Consider carefully before you call yourself a carer

Or does it matter?

I have been talking to quite a few medical specialists lately and they all have one thing in common.  They feel genuinely sad that people call themselves carers before anything else.   They hear time and time again, “I’m a carer now you know” or “yes I’m a fulltime carer” or simply “I’m the carer.” 

If we are caring for someone, what’s wrong with being called the carer?  And why are the medics sad? 

People are not their illness

There is so much more

An older lady entered a new doctor's office.   Six months previously she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  She was efficient and organised with her ​​lists of medication, medical events during recent months and more ........  her CV.

She handed over the papers and the doctor looked shocked.  He glanced at the CV whilst putting it to one side saying "I will look at this later, let's talk about your medication". 

The Simplicity of Successful Business

Lessons from a 100 year old Paperboy

© cascadenews.co.uk

Mr Walter Sharp is a 100 year old paperboy.  His motto is “if you keep walking, you’ll keep living”.

Totally inspirational, but I began to think of other reasons why he is a surprisingly alert centenarian and what this means to the newsagent and newspaper who employ him.

Is Stand Up Sexist?

What compels us to want to make people laugh?

It’s one thing saying something funny in the moment, but to deliberately write, rehearse and deliver material with the sole intention of making everyone listening roll in the aisles laughing conjures up a sticky web of fear and insecurities.  At best, failure means stony silence, at worst … no it doesn’t bear thinking about. So who are the most likely people to succeed at standup?

These are some of the questions I asked myself when I took a major leap of faith and volunteered to do a 5 minute stand up routine in front of an audience of professional speakers.

The comedic line up consists of 21 people, 15 men and 6 women.  Now there’s a clue.  Is it gender specific?  We don’t have to think very hard to note that stand up comedy is male dominated.  So why?

Can We Ever Sing From The Same Song Sheet?

Communication Can Be Tough

Recently I sat in a meeting with 6 other people.  We were all adults of slightly different ages, both genders were represented and English was our first language.

Everyone had their say whilst all others listened.   Sometimes it got a little heated, but in a healthy, clear the air sort of way.  The chair of the meeting summarised each point and clarified understanding.   We all left the meeting with transparent objectives, a few relevant tasks to complete and a feeling of satisfaction that it went so well.

A week later the chair spoke to one of the attendees on the phone.  The call was interspersed with “you said blah”, “no I didn’t I said blah blah”, “no way, we all sat there and heard you say it”.  The conversation abruptly ended and more phone calls followed with the other members who all claimed to have heard something different again.  Objectives and tasks were abandoned and everyone was left in limbo.

How could this happen?

Angry Customers Poison Teams

If you let them!

Have you ever had a customer who clicked their fingers every time they wanted something and when you offered help, no matter how hard you tried they were never satisfied and even rude?

I remember a man just like this when I was in a customer-facing job working as part of a team.   This guy was so unkind that one of our team members even broke down in tears.  Our boss became more agitated and started to pick on each one of us out of frustration and temper. 

What do you think happened next?

Two things.

Why aren't businesses more fun?

Or why humour can drive profits

So there I was checking the catering before the passengers came on board, when I heard shouting and a few choice words from the first class cabin.

I ran to the front to find the Captain covered in tea, looking ghostly white with just the noise of the empty cup rattling in the saucer.  As I turned to look where his eyes were staring I could see our Purser curled up in the hat rack looking rather pleased with himself.

Marching Orders

Redundancy and Perspective

Whilst running a seminar a few days ago a worried looking woman came up to me in the break and told me about her husband John.

John went into work a few weeks ago as usual.  He sat at his desk and logged on to find an email from his boss who wanted to see him at 10.00 that morning.  John grabbed a coffee at 09.50 and went into his boss’s office at 10.00.  By 10.20 security escorted him back to his desk.  He put his personal belongings in a box, handed over his office keys and ID to the security chap who was standing vigilant and found himself out on the pavement by 10.35.

"You're rubbish at that." "Yeh, but it's not my fault."

Accountability at Work

The other day I was visiting a client’s office and sat in a waiting area near the kitchen.  As I waited I could hear people talking and one conversation went something like this:

“There’s no point him having a go at me, it wasn’t my fault we missed a deadline.”

“I know, he had a go at me too.  I didn’t know there was a problem with the client, it’s not my job to know everything.”

“Exactly, I’ve a good mind to speak to his boss, but he won’t do anything anyway.”

Both these people spent their break pointing the finger and blaming others.  Do you hear this in your office?

DEMENTIA 

Enter their world 

Some years ago I was on an aeroplane heading for Australia.  We were flying through the night, the cabin was dark and most people were asleep.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a tiny elderly lady go towards one of the rear doors and try to open it.