It is March.
I love March. I love everything waking up in my garden. I love seeing daffodils everywhere. I love the longer days especially at the end of the month when we change the clocks. Most of all I love the change it brings in people. We wake up too. We start to look forward. We think about getting out brighter clothes and coming out of hibernation. We thrive again. If we are fortunate the rain will stop and we can put away the macs and puffa jackets and give ourselves a proper airing. It will be great.
So what am I thinking about?
Unsubscribers!
I have been writing this Thought once a month since May 2016. It is a regular routine to sit down on the Sunday before the first Friday and share something that is on my mind. However I do get precious when I have an Unsubscribe notification. It happens very rarely but when it does I take it really personally. It happened last month and when I read it I wondered why it matters to me so much.
This has never been a newsletter. Newsletters tell us about the goings on in the business and are very factual. I cannot talk about what goes on with my clients. What goes on between us is strictly confidential especially the laughter and the tears we share. The Thought is just random musings. It is not written by a marketing creative or AI. I write it myself from where I sit in the world. I try to exclude my hinterland: the charity stuff I do and my work with clergy. I try to keep away from politics because although we live in very troubled times how we navigate out of these is above my pay grade and there are plenty of political pundits giving the government advice. I was brought up not to talk about politics, religion or sex. How boring! Really it does not leave much that is interesting or does it? I think it leaves business and that is fascinating.
So what is it, this Thought? It is my way of sharing my philosophy of the business world and how we work successfully in it.
I work in a very holistic way with my clients. I want you to use all you are: talents, skills and experience to develop your business. I think of myself as a gardener. Flowers and shrubs need to be planted in the right places, fertilized and then nurtured according to their different needs and preferences.
To do that is different for different people. I try not to use dry academic models. Many of them you know already and what you need is practical ideas to maximise the opportunities and overcome the challenges. Ideas that will help you see and develop the breaks life offers. You also need a support team which you can draw on when you need confidence for the more difficult times and when you need someone to celebrate with. As a business mentor I share my experience both the things I have got right and often more interestingly, the mistakes so you can avoid them. It makes me think of curling at the Olympics. One person slides the stone but then the ones who brush ahead of it make the most of what has been launched.
People who enjoy this Thought are thinkers, people who process what happens to them and their businesses. People who have more than the attention span of a gnat, who are always looking for new ways of achieving business growth and how to maximise it. I love you and the dialogues we have. I love spreading fertilizer!
So now you know why I hate Unsubscribers it feels like they do not want to grow and that is a tragedy.
If you continue to like this approach to your business development then I will keep writing. Please feel free to share this with other people who might enjoy it too.
If you want to grow your business and like the sound of this fertilizing approach then let’s talk. We can find ways for you to walk forward with the minimum of hiccups and maximum success. I love speaking with people so why don’t we have an off the meter conversation? We might want to work together in this exciting business world we both inhabit or we might not. Just to meet each other would be good and if I can help you explore possibilities for making your aspirations a reality that would be great.
I promise next month to share a business Thought rather than its philosophy!