“Sitting around the kitchen table with my girlfriends for our regular monthly catch-up reminded me of how good for the soul it is to talk. It is good to see each other too. Without seeing their reactions to what is said a whole other layer of questions and conversations just don’t happen.
I had an interview the other week. It’s a nice job with real potential for making a difference and even more exciting it is with one of my all-time favourite brands. The interview was online with VOIP.
My favourite brand are seeking to grow globally: Typically into the growing markets, which for them is predominantly China. So they Needs Goods Comms Tools and also to know how to use them well – otherwise it will be an episode of “Lost in Translation”. They are going to need to transverse cultural gulfs and jump linguistic buildings which is only possible if we have a voice, a face and the ability to communicate – without strain.
Communicating to make global growth happen will be pretty hard if you have the experience that I had during the interview: Struggling to hear, can’t see a face at the end of the line and a PowerPoint deck shared with one word in three going missing over the wires. The story was lost. The conversation didn’t flow – so a river of diverse topics, thoughts and opinions were never understood.
What I did get from the powerpoint postcards that I saw and the words that I heard?
- I got the evolution of an organisation in its growth and continuous improvement journey.
- I saw an organisational wheel and heard a number of 22 but didn’t get the relationships – I think the message was they keep a big broad team to get better thought out with more rapid and considered decision making.
- I saw a picture of the world and wondered about the missing location I knew existed. I never went down and explored that avenue or opened that group of the company – I was focussing on trying to hear.
- I heard about the greenfield site in China. I thrust in some words whilst the line was good. I spoke eloquently about relationship experiences into what I thought was a receiving silence – then I noticed the slides were still moving. Oh. Message not received: The morse code of words continued on uninterrupted. Oh well, it was some nice thinking. Shame it wasn’t heard.
- The strategic foundation of digitisation sticks in my mind; standardising platforms stuck too. I did wonder at this point whether the three failed comms attempts to achieve this interview was an unintended insight into how systems and processes might feel.
I didn’t get to explore how IT systems were helping us to do our day job more efficiently. I was too busy sending chat messages questioning why the presentation had stopped working. So gone were the thoughts of focused improvement and aligning strategies; unsaid was the truth about people’s need in marketing to explore creatively with tools that don’t slow them down; I didn’t get to make the joke that I sleep with my IT support and have the best SLA and service. I didn’t get build a platform from which I could warmly explore the organisations IT potential. I didn’t get to play. Which is such a shame, because I’m fun and very good at getting to the bottom of what needs fixing.
So unexplored was “lost play time”. I didn’t expand on how digital retail supply chains stop playtime. I didn’t explore digital packing. I couldn’t continue into my b2b experience for focused improvement. I didn’t tell how sales are lost and how focused CI does make millions. I didn’t share my practice of leadership in action: Giving people the right measure and letting them do their job. I listened intently to the organisation size and shape and sought to hear the gaps that I could fill and support. I heard the need for robust domain knowledge and healthy conversations with the existing leaders. I failed to respond to the wide open area for discussion. I was knackered by this point – 1 hour of intense focus to just hear had taken its toll.
So although I’ve improved the end to end of businesses; been trained on how and where to focus improvement that deliver the businesses goal; been taught how to think exceptionally through processes; been taught by one of the world’s best in his field and was acknowledged for being one of his most adept students. None of this got covered. So when it came time to answer a question on leadership I came at it cold. I hadn’t warmed up my self-praise voice – I’m not good at self-promotion, except to say that I know I have made some amazing things happen. I work hard, I deliver results but I don’t strut and preen. Just being passionate about what I do, the organisation I’m a part of and the team within which I form decisions and strategies is generally enough for great results. I know. I’ve been in that space three times in my career and that is what I am seeking again.
So, wish me luck for the future search and a good internet connection – at both ends of the conversation.”
