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I bumped into my wife in the kitchen, literally, and she said “You always get in the way” and I replied ” Your spacial awareness is shocking” – it made us both laugh but it does raise the fact that we all see things from our own perspective.

Life is full of conflict and disagreement, even when the facts and evidence support an argument, we can still disagree. As I get older I try to see things from all angles, I listen more, ask more questions, argue less and it has helped with the relationships around me.

I remember, in my younger days, I would probably not listen and I was certainly not interested in asking questions to gain someone else’s perspective. I had my view and that was that. Needless to say, it damaged some relationships and caused fights and, at times, even big rifts.

Today I am out with an area manager, of a large retailer, to ‘shadow’ him. I know, for a fact, he knows more about his job than I do, I am not there to tell him how to do his job, so why bother having me there? 

My role is to listen and observe, be curious and interested and then eventually ask questions / give my feedback. I am a ‘fly on the wall’ for the day just so I can see things that, maybe, he doesn’t see. It will be a great day and I am sure we will have some interesting discussions regarding his leadership style, his communication and the relationship he has with the staff.

Sometimes it’s nice to get some feedback from a ‘neutral’ person, someone who sees things in the moment and has no agenda. I can imagine the day will start off a bit awkward and wooden, but after an hour, or so, he will slip into his normal style and will not even notice me. That is where my day really begins.

As you can imagine, retail is going through so many challenges trying to stay open and be profitable (As are other businesses) and the conversations today will, no doubt, cover topics such as stress, pressure, mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as performance and targets.

Adjustments have been made, constant reviewing takes place and his job of motivating, supporting and encouraging 15 store managers across a wide area is a tough one at the best of times. I am sure, when we wrap up the day, there will be some areas to focus on, some things to try out, action plans agreed.

In 2 weeks time we will have a catch up call to see how things are going and how he feels he is doing with his action plan. I am sure this intervention will help him. He will feel supported, invested in and valued.

It’s shows that companies have a different perspective with the CV-19 impact. Some companies are losing budgets, stopping staff development and reducing head count. Their view is different, not right or wrong, just different!

How are you approaching these changes? What perspective do you have and is it serving you well? If not, it could be a time to change things and create your own set of action plans.

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