So much is being written it seems redundant to add more.

Seven years ago I watched a preview of a film that was top be paert of the bid. It inspired me then and inspires me still.

Enjoy the day and the Games

http://youtu.be/QcwiGIGMjSg

You would have thought that over 120,000 people couldn’t keep a secret, wouldn’t you.

“Keep the secret”
Well almost every one of those attending a reherasal of the Opening Ceremony of London’s Olympic Games have done just that. A fact that seems to have blown the minds of the organisers, media and everyone else. The “Keep the secret” message has been observed and what’s more I’m enjoying being able to do so. (I saw it on Monday evening).

For years mentors and business advisors like myself have been saying that no matter how big the audience, if you can enthuse your team, excite them and provide an understandable message then people will follow. Now we HAVE THE PROOF even when it involves 120,000 complete strangers!

Enjoy tomorrow when the “secret” will be revealed and enjoy. It’s a fantastic spectacle with thousands in the cast.

Last night I attended the Opening Ceremony rehearsal. I guess you’ll be expecting a full lowdown on the show and I promise to tell you all about it in this blog when I’ve come down from cloud nine on Saturday morning. Except to say that it is a FANTASTIC show and you won’t want to miss it!

Chaos behind scenes
Half an hour before the rehearsal started my neighbour received a text from someone in the cast of thousands to say that they were all “very nervous and that there was chaos behind the scenes”. When it began, you wouldn’t have known. All the team’s rehearsals over the last few weeks came together and produced an end result that I will never forget for it’s brilliance.

Hundreds of mistakes
Dountless there were some mistakes, probably hundreds, but the end result was stunning and that’s what was important. The message for business teams and managers is that when delivering a complex result there will be mistakes along the way, individual teams may view the thing as being chaotic, lacking in management leadership and full of errors but what matters is that the result looks superb to those watching.

It’s made the start of my Olympics come sooner and if the sport lives up to the opening ceremony then wer’re in for two weeks of real fun.

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I was having a discussion with a friend last night about the Queen’s Jubilee and the Olympics and how business is going to cope with the distruption to travel in London and the time off taken by staff. However soon the discussion moved to what happens when it’s all over

However, I wonder what happens after the party’s over?
Once the Jubilee and the Olympics are over will there be a sense of anti-climax.
Will people feel less enthusiastic at work as winter comes and economic troubles hit us again?
Or will one of the legacies be that a “Feel good factor” will last though the winter?

The challenge for business leaders
The challenge could be to assess the possible legacy on our team and how to keep the team motivated once the fun has ended.
It’s a challenge that managers should start to think about now.

We’ve all heard team leaders and managers say to things their teams during meetings and company briefings and accept them, no matter how trite because, they’ve become part of the tapestry of noise that makes up business speak.

The problem is that some of the things that team leaders say…they really shouldn’t.
Often the reason that they are said is to motivate and make staff feel good about themselves to increase productivity or take on more work or start a new project.

Let’s take the phrase “Staff are our greatest asset”.
It’s not a lie and is often the truth but like any valuable asset, when needs must, people can be dispensed with to increase money in the bank (Redundancy). They are only an asset when they are doing what’s expected…when not they become a liability.

Many of us will have seen a staff member or a team move from “Hero to Zero” within days of making a mistake and “the greatest asset” a few weeks before becomes a liability.

“Do this for me”
Another phrase I’ve often heard is team leaders who ask the team to “do it for me” or “Do it for the company”.
Let’s get it in context. If the staff member or the team weren’t being paid a salary they wouldn’t be doing it at all…

Email me with things you think team leaders say and shouldn’t
I’ve become so interested in the noise that some companies make that I’m developing a new talk on the topic and if you have “things that team leaders say…and shouldn’t” please feel free to email me at: stephen@assimilatinmg-talent.com.

Don’t do it for me. The best email that I receive I’ll be sending a gift to!

If so:

a) What type of work would you expect them to do?

b) Would you expect to pay (over and above general salary) a large salary?