Razzle dazle 'em

Greetings, welcome back and lang may yer lum reek. We trust the festival season was good for and to you.

And now let us put the revels and feasting behind us for another 12 months and get on with our work. We have much to do.

It seems that some of you are finding the comments appended to Cicero’s words of wit and wisdom oft times more interesting and entertaining than the words Cicero’s writes. Clearly it is pleasing that Cicero’s thoughts are provoking such interesting responses though it is hardly complimentary that Cicero’s own words in themselves are not considered equally intellectually fulfilling.

Still we will plough on.

Cicero is now officially an ‘expert’ and later this month, on the Feast of Burns to be precise, he has been invited to commune with academics, alumni and students at one of our leading universities, on matters close to his heart. It is a thrill and an honour.

Now as you know Cicero’s reputation as a learned orator has been passed down through the generations and though his skills may have waned with age, he is still regarded as jolly good in this aspect.

Oftentimes he has been asked to explain his oratorical skills to a younger generation and he has often found this difficult to do, just like the Confucian Centipede (to be explained in a forthcoming epistle) could not explain how he moved his countless legs. And then while sitting relaxing over the revels listening to some notes from some song and dance show called ‘Chicago’, the answer came and today is the day we get to hear his explanation and exposition of his loquaciousness.

Indeed it is rather quite simple and the insight we are now about to be given can be used, re-used and practised in just about any business situation. And all you need to remember is that the business you are in is in fact show business and your office, the meeting, the presentation, is nothing but a stage on which you perform.

In the words of the song that inspired Cicero all you need to do is.......cue music, lights, action:

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate.....................’

To be great in business you have to learn to act and to put on performance. This is not about insincerity. All great acting is based on a truth but to be great, like all actors, you have to wear many faces, all rooted within in a truth.

And so when Cicero stands up to orate he is not there to read a script or a set of PowerPoint slides. That would be boring. No he is there to put on a show, to perform, to entertain and to razzle dazzle ‘em. And from time to time if we are really lucky to educate and enlighten as well.

And the same applies in meetings. It’s all a show and those who perform well in meetings understand that, understand that they are performing in front of an audience and have the lines and the acting ability to razzle and dazzle in this environment too.

The next time you are in a meeting watch carefully all those around you and work out who is the star in the room and why. Who there is putting on ‘’a show that's so splendiferous that row after row will grow so vociferous’’?

And so for 2011, be inspired by the music around you and learn to put on a performance each and every time you have an audience. Treat your business as a stage and your business as show business. It’s all show business.

So just remember ‘Razzle dazzle 'em..........And they'll make you a star!’ And that’s not a bad ambition to have for 2011.

Is it only me...........but what has happened to our 9-5 culture?

The recent inclement weather, which climate no change deniers continue to ascribe to man mad global warming, go figure, has brought it home to me that in this country at least when the weather has gone a wee bit wonky, we do not do 9-5 in our shops, factories and offices. And this is so serious that Calvin is turning in his grave as his work ethic is torn to shreds.

Most of us have a contract with our employer which says we must turn up at work at 9am and go home at roughly 5pm. I accept that there are multiple variations on this theme but broadly speaking this is the standard working day for most people. Agreed?
And yet this is not how our psyche works. We do not think of our working day starting at 9am but when we leave our centrally heated homes to try to get to work. And vice versa in the evening. Our working day ends when we get home and put our slippers on.

So when the weather goes a wee bit wonky we do not accept we have to leave the house earlier because we know it is going to take longer to get to our workplaces for 9am. And so we leave the house when we normally do and get in late. And of course we have to leave early so we are home at our normal time. It does not occur to us to accept that our slippers may have to wait by the fire for a wee bit longer.

Now it might only be me, and on this occasion it probably will be only me, but surely we have an obligation not just to our employers but also to our customers and to others around us, to make more of an effort to fulfil our contractual terms, even if that does mean leaving for work earlier and getting home later. Or maybe, and this is a radical and revolutionary thought, handing back the portion of our pay we earned while doing nothing travelling, or deducting from our holidays. Fair deal?

And maybe if more of us adopted said approach and maintained our normal contracting hours irrespective of when we left home and got back, we might even get our bins emptied when they are supposed to be emptied. Trains, planes and buses might run. And businesses would not hide behind the weather and use it as an excuse for appalling levels of customer service. Did anyone else try to phone a call centre while the snow lay on the ground tick and crisp and even? Did you get through?

And for the avoidance of doubt, and to ensure I am not hang, drawn and quartered by those with whom it is my great privilege and pleasure to work alongside, let me make it clear that no one I know adopts this approach.

But what do you think? Barmy or brilliant?

Have a great week.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.