Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner....

Picture the scene........you’ve sat down in a small area of an inner city garden, happily eating your lunch in the midday sunshine whilst a member of the public pulls up a stool, stretches their fingers and tenderly starts to play the most relaxing and beautiful music on a piano, which is placed in between two park benches. This happened today. In London. In the middle of Leicester Square. In the glorious June sunshine!

No, I wasn’t drunk, but enjoying what is known as Play Me, I’m Yours.

Presented for Sing London and the City of London Festival, 30 piano’s have been installed in London for members of the public to play at their own free will. And I say, how lovely!

Each piano is decorated in an individual style and is there simply to bestow cheer and joy to the people in London. It is there to bring people together, to get them singing, to get them playing and to have fun amidst all the doom and gloom which is the current climate.

So far I have only found one, but I plan on finding a few more and enjoying the music played by people who just want to be part of this happy event. Life is far too serious and it’s a wonderful reminder that music and song can make complete strangers come together and just simply enjoy themselves.

So I say, check out their website, pick a venue, find out a time when someone plans to play Boogie Woogie, Gospel or good old Knees Up Mother Brown, go along and sing your heart out with them, or simply clap along in time.

Who knows, you may bring smiles and laughter to other people, make some friends, or failing that, just enjoy being part of a very unique experience. Either way, you’re bound to go home smiling....and how great would that be....

Play Me, I'm Yours website: http://www.streetpianos.com/london2009/

Helen Mills

Financial Controller

Inspiration

It is midnight in Austria; the cool breeze brush our faces, the vastness of the sky above our head is a constant reminder of infinitude and expansion, the water is shimmering in the light as the boat noisily sits in place. We take a breath.....we exhale....and smile....appreciating the moment which is so precious.
Quite to our surprise, behind a railway track appears a building, not just any building, a fairytale building, like something out of a Hans Christian Anderson tale! We smile with glee and curiosity and for a moment, we are struck by its beauty, its grandeur, and its quiet strength. The trees sit proudly and protectively in its path as they blow gently across. The richness of the red roof, the spires, the turrets we can see Rapunzels golden hair flowing from the upper window, looking out to the horizon lovingly and like the moon standing gracefully, calm, detached, mysterious and yet infinitely inspiring.
Is Inspiration a fairytale, something we yearn, something we stumble across now and again? Or is it a feeling, an emotion we all have inside the essence of our being that we, you and I turn on and off? And when we choose to turn it on we feel passion, energy, ardour, vigour, joy and love that encourage us and those around us to achieve the most remarkable feats...or simply making someone smile. Being inspirational is our birthright, let's be that moment to moment and watch what unfolds.....

Lizzie Thomas and David Pickeirng

Consultants

www.London.dalecarnegie.com

Change

Bleep Bleep Bleep! My alarm clock went off and it was in that moment that I realised I had turned 30. It hit me like a pistol shot and I rolled over and felt sorry for myself. The really uplifting thoughts that went through my head were:

“I’ve reached 30 and I have nothing material to show for my endeavours”.

“I’ve turned 30 in a credit crunch, left a perfectly stable job to pursue ‘life goals...I must be mad’”

If I met this part of myself in a bar, we would definitely not be friends. So why do we do it to ourselves?

Suddenly, a beam of sunlight came through the window and I realised it was a sunny day outside. I forced myself to get out of bed and I took myself to a spinning class.

Spinning is a static bike aerobic class. The session is instructor led and has amazingly loud music blaring out of the speakers. The music is normally quite uplifting and allows you to get into the zone. Personally I think the music is turned up to drown out the groans of suffering as you hit the wall of pain (about 10 minutes in). If I am honest, I am in agony for 45 minutes as the instructor shouts, “turn up the load and pedal faster”. Strangely, there is something that keeps me going back for more.

As I left on a high, embracing 30 and ready for the day ahead, I realised in that 45 minutes I had:

- Committed to do something and achieved it

- Immersed myself in the moment of the class

- Overcome the voice that was begging me to stop and give up during the hill climb

In these times of change, “any action is better than no action”. It’s amazing how quickly we can change our attitude and our luck.

Hayley Kennedy

Dale Carnegie Trainer

http://www.london.dalecarnegie.com/

The language of love

Love is at the centre of a successful organisation. Why did I not see this before? Why do we avoid combining the language of love and business in the same sentence? We use euphemisms like, “client service”, or “personnel policies and procedures,” when what we really mean is putting love at the centre of what we do. It is our key driver, our dominant motive, our greatest need and yet we do not name it.

What is management? Well one definition is – getting tasks done through people. Early in our management careers we learn that we can manage other resources, like buildings, cash and raw materials. Try to do that with people and our endeavours are bound to fail - eventually. Managing people is like trying to herd cats.

Why did we ever think we could tell people to obey us? We were rather seduced by the model of command and control inherited from the theatre of war. The trouble was that we brought other war-like attitudes and language with it: destroy the competition, discipline the work force; make a killing on the stock market and so on.

Now – there is another way - if we have love at the centre of an organisation we create products and services with intrinsic value and integrity; we build enduring and affirming relationships with people in our sphere of influence; and we use the planet’s resources responsibly and with sustainability at the forefront of our business strategy: Profit, People, Planet!

In the current climate there is a temptation, in the most enlightened companies, to revert to bullying behaviour. But we all know, deep down, that the bully is the most scared child in the playground. The language of the bully is, do this or else - or else what? I lose my job, I do not get a pay rise, you stop being nice to me? Money is not a motivator, and most people are not turned on by threats. They may go through the motions but they will never give you what you really want,

Enthusiastic cooperation from our people is a gift not a right: a true leader creates an environment of love where that gift can be freely given and gracefully received.

The language of love is sometimes denigrated as a weak thing – slightly embarrassing and a bit over the top. This is foolish. Someone who loves is prepared to give up his life for a cause or a friend; is able to create an environment where people feel valued and free; and whose behaviour consistently reflects values of integrity, honesty and fidelity. There is nothing weak or indeed easy about that.

Exchange the word leader for lover. Leadership is love; love is leadership. Phew – I feel better now!!

Jane Kustner
Dale Carnegie Instructor

http://www.london.dalecarnegie.com/

''The Dale''

What a great experience ''The Dale'' has been and we've only got to session 6. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's the Dale Carnegie Course: Effective Communications & Human Relations.

At the beginning I didn't know what to expect. It's certainly not like any other training courses I've been involved in, willingly or unwillingly. Because we are required to consistently participate, it really keeps us entertained and engaged.

For the last session there wasn't a lot of preparation required as it involved impromptu speaking. I think a lot of my colleagues exceeded their expectations for this exercise and everybody did very well despite the nerves.

In the other part of the session we had to present a skill or concept at work and make our ideas clear. It was great to see others being so creative and bringing their presentations to life. I've literally seen how easy it is to make a Cosmopolitan cocktail and how to transform a napkin into a flower. I've learned about sound waves and DNA.

I just can't wait for the next session!

Corina Balaneanu

Sales Consultant

http://www.london.dalecarnegie.com/

Peruvian Attitude

Challenges come in all shapes and sizes with differing degrees of difficulty.

Raising funds for a children's Hospice in London is for me one of the most worthwhile causes to support and nothing is too great a challenge to help them.

A team of 14 people, 3 guides and 21 porters trekking the Inca Trail in Peru meeting with Tarantula spiders, Scorpians and Bees that can disarm a Tarantula in seconds. Eventually these dangers became the norm and we could focus on the surrounding beauty of the mountains. The incredulous drops of over 1000 feet either side of the trail left no room for error. With Condor's and Parakeets gliding across the tree tops, the mind could only believe the wonderment of their freedom. What Bears? luckily they were in hibernation although Willow our guide teased us with glee to be careful round the next corner.

Experiencing the healthy diet of the mountain people who's average age is 80 years gave us the energy to cope with the exhausting and tiring trek at high altitude. Fun, laughter and tears were shared along the way. As altitude sickness kicked in, all inhibitions were lost. The support and friendship gained will always live on in all of our memories. Today the team are in constant contact, the support continues.

Reaching Machu Picchu, emotions flowed, time stood still, gazing on one of the worlds wonders, life for us humans has been but a short time on this fragile and beautiful planet, yet so much has been achieved.

Acheivement is gained from believing you can do the impossible. Attitude is key and when you challenge yourself to do something never attempted before and success is won, the attitude changes within you growing the self belief in our abilities.

Today do something or start something to stretch you and feel the difference.

Frank Steggall
Consultant

www.london.dalecarnegie.com

Leaving a legacy....

Recently, my dear Father passed away. After a brief battle with cancer, it got the better of him and last month he passed away peacefully in his sleep. Putting my grief aside, what has touched me are the words used to describe him from those that knew him. Words from family, friends and business acquaintances. Words such as remarkable, courageous, loyal, loving, generous, kind and not forgetting a man who didn’t suffer fools gladly (very true!)

Being his daughter, I guess I took for granted at times my Dad’s values. I was brought up around them and I saw my Dad from a daughter’s standpoint, not as an outsider would. So when people came up to me before and after the funeral saying all these wonderful things about him, it hit home just how great a Dad he was and how important his values were to him.

Now, this blog is not to put my Father on a pedestal as he most certainly had his faults too, but the recent events have made me take stock and consider values.....my values, those around me and those in business. In essence values make us who we are and how we show up to the world. They make us honest, make us kind, and make us forgiving. They help select our friends, help us reach decisions and help us feel at peace with ourselves.

It’s a well known fact that in tough times values can be tested. Internal fraud cases increase in businesses during times of recession. People may look for a quick buck at the expense of something else, quite possibly one of their own values. But it is also a time when people look within, and make life changing decisions based on the person they want to become, not the person they once were.


So, who do you want to be?

Thanks Dad for leaving such a legacy....


Helen Mills
Financial Controller

http://www.london.dalecarnegie.com/