B US I NE S S BOF F I N
In this Gloucester Renaissance edition of Punchline Magazine, we’ve asked regular Business Boffin Cathy O’Donoghue, from city centre based HR Champions Ltd, to share some thoughts on why we are seeing a regeneration of the city. One of the shared characteristics amongst those business who are ready to invest in the city, and so aid its regeneration, is confidence.After all, no-one with any businesses sense would invest if they weren’t confident that they would see a return on that investment. Confidence is one of those traits that most of us aspire to have more of. Not only in business, but in life generally. Whether we’re presenting to a board of directors at a top-level meeting or choosing the wine to accompany dinner at a posh restaurant, we want to appear and sound confident. After all, an argument or dispute can often be won simply because one party behaves more confidently and with more conviction than the other. At HR Champions, our primary aim as a business is to help other businesses thrive. We do this partially by supporting with HR and Employment Law matters, but what really makes a difference is instilling confidence in the managers and leaders of our clients. A phrase I have used in this column before more than once is that “the best salesman makes the worst sales manager.” Think about it. Someone who knows their product and has a knack of interacting, communicating and making friends with customers makes for an obvious salesperson. Confidence is key when it comes to leadership
Now put that same individual in a position where they have to delegate tasks, instruct rather than share and occasionally make unpopular decisions, without any training. It’s clear to see that they might struggle. Yet this is the scenario we come across with frightening regularity. Problems arise because potentially good people are promoted into a position of management but without any allowance for training in how to actually carry out their new job. Consequently, the new manager then fails, and the business loses an otherwise perfectly capable employee. Our Institute of Leadership and Management courses are designed exactly to alleviate this issue and to meet every stage of a manager’s journey; allowing him or her to confidently move up the management ladder and grow with their company. It’s common for managers to be overconfident in their own ability and want to jump stages. However, learning each stage of management is crucial; building each time on the learning of the previous stage. After all, you wouldn’t expect to drive an articulated lorry before you had mastered the fundamentals of a standard car. When we see or meet a confident person, we tend to know it, instinctively. I certainly know when I meet a confident manager. It’s easy to identify the people he or she manages too. They will tend to be confident people themselves, content and motivated l It’s a drum I tend to bang on a regular basis, but businesses really do benefit from training. Book some with us now by calling 01452 331313 or visit hrchampions.co.uk
The Retail Business The cashier told me, ‘Strip down, facing me.’ How the hell was I to know she meant my debt card? l
Thought of the day Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth l Ludwig Börne
July 2019 | www. punchline-gloucester .com | 137
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