timings.So the barbeque was duly cooked and the females turned up in extraordinary costumes, many of them so devoid of material but complete with fake tan. My daughter finally appeared with a massive head dress adorned with a full range of bright coloured feathers. There could be no doubt who was eighteen that night. Noise levels were increasing with music and laughter and excitement but I couldn't work out how Ursula was going to get these people together for the march into an unsuspecting Hereford city. Suddenly she produced a whistle and with one loud blast there was silence. "Right everybody, we are off in five minutes" she announced. The music resumed, finishing touches were being put to make up and face paints everywhere. And five minutes later there was a second blast on the whistle and the entire throng filed out of the house and garden and were gone into the night.
So if we are looking for leaders of the future in our youngsters, organisational ability, self confidence and the ability to manage people are not bad places to start.Labels: managing people, organisational ability, self confidence, spotting talent early
