Don't turn a blind eye

,

Enough is enough - I am fed up of hearing "that's nothing new" "that's just the way it is" "get over it" or "get real" about my reaction to unacceptable behaviour in business. 

We teach our children about honesty, trust, openness, collaboration and appreciation. When did we decide that we only needed to talk the talk not walk it! When did we decide that those rules only applied within the four walls of our home and not outside it? When did we specifically decide that business could ignore the rules of acceptable behaviour? 

I wrote a blog some time ago about a problem RBS was having when their ATM software went awry, and said it was as much YOUR fault as anyone else's. It was also your fault the financial system crashed, your fault for horse meat gate, in fact your fault for every non natural disaster that's ever happened. Not someone else's fault, not that person over there you can point a finger at and say "not me gov - it's their fault" - your fault - or more precisely - our fault. 

Our fault for every blind eye we're turned to unacceptable behaviour - because every time we turn a blind eye we give others permission to do the same. We give permission to accept and condone:

• Bullying
• Lies
• Self interest
• Short termism
• Wrong doing
• Unethical decisions
• Unsustainable actions
• Danger to health and life
• Corruption

Or perhaps the less obvious and more insidious unhelpful behaviours:

• Heads buried in sand
• Blind eyes turned
• Secrecy 
• Lack of trust
• Taking no, or limited, responsibility 
• Disinterest
• Apathy

I hear you when you tell me "if I say anything I might lose my job". I fully understand you have bills to pay - me too. Since when did having bills to pay mean different criteria should be used for what is and isn't acceptable behaviour. 

Bullying is abhorrent but if saying so means the difference between mortgage paid and not you'll just ignore it and be like those 3 monkeys and see, hear and do nothing - is that it?  Going down that slippery slope landed us in BIG problems in 2008 and has continued to do so with every crisis since then. 

Next time to start to agree with someone in the office that a certain behaviour is unacceptable (but you can't really do anything about it can you) then as the song goes:

• Stop
• Look
• Listen to your heart 

and realise there could be a different outcome if you make a different decision this time and responded appropriately. 

This blog didn't start out with the intention of linking to the wonderful news that Malala Yousafzai has won the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Kailash Satyarthi. There's a link there none the less. 

• Standing up for what is right irrespective of the consequences. 

If you'd like more evidence of what's possible just watch the live videostream from One Young World next week in Dublin (Wednesday 15th - Saturday 18th October). Where inspirational young people from all around the world will be speaking up for what's right. I promise you'll be inspired and touched by the stories you hear - many more Malalas in the making. 

A reminder perhaps of the ideals you had at their age and may have lost somewhere along the way - why not join them in making a difference in your world? 

Alison Smith

Inspiring change inside and out - sometimes a little more forcefully than others ;-) 

(It was recent reactions to Tesco's procurement strategy for dealing with suppliers that has finally inspired me to write. See David Atkinson's blog on the subject for more info and the reactions of others suggesting its nothing new!)

Stop, Look, Listen

Before I went on holiday life had got very very busy - you know the sort of thing: get up and immediately turn on the PC, eat on the go, too much time spent on planes, trains and automobiles, eating too much of the wrong foods, no time for me or friends (or laughter for that matter), collapse in front of the TV for some mind numbing 'entertainment' to wind down before collapsing into bed. Oh yes ... not forgetting that irritability with the world and especially at the lack of speed everyone else was going!

What a difference a week can make!

It was a holiday of sorts - a week retreat if you will at a conference and training centre celebrating its 50th birthday. There were many local, national and international speakers offering lecturers and workshops for 7 hours a day for each of the 7 days I was there.

Over forth coming blogs I'm sure I'll share some of the insights shared during those lecturers/workshops but on my first day back in the office I'd like to share what I learnt about the pace of my life and more importantly the changes I'm making.

• Stop: Stop the constant doing. The 7 hours of lectures were spread over 13 hours a day. That is we had lots of time to stop. 30 mins break in the morning, the same in the afternoon, nearly 2 hours for lunch and 3 hours for dinner. Initially I was frustrated with all this 'wasted' time. Now I realise it gave us time - it gave me time. Time to eat and then digest the food that had been prepared for us, to digest what we'd heard, to connect with others, to take time out or to catch up with any other activities we needed to attend to. It's interesting how often we try to fit these into the time we've set aside to attend to our To-do'ing.
• Look: I'm sure my constant doing in the past, with that all too familiar physiology that goes with it - head down and a fast speed of walking, means I've missed much. Last week I had time to look around and notice the world around me - the people, nature and my own thoughts and feelings. That very 'looking' enabled me to connect to an energy that's been missing in my life for a while - a spontaneous, creative and expansive energy that is one that I need often in the work I do. Let's just hope I don't get too busy to let it slip through my fingers - again! 
• Listen: I didn't attend every one one of the sessions on offer. What I did was listen to that quiet voice inside that suggested this lecture was one I would attend and this one wasn't. What that facilitated was a week where the information and insights came at a pace I could handle. It certainly wasn't about listening to that other critical voice inside that said "You might miss something." "But you've paid for this!" "What will others think?" This is one significant change that I'd like to continue now I'm home - taking time at the start of the day to listen to that quiet voice about priorities and To-dos. Which this blog is an example of because I wrote it first before looking at the emails!     

I'll let you know how I get on in embracing these changes. Certainly as I peek at my inbox for the first time,  with its 858 emails, I can feel the all too familiar voice whispering "quicker, quicker". Think I may need to print a copy of the road sign above to remind me of my commitment to change.

What changes do you need to make to enable you to connect to an energy that's needed for your work but has slipped through your fingers recently?  

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Ensuring your purchasing team takes time to stop, look and listen.

Neuro Linguistic Programming changed my life

In 2000 I attended a Neuro Linguisitc Programming (NLP) workshop and it changed my life.

Actually if I apply what I learnt on my NLP practitioner then the more accurate statement should be..... My life changed positively after I'd attended the NLP practitioner and started to apply the NLP tools and techniques.

Ok not something you want to hear about in business but it certainly made my life at work more effective too. I remember an internal stakeholder telling me I was easier to deal with after I'd been NLP'd. Interestingly I also felt that she'd been more open to the recommendations we were making. So I was easier to deal with and my ability to persuade and influence had also improved.

NLP is about our brain (neuro), our language (linguistic) and the habits and beliefs we have (Programming) and how these impact how we move towards what we want to achieve.

In business communication NLP has helped me understand the unique way in which we all prefer to take information in, how we store it in our brain and how we then choose to share it with others. Understanding our own and other's preferences can then improve our ability to communicate with them. That is to choose a style of communication that enables the person we're talking to to understand what we're saying more easily.

After my initial interest was piqued in 2000 I went on to study for more than 150 days on the practitioner, master practitioner and then as a trainer. As it's a tool that I use often in the work I do with purchasing teams, and this week as part of a Managing your Talent 2 day workshop with Rosie from NLP Highland, I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite NLP tools and techniques here in the blog, and first shared with clients in my newsletter in July 2009 (where does time go?), see separate blog posts via the links below:

• The Meaning of the communication is the response that you get
• The Map is not the territory
• Information overload
• Communication Styles
• What gets them out of bed in a morning
• Language to improve understanding
• Language to improve rapport
• Rapport

I'll add more to this list as I write them over coming weeks and months - although here's some recent blogs that also link to NLP without directly mentioning it:

• If it doesn't work the first time - try again
• There's 3 versions of the story - yours, theirs and the truth

If you're interested in finding out more about how NLP tools and techniques can be used to improve your stakeholder engagement, communication and team working please do call me +44 (0)7770 538159.

One book you may also want to consider is Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) Workbook for Dummies . It's very comprehensive without getting too technical. It's often my first point of reference despite having a shelf full of other NLP books - OK - more accurately - despite having shelves full of other NLP books.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds for effective communication within and outwith purchasing teams

Picture Source: amazon.co.uk via Alison on Pinterest

Do your suppliers have Passion?

Sally Peake's distress at missing out on getting through to the Olympic Pole Vault final is gut wrenching. Who can look at this picture and not feel her pain and want to hug her and tell her it will be ok. I don't think the blog I wrote yesterday about success not being just about gold would help much :-(. I just hope in time she will be able to be proud of what she did achieve and take the learning to ensure even more success next time.

The question I'd like to ask you, linked to an earlier blog suggesting that suppliers are just like athletes, is when did your supplier last show this much pain and disappointment in a meeting after things have gone wrong?

I was in a meeting recently with a client and was in tears because what I'd said would happen did. There's many frustrations about that around how I could have got them to listen to what I was saying earlier. I was told by someone I'd got too close and needed to not take it personally. However isn't that what buyer/supplier relationships are all about - personal relationships. Where suppliers care as much about the business they're supporting as the business does it self. Otherwise why would you not do it yourself?

Here's to more tears in the meeting room :-)..... ok perhaps not tears but you know what I mean.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds for passion from your suppliers

Sally Peake Picture Source: dailymail.co.uk via Alison on Pinterest

We get what we focus on

After a most inspiring London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony on Friday many tweeted their congratulations to all involved. Many like me blogged about it and I know a day hasn't gone by since when I've not spoken, blogged or tweeted about it with others inspired and with pride and positivity.

It's a pity therefore that the next day the tweets changed from general positivity to negativity. We Brits started to do what we do best and moan and notice all that went wrong rather than what was going well. Although I'm sure with the medals starting to come in for Great Britain that may change.

I just wish we'd all remember 2 things:

* We get what we focus on, and
* The golden ratio for effective and long lasting relationships is 5 positive interactions to 1 negative interaction - see John Gottman here on YouTube explaining more.

Every night from 2100 for an hour the lighting of the London Eye is reflecting the % of positive Olympic London 2012 tweets from within Great Britain for the day. So here's hoping that the London Eye remains over 84% illuminated to continue to keep alive the hopes, dreams and possibilities of the world which came together in the opening ceremony and continues to be represented by the Olympic Cauldron.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds for positivity within your purchasing team

PS I promise not to write anything negative for another 5 blogs :-)

London Eye Picture Source: bbc.co.uk via Alison on Pinterest

Anything is possible

I've put the above picture in my Anything is possible board on Pinterest because it is.

For me what happened at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics is a great reminder that next time we have a creative and yet possibly a little too out there idea, not to make assumptions about whether others will accept it or not and to simply put it forward.

I'd hazard a guess that a larger majority of people would have discounted suggesting the idea to the queen of her meeting James Bond and seemingly going for a skydive. Yet someone did and she said yes and it went on to being one of the surprising highlights of the evening.

Next time you get a creative idea just remember ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds of potential in purchasing in your organisation

Picture of the Queen, James Bond and Corgis Source: bbc.co.uk via Alison on Pinterest

The Legacy of Olympic Pride

There are many aspects of last nights Olympic opening ceremony that I enjoyed.

What had me being most proud to be British was the Queen, James Bond and corgis - truly inspired and said what it means to be British. Mr Bean helped - so too the Drs and Nurses of the NHS.

What had me being proud to be a member of the global community was the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. It symbolised so much about how this world could be if only we: 

• Supported our young people and believed in them
  
  Source: guardian.co.uk via Alison on Pinterest

• All contributed our light not our darkness
  
  Source: bbc.co.uk via Alison on Pinterest

• Come together to celebrate our diversity and believe in the synergies available in our collaboration
  
  Source: businessinsider.com via Alison on Pinterest
• Focused on unity and peace and not conflict

Source: businessinsider.com via Alison on Pinterest

Here's hoping it's not just for 2 weeks.

 

 

What do you put your heart and soul into?

Pinterest introduced me to The Piano Guys - there I was mooching around repinning some dance videos and then BAM I saw this. Words cannot fully express what happened next. I'm not a great listener to of music but there I was searching for every Piano Guys video I could find on YouTube following them on Twitter and Facebook :-)

I think their vision explains why this non musical girl was moved:

"Our vision is to create music and videos that inspire & uplift. We want to take that music to the world and make a difference. We like to put a new spin on classic stuff and a classic spin on new stuff. Whatever we do, we put our heart and souls into every note and frame."

because this vision is definitely in every note they play and every frame they shoot.

Goosebumps, tears, smiles, inspiration and a great reminder that we should all be doing what we can to put our heart and soul into making a difference in what ever area we can make the most difference.

I might not give people goosebumps or make them cry when I talk about purchasing but I do have a desire to 'take purchasing to businesses and make a difference - to put a new spin on theoretical stuff and a theoretical spin on new stuff.'

How can you put your heart and soul into everything you do every day?

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds for putting heart and soul into purchasing
alison@thepurchasingcoach.co.uk +44 (0)7770 538159

PS I even thought this piece by The Piano Guys expresses how buyer/supplier relationships should be - although entitled 'A thousand years' I do hope it doesn't take that long to change these relationships for the better