I was wondering about legacy in August of last year.  What on earth am I doing?  Where am I going?

Well, sometimes things happen and the dots begin to join.  and I will be writing more on this as the year goes by.  Sometimes we think we’re doing nothing, I’ve learnt that isn’t so.  Sometimes we’re ‘processing’ and at a deeper level the plan, albeit slowly, takes shape.. so be patient, all you movers and shakers out there. It all becomes clearer in the end, even if where you start is not where it stops!

Good things..take time !

I facilitate an awful lot.  Only in recent years have I recognised I can control tricky situations.  It may not be to everyone’s satisfaction, but sometimes, yes, sometimes it can go ‘pear-shaped’ and you have to ride it out.  You cannot let the behaviour of one individual affect the enjoyment of a group.  Such an experience happened recently when sadly the person responsible for causing disruption took umbrage and stormed off. Yes, I was swiped with the ‘wet mackerel’. I was that sitting duck.  That night the show had to go on.  What did I learn? That no matter what you do, sometimes, if the ‘lid is going to flip and you’re in it’s way, you’ll get the full blast. Nothing can be done except ride it out.  Expect nothing but silence. Rarely will anyone come forward to reassure you that you did all you could and in all likelihood, they would have done the same.  Certainly there will be opinions on how else it could have been handled.  In the end whatever you decided to do, you did your best, at that time with all the knowledge, experience and good intention possible. I did.  Regardless, I am sure, I’ll be the one to ‘carry the can’. And you know something, in this case, that’s okay by me.

didn’t expect it. not sure I like it.  have to get on with it.  Actually, it’s not bad at all !

photo: janie lazar

The holy trinity of business has to be good service, great products and over delivery of just about everything. But quite how do we, should we, can we go about delivering on this? Well it’s pretty easy really.  Take the other day when I was in town, having stopped at the Dublin Barista School for a coffee. A few kind words, great coffee and out of the blue, a small biscuit appeared. Unprompted. Free. Most importantly, given with a smile.  How fabulous was that.  Yes, I am a cynic too.  I know it makes good business sense.  But thank you guys.  You made my day 🙂

I know we all prefer to do business with people we like, sure why not.  But when personal bias leads to decisions which are either unfair or illogical and make work for other people, often putting personal opinions before what is best for the business, this says more about the people making these decisions than those who are directly and indirectly affected. Time to ask some tough questions…  I was with a client the other day working on plans for 2017/18. Working in tourism, their business involves a huge amount of forward planning to operating different ‘camps’ throughout the year in Ireland and overseas. When it came to set-up for 2017, the owners said they wouldn’t allow one leader to come back, even though there was unanimous agreement by everyone who worked with that leader and feedback from participants that  a great job had been done .  What advice could I give?  None.  Absolutely none, except to let it go. Every business owner ultimately makes decisions based on what they feel, it’s called being human – but to their own needs. Sometimes these decisions don’t make sense,  often creating difficult situations, stress and more work for other people. But ‘he who owns, has the final say’. Let it go, let it go..

I was wondering the other day that if I were no longer around, what difference would it make?  I pondered more on this and began to think about what difference I make to the lives of other people. Through my work. Through friendship. Through every day encounters….

Mmm.  sobering and exciting at the same time.

[quote align=”left” color=”#999999″]This little bit of pondering was like a kick up the backside.[/quote]

It’s made me appreciate what more I can do today, now and how the clock is ticking…. so Hello day. Hello week!  Let’s see what I have done by this time next year…..