I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how modern retail businesses have evolved. This year I’m celebrating (!) 30 years of working in the automotive industry. When I joined my first dealership as an 87 on the ‘E’ plate newbie the world looked very different. The workplace was exactly that – you turned up at that location at the required time and worked your contracted hours. Increasingly today there is a welcome shift towards flexible working hours and allowing working practices that take into account the needs of employees as well as the business, including giving people the opportunity to work from home.
One of the things about running your own business is that you are completely in control of your own time. When I’m not facilitating or coaching, the rest of my paid client time is taken up with writing and developing new programmes. It’s a simple enough concept – I meet with my client, we agree demonstrable learning outcomes and I work out how much time it will take me to develop the material to a standard that I’m not just happy but delighted with. My unpaid time is the bit centred on keeping control of expenditure, invoicing, prospecting for new business and networking.
And this is where being an 87 on the ‘E’ plate model becomes challenging. I began my voyage into self-employment realising that I was bit institutionalised – I felt guilty if I wasn’t at my desk at 8.30. The thought of taking a couple of hours out of the day to benefit myself (by going to a PT session in the park or gym, reading up on self-development material or just practice playing bass guitar) was an anathema and 2 years down the line although I’m much more relaxed I still have my moments of anxiety!
One of the psychometric tools that I’m qualified to use is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI as its better known. I love the MBTI tool because, like FIRO-B (we’ll cover that one another time) it was developed as a tool that amongst other things helps to try to resolve conflict and to recognise diversity in thought and behaviour as a positive thing. I’m developing a programme at the moment, which I’m starting in February, and I’ll be covering an MBTI session with senior managers with the goal of enlightening them on embracing this diversity of thought and behaviour within their own teams.
One of the really important things that I’ve learned from working with MBTI is I have a very clear ‘J’ preference – I deal with the world around me by working with clear structure, milestones and understanding fully what the goal is. By taking time out of my day occasionally to aid my physical and/or mental wellbeing I’m pushing my ‘P’ by being spontaneous and adaptable. Its not my natural default but I have to try to exercise it. And here’s the punch line – in the same way that businesses have evolved and adapted in the last 30 years we have to adopt the same approach towards our own behaviour and preferences in dealing with others. Please get in touch if you think I could help!