ALTERNATIVES

There is No Alternative 

I was recently asked a question by a colleague during a visit I had to India. He asked why I was always smiling, positive and had time to speak to everyone. I gave a very glib response about " recreational drugs " but then recovered a bit to make reference to a book I had read some time ago by Richard Carlson titled " Don't sweat the small stuff and its all small stuff " . The title is very self explanatory and we ended the conversation fairly happy with my response . 

I had a long journey back to Shanghai and on the way I became more and more dissatisfied with my answer. I really didn't feel that it had helped him at all in terms of him understanding how he could change to make himself a more effective manager. By the time I reached Shanghai I had come up with an answer that I felt was closer to how I really felt so I sent him an email to apologise for my initial answer and give him what I` now considered to be better advice.

The answer should have been that as leader I consider everyone in the business to have a value and therefore I speak to everyone or at least acknowledge with a smile or a simple "Hello" To be honest my Chinese or Bengali doesn't allow for much more. It is immensely energising when you get a smile back and I get a lot from that simple interaction .

The second part of my new answer was that we should always consider the alternative. That I shouldn't speak to anyone but those I could benefit from, that I should not wear my heart on my sleeve and should walk around the business looking depressed and miserable. I am usually a positive person but on those occasions when I am not feeling too good I still see no benefit in letting everyone share it. 

It is always interesting to consider the alternative . My opening speech to any new team always contains a clear statement that whilst I do not know them well my starting position is always one of trust. People have questioned this but when we apply the "What is  the alternative " test they understand. I cannot think of more demotivating statement for a new team than for them to hear that their new boss doesn't trust them and they need to work hard to gain that trust.

We operate in environments that don't give us much time to think but when we do take the time   we invariably come up with a better answer.

We should always apply the  question "What is the Alternative " . It is a simple question but it does make you slow down and consider new options.

As someone who travels a lot I like to watch people and what they do during what can be very tedious journeys. The behaviour I find most strange is that of the person who immediately the seat belt light goes off switches on their laptop and starts pounding out e-mails. The most obvious thing they are missing is a period of relaxation by simply having a sleep, reading or watching a movie. the other less obvious miss is the opportunity to talk to the person who is going to be sharing a relatively small space with you for the next couple of hours. To be honest it doesn't matter who they work for or where they are from . What matters is that they have a different story to tell and `I guarantee you will learn something. On one flight I was lucky enough to be sitting next to Dr. Merom Klein . Merom started " The courage Institute and I can highly recommend his book "The Courage to Act" . I am sure we have all been in situations where we want to speak but don't have the courage to do it. Whenever we do this we are paying a great dis-service to the situation. I learned a lot from that 2 hour flight and I recommend that in situations when you have the chance to speak to people you will learn something.