"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." - Ralph Waldo Emerson"
Life is all about learning isn't it? From the moment we are conceived we begin to grow. The cells multiply, limbs and organs form and over the course of 9 months or so a baby grows and is born. An amazing miracle of life.
But it doesn't stop there....a baby is born and then grows....constantly learning....learning how to feed, how to communicate, how to hold things, to eat solid food, to roll over, crawl, walk and talk. It never stops....what about writing, reading, riding a bike, getting dressed by themselves.....I could keep going!!
How odd it would be if a child rode a bike with stabilisers and did that forever because they were so good at it. They'd never really need to take them off and learn how to ride the bike without them....but you don't see teenagers riding a bike with stabilisers do you???!!! Nope, once they can ride the bike with stabilisers the next thing is to be able to do it without stabilisers. And as they grow older they move on to scooters, motorbikes and cars!
It's all too easy to find a comfortable place in our lives where we just sit thinking that we've achieved enough, thinking we've reached the top of the game whether that is in our professional lives or otherwise. Being comfortable and confident, knowing we've achieved is a great place, but is it enough? Is it ok to stay there and not do anymore? Perhaps? Maybe for some people it is. However for others maybe it isn't......it's called aspiration isn't it? Wanting to achieve and to grow.
But what is this growth all about? Growing in knowledge? Gaining qualifications? Learning new skills?
I think it is more than just learning - I think it is about believing in yourself, about not giving up or giving in - to not be scared of challenges ahead and how they will change us.
What does it mean to you? Are you prepared to grow?
Friday, March 22, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
The value of the FM
I'm talking about the individual FM within an organisation, rather than the profession of FM.
I was talking on the telephone to someone the other day and we were discussing the profile of FMs amongst other areas of business and how our colleagues view the job we do. In my opinion, most of the low view of the FM is down to ignorance.
Over the years the FM role has evolved, perhaps from caretaker and handyman, along with the managing director's PA or office manager taking care of the admin side.
I'm currently studying a BIFM Level 4 Diploma in Facilities Management and whilst in the office late one evening, writing an assignment, a colleague asked why I was there after hours - i explained and his response was "oh, do you need a diploma to change a lightbulb?". He would have been delighted to know he wound me up with that comment, however my quick retort, which I couldn't possible repeat here, sent him on his way knowing I was less than impressed by his so-called humour.
From talking to other FMs I find they often say things like 'no-one knows what I do' and 'I don't get recognition for what I do'. I've mentioned in a previous post that people only notice what we do when it goes wrong or isn't done! So how do we change this view?
It's time to raise our own profile, to promote ourselves, time to let people in your organisation know what it is that you do. Let's not just tell people about the things that go wrong or are waiting to be fixed, tell them the good stuff too. In my experience, I started to get respect and recognition by sending out general emails to let people know the status of what I was doing. We have regular 'communication' meetings with the heads of departments and I will let the attendees know the types of things I've been working on and issues we face.
Don't just sit there waiting for someone to notice you and what you do - tell people!
I was talking on the telephone to someone the other day and we were discussing the profile of FMs amongst other areas of business and how our colleagues view the job we do. In my opinion, most of the low view of the FM is down to ignorance.
Over the years the FM role has evolved, perhaps from caretaker and handyman, along with the managing director's PA or office manager taking care of the admin side.
I'm currently studying a BIFM Level 4 Diploma in Facilities Management and whilst in the office late one evening, writing an assignment, a colleague asked why I was there after hours - i explained and his response was "oh, do you need a diploma to change a lightbulb?". He would have been delighted to know he wound me up with that comment, however my quick retort, which I couldn't possible repeat here, sent him on his way knowing I was less than impressed by his so-called humour.
From talking to other FMs I find they often say things like 'no-one knows what I do' and 'I don't get recognition for what I do'. I've mentioned in a previous post that people only notice what we do when it goes wrong or isn't done! So how do we change this view?
It's time to raise our own profile, to promote ourselves, time to let people in your organisation know what it is that you do. Let's not just tell people about the things that go wrong or are waiting to be fixed, tell them the good stuff too. In my experience, I started to get respect and recognition by sending out general emails to let people know the status of what I was doing. We have regular 'communication' meetings with the heads of departments and I will let the attendees know the types of things I've been working on and issues we face.
Don't just sit there waiting for someone to notice you and what you do - tell people!
Friday, March 1, 2013
True confidence or just a good actor?
I'm going to start this post with a recent personal experience...
I attended a work meeting by video conference. All the other participants (approx 12 people) were in one meeting room in London and I was the only one in my location. I didn't know all the people in the room I was looking at, just a few of them. It was all going well until I was asked to present the report from my location....everybody I could see on the television screen turned and looked at me! I froze!! I wasn't particularly confident about sharing the information as I don't know the subject as well as other people, so on top of my already nervous state I began to feel completely intimidated, tongue tied and went on to babble my way through the report, using the phrase 'it's all self explanatory' to get me out of most of it.
A week later and I'm still cross with myself for not knowing the subject as well as I should and for not being prepared enough (although I didn't know I'd have to talk about it)! But why, in all of this, was my confidence on the floor?
I look at other people in my office or even in the meeting that morning, and think about how well they come across, how they talk with confidence and authority in their subject(s) and yet I just fall apart (this isn't the first time it's happened!).
Are these other people really as confident as they seem or do they just come across as being confident. I always remember someone who once said "if you sound like you know what you're talking about you can get away with it!" I know it works....I've tried it. However, sometimes you do actually need to know what you're talking about, especially when other people know the same subject and will know if you're just talking rubbish!
So how do I grow in confidence?
I know that I have to believe what I have to say is just as important as what anyone else has to say. I have experienced heckling from other members of meetings when trying to say my piece....apart from being disrespectful I found this rude and felt for a while that perhaps people don't see what I have to offer as being valuable or important. Maybe I didn't feel it was important either - maybe I didn't speak with authority and confidence in my topic.
I attended a work meeting by video conference. All the other participants (approx 12 people) were in one meeting room in London and I was the only one in my location. I didn't know all the people in the room I was looking at, just a few of them. It was all going well until I was asked to present the report from my location....everybody I could see on the television screen turned and looked at me! I froze!! I wasn't particularly confident about sharing the information as I don't know the subject as well as other people, so on top of my already nervous state I began to feel completely intimidated, tongue tied and went on to babble my way through the report, using the phrase 'it's all self explanatory' to get me out of most of it.
A week later and I'm still cross with myself for not knowing the subject as well as I should and for not being prepared enough (although I didn't know I'd have to talk about it)! But why, in all of this, was my confidence on the floor?
I look at other people in my office or even in the meeting that morning, and think about how well they come across, how they talk with confidence and authority in their subject(s) and yet I just fall apart (this isn't the first time it's happened!).
Are these other people really as confident as they seem or do they just come across as being confident. I always remember someone who once said "if you sound like you know what you're talking about you can get away with it!" I know it works....I've tried it. However, sometimes you do actually need to know what you're talking about, especially when other people know the same subject and will know if you're just talking rubbish!
So how do I grow in confidence?
I know that I have to believe what I have to say is just as important as what anyone else has to say. I have experienced heckling from other members of meetings when trying to say my piece....apart from being disrespectful I found this rude and felt for a while that perhaps people don't see what I have to offer as being valuable or important. Maybe I didn't feel it was important either - maybe I didn't speak with authority and confidence in my topic.
- Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
- Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right. ~ Henry Ford
Am I too hard on myself? Sometimes I think I am. But at the same time, I want to be the best I can be at what I do. One of my colleagues I mentioned in my last post will often remind me to have belief in myself - he's right - I should.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Emotionally intelligent?
A few years ago a manager of mine told me I needed to gain some emotional intelligence, to become less emotionally dependent.
I read an interesting article from www.thesumoguy.com Paul McGee about treating others how they would want to be treated, rather than the old way of treating others how you would want to be treated. It made a lot of sense to me even though I'd not thought of it that way before. Within the working environment I have usually treated those in the team I manage in the way I would like to be treated and thought that was quite alright, but I more recently I have considered more what they need from me and how they would like me to be with them and it has made a positive difference. It's not easy but the outcome does make the effort worth it.
I've learnt more about myself, set myself some challenges and am continuing to grow. I have one or two people in my professional world who I would consider 'mentors' who have and continue to be great influences on me. They are people who I respect and I will give a call to when I either find myself in a situation I'm not sure how to deal with or just need someone to run something by.
And the manager that made that comment.....well he's not been my manager for some time but I am grateful for the influence he's been in my work life - he's been a part of making me the person I am today.
At the time I felt like he was saying 'you cry too much'!! I probably did cry too easily and definitely took things way too personally....but in the wonderful view of hindsight I can see now that his comment was an encouragement to grow up, to become more mature and less reliant on what other people think of me and trying to gain their approval. To believe in myself and be confident in my ability.
That doesn't mean it was an instant change or even that I think I've got there yet but I'm continually learning more about myself, and about others and what makes us 'tick'. However, I do worry less about what people think of me and am more confident in my ability...(on a good day!). I can usually make sense of why I might react to something in a certain way or how others might react. I've learnt to read other people better and know that the way I approach one person won't be the way I can approach another. I read an interesting article from www.thesumoguy.com Paul McGee about treating others how they would want to be treated, rather than the old way of treating others how you would want to be treated. It made a lot of sense to me even though I'd not thought of it that way before. Within the working environment I have usually treated those in the team I manage in the way I would like to be treated and thought that was quite alright, but I more recently I have considered more what they need from me and how they would like me to be with them and it has made a positive difference. It's not easy but the outcome does make the effort worth it.
I've learnt more about myself, set myself some challenges and am continuing to grow. I have one or two people in my professional world who I would consider 'mentors' who have and continue to be great influences on me. They are people who I respect and I will give a call to when I either find myself in a situation I'm not sure how to deal with or just need someone to run something by.
And the manager that made that comment.....well he's not been my manager for some time but I am grateful for the influence he's been in my work life - he's been a part of making me the person I am today.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
A cog in the wheel
So how many times have we heard or even used this expression? Sometimes it's said 'a small cog in a big wheel'. Do we use it to describe ourselves or others?
Within business everyone has a part to play to make it successful. So why is it that some people see some positions are more important as others? Or maybe it is that they see themselves as more important than others?
It's not uncommon for me to hear from other facilities managers that they don't feel appreciated or that their role isn't understood. I usually tell people that it's only when I don't do my job that people will notice! We all come into our office, security tag lets you in, the lift works and the lights come on. The temperature suits the time of year (usually!!!), desks are clean and there's a chair ready to sit down on. Head towards the kitchen and get a drink - there's fresh milk in the fridge, there's clean mugs and spoons and the tea and coffee is all there too. Bathrooms are clean, stocked with toilet paper and soap (and in our office, even hand cream!). And that's just what happens in the first part of the day - facilities management is much more than just this though!
How did all this happen? Do we even think about it? There are exceptions, of course, but generally I think people don't give a second thought to how that all happened. But if it didn't happen.......
Is it time for us to appreciate each other more? Should we be more aware of what other people in our business actually do and the part they play in making things happen?
It doesn't matter how small or how big the cog is.....if it isn't there then the wheel won't work!
Within business everyone has a part to play to make it successful. So why is it that some people see some positions are more important as others? Or maybe it is that they see themselves as more important than others?
It's not uncommon for me to hear from other facilities managers that they don't feel appreciated or that their role isn't understood. I usually tell people that it's only when I don't do my job that people will notice! We all come into our office, security tag lets you in, the lift works and the lights come on. The temperature suits the time of year (usually!!!), desks are clean and there's a chair ready to sit down on. Head towards the kitchen and get a drink - there's fresh milk in the fridge, there's clean mugs and spoons and the tea and coffee is all there too. Bathrooms are clean, stocked with toilet paper and soap (and in our office, even hand cream!). And that's just what happens in the first part of the day - facilities management is much more than just this though!
How did all this happen? Do we even think about it? There are exceptions, of course, but generally I think people don't give a second thought to how that all happened. But if it didn't happen.......
Is it time for us to appreciate each other more? Should we be more aware of what other people in our business actually do and the part they play in making things happen?
It doesn't matter how small or how big the cog is.....if it isn't there then the wheel won't work!
Monday, February 4, 2013
"Failures don't define you. If you let them, they make you."
Wikipedia says...."failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success".
There are an awful lot of quotes and cliches relating to failure.....
and there are hundreds, if not thousands more like this.
The opinion of when something is a failure will vary from event to event or person to person. Some things will be obvious - such as passing or failing an exam or test but other events or situations will be more to do with how they are perceived either by ourselves or by others.
The thought of failing may stop some people from even trying. Setting our expectations too high may lead us to viewing something as a failure if it doesn't achieve that, possibly unrealistic, expected result. Getting a job done won't be seen as failure to the person that wants it done but perhaps the person doing it knows they could have done better - maybe that's viewed as a failure.
Is anything less than perfect a failure?
We must not be define by those things we term as failures. I think Thomas A Edison made a very sensible comment - he didn't fail, but found lots of ways that didn't work. I believe the failure would have been if he had given up. If he had not pursued to getting a positive result.
Can failure make you? I guess it can! We can learn from our mistakes. We can learn not to do those things again. We can also learn that we don't have to do things perfectly in order to still get a job done and we can learn from others and the mistakes they make. Those things we view as failures may just be a case of finding our strengths and weaknesses, the things which come naturally to us and those that don't.
Don't let failure become part of who you are - it isn't!
There are an awful lot of quotes and cliches relating to failure.....
- Thomas A Edison said "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work".
- Winston Churchill said "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm".
- "Failure is an event, not a person"
and there are hundreds, if not thousands more like this.
The opinion of when something is a failure will vary from event to event or person to person. Some things will be obvious - such as passing or failing an exam or test but other events or situations will be more to do with how they are perceived either by ourselves or by others.
The thought of failing may stop some people from even trying. Setting our expectations too high may lead us to viewing something as a failure if it doesn't achieve that, possibly unrealistic, expected result. Getting a job done won't be seen as failure to the person that wants it done but perhaps the person doing it knows they could have done better - maybe that's viewed as a failure.
Is anything less than perfect a failure?
We must not be define by those things we term as failures. I think Thomas A Edison made a very sensible comment - he didn't fail, but found lots of ways that didn't work. I believe the failure would have been if he had given up. If he had not pursued to getting a positive result.
Can failure make you? I guess it can! We can learn from our mistakes. We can learn not to do those things again. We can also learn that we don't have to do things perfectly in order to still get a job done and we can learn from others and the mistakes they make. Those things we view as failures may just be a case of finding our strengths and weaknesses, the things which come naturally to us and those that don't.
Don't let failure become part of who you are - it isn't!
Friday, February 1, 2013
Before you quit, remember why you started!
Another interesting statement and applicable to so many areas of life. For example....the decision you made to go to the gym more often and get fit; going through a difficult period in a long term relationship or marriage; a job you loved, that seemed so perfect at first is now lost its appeal.
This is quite relevant to a situation I currently find myself in. The longest commitment I've ever made is my marriage...16 years and counting....but I know with lots of other things I tend to become bored quite quickly and if the challenge isn't there I easily loose interest! This is evident in hobbies I've taken up, the times I've gone on a diet or started at a gym and even years ago deciding to study again.
It's so easy to become bored, disheartened and disillusioned. I'm a bit of an idealist - I run through scenarios in my head, I repeat conversations, replay what happened and how much it differed to how I wanted or intended it to play out. What starts off as a good idea and creates a buzz in me, a passion and true enthusiasm fades into disappointment, regret and stress.
So, is it just me? Do I just lack will power or the determination to succeed? Am I just not prepared to work hard enough to get results? Is it because I want things my way too much? Or am I not good enough - punching above my weight?
If you type 'ready to give up' into Google (and I'm sure any other search engines) there are pages and pages of relevant articles and websites - ranging from people who are saying they don't feel they can live their lives anymore, to the ones talking about stress in the workplace and other stuff in between. There's loads of advice and suggestions - have a look at some!
I don't have the answers to why I feel like I do, however I will try to remember why I started what I've started and why I felt so passionately about it in the first place and re-focus on why it was so important to see if that is still true!
This is quite relevant to a situation I currently find myself in. The longest commitment I've ever made is my marriage...16 years and counting....but I know with lots of other things I tend to become bored quite quickly and if the challenge isn't there I easily loose interest! This is evident in hobbies I've taken up, the times I've gone on a diet or started at a gym and even years ago deciding to study again.
It's so easy to become bored, disheartened and disillusioned. I'm a bit of an idealist - I run through scenarios in my head, I repeat conversations, replay what happened and how much it differed to how I wanted or intended it to play out. What starts off as a good idea and creates a buzz in me, a passion and true enthusiasm fades into disappointment, regret and stress.
So, is it just me? Do I just lack will power or the determination to succeed? Am I just not prepared to work hard enough to get results? Is it because I want things my way too much? Or am I not good enough - punching above my weight?
If you type 'ready to give up' into Google (and I'm sure any other search engines) there are pages and pages of relevant articles and websites - ranging from people who are saying they don't feel they can live their lives anymore, to the ones talking about stress in the workplace and other stuff in between. There's loads of advice and suggestions - have a look at some!
I don't have the answers to why I feel like I do, however I will try to remember why I started what I've started and why I felt so passionately about it in the first place and re-focus on why it was so important to see if that is still true!
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