Saddened…

Good afternoon dear reader & welcome to my world for another week. I am later this weekend, having just returned from Christchurch & watching our Tasman Mako rugby team in another final. Given our third final in four years & fifth semi-final in five, regretfully, not quite able to take away the trophy this year, again. Whilst a sad ending to a valiant year, with 11 new players, I was proud to be there yesterday, after supporting a win against top qualifiers in New Plymouth the weekend before.

This was however, not the real sad event of the last week. A few days back I was a witness to one of the most appalling customer service experiences I have seen for a very long time. Details of the circumstances are not important now, other than to suggest the gross insensitivity in a customer service situation was totally uncalled for, as the matter was I thought under control. Situations where a speaker does not care about the feelings of other people in service environments, is simply crass.

I found the whole situation extremely disturbing, culturally insensitive & particularly inappropriate, especially in the presence of other customers. For any relationship to work, we must accept the differences of others. We do not need to agree on every issue, but we should always honour where the other person is coming from.

An occurrence such as this may indicate the culture & values of an organisation are very common & happening often & therefore such use in general becomes acceptable. As indicated, I obviously disagree & suggest an organisation deals with such circumstances (& disappointments) by keeping a good attitude. If not, then they are willing to face the music even when they do not like the tune.

Think on the following scenario: when you warn your children about putting their hand on a hot stove, it is not your responsibility to make them enjoy hearing it, right? Hopefully, as they mature they will understand.

But the truth is, some people will not like hearing the word ‘no’ regardless of how old they get. But we all need to hear it from time to time; otherwise, we will never be happy with anything other than getting our own way ~ & this means getting nowhere.

As leaders, we need to correct, rebuke & encourage ~ with great patience & careful instruction. We need to correct people when they are wrong, rebuke them when they are stubborn, encourage them when they struggle, be patient as they learn & grow, & make sure your instructions are clear & understandable.

Robert Louis Stevenson once said: ‘Keep your fears to yourself but share your courage with others’. There will be people who knock the heart out of you, & people who put it back in.

Thank you for taking the time to be with me once again. I hope my journey may encourage you also. This is Kenn Butler in Paradise, Nelson, with my best wishes for the week ahead. I look forward to being with you all again next weekend.
 


 
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