In This Severe Weather...

We are, apparently, experiencing extreme weather. Anyone from outside the UK may find that rather difficult to understand. My brother, for example, lives in Sydney in Australia and so thinks of thirty celcius as Spring-like.

Whatever your own thoughts about the temperature, the chances are that your staff (and colleagues) think that the weather is extreme and so it is. The fact is that you, as a manager, will have to deal with it. Happily, it is possible to deal with staff concerns and do some good for the organisation at the same time.

• Be a little more relaxed about the hours that people work. Is it really necessary that everyone works between the hours of 8:30 and 18:00? Why not let some people come in at 7:30 and so avoid a hot and sticky commute (in both directions probably?). Why not let some come in at 10:00 and leave at 20:00?
• Be a little more relaxed about what people wear. If they are not customer facing, do they really need to be in a suit and tie? If there is no air conditioning in the office, why not chill a bit about the dress code (see what I did there?).
• Buy some ice cream for your team. It's a simple thing - and don't be fooled into thinking that they will love you forever - but staff will notice and acknowledge your gesture. The British, too, find ice cream almost sinful, so you can all share that 'naughty' moment together.

Goodness knows - if you manage to get through the next few weeks being flexible and buying ice cream, you might be able to continue this for the rest of the year too. All the positive benefits that come from these simple actions might surprise you - or you may, of course think that it's all madness!

Pride and Confidence

I have really enjoyed the first week of the Olympics. One of the most interesting features has been the way that London seems suddenly to have embraced the Games. As any regular readers will know, I spend  quite a lot of time in coffee houses, and there has been a palpable change from cynicism to confidence and even pride in the whole event.

In the weeks running up to the start, most people I spoke with were quite negative about the Games - complaining about the disruption which would be inevitable and worrying about how cliched and embarrassing the opening ceremony would be.

And then... Well the ceremony was, in my opinion, an absolute triumph. The right note was struck - there were plenty of 'wow' moments, there was great music, and the whole things was funny, anarchic, a little confusing and passionate. In fact, very British. The next morning I had so many conversations with people about how great it had been. There was a real sense of relief - but on the back of that was the beginning of confidence that these Games would be good, that London would look good, and that we would be impressive in front of the rest of the world. And on the back of that was pride.

The overwhelming impression now - after the first week - is pride. Every Londoner I speak with expresses this pride - the city looks great and we all seem to be helping visitors and enjoying the games.

This is how it can happen  in business too. The Brits are difficult people to get excited and engaged with an organisation. We tend to be cynical and generally sure that change is bad and that there is no point in trying to hard at anything since it will all end badly.

If we try, however, great things can happen. By staying positive and by constantly encouraging a good leader can bring people along with them. You can encourage engagement - and having engaged you can show your people that trying is alright and that success is possible. Soon, slowly, you will start to notice pride.

So there is the lesson. Keep trying. Keep trying hard. Keep positive. Keep encouraging. Success will come and with it will be pride. Once your organisation is positive and proud - it can be unstop-able!