You are traffic

I was driving one day in horrendous traffic, well, I was crawling, I should say, and was getting more and more frustrated at the snail's pace we were moving. 'I'm a busy lady. I have things to do, a meeting to get to. I hate traffic!', I was saying to myself while trying to find some quiet music to calm myself down.

Just then I saw it. Nailed to a wooden telegraph pole was a sign, in red lettering - 'You are traffic'. I thought about it, and smiled. 

Of course, to the person sitting in their car behind me I was just 'traffic'. I was part of the problem. 

When I talk to people in corporations about what can be done to build more trust internally, with customers, in their brand, in their leadership, a common response I hear is 'But we are ok, it's the 'whatever' department that needs this more than we do', or 'You should talk to the customer service team, not marketing or sales'.

I smile, and tell them 'You are traffic'. 

You can’t trust Real Estate Agents

I didn’t say that!

I was reading the GoodWeekend Magazine while watching the gentle waves roll in on the quiet beach at Terrigal on the Central Coast on NSW, about 2 hours from where I live, and saw the heading ‘Taking on Trust’ in an article by Jane Cadzow called ‘Realty Bites’.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that the word ‘trust’ jumps off the page at me (in fact, lots of people send me links to articles and reports on anything about trust that they stumble upon). So I read the article.

Bill Malouf, one of Australia’s most successful real estate agents, selling top end properties, mostly in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, says ‘Next to used-car salesmen, we’re right on the bottom rung. ...And we’re at that level because of the dishonesty, a lack of credibility, a lack of trust, a lack of information.’

Interesting that he sees things this way himself. I thought it was just those of us who have had shocking experiences with Real Estate Agents that found that.  Then, the last few surveys of 'Australia's Most Trusted Professions' by Readers Digest have found Real Estate Agents on the least trusted professions list, sitting at 42 out of 45 in 2011

I’ve reflected, in fact talked to a number of Real Estate Agents myself, to determine exactly what it is that leaves them sitting so low in the trustworthy ratings.  Here’s what I know:

Do you know your neighbour?

No, not those neighbours! In a world that increasingly sees us sitting inside in front of a computer, a TV or a Playstation, and no longer sitting outside watching kids play in the street, many countries are reporting a slide in communities and a common trend – ‘I don’t know my neighbours’.

In the USA, Jennifer Ferro, the GM of Santa Monica radio station KCRW, saw a man with a rifle walking down her street. She says:

That night, with my kids asleep, my husband out of town and my dogs quiet, I watched that shotgun and the man carrying it as he walked past all my neighbors’ homes. I realized I couldn’t warn them. I didn’t have everyone’s number anymore.

What has caused this decline? Why don’t we take the time to know our own neighbours anymore?

Why are you stressed?

Are your people performing at their best when they are stressed out, conflicted, confused, annoyed, disappointed, or angry?

Of course not! However, studies around the globe report stress as the number one reason for employee turnover, stress related presenteeism and absenteeism are directly costing Australian employers $10.11 billion a year, and, according to a report by Beyond Blue, each year, undiagnosed depression in the workplace costs $4.3 billion in lost productivity and this excludes workcover/insurance claims, part-time or casual employees, retrenchment, recruitment and training.

The simplest way to explain how these negative feelings and emotions are caused is by applying ENPs® - that’s Expectations, Needs and Promises.

London, Libya….what is really going on?

A number of people from various countries have asked me ‘What are your thoughts on what is going in …Libya ….London (with the recent riots?’ Of course, we’ve now got our own, far less violent version, of frustrated and angry people taking to the streets to say ‘enough is enough’.

One of the things I talk about whenever I’m presenting on ‘The Truth about Trust’, is this:

First we define trust as our ability to rely on a person (or group of people), an organisation (corporate, political, church), a product or service, to deliver a specific outcome.

Then I ask people ‘How many times a day do you rely on someone or something?’  A hundred? A thousand? Most people say ‘All the time’, or ‘Every moment of every day.’ When you think about it, you are relying on the alarm clock to go off, the water in the shower to come out hot, the cornflakes to be crunchy, the car to start or the bus to be on time, and so it goes all through the day. In some countries, those things are luxuries, but they are relying on government to do something, to deliver on the promise of better housing, of jobs, of water in their community.

Then I ask them ‘Are you aware of all the times you are relying on someone or something every day?’ The answer ‘No, not really’.

So I ask them ‘When do you become aware of them?