I arrived back on Monday from a week in Australia, I had a good break and an exciting time both with the people I caught up with and the events I attended. But this post is actually about what happened at home while I was away (I'll let you know how this applies to your change in your business too).
We often think that people stay the same and don’t change, of course this isn’t true (if you’re hanging out with the right people it’s definitely not true). In the case of kids though we take for granted that they change over time, and boy was this true of my son Rylan (almost 3) while I was away.
I would call my wife Kim and Rylan while I was away so I kept up with what they were up to, on the Sunday before I came home I called them to see if they were ready for me to come home. I spoke to Kim first and then she put Rylan on, I asked him “Are you going to come and pick Daddy up from the Airport?” The reply came back crystal clear “Yes, but not Today, because today we’re going to see Vanessa and Jeremy and the Horsey and the Doggy!”
Wow, to think it was only a year ago he started putting sentences together, and my being away had given him a real concept of today, and tomorrow. Which is great for managing our lives, but can cause us to be forever reaching for something that’s out there, instead of being happy with where we’re at today, right now.
When I was met at the airport it was Rylan who spotted me, “There’s Daddy!” and he ran up to give me a big hug. Not only was he taller he was also more excited to see me than the presents I had brought – these changes just keep getting better and better!
Of course I let him know how proud I was of him, and how well he had looked after Mummy while I was away. This is something we often forget with the people around us who are growing and changing, do you compliment them and let them know that they are changing for the better and helping make the world a better place.
It's easy to give either negative or no feedback all the time, make sure you're giving a good mix of congratulations and letting them know when things aren't working well. I hope you do, and remember if you haven’t been you can change it right now by giving someone around you some positive feedback. If you have staff or business partners give them good feedback, encourage them when they're moving in the right direction.
Here's the key to keep people changing the right way – give more positive than negative feedback. So if you have negative feedback put it with one or preferably two items of positive feedback. People fill the space you create for them, if all you're creating is that you have a negative opinion of them that's what you'll get. Make it clear when they're heading the right way as that's what you want.
And if it’s you who’s been improving, then here's to you!
