Purchasing Coach: Advent Window 10: Gratitude

25 unconventional coaching and facilitation tools to surprise and delight

Yesterday's window asked us to 'take time to acknowledge, savour and celebrate your team's successes' and I was reminded of another tool that can arise as an action in coaching. 

Perhaps not a tool that's unconventional in the conventional sense, but something we forget to do which means I firmly believe it merits a mention.

Gratitude

Whether a gratitude log done at the end of every day to remind you of the things you're grateful for, or a reminder to show gratitude to others - not just when they've done something but just for being in your life.

Thank you for being in mine.

Alison Smith
Unlocking procurement potential - using conventional and unconventional tools
Procurement and Business Speaker, Coach, Trainer, & Facilitator
alison@alisonsmith.eu +44 (0)7770 538159

Earlier in the year I applied some of the unconventional tools shared in this series of advent posts to common procurement challenges - more here.

Thank you

Happy Thanksgiving

I know we don't generally celebrate Thanksgiving here in the UK but I do enjoy the reminder to give thanks for what we have in our lives. A few years ago this reminder was supported by a visit to Findhorn, and the wonderful habit of giving thanks for the food on the table (something I still wish I did more often especially when in the company of others)

This year I had a great reminder of the value of giving thanks a week or so ago when my friend sent me this letter:

It was in response to my friend and I putting faces for Well Child, supplied by Carrs Billington along with their purple bale wrap, and purchased by my friend's brother for the farm in Cumbria, UK. 

Imagine two 50+ year olds laughing as we decide which eyes went with which nose and mouth, as we scrambled up the wall and over the lower bales to enable the faces to be seen from the M6 (on the left hand side, 1 mile after jct 37, headed north)

We got so much enjoyment from making the faces, the farmer enjoyed our laughter, and the now mainly bedroom ridden retired framer enjoyed the face we made for him facing the farm house and his bedroom.

Little did we know that regulars on the M6 would also find enjoyment in our efforts.

If we don't tell people the impact they've had in our lives, and given thanks for that, how will they know?

Thank you for reading and being there over the years as I've written about what inspires, enthuses and yes even the rants. I do appreciate the comments, and the well wishes.

Who will you thank today?

Alison  Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change - inside and out

Other blogs on the subject of thanks include a cleaner on the train thanking us for our rubbish, and reactions to street cleaners as I stopped to thank them.

When things go wrong

It didn't take long for the jokes to start about England's performance at the World Cup after Thursday's game. It also didn't take long for the fingers to be pointed, accusations to be made and denials and protestations to be voiced. Whilst I appreciate the media and their self interest will be stoking the flames of such reactions I did wonder how much this behaviour reflected what we see in business or politics. 

For example:

• Something goes wrong at work and what's the first thing that often happens? Yep - needing to find someone to blame, the instinctive defensiveness from all concerned, lack of learning and open communication. Resulting in a future full of trepidation and holding back for fear of this reaction again.
• Or something goes wrong at the passport office - yep let's see who's to blame, ridicule them, threaten them with sacking, shout, scream and as every day passes focus on the continued failure, and ignore the small and incremental successes being made.

By way of a change I'd therefore like to offer the England football team the following: 

• Thank you for accepting the role on the team.
• Thank you for accepting being in the media's glare and scrutiny.
• Thank you for all the hours of practice.
• Thank you for trying your best.
• Thank you for being there when we needed you.
• Sorry it didn't turn out as we, and I know you, wanted it to.
• There isn't one specific reason we failed - it will be a combination of factors to which we ALL contributed.
• We'll be there supporting you for the final game.
• Yes the game does count because its the next step forward.
• Now we've learnt how not to do it let's take the learning and move forward to even greater success in the future - together.
• Thank you. 

I wonder how business and politics would benefit from more appreciation that people do the best they can at any point in time, less finger pointing and blame, and more focus on learning and doing it better together in the future. 

 

Just a thought.

 

Alison Smith

Purchasing Coach inspiring change in procurement through communication, collaboration and appreciation every day. 

Thank you

The guy taking rubbish on the train has just gone through the carriage. Of course, as I handed him the rubbish, I said "thank you" as I got eye contact and acknowledged him for the work he does. Not many others in the carriage did the same.

I often walk up to the guys working for Fife council who clean the local beach, park, streets and roads and do the same. I'd suggest 75% of the time they're surprised at me making the effort. Appreciative of the recognition certainly, and yet surprised too. I once stopped the car in a local B road between villages to thank someone - I think he was shocked. I'm assuming for the thank you rather than feeling threatened by my actions. 

When I mention it to others the response I often get is "they get paid for it". Yet those very people, giving me that response, expect thanks for their work. It's as if that's different somehow. 

If you never got thanked for the work you do how would you feel? It's nothing to do with getting paid, or who's doing the paying, it's to do with courtesy. 

Who will you thank today? 

Alison Smith

Inspiring change inside and out