Sure, I hear you privately musing… so many of the social problems that we are passionate about tackling seem so big and so difficult to even venture starting to make inroads into and in many cases you are right.
We also become so wrapped up in the small trivialities of our own environments that we forget about others and whether they are coping or not.
We are simply working in silos… endeavouring to master our own success in our day-to-day lives, believing we have no time for other’s challenges and ironically, all that is often called for is just our time.
The word ‘Time’ causes me to reflect on a wonderful birthday gift from my partner, Tony. In desperation to find the appropriate gift for a woman that has it all, he bought a piece of art… an old Ford prefect car bonnet painted red that hangs proudly in our home. With the words TIME scratched across it, it was the perfect gift and time will always be a great gift for someone like myself as the material things are pointless. I have and can acquire them as I need but it is the support and connection from others that I most need. I go about my day endeavouring to generate the funds to drive this company forward, keeping us all gainfully employed and looking to support others in my outside environment.
The other apprehension so many have in reaching out is in the believed repercussion which became a very real concern for my son, Edward, as I told him excitedly about my latest commitment to the Waikato Women's Refuge. I was approached by the refuge to help them connect to corporate funding pools going forward given their nervousness around the flow of existing government funds. It would appear that some of the grants that had been there in the past had now dried up. Interested in viewing the marae operation I agreed to visit and meet and hear the stories from some of the women.
WOW - what an amazing morning! I was initially welcomed onto the marae with a powhiri and greeted by a kaumatua… a first for me. I sat quietly as women that had been through so much struggled to reach out through their stories; uncertain of how much to indulge, nervous embarrassed and yet transformed in this wonderful safe haven. Aware that funds were foremost on my tour organiser’s mind, I however left with an even stronger agenda which was to assist the women with what had been a traditionally unsuccessful transition back to the real world. The refuge was doing a wonderful job providing safety, love and connection but there appeared to be no skills passed to assist with the real life reconnect.
I know that my value will be in the time I can find to meet regularly with these women to build their strength and a confidence back up, connect them and open some doorways so that they are at last freed from the cyclic personal destruction that they face.
On relaying the story to a colleague, they expressed concern at my involvement and possibly repercussions from those that surround the women outside the refuge and suggested this may be a pathway I did not want to follow.
A concern that I did not have because I totally trust myself and know that the way ahead for these women is all about teaching them how to move forward, rather than evaluate where and who they have been with once they leave the safe haven of the refuge.
This ability to see forward in solving a problem is the gift that I bring to my team every day in assisting them to deal with the challenges that they can encounter at the retail front.
I work with them to get them to remove the emotion from an altercation and simply solve the problem in a smart way. If it is a customer that has not enjoyed the service and decided to voice their concerns back through the head office channels, the solution is not in overanalysing what has happened, it is in simply solving the problem and endeavouring to retain and reconnect the customer to the brand. It’s not about being right!! It’s about making people happy.
It always takes time to shift people’s mind sets but when I do have success, it is wonderfully rewarding for me and liberating for the team member to see that text of thanks at the end of the day when the team move on and simply play the smart game of retaining the customer rather than dwelling in their perceived unfairness of what has been said.
I now know that the greatest gift I can give to my team is my time… helping them tackle the outside and internal challenges they encounter by moving them forward, enabling and getting them excited as to how they can make a difference to other’s lives, always leading the way by my examples and finally, knowing that making a difference to others is more about the time you afford rather than the dollars you throw at it.
In my latest book, Rock the Boat, I decided to include a chapter on the common good which is all about getting people to start helping their neighbour. Take one small step and do something that is not about yourself… the satisfaction that you will get and even the opportunities and the doors that will open will surprise and delight you.
As my son said to me when I proposed the idea of my newly formed foundation to him and the global objectives that I was wanting to align with, “Mum, it’s not like this is untrodden territory and certainly in isolation you will be totally unnoticed but that’s no reason to give up and not follow this pathway. It simply will take so many more people to take that one step to make those very real differences. How we do that I don't know but we should never, never stop trying.”
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