The turnout for the local elections on Thursday was disappointing and the apathy that the general population have around politics and civic engagement, I must admit is somewhat concerning. So what can we do about a global city that has wards which are the most deprived in the country and where a person’s quality of education, job prospects and even life expectancy is determined by where they happen to be born?

I can think of many analogies which demonstrate the error in strategy when one tries to solve a problem, but only deals with the symptoms rather than tackle the root cause. Individuals, families, businesses and even governments are known to get it wrong. Why is this? I would be bold enough to suggest that because symptoms present themselves, they need to be dealt with and the strategy is to do just that and inadvertently the real problem never gets a look in. However, just dealing with symptoms will mean that eventually the cause of your problem will come back at some point to haunt you. Is it about time we stop blaming those who don’t want to engage anymore and demonstrate this so clearly with the lack of political engagement that we are experiencing and try to look deeper into what the causes may be?

I could also recant stories which highlight the merits of putting in hard work in the short-term with some suffering, pain and hardship so that in the longer term we can reap the rewards of that hard work. It is unfortunate that sometimes we can’t directly see the results of our hard work but that shouldn’t deter us from grafting now and benefitting later. I am not suggesting that getting to the roots is going to be easy nor that the solutions won’t take hard work, but was anything meaningful ever achieved without hard work?
I have often pondered on the law of reciprocal behaviour or put another way “what goes around comes around”, or “what you sow, so shall you reap.” This serves to remind me that we are not always able to make a direct causal link to what we are doing now and the impact it will have on future generations, but nevertheless, I say, pay it forward!

I am led to write about what I will call responsible citizenship this month. I am talking about being an active citizen, a contributor to society, part of a community and having a social conscience. I am painfully aware that to those that agree with my initial statements what I am about to discuss will be such a no brainer. The concern that I have is that many people will agree but do nothing about it.

I believe that part of the solution lies with business, why, because they can provide opportunities to the disenfranchised and added to that they have no jobs. The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) comes to mind. Corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, responsible business, corporate integrity and corporate sustainability *1 are all terms that help to describe it. CSR then can be quite an emotive term. Companies can get quite defensive when the question is posed about what they are doing to fulfil their social “obligations”.

Our objective as business owners, representatives or employees of business is to recognise all the stakeholders in a community and having recognised them, to appreciate that any engagement should be bi-directional, each party impacts and is impacted. Those in power sometimes forget how one-sided these relationships can be. Whether power is demonstrated through your position because of the ballot box or because you run a large business the important thing to remember is the interconnectedness of all the constituents of society. Businesses do not work in isolation and some would argue they are only allowed to trade as a result of a social contract with society. *2

We need to ask ourselves some questions:
• Why don’t people vote, why don’t they get involved?
• How can we get Collective Social Responsibility as opposed to just Corporate Social Responsibility?
• Do we treat all stakeholders with the right levels of respect?
• Informing certain groups so that we can tick the box is not good enough, again what is consultation and does it really make a difference?

A case in point is young people who sometimes feel because of their lack of power and influence they tend to be ignored and end up voiceless in society. Surely it is incumbent on all of us to do whatever it takes to have an educated and healthy workforce and prosperous local communities. This, in my view, is what will make Birmingham the thriving global city that we would like to boast about.

Let’s start with business and its fundamental reason for existing to benefit and serve others thus moving away from the pristine capitalist view of merely profit maximisation. Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line would seem more appropriate in a collectively responsible society. Businesses considering profits, people and planet or taking a look at the economic, social and environmental impact of business practice.

Is it realistic to expect there to be safe and fairly paid jobs, with all of us following the laws of the land not just the legal form but the real substance, dare I mention tax evasion here! I would venture to say that we want a society where just and fair are by-words and philanthropy or trying to improve the lives of others is the norm.

1. Let’s tackle the causes of the apathy, this will mean investment in education not just at school but education as a philosophy to improve our lives spiritually, mentally and physically.
2. This will mean hard work from all of us investing our collective futures by grafting now. All of us working hard to make a change.
3. Finally how do we pay it forward? Well this has to be a baton to businesses large and small. Give someone a chance. If you can’t provide them with a job, give someone some experience so that they will have a chance to get a job. We may not see the results in bottom line straight away but let’s sow into the future of Birmingham.

When I speak to young people or anyone for that matter who has been unemployed for some time, they tell me what they want is a job. They want an opportunity to become a contributor and share their skills. They are not lazy, they just want a chance, they may not have the skills (and all of us were in that position at one point) the experience and sometimes even the right attitude but what they need is a chance.

We talk about our social and environmental footprint putting more back than we take out and trading in the public interest so that we can all live a better life. I really believe now is the time to do it so the next generation can be proud of Birmingham, the global city in the heart of the UK.

Footnotes
*1 Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Brundtland
*2 Social contract position – businesses enjoy a licence to operate and that licence is granted by society as long as the business acts in such a way that is deserving of the licence

It is Sunday the first of April 2012 and I am conscious that I didn’t write my blog last month, I have been so busy this year particularly with speaking engagements so thought it apt to write about it this month- the art of speaking in public.

As usual, the talks that I have delivered over this period have been wide and diverse. I have spoken to school children motivating them for exams,  discussed strategic thinkers over the last 40 years with master degrees students at university, been a key note speaker at a business conference, launched  a community initiative, undertaken commentary on Radio 4’s PM Programme, filmed for a documentary for ACCA, delivered several governance training sessions the list goes on…

I really believe whether you like speaking in public or not, it is one of those activities that is crucial to the success of any career or business and we will all be faced with having to do so. The ability to communicate, influence, educate or even entertain through the spoken word should be mastered by all. Speaking in public may be to just a handful of people in a meeting or an audience of several hundred. Regardless of this, the principles are exactly the same.

As soon as you open your mouth and start speaking to someone you are engaging in public speaking. The first bit of advice I would give is to try and remember this and treat a conversation with an audience in much the same way as you would a conversation with a group of friends. I do admit that depending on the talk the vocabulary may be slightly different but in essence you want to be yourself when you speak. Going about speaking in this way will help you adopt the right mindset and combat one of the greatest barriers to a good speech- fear. It is not just fear in most circumstances it is the fear of making a fool of yourself that people shy away from. Also treating a talk like a conversation with friends will help you to develop a more natural and conversational tone which will keep your talk authentic.

Here are my three rules for successful public speaking!

Rule One

The tell them, tell them, tell them. In other words you tell the audience what you are about to tell them and what you want from your talk. You then proceed to deliver your talk and conclude by telling then what you told them! This rule helps your listener to put into context what you are going to speak to them about, this will in turn help to keep them engaged and to recall what you have said.

Rule Two

Arrange your talk or presentation into three key themes. Decide on what your message is for the whole talk and try to articulate it into one sentence. This will give you clarity and ultimately the recipients will also receive and understand your message. Having accomplished this, it is now time to get the components parts of the talk into a three key areas. The human brain likes to gather information in chunks and there is something magical about the number three. If you can structure all talks and presentations this will leave a more lasting impression and help your audience to take away the salient points more easily.
Rule Three

The GRC – no this is not governance, risk and compliance for those familiar with my day job! GRC refers to the critical three a Grabber, developing Rapport and then rehearsing your Conclusion.

Every talk should start by grabbing the attention of your audience. This can be compared to the opening of the curtains at performance at the theatre. Your grabber sets the stage for your talk. I sometimes use a joke, a story or even a moment of silence to create the atmosphere that I want to create. You then want to build a rapport with the listener and we have a tendency to want to launch into the presentation. Nerves push you towards trying to just get your information out as quickly as possible and then getting away. To deliver an effective talk the opposite strategy is required; give the listener time to get to know you and an opportunity to get to like you. Use the time in the introduction of your talk to show what you have in common with your audience and take your time to prepare yourself so that when you start you are cool, calm and collected as they say.

At the end of your talk it is important that you leave the audience with a ‘bang’ in much the same way as you start with a ‘bang’! People remember things at the beginning of a talk, things at the end and outstanding things in the middle, so take the time to plan the ending in as much detail as you plan the rest of the talk.

Although I consistently get outstanding feedback for my talks and more importantly I have coached many people to achieve the same don’t just take my word for it. I have been reading recently the ‘Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs’. Arguably he was one of the greatest presenters and businessmen the world has ever known. This book will share some of those secrets with you endorsing much of what I have been preaching about so make sure you read it if you can!

So, enjoy preparing for the thing many people fear the most but we do every day remembering that all speaking is public speaking!

On your way to your first £1million

Would you be surprised to know that 30% of the UK population have no liquid assets at all and less than 1% are millionaires? What if I were to tell you that in my opinion if we were to re-learn what we know about money we could dramatically change our financial fortunes. Dare I say it become millionaires? Continue reading →

Like many people at this time of year, I have spent some of the festive period reflecting on how the last twelve months have been for me and what I hope to achieve in the next twelve months.  I am acutely aware however that enjoying the present is just as important as reflecting on the past or planning for the future.

I will use MINI, MOMO and MAXI to explain the perils of the over indulgence or too much focus on anyone of the past, present or future. Continue reading →

Have you ever caught yourself looking the wrong way? “Did you see that,” someone asks. “No!” you reply.” I missed it. I was looking the wrong way.” This month I don’t want you to get caught looking at the wrong thing. I will explain the difference between focusing on the results that you want and focusing on those things that creates the results that you want. Continue reading →

How could what you don’t know be far more relevant than what you do know? According to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the Black Swan, the world is dominated by the extreme, unknown and the very improbable. If he is right then what you know won’t help you in navigating life’s challenges and by inference challenges, major challenges at that, will come when least expected. Continue reading →

I was taken back in time today to how a casual comment can have disastrous consequences. The comment was made by Gerald Ratner which has become brand marketing folklore – do you remember him referring to his own products as “shit” and that one comment had the impact of closing down the whole business. What brought that back to mind was when I was reading this morning that the host of Channel 5’s Wright stuff posed the question “Foxy Knoxy would ya?” Although he said his heart went out to the Kercher family this one ill conceived comment has caused much distress and public outrage. Continue reading →

In the aftermath of the recent riots it was no surprise to see the multi faceted TV, radio, community meetings, articles, debates, discussions which ensued, which all gave their own unique dissection and perspectives as to why the riots happened. It is also completely understandable that engaging in such debate would be one of the first steps to finding a solution. I fear, however, that such discussions will not lead to solutions, or preventative measures because there may not be a direct causal link between the underlying issues and the riots themselves. What we may have experienced is a tipping point. Continue reading →

I was reviewing my strategic plan today; it has been over three years now since I wrote it. With all that has happened in the last three years it definitely needs an overhaul. It has been over this time period that the world has experienced a global financial meltdown, which has impacted me and my finances in ways that I would never have imagined when I wrote it in 2008. Continue reading →

I can remember my first mobile phone all those years ago it was a Motorola 8800, I did have one before that but I couldn’t really call it a mobile, but more importantly I can remember the people who said these phones would never catch on and they wouldn’t be getting one. I can also remember when I was considered a bit of a geek because emailing was still new and soon after I was one of the first people I knew in my business network to get a blackberry. Continue reading →