Biking to the Office and Working from Home One day

What keeps London Office workers happy at work ?

Apparently to a piece in last Friday's London Evening Standard, it’s one day a week working from home, a reliable Tube (underground rail) , a decent sandwich bar and pleasant rest rooms.

The commercial property specialists DeVono Property have just published a survey of 1,000 office workers in London. Among many interesting facts, it revealed what office workers want from their company’s office facilities. 

Over half the survey said they would choose having a gym or gym access as a perk or benefit beyond a games room or even a cafeteria.

 



Video clip on You Tube

47.5% said they would consider cycling to work if there was access to changing facilities and bike storage.

Working remotely from Home

On a course I was running in July this year for a major retail high street bank, the delegates told me about the working from home 'practise days ‘ that their bank were conducting ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics.

It seemed a little strange to me as a self-employed worker that rehearsal was necessary. However, I guess for organisations as large as a bank they need to test their computer systems etc.

Many Londoners have worked flexibly from home during the 2012 Games this summer.

 Home working

Q: “How many days per working week would you choose to work remotely from home?”

 

 

 

 

It appears that office workers really enjoy the interaction and buzz of being in an office.

What are your views about working from home? Please leave a comment - Thanks



Sales management and personal accountability of elite Sport Coaches

The stories and successes of the sports stars from the summer of sport  2012 will not only inspire a future generation of elite sportspeople but will motivate many in other fields of endeavour - including sales.

Sales training programmes and sales conferences will no doubt abound in the next few years with photos , video clips and quotes from the Summer of Sport 2012.  Targets and forecasts will similarly be set. These sporting analogies will be used to spur on salespeople and sales teams.

Supporting the sports stars are of course the array of psychologists, nutritionists, physiotherapists and coaches.

Today’s salespeople similarly need their role models and heroes. They also need to build up their support network of gurus, mentors and coaches.

Those Sales Directors and Managers who see their job (or part of their job) equivalent to a head coach might well look to the example of head trainers in sports.



My Sketch of Charles van Commonee turned
 out to look more like Buddy Holly
 who was another Charles ( Charles Hardin Holley)
"That'll be the day"

But I wonder how many would live out the level of personal accountability that Charles Van Commenee has recently exhibited at Athletics UK.

Taking up his post as head trainer for Athletics UK  UKA just three years ago , Mr Commenee set a target for the team of at least 8 medals including 1 gold.

The team fell two short of the target. Yet the team achieved FOUR Gold medals !

Despite the wonderful achievements of Jessica Ellis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah, Commenee viewed these superb feats as a distraction to the underlying disappointments in track and field.

How many Sales directors, Sales managers and Sales trainers would behave similarly ?

Having observed many sales conferences it is more likely they would bask in the centre stage kudos of the Gold medals of their star sales champions presenting them with awards and trophies rather than feel they that should resign for the lack of overall podium places of the whole sales team.

Immediately after the Olympics, Van Commenee is reported to have said it was ‘weird’ that people still wanted him to stay at  UK Athletics after his athletes  missed  the target and agreed he would be undermined  by his previous pledge if he stayed in post.

“… I have worked hard to implement accountability as it is vital to the culture of elite sport, and this has been absolutely central to what we have achieved.

Whilst I have been thankful for the kind comments and wishes, I believe my decision has the interests of British Athletics at its  heart in sustaining this culture.

I am happy the future is looking promising with the talent that is about to break through now. But it needs the new energy and approach by the new leadership team through to 2017. ”

Cass Business School ran an ad campaign during the 2012 Olympics implying Business Management was perhaps even tougher than competitive sport.

Is  personal accountability in business management as rigorous as it seems for elite sports coaching?

I wonder how many Directors , Sales Managers or Sales Trainers  would live their accountability mantras to the extent Mr Commenee has ?

 I am not sure I have!       Have you?!

Related Links

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Team GB and Paralympics GB Parade Mo but no Andy Murray

One Olympic Team GB star, not able join the Parade in London yesterday was Tennis  Olympic Gold medallist Andy Murray. He was back at work in the USA winning the Grand Slam event  after 5 gruelling sets.

Well done Andy - I hope London can lay on a special thank-you-event when you are back in town so you can hear our cheers of congratulations and thanks.

London's Strand was a great place to cheer on Team GB and Paralympics GB. Here are some photos ( notice the folk in the offices above)

My 'Mo'-ment

A wave from David Weir

A smile from Hannah

Nick Skelton and the Equestrians

 

 

 

Flypast No1

 

Having watched and cheered  the parade of Team GB and Paralympics GB on London's Strand opposite the site where the RAF was founded, it was a wonderful and fitting end to watch the RAF's Red Arrows fly over London with their tribute to the athletes.

Red Arrows fly over  Embankment Gardens at Team GB and Paralympics GB Parade 2012

Big Scren at Trafalgar Square showing 'Pet Shop Boys'
and Team GB and Paralympics GB in front of Buckingham Palace

Lord Coe 's 3 Ps of Legacy Sarah Storey on Training for success

In an interview on TV, Lord Coe yesterday at the Parade through London stated that the 'legacy' of the 2012  games project will be  a combination of

 

"PASSION ,PURPOSE and PARTNERSHIP."

The Official programmes for both the Olympics and Paralympics  had sections devoted to the sports stars' passion about training. This revealed not simply an ethusiasm for learning but the working through the difficulties and suffering of learning, the purpose of training towards their goals which involves partnership in training with their support team of coaches, nutritionists, psycholgists etc.

The hours of effort and investment that elite sports people put in outshines somewhat the typical investment time most Sales Management in the UK invest in Sales training.

It also reveals how elite athletes not only seek advanced training but build their stamina through continual training basics. They are not above the basics. Drills ,routines and basic graft is central to their training schedules.

In view of the additional challenges that Paralympians have due to disability I found their comments full of food for thought especially with regards to attitudes and commitment to training .

 TRAINING

Wheelchair Tennis Peter Norfolk Silver Medallist London 2012 Doubles

4-5 sessions (2-3 hours each session)

“The simple reason I do all the training is because I can’t stand losing at tennis…..Being successful is only possible by training hard and putting everything into it…”

Track cycling Sarah Storey – Four Gold medals at London  Paralympics 2012

 My video clip of Sarah Storey on the London 2012 Parade

Cycles  6.8 hours per day -  32.87 miles each day

“ The way you train is the difference between winning and losing. Train too much or too little and you won’t arrive at race day with 100% to give.

… No two athletes are the same, so everyone needs to train the right way to get the best from their body; the ability  to suffer in training and racing is another difference between athletes….”

Danielle Brown Archery Gold medallist at London Paralympics 2012

Practices six days per week

150 arrows per session

Drives 12 hours per month to training

“ Elite sport is about lifestyle choice: my focus is training. Things like what I eat and when I go to bed are all important elements that affect my training, so I never stop (training) in that sense. I’ve moved to within 15 minutes of the training facility so I can go there on my own and shoot all year round. ..”

Hannah Cockcroft , Athletics two Gold medals London Paralympics 2012

 My sketch  of Hannah in full flow at London 2012

“Training so hard gives me peace of mind. Sometimes I keep myself motivated by thinking that if I miss one day’s training my closest rivals might gain an advantage on me and that could make the difference between winning and losing a race by a centimetre.

Sometimes you wonder why you are training so hard- in the snow and throwing up at the side of track.  Then you enter a race…and win it. That’s when I realise why I make all these sacrifices.”

Six days a week

Pushes 100 miles per week

Weight trains 100-150 times per year

 

Thames Festival 2012 Down by the riverside

London continued showcasing and selling itself last weekend.

Both banks of the Thames Embankment  were lined with people.

The north side cheering for the Paralympics 2012 Marathon Racers and the south bank with festival goers to the Thames festival.

Every September the River Thames is transformed and outdoor spaces from Westminster Bridge to St Katherine Docks and beyond .

Father Thames comes alive with live music, dancing, art installations, river races carnival and fireworks.

 It is free.

The corporate partners, funders and Festival friends support the Tames Festival Trust help raise the £1 million pounds a year it takes to run the weekend.

thamesfestival.org

Here are some photos I took between Blackfriars Bridge and the Millenium Bridge during this year's festival.

"Hats off" to the Thames festival 2012



"Oh we do like to be by the Thameside !"
 on the Southbank



 Quiet spot on the beach , the Thames Festival partying above on the embankment in Sunny September

From the Thames shore - "Life'S-HARD"

 

 

   Thames links - Anchor Chain on the Southbank shore

As a result of expert photographer Jeremy Walker's talk on 'Landscape' in the Thames lens tent,

I tried out some of his tips.

 I  liked the effect of different lines in the bridge,

the pillars of St Paul's dome, the shadow lines of the bridge and the birch tree trunks silhouette



Thames lens tent with shadow of the 'wobbly bridge' to the entrance

One of the most  english and eccentric displays were the Morris Dancers.

Three styles of dancing  were performed.

Usually one sees this kind of dancing on a village green or in market towns but Morris Dancing goes back hundreds of years and records of it are mentioned in acounts of the Lord Mayor's Processions in the city  of London in the seventeenth century.



London's Hammersmith Morris Men Hammersmith Morris

 

 Hook Eagle Morris from Hampshire



Silkstone Green Morris, Barnsley Yorkshire

You tube clip
Silkstone Green Morris at Thames Festival 2012

With Silkstone Green Morris - real Yorkshire

Having lived in Dodworth near Barnesly for three years it was great to meet up with a sides/team  of ladies from Yorkshire and hear the West Riding tones again.

Selling a great product Paralympics showcasing on Day 9

In one commercial sense nothing happens before a sell.

 Once the pitch  had been won for the Paralympics to be hosted in London 2012 the selling of the festival of sport has continued through the games themselves.

The product has been outstanding.

It was surpsrisingly in so many ways.

Great sports with great elite athletes giving their all, superb support from spectators.

The profile of some paralympians have become powerful enough for their faces to endorse the sponsors and brand ambassadors.

I was lucky enough to visit the Olympic park on Day 9 of the festival. Here are some snaps I took on a brilliant September day.




Young gamesmakers early morning smiles
great customer care !
Stylish CK and Ray ban shades 

" I look down on him..."

Colourful outdoor flooring - same material as Tartan track ?



My favourite of the new buildings the Velodrome
The wood against a blue sky was beautiful on Day 9 of the paralympics



Seven aside football GB versus Argentina
at Riverside Arean London 2012



Spectators at the Riverbank Arena , Olympic Park , London 2012 Paralympics
Top left the crest of the "Mexican  Wave"
 



GB about to score

GB score from a penalty

Goal by Team GB    http://youtu.be/yyIFXdhDRTE



Aussies at the "Murder Ball "
scoring against Belgium
Wheelchair Rugby was very exciting .



Ref blows the whistle for the Goal

You tube clip of Aussies scoring a try

http://youtu.be/calKiI667SI

Wheelchair Tennis Star Nick Taylor of USA 

Some clips I put on You tube  of Nick Taylor in action on Day 9

http://youtu.be/BElJeDhB1jY

Take a look at his intriguing serving action

http://youtu.be/mG6fXZ68kDA

Israeli wheelchair tennis star




Part of the poem by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy



Wiff Waff , Ping Pong and Selling

Listening to an interview on Channel 4 TV with Table Tennis star  Will Bayley from Paralympics GB team  he said

"A Paralympic silver medal in table tennis is not an easy thing to achieve and I am proud of myself for that .

My coach said I should be proud of myself for working so hard six hours a day for the past six years and I have got to enjoy the moment because it doesn't happen often. “

Fortunately in Selling most of us get the opportunity to earn our medal more frequently than every 4 years, like the paralympians but  we could learn a thing or two from these elite sportspeople about PRACTISE.

Day 9 of the 5-a-day selling tips to go programme
For more tips from the 5-a-day to go selling tips


Sketch of Paralympian Table Tennis Star Bayley

    41.       Practise important presentations on a colleague. We may not be able to put in 6 hours a day like  Bayley but we need to set aside time to practise for a key presentation.

 

    42.        Make more calls in a day

 

    43.       Use the Pause and Reflect technique to assess yourself as if you were a coach. Before a call  - Pause -just run through in your mind your call structure and plan. After the call - REFLECT- what went well, what needs further work and what is the next step.

 

Bayley "Pauses and Reflects" . He is already looking to another big-stage appearance in Rio in four years time.
 

"I've come on a lot in the past four years. In Beijing ( 2008) I didn't make it out of my group and here (London 2012) I have won a silver medal. I am still young and I feel like I am good enough to win Paralympic gold but today just wasn't the day.

But I've trained as hard as anybody else in the world and that is why losing is so hard to take."

 

44.       Sell internally – practise good human relations with your colleagues and internal staff as well as your customers.

 Just consider how appreciative the paralympians are of their support group, such team colleagues, family, coaches, psychologists, nutritionists etc.
 

45.   Remember Buyers “likes and dislikes”

Related links
For more tips from the 5-a-day to go selling tips