Help yourself navigate these turbulent times

Being aware of our roles in our communities has never been more important.

We are all part of several communities. There is the wider local community linked to where we live; there is the wider business community in which we work; and then there are the smaller communities based around our interests – and of course the close work community that we see on a regular basis.

At a time when people in our all our communities are being forced to stay at home as much as possible it is up to us to seek out those that might need some extra help from us. Whether it is elderly neighbours who need a bit of shopping done or maybe have a dog to be walked, or local suppliers who would really benefit from our custom, we should do our best to help.

From a business perspective we need to make sure that we are fully aware of the government help and guidelines.

There are a raft of measures designed to help us as employers – no one wants to be in a situation where they are laying people off because of Covid-19 so make sure you understand what furloughing is and how the system works. Make sure you know if you are eligible for the rates holiday – and if necessary check out the new business loan scheme.

There is now a scheme to help the self employed. If you are in that category make sure you know what you are entitle to and claim it!

There is help out there so do make sure you keep on top of it. Whilst some of the cash may not be forth coming for a few weeks at least knowing you are entitled to it should help you to plan for your business survival!

Fiona 🙂

Are you authentic?

I have been thinking quite a bit about authenticity recently.

I have been to a couple of tribute band gigs over the last couple of months – Bjorn Again, T Rextasy and Fleetwood Bac.

They were all excellent and certainly knew the material of the iconic bands they were imitating.

But, at the end of the day, their acts were just imitations of the real thing. As good as their musicianship was they just did not have that spark that sets truly great bands apart from the rest.

My friends and I had a great time at the gigs and I am not saying that I wouldn’t be happy to see any of them again (indeed it was the second time that we had been to see Bjorn Again). But I know that if I ever had the chance to see the real thing the experience would be more amazing and more authentic.

The real thing will always trump an imitation.

Dave Harries and Angela Jones produce an excellent podcast called the Communication Paradox and much of their focus is on discussing the benefits to business people of being authentic.

In January their podcast was recorded as we did a Metwalk around Portishead harbour. They interviewed the people at the event asking if this type of networking helped people to be more authentic than traditional forms of networking. The resounding view was that yes it was.

So, if being authentic is the best way for us to behave in a business setting – which I definitiely agree it is (and, in fact, in our lives generally) – how do we make sure we are our authentic selves?

For me it is about not trying to copy what someone else is doing, or how someone else is being.

It may seem easier to look to copy what other businesses in our fields are doing to promote themselves, or to try to imitate their businesses, but at the end of the day people buy from, and interact with, people.

Our biggest assets are found in our own personality, and the interests we have, that make us genuinely unique. 

They are our superpowers!