Conor Kenny & Associates

It’s rare, very rare, I write about people in my Blog.

If I do, it usually means I have been moved.

Today was one such day.

Yes, it’s a story of a broken heart, but it’s a happy story.

Come with me.

You know the hit RTE Show ‘The Restaurant’?

The one where a celeb cooks for the judges?

You know the handsome cheerful charismatic Maitre D’?

Well, that’s John Healy.

John and I worked together a couple of years back.

It was a happy time.

Why? Because John would light up the darkest day and sees the good in everything.

We smiled every time we were with John.

Then John fell ill.

He had a broken heart, literally.

It’s been a 5 year journey, filled with emotion, that you and I will never understand.

We worried.

We talked.

We wondered.

Recently, John had a new heart.

It was the end of 5 long years and the beginning of a new life.

It was good news.

No, stop, it was ‘great’ happy news.

I still wondered though because second hand news can distort.

Today I felt grumpy. A nasty little cold is chipping away.

My minute suffering was about to disappear, it took but a phone call.

I answered lazily without looking at who it was.

It was John.

It was John with the brand new heart and he kept all the best bits of the original John too.

In one second my mood lifted to sheer joy.

John told me all about his journey and the God sent new dawn.

This is a short way of saying a few things;

Treasure your friends, just like John.

Learn from their strength, just like John.

Sense their suffering and be there, just like John.

Be there for them, just like John.

Know how lucky you are to know such people and have them in your corner

…….. just like John.

Welcome back John, our world awaits you.

We were looking for new people to join our team recently.

The results were astounding.

Not because we were overrun with applications but because of the approach some people made.

Here’s the classic mistakes that sank their ship before it left the harbour;

1. They missed the words ‘hospitality industry’ and fired aimlessly anyway

2. They asked us to do the work “Please tell me what….”

3. They can’t write

4. They couldn’t spell

5. They said they were professional (in spite of the above)

6. Their track record had missing years.

Here’s how a potential employer might respond to these 6 deadly sins but just won’t say it;

1. Desperate. Shoot enough fish you might get one good one.

2. Sorry, I’m busy and I can see why you are not.

3. That matters

4. They can’t represent us if they can’t represent themselves

5. They are not

6. Were they ‘away’?

More than ever, we need to work with people who do good work.

‘OK’ is not good enough.

Often people recruit too quick and break too slow.

That’s not good enough either.

Today you need more than ‘able’ you need ‘better than able’

Recruit slowly.

Dig deep.

Check out the background carefully.

Test the track record and ask yourself “Why are they available?”

If it’s too good to be true well ……

I’m a creature of habit, I go to the same Barber shop.

It’s a lottery who cuts your hair but I like observing anyone anyway.

This time, I got the very quiet foreign girl.

I like when I get her. Why?

Because she is a perfectionist, takes her time and has huge powers of concentration.

She focuses on doing a good job.

She delivers.

The cost is €20

A good deal for me, a bad deal for her.

Why?

If it were €18 or even €22 then it would be easier to give change as a tip.

But some Barbers are on to that.

How?

They make sure your change always has coins.

Time to pay the bill.

It was €20. I handed over €50

Hard to give coins when it was a neat €30 change.

But some Barbers are on to that too.

They will give you a €20 and then two €5’s

Not my friend.

Quickly, she dispensed a €20 followed by a €10.

What did that all tell me?

Lots.

She cares about her work.

She won’t be rushed.

She cares about doing it right.

She does it that way because it’s the right way.

Most of all, she is not driven by money.

Finally, I can trust her.

Isn’t it amazing how simple things reveal much?

Isn’t also amazing that we don’t realise how we are being watched?

And, how much we give away?

You have to network, especially today.

How you network defines your success.

Recently, my good friend Padraic Gilligan, wrote an excellent Blog on the perils of networking.

He gave 5 very useful tips.

With apologies (and from memory) my version of PG’s Tips

First, no preparation, expect no success. You must have an objective. They must agree too.

Second, ‘Ignore your Mother’ and avoid the familiar face. If not, what’s the point?

Three, recruit a friend and divide and conquer (the chemistry won’t always work)

Four, Don’t eat, don’t drink, no crumbs, no dribble.

Five, take notes and use a prop (if you need to)

I wanted to add one too;

Don’t spray your business cards all over the room.

If you do, you will look unprofessional …. And desperate.

(and you probably are)

When you want to get your way you can employ 2 tactics.

You can shout, push, threaten and barge.

Or, you can listen, be patient, absorb, reflect and strike by persuading.

The first reminds me of the nutcase let loose in the jungle with an AK47.

He fires everywhere, gets caught in the briars, trips up but eventually kills a mouse.

The second is the sniper. He waits, observes, listens and makes his move.

We tend to admire the second.

We don’t just not respect the first, we don’t trust him and his bullets tend to run out quickly.

Before you shout loudest, pause, think and weigh up your options.

patience…

when you start practicing new piano piece, you must understand it will take long before you are ready to perform…

when you start decorating your body with tattoo ornaments, you must know it will take time before it is ready and can be proudly present to the world…

when you start growing your first olives in your grove, you must be aware it will take time before you can harvest them and press to make your first extra virgin olive…

developing people is no different. it takes its natural cycle. harmony and time is what you need.
when you start developing people, building their confidence, empowering them and teaching them, you need to remember it needs time and patience to see them blossom…

I used to be impatient, rushed towards the desired and expected, ran instead of walking… with time, I have come to understand and appreciate time and its value. At work, I have learnt to be patient, and to show understanding. Timeline is needed to show direction, set the milestones and make sure you are able to be flexible and allow individual approach to people.
In the same time, timeline is important to guide and motivate people. I set it realistic and pragmatic.
You need to look at the organisation and individuals and sometimes, yes I admit, you need to reconcile water with fire! But you can never be impatient!
Listen to the people, observe their progress, talk to them and reassess the timeline if necessary.
I always think I cannot afford to lose any of individuals on our common path to the expected result. They need to feel encouraged and motivated! You are the guide and it is you who need to nurture them!

Waiting is sometimes unbearable, but is necessary to appreciate the result, the moment when you reach the point you longed for!

the piano recital that you practiced for so long is awarded with standing ovation…
the tattoo you proudly present on your chest is beautiful piece of art…
the ‘extra virgin’ oil of olives leaves magnificent taste on your tongue..

patience is like necessary ingredient if you want to taste the full flavour of life…
wait and enjoy….

It’s easy to waste time being angry.

It’s easier to be trapped by someone else’s anger.

It’s easier still to let them press your buttons.

For these reasons, don’t fall in to their shabby trap.

First, they are bitter and angry. Leave them at it.

Second, you haven’t the time. There’s a reason they do.

Third, it kills your creativity and success. They are already jealous of that.

No, no, don’t waste time.

Yours is too precious to waste.

Theirs is not

It’s a good thing Columbus wasn’t afraid of being laughed at.

The guys in the Pub surely thought he was mad.

It’s a great thing that surgeons took risks to discover new cures.

Even if they were called stupid.

It’s fantastic that Richard Branson challenges the existing norm.

Even if his peers were cynical.

Have you feared being laughed at?

Has it stopped you?

Are you more of the same?

Yes, they might laugh or criticize but isn’t that a risk worth taking?

If you go to the Doctor, you assume he’s an expert.

If you go to the dentist, you assume she is too.

If you go to the Bakery, they know about baking.

If he tells you your engine is kaput, you know he knows.

Right?

Recently I was working with leisure club health and fitness professionals.

Great people, great fun and great energy.

They doubted their own ability.

They doubted their expertise.

They had studied, they had trained they just sold themselves short.

If you know more than me about something.

If you studied it, live it, work at it and breathe it then guess what?

In my eyes, you are an expert.

Being an expert is as much about confidence and attitude than paper and plaudits.

You are an expert.